[General] How does it taste?

[Silverobama]

The following conversation took place in a restaurant.

Silver: How does it taste? (I pointed to a Sichuan dish)
Waiter: Salty.
Silver: Can you make it mild and less salty?
Waiter: Sure.

Is it natural?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

The following conversation took place in a restaurant.

Silver: How does it taste? (I pointed to a Sichuan dish.)
Waiter: Salty.
Silver: Can you make it mild and less salty?
Waiter: Sure.

Is it natural?

The English is natural.

The questions and answers are all unlikely here, but they might be standard where you live.

 

[emsr2d2]

Did you actually point at a dish (the food itself) or to the name of the dish on a menu?

 

[Silverobama]

Did you actually point at a dish (the food itself) or to the name of the dish on a menu?

I pointed at the menu, the name of the dish. My friend told me some dishes in the restaurant are salty.

I've finished reading your comments. I have one question. Let's say I ate in a restaurant last week and the food was a bit salty. I then told the manager there and he said that's how the food is cooked and some other dishes are salty. Today I went to the restaurant again and I wanted to order some other dishes. I asked the waiter to tell the cook:

Can you make the dishes less salty and mild?

Is my question natural?

 

[jutfrank]

Mildness has nothing to do with saltiness. Remove that part.

Can you make the dishes less salty?

Regardless of culture, I think any chef would find such a request offensive. Don't tell a professional how to do his job. If you don't like the food, go somewhere else.

 

[emsr2d2]

I pointed at the menu - the name of the dish. My friend told me some dishes [strike]in[/strike] at the restaurant are salty.

I've finished reading your comments. I have one question. Let's say I ate [strike]in[/strike] at a restaurant last week and the food was a bit salty. I then told the manager there and he said that's how the food is cooked and some other dishes are salty. Today, I went to the restaurant again and I wanted to order some other dishes. I asked the waiter to tell the cook:

Can you make the dishes less salty and milder?

Is my question natural?

Note my corrections above. If you say "less salty and mild", the chef might think you want it to be "less salty and less mild" (less salty but more spicy). By using "milder", they will know you want it to be milder than usual.

 

[Tdol]

How about milder?

 

[emsr2d2]

How about milder?

See post #6, both in the quote and in my comments. ;-)