英倫的餐館文化

‘Dining out’, or ‘eating out’, are phrases people use in Britain when they eat in a restaurant or a pub. Eating out is more popular in Britain today than it has ever been. In 2006, for the first time ever, British people spent more on eating out in restaurants and pubs than on cooking for themselves. It seems that many British people are becoming increasingly interested in how good their food tastes, and also how healthy it is.英國人下館子或去酒吧吃東西會用到dining out, eating out這兩個短語。現在的英國人比以往任何時候都要喜歡出去吃。2006年，英國人去餐館吃飯的次數首次高於自己下廚的次數。看來多數英國人越來越注重食物的口味和健康程度了。

However, eating out can also be expensive. Restaurants are normally more expensive than pubs, though many pubs serve very good, simple food. As we Brits do not dine out every night of the week, eating in a restaurant is often seen as a special occasion. When going on a first date and wanting to impress him or her, or if celebrating (an) anniversary or a birthday, then many people like to go to a restaurant to eat, people often eat in a restaurant before going to the cinema or the theatre.但出去吃很貴，飯店的價格一般高於那些小館子，當然許多酒館賣的東西簡單又美味。英國人也不是每天晚上都出去吃的，因此去飯店吃飯就顯得格外隆重。如果你想初次約會想給對方留下好印象，又或者你想慶祝什麼紀念日或生日，那多半會去飯店吃，而且通常是去飯店吃完飯後繼續去看電影或去劇院。

As in all cultures, there are many rules of etiquette surrounding food and eating, and nowhere is this more pronounced than when eating in a smart restaurant! People are almost always expected to eat with a knife and fork and these should be held in the correct hand and used in the correct way! It is also impolite to have your elbows on the dining table when you are eating.許多文化中圍繞食物和吃都有很多規矩禮儀，而在高階餐廳用餐的禮儀就不言自明瞭。在這裡，吃飯都要用到刀叉，刀叉的`握法和用法又有很多講究。而且在用餐時把手肘放在餐桌上是不禮貌的行為。

There are many such ‘unspoken’ rules ? they are normally only important when eating in a very posh restaurant, and vary slightly from restaurant to restaurant and place to place. A recent nationwide survey of 2,231 people showed that there was a divide in manners between the north and south of Britain ? the ‘worst’ manners were in Scotland and the north-east, and the ‘best’ in Wales and the south-east! However, this survey was almost certainly conducted by someone in the south-east, so it may not be entirely impartial!此外還有很多不成文的規矩，而這些規矩恰恰是在高階餐廳吃飯時必須注意的，並且不同的餐廳之間還會有些小差異。最近英國範圍內的一項2231人蔘與的調查顯示，英國南北區的舉止規範有差異，蘇格蘭以及東北地區被評為”最差“地區，威爾士和東南地區”最佳“。當然，這項調查肯定是東南地區的人做的，不可能不帶半點低於偏袒。

Naturally, restaurants vary greatly in quality, and price. However, almost all British cities have a vast range of food and culinary styles to choose from as well as traditional British food, and all from the very cheap to the very expensive ? French, Italian, Indian, Greek, Thai, Japanese and many, many more. In fact, when asked what their favourite food is, more British people say an Indian curry than any other dish!顯然不同餐廳的品質不同，價位也有高低，但幾乎在英國所有城市都找的到各種各樣的美食料理，有傳統英式菜式，也有來自世界各地從便宜到昂貴的料理，法國菜，印度菜，希臘、泰國、日本料理等等。但真要是被問到最喜歡吃什麼，英國人多數會回答喜歡他們最喜歡印度咖哩。

As well as dining in a restaurant, when people are too tired to cook after work they often get a ‘take-away’. This means that they order from a take-away (or take-out) restaurant by phone, and then go to collect it and take it home to eat. Many take-out restaurants also deliver to your house (if you are especially tired, or lazy!). Whilst you can normally find a take-out restaurant for almost any cuisine, the most popular are pizza (Italian), Indian and Chinese ? and all you have to do is open the door, pay and eat!工作了一天的人們通常不太愛自己下廚，於是選擇下館子，也經常會買外賣”take-away“。也就是打個電話到外賣餐館預訂，然後取回來帶回家吃。還有很多外賣餐館會送餐到家（要是你實在是累得夠嗆，或是夠懶的話）。通常外賣餐館什麼都有，最吃香的當屬披薩餅（意式），印度菜和中餐，你只要開啟門、付個錢就可以大快朵頤了。

Glossary 生詞

etiquette (n.) - a set of rules or customs for behaving correctly and properly in social situations

pronounced (adj.) - very obvious

posh (adj.) - (informal) something that is expensive or of high quality

nationwide (adj.) - existing in all parts of a country

impartial (adj.) - not influenced by one particular person or group

culinary (adj.) - connected with food and the way of cooking it