Big Meal Scene 1

Stephen and Ashlie visit Chinatown to look for some cooking tips.

Do the Preparation task first. Then watch the video. Next go to Task and do the activity. If you need help, you can read the Transcript at any time.

Preparation

Before you watch

Think about the following questions:

What do you do to celebrate your birthday?
Do you enjoy eating unusual foods?
Do you like to cook?

Now, watch Stephen and Ashlie as they enjoy the taste of Chinatown.

Transcript

Stephen: Hi there. This is China Town, right in the centre of London. This is one of London’s most exciting areas. The streets are full of Chinese shops, Chinese restaurants and markets.

Ashlie: It’s my birthday today and we have got some friends coming over to ours tonight for a special meal and Stephen has kindly agreed to cook us all some Chinese food.

Stephen: And hopefully today, I’ll be picking up some great cooking tips and some fresh ingredients.

......

Ashlie: Wow! This place is amazing. Look at this, Stephen. I don’t even know what half of this stuff is.

Stephen: Yeah - what do you think this is?

Ashlie: I don’t know, but I hope you’re getting some ideas for the meal tonight.

Stephen: Yeah, absolutely. I’m getting great ideas for tonight. Come on, I know a great restaurant that does really good Dim Sum.

Ashlie: Dim Sum. What’s Dim Sum?

......

Ashlie: This looks incredible. Is this what you’re planning to cook tonight, Stephen?

Stephen: Let’s go inside and try a few things.

Ashlie: Hmmm. I can’t wait to try some of these amazing dishes.

Stephen: Come on. Let’s see if it tastes as good as it looks.

.....

Stephen: Wow. I’d love to know how they cook this stuff. Do you think they’d let me visit the kitchen? I’d love to meet the chef.

Ashlie: Let’s ask the waiter. Excuse me?

Waitress: Yes. Welcome to the Golden Harvest. Can I help you?

Ashlie: Everything is fabulous, in fact the food is excellent.

Waiter: Thank you.

Stephen: I wonder if you could do me a favour. I need some help.

Waiter: Yes, sure.

Stephen: I have to cook a special Chinese meal tonight and I was wondering if I could go to the kitchen and meet the chef.

Waiter: Do you want to meet the chef?

Stephen: I wanted to ask the chef a few questions. You know - get a few tips on how to cook Chinese food.

Waiter: Ah, yes, sure. He’s very busy but let me see if he’s got the time to talk to you.

Stephen: Thank you very much indeed.

......

Stephen: Hello, thank you for seeing me.

Chef: How you do, Sir, thank you.

Stephen: I was wondering if you could give me a few quick tips on how to cook Chinese food.

Chef: Yeah, to cook Chinese food, one, you must have a very good chef.

Stephen: The chef is very important.

Chef: Very important.

Stephen: And number two?

Chef: And number two, the food must be fresh.

Stephen: Fresh ingredients.

Chef: Yes, fresh ingredients.

Stephen: And what are we going to cook today?

Chef: Today we’ll cook Kung fu lobster.

Stephen: Kung fu lobster.

......

Stephen thinks: "A take away menu... this might come in handy later."

......

Stephen: That was great. Really interesting and a bit scary! I learned a lot and you know what? I’ve got a list of all the ingredients that I need for tonight’s meal.

Ashlie: Well, you have no excuses now. I’m expecting the perfect meal tonight. Come on, let’s finish the shopping. So you can get home and do the cooking.

......

Ashlie: So is that everything, then?

Stephen: Let me see, garlic, noodles, lobster, mushrooms - yep. That’s everything.

Ashlie: Except one thing.

Stephen: What’s that?

Ashlie: A chicken foot.

Stephen: Ugh!

Task 1

Exercise

Task 2

Exercise

Discussion

Which do you prefer: eating out in a restaurant or eating at home?
Chinese food is popular in the UK. What foreign foods are popular in your country?

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Language level

B1 Intermediate

B2 Upper intermediate

Topics

food and drink

I personally prefer to eat at home because I think that the food at home tastes better than in some restaurants. My family and I don't go to restaurants very often, although there are good ones in our region. In Austria you can eat nearly everything. I think that Chinese and Italian food are the most popular foreign foods.

I prefer to eat in a restaurant, because you don't have to do any things. The waiter asks you which food you want to have and then it gets cooked for you. It's very comfortable if you are too lazy to cook on your own. Of course it's more expensive than cooking at home but there is no need to do anything. In my country, in Austria there is a lot of foreign food: Greek, Turkish, Mexican, Italian and also Chinese. That's very good because you can taste everything you want. My personal favourite food is Greek, it taste very different and there is always something that you haven't eaten yet.

I personally cannot decide whether I prefer to eat at home or in a restaurant. Sometimes I like fast food and sometimes not. Since in Austria american, italian and chinese food is very common, you can eat everyday something different. However, I usually eat at home, because the food tastes really good and I know what´s inside. There are also many meals that you can make yourself and that don´t require much effort. For special occasions I also like to go to a restaurant.

I prefer eating at home because it's more comfortable than in the restaurant, but sometimes when we don't want to cook, we visit a restaurant or we bring it home to us. We also love the Chinese food in Austria, but we also like the Italian or the Mexican food. Of course, you can't say Austrians like a special food because everyone has his own taste! I personally like the Chinese food very much. It's very diverse and tastes really good.

I prefer eating at home because I like cooking my food myself so I can make it just the way I like it, additionally I prefer eating at home because I can take all the time in the world eating my meal. But I don't dislike eating out because there is a far broader selection and the meals usually taste better because they are cooked by professionals. In Austria Italian and Mexican food is very popular. Chinese, Japanese and Mongolian restaurants are also very popular

I prefer to eat in a restaurant and that for a simple reason. After a long day of school/work you can take a rest while sitting in the restaurant and waiting for some other to make it for you. Ofcourse it's way more expensive then cooking your own food but at all it's more pleasant. I'm living in Austria and in Austria is Turkish food really popular especially "kebab" and Italian food is also really popular. Austria is a country with alot of foreign food and i'm happy about to have a choice.

I personally like eating at home because its more comfortable. When you eat at a resturant, you need to wait until the waiter comes to you so you can order your food. It probably also takes longer to wait for the food because in a resturant a lot of people are ordering food. In Austria turkish food like Kebap or Köftespieß are very appreciated.

I prefer to eat at home because it is much more comfortable and you also know which ingredients were used in the food, it is also a lot cheaper than eating or ordering. Chinese and Turkish food is very common in my country, but Italian restaurants can also be found without any problems

I prefer eating at home because my mom always wanted to be a cook and she can make meals like a professional cook. We don't have to worry about food in our home because there is plenty to eat. But if I have to decide where I'd have to eat, I'd decide to go to an exotic restaurant just like Stephen and Ashlie because I love chinese / exotic food. My favourite meals are noodles and chicken. That's why i love chinese restaurants so much because it's the perfect place for noodles and chicken. In my country people prefer normal food like sandwiches, pizzas, sausages, just the usual stuff. But I don't eat chinese food only, like i said my mom can make good meals. Her speacialties are Pumpkin soup and dumplings with special meat sauce. In my school-break time i usually have bread with salami because i don't think it's neseccary to eat a lot in school.

Hello sponge

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Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Big Meal Scene 1

Preparation

Before you watch

Transcript

Transcript

Task 1

Task 2

Discussion

Language level

Topics

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