Useful Japanese expressions 5: Osusume wa nan desuka? (What would you recommend?)

みなさん、こんにちは！

Hi everyone! This is the photo of the Nagasaki Champon that I had when I visited Nagasaki City in Kyushu Island. It is a noodle dish with fried pork, vegetables, seafood, etc., created more than a century ago, inspired by a Chinese dish. You don't have to go all the way to Nagasaki only to eat this regional cuisine, though. At a nationwide chain restaurant Ringerhut they offer tasty Nagasaki Champon for less than 600 yen.  

When you know what you'd like to eat, there'll be no problem. You only have to say,

長崎ちゃんぽんください。　Nagasaki Champon kudasai. (Nagasaki champon,please)

But when you go into a restaurant that you happen to find and you are given a menu written all in Japanese with no photos on it, what should you do?

Today, I'll teach you how to deal with such a situation.

First of all, tell them that you can't read Japanese.

すみません。日本語が読めません。　Sumimasen. Nihongo ga yomemasen.  (Excuse me, I can't read Japanese)  

Sumimasen means "excuse me" or "I'm sorry", or even "thank you" depending on the context.
Nihongo: Japanese
Yomemasen: can not read.

Then ask them their recommendation. That's probably the easiest.

おすすめは何ですか。　Osusume wa nan desuka?  (What would you recommend?)

Osusume means recommendation, and "nan desuka?" is "What is?"

If there are ingredients you cannot eat, say as follows:

豚肉は食べられません。　Butaniku wa taberaremasen. (I cannot eat pork.)  

Butaniku is pork, and taberaremasen is "I cannot eat." You can replace butaniku with other ingredients such as 肉（niku, meat), 魚（sakana, fish) and 卵　(tamago, eggs).

When you don't feel like having what they recommended to you, you can say like this:

他はありますか。　Hoka wa arimasuka? (Do you have any other suggestions?)

"Hoka" means "other things," and "arimasuka?" is "ｄo you have?"

Enjoy!