My poor high school French needs help in restaurants

We%26#39;ll be off to France in September and I need a little help with my restaurant French

1. How do you sat 8:30 P.M.? - We invariably have to ask for an 8 or 9 o%26#39;clock reservaion because I can%26#39;t remember the :30.

2. Doneness of meats: I know Bleu but How do you say rare? Is it Sanguine? Is there a word for medium rare in French?

How do you say %26quot;well-done%26quot;? my friend usually says %26quot;Morte%26quot; which I am pretty sure is incorrect, but does get the idea across

What is the meaning of %26quot;a-pointe%26quot; in French cuisine

Thanks to all who can help me raise my level of French

jhgrady

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1- 8:30pm is %26quot;huit heures et demi%26quot; (%26quot;demi%26quot; means half)

2- Regarding meats, you should say these:

%26quot;bien cuit%26quot; for well done (definitively not %26quot;morte%26quot; that means dead!)

%26quot;bleu%26quot; is almost raw

%26quot;saignant%26quot; for rare

...and yes there is a word for medium rare, that is precisely %26quot;à point%26quot; (but not a-pointe)

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Hello,

1. Nous aimerions reserver pour huit heures trente.

2. Meats: bien cuit (well done) a point (medium rare) saignant (rare) bleu (pan flashed beyond rare!)

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Since they use a 24 hour system of telling time in France, you say 20 hours and a half (vingt heurs et demi for 8:30 PM.

Regarding the %26quot;doneness%26quot; of meats:

Rare = bleu

Medium Rare = a point (sorry, but I don%26#39;t have

any way of putting in the accent

grave)

Medium = medium

Well Done = bien cuit

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Actually if I may add something, we would say either %26quot;Vingt heures trente = 20h30%26quot;

or %26quot;Huit heures et demi%26quot;...

but NEVER %26quot;20 heures et demi%26quot;, don%26#39;t ask me why!!!

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1. Saying vingt heures trente is the only way to make your reservation. If you say something else, be ready to confirm a response of vingt heures trente by the person taking your reservation.

2. Well done (bien cuit) in a restaurant in France does not equate to well done in an American restaurant. A serious chef will simply not allow meat to be served or cooked beyond what you might recognize as medium. You can ask for bien cuit but if medium is not satisfactory for you, order chicken, porc, veal or fish and avoid any problems.

3. Should you be interested, Sarastro%26#39;s 13 lucky rules for dinning in a French restaurant are available here:

http://lejeudeboules.com/2009/05/04/19/

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%26quot; Saying vingt heures trente is the only way to make your reservation. If you say something else, be ready to confirm a response of vingt heures trente by the person taking your reservation.%26quot;

Not necessarily. As OnlyLyon wrote, saying huit heures or huit heures et demi or huit heures trente is perfectly all right.

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Just bite the bullet and buy a phrase book that has a good food section - Rick Steves has a good one. That way you can not not only translate the items on la carte, but you can refresh your memory as far as the doneness of meats is concerned.