In France, there are three meals a day. Breakfast, generally served from around 7:00 am to 9:00 am, is composed of a hot drink (coffee, tea or chocolate), croissants and/or bread, butter and jam.

Lunch, between 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm, is a real feast, usually consisting of a starter, main course and/or a dessert. It is usually finished off with an espresso coffee.

Finally, dinner starts around 8:00 pm. It lasts approximately one hour and is comprised of an appetizer, an entree and dessert.

A snack (around 4:00 pm) is traditionally reserved for children, although some adults take this as an opportunity to enjoy tea and cakes.

In France you will find all sorts of restaurants, from simple, small, cozy ones to famous gourmet restaurants, along with brasseries, inns and tearooms.

In restaurants, bread and carafes of water are included in the price shown, as well as all service charges, although you may leave a small tip if the service is particularly good.

Reading the menu in a French restaurant can be a little tricky, and not just due to language difficulties. There may be important differences between restaurants in France and in your own country, including what food is offered and how it is prepared. Here are some terms and tips to help you find your way around a French menu.

Le menu refers to the fixed-price menu, which includes two or more courses (with limited choices for each) and is usually the cheapest (and in some restaurants, the only) way to eat

The menu that the waiter hands you is la carte - anything you order from it is à la carte
La carte des vins is the wine menu

Une dégustation is a tasting menu, with small servings of multiple dishes (déguster means to taste)

A French meal may include numerous courses, in this order:

1. Apéritif - cocktail, pre-dinner drink
2. Amuse-bouche or amuse-gueule - snack (just one or two bites)
3. Entrée - appetizer/starter
4. Plat principal - main course
5. Fromage – cheese
6. Dessert – dessert
7. Café – coffee
8. Digestif - after-dinner drink

• Le plat du jour is the daily special
• Ardoise means slate; it refers to the specials board
• Gratuit and offert both mean free
• The waiter will often add the word "petit" to his offer: Un petit dessert ? Un petit café?

When you're full, say Je n'en peux plus or J'ai bien/trop mange

Vous avez choisi? Have you decided?
Vous désirez? or Que voudriez-vous? What would you like?
Je vous écoute What would you like? (literally, “I’m listening”)
Que prenez-vous? What are you having?
Qu’est-ce que je vous sers? What can I get you?
Combien coûte….? How much does…..cost?
C’est à votre gout? Do you like it? or Is everything ok?
C’est terminé? Have you finished?
Je voudrais (nous voudrons)….I (we) would like….
Je Prends (nous prenons)…. I’m (we’re) going to have…..
Je suis …..végétarien (m)/végétarienne(f) I am a vegetarian
Je suis allérgique à…. I am allergic to…..
Je ne peut pas manger……I can’t eat….

When ordering meat or steak, the following phrases are useful:

bleu/saignant very rare (meat)
rosé rare (meat)
à point medium rare
bien cuit well done

le serveur waiter
la serveuse waitress
le/la chef cook

l’addition(f) the bill/check
le menu fixed-price meal (see above)
la carte à la carte menu or side order not included in the fixed price menu (le menu)
le pourboire tip
service compris tip included
service non compris tip not included

Bon appétit! Enjoy your meal!
Défense de fumer No Smoking
Les animaux sont interdits No pets allowed

In addition to wine, bread and cheese, which are the classics in French culinary culture, one can enjoy as many specialties as there are regions. Some of the more well-known regional dishes are:

• le boeuf bourguignon - beef stew (Burgundy)
• la bouillabaisse - fish stew (Provence)
• le cassoulet - meat and bean casserole (Languedoc)
• le coq au vin - chicken in red wine sauce
• une crêpe - very thin pancake
• un croque-monsieur - ham and cheese sandwich
• un croque-madame - ham and cheese sandwich topped with fried egg
• le foie gras - goose liver
• la piperade - tomato and bell pepper omelette (Basque)
• la pissaladière - onion and anchovy pizza (Provence)
• la salade (de) chèvre - green salad with goat cheese on toast
• la salade niçoise - mixed salad with anchovies, tuna, and hard-boiled eggs
• la soupe à l'oignon - French onion soup
• la tarte tatin - upside-down apple pie
• le boeuf bourguignon - beef stew (Burgundy)
• la bouillabaisse - fish stew (Provence)
• le cassoulet - meat and bean casserole (Languedoc)
• le coq au vin - chicken in red wine sauce
• une crêpe - very thin pancake
• un croque-monsieur - ham and cheese sandwich
• un croque-madame - ham and cheese sandwich topped with fried egg
• le foie gras - goose liver
• la piperade - tomato and bell pepper omelette (Basque)
• la pissaladière - onion and anchovy pizza (Provence)
• la salade (de) chèvre - green salad with goat cheese on toast
• la salade niçoise - mixed salad with anchovies, tuna, and hard-boiled eggs
• la soupe à l'oignon - French onion soup
• la tarte tatin - upside-down apple pie

On the other hand, if you're an adventurous eater, here are some things you might like to try:

