Question

Work with a partner. Read this article and discuss the questions for:
1.your own country 2. other countries you visit

Tips for Travellers: Eating out

In many countries,the restaurant-not the office-is the real place for business
So make sure you can answer these questions before your next trip abroad.
1. What do you eat for Lunch or dinner in your country?
2. Are there any special or local dishes?
3. Is it normal to dring alcohol?
4. How many courses are there?
5. Who pays the bill?
6. What is the tip in most restaurants?0%?10%?20%?

Answer 1

I live in Moscow which is the capital of Russia. There are a lot of different restaurants in Moscow with international cuisine. However, I canot say that here people are doing their business in restaurants. I would say that real businessmen prefer to have their own furnished, equipped and well-designed offices with a number of employees there. They invite their business partners to the office for negotiations. I think our businessmen consider that their office is their face.

I haven't been to many places but in respect of the USA I can say that restaurants are really popular there and people prefer discuss business in restaurants. Businessmen have meetings and negotiations in restaurants. Sometimes such negotiations last too long and in that case people just have lunch and continue talking.

1. For lunch I usually have soup, second course (meat or fish with potato or spaghetti or rice, etc.) and drink kompot (a non-alcoholic drink made by boiling fruit in water). Sometimes I eat salad as well. For dinner I usually have a sandwich of a piece of cake and drink tea. I try to make it light.
2. Yes, Russians have a special cuisine. Our favourite soup is borsch (a hearty soup made with julienned beetroot, which gives it a burgundy or purple color, beef broth, cabbage, and meat). We also like pelmeni (a pastry dumpling typically filled with meat).
3. It is normal to drink alcohol for dinner. During the day we try to avoid it.
4. There are three course there. Salad, the first couse (soup) and the second course (meat or fish with potato or spaghetti or rice, etc.) Sometimes there is a third course which is some drink (kompot, kvas, juice, tea or coffee).
5. If it is a business lunch the bill maybe paid by the initiator of the meeting or by all participants themselves. If it is a meeting of friends they pay for themselves. If a man invites a woman for dinner usually he pays a bill.
6. In most restaurants the tip is 10%. Some restaurants include services in the bill. In this case the tips come to 7%.