【英国流行文化】‘Dining out’出外或留家用膳? 英伦的餐馆文化

来源：英国总领事馆文化教育处 2011-03-15 12:19

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‘Dining out’, or ‘eating out’, are phrases people use in Britain when they eat in a restaurant or a pub. Eating out is more popular in Britain today than it has ever been. In 2006, for the first time ever, British people spent more on eating out in restaurants and pubs than on cooking for themselves. It seems that many British people are becoming increasingly interested in how good their food tastes, and also how healthy it is.

英国人下馆子或去酒吧吃东西会用到dining out, eating out这两个短语。现在的英国人比以往任何时候都要喜欢出去吃。2006年，英国人去餐馆吃饭的次数首次高于自己下厨的次数。看来多数英国人越来越注重食物的口味和健康程度了。

However, eating out can also be expensive. Restaurants are normally more expensive than pubs, though many pubs serve very good, simple food. As we Brits do not dine out every night of the week, eating in a restaurant is often seen as a special occasion. When going on a first date and wanting to impress him or her, or if celebrating (an) anniversary or a birthday, then many people like to go to a restaurant to eat, people often eat in a restaurant before going to the cinema or the theatre.

但出去吃很贵，饭店的价格一般高于那些小馆子，当然许多酒馆卖的东西简单又美味。英国人也不是每天晚上都出去吃的，因此去饭店吃饭就显得格外隆重。如果你想初次约会想给对方留下好印象，又或者你想庆祝什么纪念日或生日，那多半会去饭店吃，而且通常是去饭店吃完饭后继续去看电影或去剧院。

As in all cultures, there are many rules of etiquette surrounding food and eating, and nowhere is this more pronounced than when eating in a smart restaurant! People are almost always expected to eat with a knife and fork and these should be held in the correct hand and used in the correct way! It is also impolite to have your elbows on the dining table when you are eating.

许多文化中围绕食物和吃都有很多规矩礼仪，而在高级餐厅用餐的礼仪就不言自明了。在这里，吃饭都要用到刀叉，刀叉的握法和用法又有很多讲究。而且在用餐时把手肘放在餐桌上是不礼貌的行为。

There are many such ‘unspoken’ rules – they are normally only important when eating in a very posh restaurant, and vary slightly from restaurant to restaurant and place to place. A recent nationwide survey of 2,231 people showed that there was a divide in manners between the north and south of Britain – the ‘worst’ manners were in Scotland and the north-east, and the ‘best’ in Wales and the south-east! However, this survey was almost certainly conducted by someone in the south-east, so it may not be entirely impartial!

此外还有很多不成文的规矩，而这些规矩恰恰是在高级餐厅吃饭时必须注意的，并且不同的餐厅之间还会有些小差异。最近英国范围内的一项2231人参与的调查显示，英国南北区的举止规范有差异，苏格兰以及东北地区被评为”最差“地区，威尔士和东南地区”最佳“。当然，这项调查肯定是东南地区的人做的，不可能不带半点低于偏袒。

Naturally, restaurants vary greatly in quality, and price. However, almost all British cities have a vast range of food and culinary styles to choose from as well as traditional British food, and all from the very cheap to the very expensive – French, Italian, Indian, Greek, Thai, Japanese and many, many more. In fact, when asked what their favourite food is, more British people say an Indian curry than any other dish!

显然不同餐厅的品质不同，价位也有高低，但几乎在英国所有城市都找的到各种各样的美食料理，有传统英式菜式，也有来自世界各地从便宜到昂贵的料理，法国菜，印度菜，希腊、泰国、日本料理等等。但真要是被问到最喜欢吃什么，英国人多数会回答喜欢他们最喜欢印度咖喱。

As well as dining in a restaurant, when people are too tired to cook after work they often get a ‘take-away’. This means that they order from a take-away (or take-out) restaurant by phone, and then go to collect it and take it home to eat. Many take-out restaurants also deliver to your house (if you are especially tired, or lazy!). Whilst you can normally find a take-out restaurant for almost any cuisine, the most popular are pizza (Italian), Indian and Chinese – and all you have to do is open the door, pay and eat!

工作了一天的人们通常不太爱自己下厨，于是选择下馆子，也经常会买外卖”take-away“。也就是打个电话到外卖餐馆预订，然后取回来带回家吃。还有很多外卖餐馆会送餐到家（要是你实在是累得够呛，或是够懒的话）。通常外卖餐馆什么都有，最吃香的当属披萨饼（意式），印度菜和中餐，你只要打开门、付个钱就可以大快朵颐了。