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Belajar Bahasa Yuk! Ordering Food in a Warung
Are you eager to be a real local while interning or volunteering in Bali? If your answer is 'yes'! There are so many ways to learn and adapt to our culture, and one of them is trying to speak our language, Bahasa Indonesia. In comparison to European languages, Bahasa Indonesia is rather simple, spoken wise. Unlike English, we do not have firm grammar such as past, present, and future tense. Thus, most of non-Bahasa speaker consider that the Bahasa is easy to learn.
Learn Bahasa while ordering your food
One of the best ways to apply is when ordering food. In Warung (local food stall) for example. In Warung, they offer you varied food like
- Sayur (Veggies)
- Tahu (Tofu)
- Tempe (Fermented Soybean Cake)
- Ayam Bakar (Grilled Chicken)
- Soto (Yellow Chicken Soup)
- Bakso (Meatball)
- Mie Ayam (Boiled Noodle with Chopped Chicken)
- Telur Ceplok (Fried Egg)
- Telur Dadar (Omelette)
and many more. Let's learn the simplest now.
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Dine in or take away?
When it's your turn to order after a long line, you may start the order with "Saya mau pesan." It means that you would like to order. After saying so, sometimes the seller will ask whether you want to have the dine in or take away by asking, "Makan sini atau bawa pulang/bungkus?"
pesan = to order
makan sini = to dine in
bawa pulang/bungkus = to take away
The different food options
Right after, you can choose first amongst the rice options. Some warungs do offer Nasi Putih (White Rice), Nasi Kuning (Yellow Rice, contains coconut milk), Nasi Merah (Red or Brown Rice), or Nasi Uduk (White Rice contains coconut milk). Furthermore, if you think a full portion of rice is too much for you, you could request half portion. For example, "Nasi Kuning, nasi nya separuh/setengah." It Literally means half portion of Yellow Rice, please.
Next, you start to choose the offered menu. Pointing directly to the dish is common for us. For your information, sometimes there are dishes that have broth but you only need the broth without the main food, it is acceptable for them to ask such request as we also do this. Therefore, you may say, "Yang ini kuahnya aja." This means, "This one please, but broth/sauce only."
nasi nya = the rice
separuh/setengah = half
yang ini = this one
kuah = sauce
aja = only
Do you like it spicy?
Have you ever heard about Sambal? It is spicy side dish to complete the original taste of Indonesian food. Saying the following sentence would be helpful to complete your order: "Gak pake sambal", which means "No sambal, please."
After you have finished ordering your meal, usually they might ask what you wish to have for the beverage, by asking, "Minum nya apa?" That means "What do you want to drink?".
gak pake sambal = No sambal, please
pake sambal = Sambal, please
minum = drink
Those are some 5-minute-Bahasa tips that are really easy to practice. Never hesitate to speak with the local in case you are shy that your pronunciation is unnatural because we are pleased to hear non-Indonesian tries to learn and speak our language, which means you appreciate our culture.
Good Luck!