Taiwan Mandarin ！

How do you order breakfast in Taiwan in Chinese? Say 我要一份蛋餅，和一杯豆漿，謝謝 — the pattern is 我要 + 一份 + food — and expect the owner to ask whether you want your soy milk hot or iced (冰的，還是熱的).

A beginner-level reading lesson in Taiwanese Mandarin (台灣華語) — not Mainland Chinese. Follow a first-time order at a real 早餐店 (breakfast shop), a small-business institution that’s distinctly Taiwanese in both its menu and its etiquette. You’ll pick up 蛋餅 (dan bing), 豆漿 (soy milk), and the everyday ordering phrase 我要 — inside a real sentence, not a vocabulary list.

錄音 the Audio

文章 The Text

今天早上八點半，我肚子很餓。我決定去巷口那家早餐店。老闆娘看到我，笑著問：「今天要吃什麼？」

我看著菜單，想了一下，說：「我要一份蛋餅，和一杯豆漿，謝謝。」

她問我：「豆漿要冰的，還是熱的？」我說：「熱的，謝謝。」

大約等了五分鐘，蛋餅就好了。老闆娘把餐點放進袋子裡，說：「這樣一共五十五元。」

我付了錢，我對她說謝謝，然後拿著早餐走去公車站。蛋餅還熱熱的，聞起來很香。

單字 Vocabulary

中文	Pinyin	English
蛋餅	dàn bǐng	Taiwanese egg crepe (breakfast food)
豆漿	dòu jiāng	soy milk
我要	wǒ yào	I want / I’ll have
一份	yí fèn	one order / one portion
老闆娘	lǎo bǎn niáng	female shop owner / boss’s wife
一共	yí gòng	in total

翻譯 Translation

It’s 8:30 in the morning. I’m hungry, so I decide to go to the breakfast shop at the end of the alley. The owner sees me and asks with a smile, “What are you having today?”

I look at the menu, think for a second, and say, “I’ll have an omelette,and a soy milk, thanks.”

She asks, “Iced or hot soy milk?” I say, “Hot, please.”

About five minutes later, my dan bing is ready. The owner puts everything in a bag and says, “That’ll be fifty-five NT.”

I pay, thank her, and walk off toward the bus stop with my breakfast. The dan bing is still warm, and it smells great.

Notice This

1. 我要 is your workhorse phrase. It’s the go-to way to order anything in Taiwan — direct without being rude. Tack on a 謝謝 at the end and you’ll sound like a regular, not a tourist.
2. 早餐店 is a distinctly Taiwanese institution. These small, family-run breakfast shops selling 蛋餅, 饅頭, and 豆漿 aren’t quite the same thing as the street breakfast stalls you’d find in Mainland China — different menu, different rhythm, different vibe.
3. 老闆娘 is how you address the woman running a small shop — respectful, warm, and very commonly heard in everyday Taiwanese life.

Try It Yourself

試試看：用「我要一份___，謝謝」點一份你喜歡的早餐。

Try it yourself: order your favorite breakfast item using the pattern 我要一份 + [food] + ，謝謝。