• des abats - giblets, offal
• des algues - seaweed
• une andouillette - chitterling sausage
• des béatilles - assorted organ meats
• le boudin - blood sausage/pudding
• la cagouille - snail
• la cervelle - brains
• des civelles - spaghetti-like baby eels
• e civet - game stew thickened with blood
• la crête de coq - rooster's comb
• des cuisses de grenouille - frogs' leg
• un escargot - snail
• le foie - liver
• le gésier - gizzard
• la langue - tongue
• le rognon - kidney
• le sang - blood
• le steak tartare - made with raw, mashed beef
• la tête - head
• des tripes - tripe (stomach lining)
• le veau - veal
• la viande de cheval - horsemeat

Here are some more regional specialities:

Alsace: sauerkraut (with local cured pork), kouglof (cakes with raisins), dry white wines.
Aquitaine: duck-based foods (foie gras, breast, gizzards, confit), piperade (pepper and cooked tomato omelette), poulet basquaise (chicken cooked with tomatoes and sweet peppers), cannelé, Gascon pastis and wines of Bordeaux.
Auvergne: green lentils from Puy en Velay, truffade (potatoes, bacon and melted Cantal Tomme cheese), pounti (salty/sweet cakes stuffed with herbs and with or without prunes).
Bourgogne: escargots, beef bourguignon, fondue bourguignonne (beef cubes cooked in oil), gougère (cabbage with cheese), mustard and the famous Burgundy wines.
Brittany: crêpes and galettes, seafood, far (a sort of flan), Kouign Amann (salted butter-based cake), and cider.
Centre: Gâtinais honey
Champagne-Ardenne: boudin blanc (a type of white sausage), andouillette (chitterling) sausage from Troyes, Ardennes ham, croquignolles de Reims (small pink biscuits) and of course, champagne.
Corsica: cured pork meats, wild boar stew, Brocciu (ewe cheese), chestnut flour, citrus.
Franche-Comté: poularde aux morilles (fattened chicken with morel mushrooms), Morteau sausages, kirsch and absinthe.
Paris Ile-de-France: Meaux and Melun brie, Coulommiers (cow's milk cheese).
Languedoc-Roussillon: l'Aligot (mashed potatoes with fresh Tomme cheese), cassoulet (white beans with goose confit, garlic and pork), brandade de Nîmes (eel-based), la Gardiane (bull's meat casserole).
Limousin: tourtou (rye flour crêpe), la tête de veau (head of veal) les pomme (apples).
Lorraine: lquiche lorraine, mirabelle (sweet yellow plum also fruit brandy), beers, white wines.
Midi-Pyrénées: Cassoulet, foie gras, cured pork meats, Gascon pastis (puffed pastry, strips of apples steeped in armagnac).
Nord-Pas-de-Calais: carbonnade flamande (beer-cooked beef), Hochepot (ragoût of varied meats).
Normandy: Camembert and other cheeses, escalope de veau normande (Veal in a mushroom-cream sauce), le poulet vallée d'Auge (Calvados flambé chicken cooked in cider), andouille de Vire (chitterling sausage), la Teurgoule (rice in milk), caramel of Isigny and cider.
Picardie: la ficelle picarde (leek-stuffed crêpe), clafouti aux maroilles (cheese), le Cackruse (pork with prunes), le gâteau batu (kirsch cakes).
Pays de la Loire: les sablés nantais (Nantes short-cut pastries), berlingots (twisted, hard mint sweets).
Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur: Bouillabaisse (fish soup), anchoïade (anchovy-based cream), aïoli (garlic mayonnaise), soupe au pistou (pesto soup), fougasse (flat loaf), marzipan from Aix.
Rhône-Alpes: la fondue savoyarde (cheese cooked in white wine in which bread is soaked), quenelles (dumplings), cured pork meats.
Riviera: pissaladière (a sort of tomato and onion pizza), salade niçoise, ratatouille (mix of cooked vegetables).

• affiné – aged
• à la broche - cooked on a skewer
• à la vapeur - steamed
• à l'etouffée - stewed
• au four - baked
• bouilli - boiled
• en daube - stew, casserole
• en gelée - in aspic/gelatin
• farci - stuffed
• frit - fried
• fumé - smoked
• grillé - grilled
• haché - minced, ground (meat)
• séché - dried
• aigre - sour
• amer - bitter
• piquant - spicy
• salé - salty, savory
• sucré - sweet(ened)
• aiguillettes - long, thin slices (of meat)
• aile - wing, white meat
• aromates - seasoning
• la choucroute - sauerkraut
• crudités - raw vegetables
• cuisse - thigh, dark meat
• émincé - thin slice (of meat)
• fines herbes - sweet herbs
• un méli-mélo - assortment
• un morceau - piece
• au pistou - with basil
• la purée - mashed potatoes
• une rondelle - slice (of fruit, vegetable, sausage)
• une tranche - slice (of bread, cake, meat)
• une truffe - truffle (very expensive and rare fungus)