SpaceDaily life · Café
How to order coffee in JapaneseA short café conversation, from the welcome to choosing a size
When you step up to the counter, one sentence is enough to order. This article walks through a real café exchange, then shows how to swap in the drink and size you want.
· 4 min read
Start with this line
アイスカフェラテを一つお願いします。
Aisu kafe rate o hitotsu onegaishimasu. — One iced café latte, please.
To order something else, replace アイスカフェラテ (iced café latte) with the drink on the menu.
What you hear first: いらっしゃいませ
Staff greet you with いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase, “welcome”) as you come in or reach the counter. It is a greeting from the shop, so you don’t need to say it back. A nod or a smile is a natural reply.
Next you may hear ご注文はお決まりですか？ (go-chūmon wa o-kimari desu ka?), “Have you decided what you’d like?” Staff use very polite Japanese like this, but you don’t have to match it. Ending with お願いします (onegaishimasu, “please”) is polite enough.
The whole conversation
Space’s “Order a café latte” lesson is this short exchange between the staff and a customer. Read it once with the English, then try saying the customer’s lines.
Staffいらっしゃいませ。ご注文はお決まりですか？Irasshaimase. Go-chūmon wa o-kimari desu ka?
Welcome. Have you decided what you would like to order?
Youはい、アイスカフェラテを一つお願いします。Hai, aisu kafe rate o hitotsu onegaishimasu.
Yes, one iced café latte, please.
Staffサイズはいかがなさいますか？Saizu wa ikaga nasaimasu ka?
What size would you like?
YouMサイズでお願いします。Emu saizu de onegaishimasu.
A medium, please.
The romanized readings are added for this article. In the lesson, you read each line in Japanese with its English translation.
LISTEN & TRY
Hear the conversation
This is the same audio as the Space lesson, about ten seconds long. Listen once, then play it again and say the customer’s lines along with it.
If the audio doesn’t play here, you can still read and hear the conversation in the lesson below.
Build your own order
The customer’s line has three parts you can reuse: the drink, how many, and お願いします.
- アイスカフェラテ (aisu kafe rate) — the drink. Café menus in Japan often write drinks in katakana, so ホットコーヒー (hotto kōhī, hot coffee) works the same way.
- を (o) — marks the thing you are asking for.
- 一つ (hitotsu) — one. For two drinks, say 二つ (futatsu).
- お願いします (onegaishimasu) — please.
So two hot coffees would be ホットコーヒーを二つお願いします。 (Hotto kōhī o futatsu onegaishimasu.)
Choosing a size
When the staff ask サイズはいかがなさいますか？, say the size and add でお願いします (de onegaishimasu), “I’ll have it in…, please.” Many cafés use S, M and L, read as エス (esu), エム (emu) and エル (eru). Some chains use their own size names, so follow the menu.
If you didn’t catch it, or don’t know the word
- もう一度お願いします。 (Mō ichido onegaishimasu.) — Once more, please.
- これをお願いします。 (Kore o onegaishimasu.) — This one, please. Point at the menu as you say it.
You may also be asked 店内でお召し上がりですか？ (Tennai de o-meshiagari desu ka?), whether you are having it in the shop. Reply はい (hai) to stay, or 持ち帰りで (mochikaeri de) for takeaway. What staff ask, and in what order, differs from shop to shop.
Practice one line at a time
- Listen to the conversation once.
- Say アイスカフェラテを一つお願いします。 with your own drink.
- When that feels easy, add the size line.
You don’t need to memorize the staff’s polite questions. Knowing roughly what they mean is enough to answer.
The conversation and its audio come from Space’s published lesson. The extra phrases and romanized readings are added for this article and have no audio. Choose your words to suit the shop and the situation.