Details

Written by IELTS Mentor

IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.

Describe a restaurant that you enjoyed going to.

You should say:

• where the restaurant was
• why you chose this restaurant
• what type of food you ate in this restaurant

and explain why you enjoyed eating in this restaurant.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

Sample Answer 1:
I do not dine in a restaurant very frequently. In fact, I prefer to eat homemade foods. However, there are some occasions when I prefer meeting people at a restaurant and like to taste the delicious menus the restaurants offer. One such restaurant is ‘Plaza de Capita Foods’ that I really like and I would like to thank you for the opportunity to talk about a great restaurant where I enjoyed going to.

I went to this restaurant a couple of weeks ago with my parents and siblings. The restaurant is situated in a large shopping mall in the city we live in and it is almost 30 minutes drive from our home. The restaurant is on the 18th floor and offers a nice open sky view.

It was my younger sister’s birthday and we planned prior to the occasion to celebrate this special day outside. As part of our whole day plan, we ate "dinner" at this restaurant. My father also liked the way the restaurant offers an excellent dining experience at a moderately cheaper price. So from our previsous experience, we decided to revisit this restaurant for this special occassion.

We ate the buffet and that included almost 40 items in total. I remember eating around 8-9 items while my parents ate far less that that. But my younger brother John enjoyed more than 20 items. Side note: He did not eat all the items. He just tasted many of them!

The common items we ate included fried rice, sandwiches, fried chicken, curry chicken, cheese and onion rolls, seafood platter, garlic bread, prawns and ice cream. The restaurant offers an excellent view as well as a nice decoration. It was a perfect place to enjoy our dinner and they offered a free birthday cake! I loved the way they served the foods and the overall price was reasonable. It was my younger sister’s birthday and the dinner could not have been better!

Model Answer 2:

Introduction:
Eating out is one of my favourite activities, especially when it comes to trying out new restaurants. Today, I would like to talk about a restaurant that I particularly enjoyed going to.

Where the restaurant was:
The restaurant I am going to describe is located in the heart of the city centre, near the main square. It is a small and cosy restaurant that is always crowded, especially during peak hours.

Why you chose this restaurant:
I first heard about this restaurant from a friend who highly recommended it for their authentic cuisine. I was curious to taste their food and decided to visit it with my partner on a weekend evening.

What type of food you ate in this restaurant:
The restaurant served Italian cuisine, with a focus on homemade pasta and wood-fired pizzas. We ordered a couple of dishes, including a margherita pizza, a pasta with bolognese sauce, and a side of garlic bread. The pizza was perfectly cooked with a crispy crust, and the pasta was al dente, cooked just right. The bolognese sauce was flavourful and the garlic bread was fresh and warm.

And explain why you enjoyed eating in this restaurant:
What I enjoyed the most about this restaurant was the cosy and welcoming atmosphere. The staff was friendly and accommodating, and the decor was tastefully done. Additionally, the food was freshly prepared and served hot, which made the experience even more enjoyable. The restaurant also had a good selection of drinks and deserts. In my opinion, it was a wonderful experience, and I look forward to visiting this restaurant again.

Sample Answer 3:

Introduction:
Bangkok is famous for its mouth-watering street food, but it also has a great selection of restaurants from all over the world. One of my favourite restaurants in Bangkok is a Chinese restaurant called Baiyoke Sky. I'd like to talk about it in more detail.

Where the restaurant was: 
Baiyoke Sky restaurant is located on the 81st floor of the Baiyoke Sky Tower in Bangkok. This tower is one of the tallest buildings in Thailand, and the view from the top is simply breathtaking.

Why you chose this restaurant:
I chose this restaurant because of its reputation for serving delicious Chinese food. I had heard a lot of positive reviews about the restaurant from my friends, so I decided to give it a try.

What type of food you ate in this restaurant: 
I ordered some dumplings, sweet and sour chicken, and stir-fried vegetables with rice. The dumplings were absolutely delicious, with a perfectly cooked filling and a thin, delicate skin. The sweet and sour chicken had a perfect balance of sweetness and sourness, and the vegetables were fresh and crunchy.

And explain why you enjoyed eating in this restaurant: 
Apart from the great food, I enjoyed the ambience of the restaurant. The interior decor was very elegant, with traditional Chinese lanterns and artwork on the walls. The staff were also very friendly and attentive, and they made sure that we were comfortable throughout our meal. But the highlight of the experience was definitely the view from the restaurant. We had a panoramic view of the city from the top of the tower, and it was absolutely breathtaking, especially at night. It was truly a memorable dining experience that I would recommend to anyone visiting Bangkok.

Sample Answer 4:
I am not a foodie but I do not miss the chances of having some delicious meals when I travel. Last January, I went to Yangon for some business purposes and had my meals at a restaurant named Le Planteur, a gorgeous restaurant. It was a nice experience for me.

This is a posh restaurant. Le Planteur is located at the University Avenue under Bahan Township in Yangon. This is a large fine restaurant in the city and comes with a great number of delicious food menus. Besides, the representation of the foods was another impressive aspect of this restaurant. Pricing is comparatively reasonable than the other contemporary restaurants in the city. It is accessible by all available means as it is located in the city centre. I took my lunch and supper in the restaurant during my stay in Yangon and I am highly glad about their service.    

I am a sales manager for a multinational computer hardware manufacturer and I work mostly in Malaysia. The authority has opened a new branch in Yangon and I was sent from Malaysia to diagnose a test about the success rate of our products. So, it was a business trip for me. But I was also accompanied by some other colleagues of mine from a different department. In fact, we were seven in number altogether. The regional manager was with us in line with the other managers. Actually, the managers of various departments, including me, participated in the tour. The accommodation was good but the foods were great. I have a habit of doing some homework before moving to a new place. I try to learn about the best living arrangements, foods, convenient routes and other issues. Accordingly, I was asked to sort out a standard restaurant for dining purposes.

