Imagine you’re eating a meal in Germany, either in a restaurant or at somebody’s house, and you’re being asked: “Schmeckt’s?” (Or possibly ‘Schmeckt es dir/ Ihnen?’) because the host/ waiter wants to know if the meal tastes alright.
What do you answer?
A quick and easy answer could be “Ja, gut.” Or you could say “Es schmeckt lecker.” (‘It is/ tastes tasty/ delicious/ yummy…’)
But what, if you wish to say more?
Let’s look at some adjectives in connection with food:
- aromatisch – aromatic
- bitter – bitter
- eklig – disgusting
- hart – hard
- heiß – hot
- kalt – cold
- klebrig – sticky
- knackig – crunchy, crisps
- krümelig – crumbly
- lecker – tasty
- saftig – juicy
- salzig – salty
- sauer – sour
- scharf – spicy/ hot
- süß – sweet
- trocken – dry
- ungenießbar – inedible
- warm – warm
- zäh – tough
With these adjectives (and others, of course) you can make simple sentences by just adding ‘das ist’ (that is):
Das ist heiß/ lecker/ ungenießbar = That’s hot/ tasty/ inedible
You could also add ‘sehr’ (very) before the adjective:
Das ist sehr bitter/ sauer/ süß = That’s very bitter/ sour/ sweet
Alternatively, you might want to add ‘zu’ (too):
Das ist zu kalt/ heiß/ scharf = That’s too cold/ hot/ spicy
But if you use ‘so’ instead of ‘zu’, you’ve turned it into a positive sentence:
Das ist so saftig = That’s so juicy.
Other alternatives to add between ‘das ist’ and the adjective are ‘nicht’ (not) ‘ziemlich (quite a bit), ‘ein bisschen’ (a little), ‘ein bisschen zu’ ( a little too), ‘gar nicht’ (not at all) or ‘total’ (completely). And you can replace the ‘das’ at the beginning of the sentence with a particular item of food.
So, to recap, for complaints you can use:
- Der Wein ist zu trocken. – The wine is too dry.
- Die Suppe schmeckt nicht lecker. – The soup doesn’t taste nice.
- Die Suppe schmeckt gar nicht lecker. – The soup doesn’t taste nice at all.
- Die Suppe ist ein bisschen heiß. – The soup is a little hot.
- Die Suppe ist ein bisschen zu heiß. – The soup is a little too hot.
- Das Fleisch ist zu zäh. – The meat is too tough.
- Das Fleisch ist ein bisschen zu zäh. – The meat is a little bit too tough.
- Der Eintopf ist ungenießbar. – The stew is inedible.
- Der Eintopf ist total ungenießbar. – The stew is completely inedible.
Hopefully, though, you’ll want to compliment the chef and say things like:
- Der Eintopf schmeckt lecker. – The stew is tasty.
- Der Eintopf schmeckt sehr lecker. – The stew is very tasty.
- Der Eintopf schmeckt so lecker. – The stew is so tasty.
- Das Eis schmeckt total lecker. – The ice cream is completely/ so delicious.
So, there you have it! Next time you’re in Germany and somebody asks you if the food is good, you can give an honest answer. Or just say …
Of course, these types of sentences can be used for other things, too. For example, you can now say:“Angelika’s Blog ist total super!” ☺
Great post! I’m trying to learn German restaurant phrases, and these are perfect!
Thanks!