When abroad, in a non-English speaking bar, what would your order be?

Five years ago I got the opportunity to take part in the May 8th Ceremonies in Antwerp, Belgium. We were being taken care of by the May 8th Committee because my grandfather lost his life just outside the city. Some of the gentleman we were with were surprised to hear that I didn’t like beer. On our last day we were at a bar and they slid a red drink towards me with very large grins. “Try it”, they said and I did. I loved it. They had found some cherry beer and it was delicious.

Whatever I recognized that I could point to . . .

I was in Switzerland and ordered a bottle of Budweiser. It was twelve dollars.

In the morning we took the train to France so I could afford to get properly drunk.

I enjoy and like to learn about the local culture. So I would want to have whatever that is.
Call that experimental or simply open to new things.
The most expensive was more than likely because of it being over priced because of where I was.
My favorite Chimay Ale is only available in a 750mL size, so that makes having one more costly than normal.
I would more than likely say the most expensive was a bottle of wine near $200.

The stories are there, but I don’t kiss and tell.

Coca cola.

[Edit: You want stories? This recovered alcoholic has too many stories.]

I would order them to “speak English.” Then I’d give them a drink order.

I would order a locally made beer or wine.

Gin-tonic with extra lime. The same drink everywhere, the world over.

Except… the bar we drank at in India back in July that didn’t have “tonic water”. So I ordered a gin-and-soda. Gahhh! That’s a mistake I’ll never make again.

I would prefer to try something new. After all, if you have travelled to a different country, with a unique culture, the difference was probably part of the allure.

I always looked up the country’s words for beer, please and thank you. That covered the basics.
Stories? Too many to tell. Okay, one little one. In Italy we decided we ought to try grappa. We bought one glass of the most expensive and one of the cheapest. My husband thought they both tasted like kerosene. I couldn’t tell them apart but liked both and drank them both. I slept very well that night.

As far as beer goes, I’ll try anything, especially if it’s not American lol.

I don’t drink cocktails when I go out. It’s wine or beer and if I’m out with friends and it’s that kind of place, we order our beer by the pitcher. The only trouble, and minor trouble it was, was in ordering some coffee in Paris once. I thought I was saying “Je voudrais du café,” “I would like some coffee,” which was kind of stupid to begin with, since I should have asked for “un” coffee instead of some coffee, but apparently I was actually saying “Je voudrais deux café” “I would like two coffees” The guy behind the counter set two coffees down on the counter in front of me. I wasn’t sure why but figured it out pretty quickly so I payed for my two coffees, took them both to my table and drank them as though that’s what I had actually intended to begin with. It just seemed less embarrassing and easier to drink my two coffees than to try explain it and argue over it in a language that I obviously didn’t speak very well at all.

@Symbeline In Canada, land of the up to 12% alcoholic beers, American beer is considered, well not really considered, soda.

@zensky Ha yeah. We got some pretty badass shit up here. If I could get some of em Jamaican juice boxes at 29% though, I’m not even sure I could hack lol.

I like to make sure i know how to say “large beer please,” and go from there.

Apart from alcoholic beverages…

On my first weekend alone in The Netherlands in the Fall of 1997, I took the morning train to Utrecht and just started wandering around that medieval city. I walked a lot, and I was pretty far from the train station when it inevitably started to rain. When the rain got too heavy to ignore I ducked into a neighborhood café. But it looked like I picked the one place in NL where English was not spoken regularly. The menu I got had no English aids; no one in the place was speaking English, and the waitress was coming over to take my order. So I glanced around and saw a signboard: “Chile 3.50” (which I knew was priced in guilders, and seemed a reasonable price).

So I confidently pointed to the signboard and asked the waitress for “a bowl of chile, alstublieft”. (I knew the Dutch word for ‘please’, anyway – which is also the word for ‘you’re welcome’, in case you need to know that someday.) She seemed confused. So I made the bowl shape with my hands, mimed a spoon, smiled and just said, “Chile, alstublieft.”

She cocked her head, pointed to the signboard, and explained to me in passable English, “Sir, that’s wine.”

So I went back to the menu and picked out something that I thought I could recognize as “baked fish”, and ordered that. What I got then was three whole baked fishes – baked with fruit where their vital organs would have been. It kind of flummoxed me at first, but it was surprisingly good. I’d recommend the baked fish with fruit if you ever go to that place.

Whenever I am in a bar (either in England or abroad) I always (well, at least, 99% of the time) order a Coke (as in Cola not ‘caine). I don’t drink alcohol anyway and everyone understands coke!

@Bellatrix When I was in America I tried Root Beer for the first time (that wasn’t me trying to get a taste of the local culture, I was just curious!) I wish I could get it easier over here. I loved it!

The only German word I learned in Bavaria was Weißbier!

I got away with speaking Russian in Ukraine and “pivo” (beer) is the same in Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, and Slovenian… as well as Serb-Cro… those countries were easy :) (Georgian beer is my favorite, however).

I was too scared to try any drinks that glowed or had pictures of marijuana on them.

Most of my debauchery while traveling abroad involved Russians and bottles of vodka at a hotel on the Adriatic in Croatia.

I normally act like an old lady and don’t drink all that much.

I love Rolling Rock lager and I sure hope they have it abroad! It’s the only alcoholic drink I’ll drink.

@tigerlilly2 you get overseas and find out what real beer tastes like, and you won’t go back to Rolling Rock.

@tigerlilly2 Rolling Rock “beer” is about as exciting as mac and cheese, without the cheese. It’s time to try out a few real ales. And the only alcoholic beverage you drink? The only one? You should write them and tell them – if you’re gonna suffer, may as well get some money out of advertising it. Hell, if I were them, I’d give you a lifetime supply just to keep writing that on internet forums.

A few years ago I was in a jazz bar in Prague, and because Absinthe is legal over there, I decided to try some. Well no-one warned me it was aniseed flavoured, and I can;t bear aniseed, so I gave it to the nearest person standing next to me and asked him if he could reccommend something else. He reccommended another local delicacy: Becherovka, which I loved (tastes a bit like Jaegermeister).

Generally I like to try local drinks, but as I’m always on a tight budget it will never be anythng expensive. The most expensive alcoholic drink I ever bought was a £60 bottle of single malt Scotch whisky, and that was bought in the UK.

If I was the only broad in the non-English speaking bar I probably wouldn’t drink. (bada BOOM!!)