The restaurant offered a wide number of courses including lobsters, fish menus, desserts and more others. But I liked the traditional meal of Yangon most than any other things in the restaurants. Besides, I loved the dessert prepared with some local ingredients. On the other side, my other companions took some of the foreign dishes available in the restaurant. The bistro menu was the top quality dish that they highly praised. The restaurant also had the opportunity to take candlelight dinner in a romantic environment which was really appealing to us all. We wanted to have a candle light dinner but discarded the idea because that was unsuitable for us. Instead of such ideas, we concentrated on having the best quality meals in the restaurant and really enjoyed our foods.  

This was a very good restaurant from many aspects. Firstly, it is located at a convenient location. The restaurant is accessible from any part of the city. This is a splendid restaurant considering the foods it offers to the visitors. There are a large collection of foods and you can have it based on your taste. Pricing is not an issue here. In fact, the food prices are far cheaper than the other restaurants while the service belongs to the top class. I also loved the interior decoration and seating arrangements. The restaurant authority is highly efficient and serves the foods shortly after ordereding. So, I was in love with the restaurant and took all of my meals excluding the breakfast in that place. 

Part 3 – Two-way discussion:

Discussion Topic: Restaurants

Q. Why do you think people go to restaurants when they want to celebrate something?
Q. Which are more popular in your country: fast food restaurants or traditional restaurants? Why do you think that is?
Q. Some people say that food in an expensive restaurant is always better than food in a cheap restaurant – would you agree?

Discussion Topic: Producing Food 

Q. Do you think there will be a greater choice of food available in shops in the future, or will there be less choice?
Q. What effects has modern technology had on the way food is produced?
Q. How important is it for a country to be able to grow all the food it needs, without importing any from other countries?
 

Discussion Topic: Restaurants

Q. Why do you think people go to restaurants when they want to celebrate something?
Answer: In my opinion, restaurants probably are one of the most popular public places, where all kinds of people can visit with the most ease. And it is probably this high level of “ease”, and the absence of an “uncomfortable feeling” for many of being stuck in a private place, that makes restaurants a perfect place to celebrate a special occasion or event. Besides, it is just not always possible to accommodate and serve so many guests together in a private place, like a home or office, because of the lack of logistic support and other things, which is usually not the case with restaurants. Finally, people often want to indulge themselves with the menus that are served at a restaurant to satisfy their taste buds and decide to celebrate an event at a restaurant.  

Q. Which are more popular in your country: fast food restaurants or traditional restaurants? Why do you think that is?
Answer: There is no doubt that fastfood restaurants are gaining huge popularity steadily, but traditional restaurants are still, by far, the more popular food outlet of the two in our country. There could be a number of reasons that attribute to the popularity of the traditional restaurants, but I will just mention two of those reasons here: the first reason, of course, traditional foods, more often than not, are generally more healthy and tasty. The second reason is that the traditional foods, surprisingly in many cases, are cheaper than that of the fastfood restaurants.

Q. Some people say that food in an expensive restaurant is always better than food in a cheap restaurant – would you agree?
Answer: If the word “better” in the question here means that the foods at an expensive restaurant are always delicious and healthy, then I will just have to disagree with the substance of this question. After all, the quality of foods, be it served at an expensive restaurant or a cheap one, doesn’t depend on how much exactly is charged for the foods, but on how fresh or good the raw materials really are, and how they are cooked or prepared on a given day. From my experince, I can say that, several times, I have tasted far better food in a moderate restaurant while I could not enjoy my food in a highly expensive restaurant. 
 

Discussion Topic: Producing Food 

Q. Do you think there will be a greater choice of food available in shops in the future, or will there be less choice?
Answer:  Well, I do think that markets and shops will serve a greater choice of foods in the future as the taste and preferences of people always keep changing, not only with regard to the foods, but also with many other things. Besides, foods are something which we have to have on a regular basis to survive, and sometimes, it just may not always be possible to grow or have the same kinds of foods or food grains because of the changes in the weather system or market trends. And so, it is only natural that people will try to find different types of foods to meet their demands. Finally, global trade agreements and technological development will make it possible to import foods, fruits, and grains from all around the world, giving consumers a much wider choice. 

Q. What effects has modern technology had on the way food is produced?
Answer: Well, for better or worse, technology has changed the way we live and produce the things that we may need. In fact, it is because of the food engineering technologies today, like genetic modification of foods, that we have managed to produce a rather large quantity of foods within a short period of time. Besides, by using these modern technologies, things like food preservation, processing, packaging and distribution have always become relatively easy and effective as far as the issue of using safe foods is concerned. 

Q. How important is it for a country to be able to grow all the food it needs, without importing any from other countries?
Answer: It is very important that a country is able to grow all the foods without importing anything from other countries because it would ensure some kind of food security for its own citizens. Besides, such schemes would also help a country gain even more financially and economically by opening doors to more economic activities and creating better job opportunities for its own citizens. Finally, it will also stop a country from falling victim to more powerful nations – powerful nations who might use the supply of foods as a “weapon” - at a time of international conflict. However, practically speaking, it is not feasible for most countries in the world to grow and produce all the fooods they need, which means importing foods and grains will always be an important aspect.

Similar Cue Card Topics

Your ability to talk about this Cue Card would enable you to talk about the following Cue Cards as well:

1. Describe a restaurant you often visit. 
2. Describe a popular restaurant in your hometown.
3. Describe a place you often go to.
4. Describe a place where you meet your friends often.

• IELTS Cue Card
• IELTS Speaking
• Candidate Task Card

• Prev
• Next