When you travel to a foreign country, one of the most important things to do is eat some amazing, authentic, and insta-worthy food. Unless you’re fluent in the native language, getting hit with a menu full of strange words and letters can be a nightmare, and spending 20 minutes trying to decipher the menu on google translate just makes you look…well, pretty sad. Luckily for you, if you happen to be eating in Spain-I’ve got you covered. Here are the Top 10 most important and easy things you should know to eat out in Spain:
1. Comer and Beber
The first thing anyone needs to know are the words “to eat” and “to drink”. If you’re ever out and hear “comer”, your waiter is probably asking what you want to eat. Same with “beber”, which means to drink.
2. Afuera and Dentro
Spain has beautiful cities that make gorgeous backdrops to restaurants. Sitting outside on a beautiful terrace for brunch can be so much fun, but what if you don’t know how to ask? “Afuera” means outside, and if there is availability, the host will automatically escort you out to a table. Same goes with “dentro”, which means inside
3. Vino
It’s no secret that the drinking age in Spain is 18. So, if you find yourself across the pond and are of legal age, why not take advantage of a few drinks while you can? Whether at a nice restaurant or a café, it’s always fun to drink something that better compliments your food and that you can’t get every day in the states. With the simple word “vino”, a wine menu will be brought out without a missing beat. From here you pretty much can’t go wrong, as both vino blanco y vino tinto (white wine and red wine) go well with just about anything on any Spanish menu.
4. Tapas
Tapas are a huge aspect of the food scene in Spain. They are basically small meals to share, usually with two or three people, that can serve as appetizers or as a meal on its own. Most restaurants have huge tapas sections listed, and can range from potato plates, shrimp or other seafood, types of bruschetta, or other meats. No matter what you order, it’s going to be authentic and amazing.
5. Ibérico
What a lot of people don’t know about Spain is that Spain and Portugal put together are known as the “Iberian Peninsula”. On a menu, you might find “Jamón Ibérica” which translates to Iberian ham. This only means that the meat is fresh from the same peninsula and hasn’t been imported from America or another place in Europe.
6. Carne and Pescado
Every lunch and dinner menu is going to have a tapas section. But often times, there will be other main plates you can order listed on another page. These are usually labeled under “carne” and “pescado”. Carne translates to meat, and most of these dishes will be steak, ham, or other chicken dishes. Pescado, on the other hand, translates to fish, and you can find salmon, tuna, or other white fish commonly listed as options underneath.
7. Plancha
A lot of food in Spain comes out fried. It tastes great, but after your second or third meal of fried food you start feeling pretty rough. “Plancha” means grilled, and many times you can order something followed by the word “plancha” (such as pescado or carne and it will come out way healthier and taste just as good.
8. Picar
In most Spanish scenarios, the verb “picar” translates to “to chop”. However, it also means “to snack on”. The bar scene in Spain is huge, and it’s always nice to have something to nibble on when downing your third gin and tonic. If your bartender comes up to you and you hear the word “picar”, just respond with “Sí, gracias”. More often than not, they probably asked if you want to snack on anything and will bring you an assortment of chips, nuts or even gummy bears.
9. Agua sin gas
Although you might think water is a universally simple request, almost all restaurants in Spain offer both flat and carbonated water. Personally, I strongly dislike being brought carbonated water when I wanted flat water, and some places will purposefully bring you carbonated water to charge you more on the bill. “Agua sin gas” translates to “water without gas” and will let your waiter know you would like flat water. The opposite of this would be “agua con gas.”
10. La cuenta
If there’s one thing to know about eating out in Europe, it’s to know how to ask for the check. In most European countries, you can find yourself spending three or more hours on a dinner that normally would take less than 45 minutes. It’s more of an event (a marathon in my opinion), and in order to cross that finish line you better know how to request the bil. “La cuenta por favor” simply means “check please”, but even when you ask it, don’t expect it to come for at least another 20-25 minutes.
No matter what you find to eat in Spain, you almost can't go wrong. And now that you've had a crash course in the restaurant lingo, hopefully you'll feel more confident to try something new.