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Describe a kind of foreign food you like and you have had: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • What the dish is?
  • Where you tried it?
  • What ingredients or taste you enjoyed?
  • And explain why you like it.
Show all 182 answers

Cue 1:What the dish is?

  • Begin by naming the foreign dish you enjoy and give a brief description of it.
  • Mention any unique features of the dish that make it stand out.

Example

One foreign dish that I absolutely love is sushi. It's a traditional Japanese dish that consists of vinegared rice paired with various ingredients, including seafood, vegetables, and sometimes tropical fruits.

Cue 2:Where you tried it?

  • Describe the location where you first tried this dish, whether it was a restaurant, a friend's house, or during a trip.
  • Share any memorable experiences related to that place.

Example

I first tried sushi at a popular Japanese restaurant in my city called 'Sushi House'. I went there with my friends to celebrate my birthday, and the ambiance was vibrant and welcoming, which made the experience even more enjoyable.

Cue 3:What ingredients or taste you enjoyed?

  • Talk about the specific ingredients that you liked in the dish.
  • Describe the flavors and textures that made the dish appealing to you.

Example

What I enjoyed most about sushi were the fresh ingredients, especially the salmon and avocado. The combination of the soft, sticky rice with the creamy avocado and the rich flavor of the salmon created a delightful taste that was both refreshing and satisfying.

Cue 4:And explain why you like it.

  • Explain your personal connection to the dish and why it holds significance for you.
  • Mention any cultural aspects or health benefits that contribute to your preference.

Example

I like sushi not only for its delicious taste but also because it represents a healthy eating option. It’s light yet filling, and I appreciate the artistry involved in making it. Additionally, trying sushi has opened my eyes to Japanese culture, which I find fascinating.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, sushi is more than just a meal for me; it’s an experience that combines flavor, culture, and health. I look forward to trying different varieties of sushi in the future and exploring more of what Japanese cuisine has to offer.

    Following this structure will ensure you cover all the essential points while providing a clear and engaging response to the cue card topic.

    Tips to answer this Cue Card

    1: Being Too Vague

    Candidates often provide unclear or general answers without specific details about the dish. This can make the response less engaging and informative.

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    Tip

    Include specific details about the dish, such as its name, ingredients, and unique flavors to create a vivid picture.

    2: Ignoring the Cues

    Some candidates fail to address all the cues provided, which can lead to incomplete answers and lower scores.

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    Tip

    Make sure to cover all the cues: what the dish is, where you tried it, what you enjoyed, and why you like it.

    Lack of Personal Connection

    Responses that lack personal anecdotes or feelings can seem flat and uninteresting, making it hard for the examiner to connect.

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    Tip

    Share a personal story or memory related to the dish to make your answer more relatable and engaging.

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    IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

    Reported by Leap students who gave IELTS

    Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

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    Pitampura Test Centre, New Delhi

    Answer

    I like to taste different types of cuisine. Here I would like to talk about my favorite dish at my traditional festival of Onam which is Sadya. Sadya is popular in my city. We are experimenting these cuisines on Onam festival day. Onam is a famous festival in my city. All family members get together in my home and we make a delicious Sadya. There are many ingredients includes that Sadya. Moreover, we make a big feast that day as well as we create a lot of memories together and we wear that day the traditional dress called Sari and men wear the Dhotis. That festival is really important to us because the whole day we are conducting different kinds of games at our homes and all the family members came together. It's a memorable day in my life. This is the festival. We are making the Sambar and Aviyal. These all the kinds of foods are making with the vegetables.
    Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 8

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    Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

    Answer

    The toy which I liked in my childhood was a panda doll, which makes me pleasant and makes me more blush. The pandas are the most beautiful creatures of the world, which looks gigantic and has pooshy cheeks and they are like stars in the clouds and they dream in me. Furthermore, these have been given by my father. My father is a very very beautiful artistic person, who makes me think of that. Every day you will face every difficulties and make you suffer and move forward. Pandas are always seen in Japanese countries. It is my lifelong dream to visit a Japanese country and click a photo with the original pandas, which makes sounds better.
    Describe a time you were in a place where you didn't know the local language
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 6.5

    location icon

    Whitefield Test Center, Bengaluru

    Answer

    As India is a very large country full of diversity, so there are many places which have their own language and speak their native language. The place which I visited and I didn't know about their language was Leladakh, which is about 300 km away from my hometown and it is a very good place as it consists of different kind of trees, animals and have many scenic views and I visited over there last year in summers as it was the best time to visit because it has many, it was cold over there and we had summers in our area so it was the best time to visit over there and I went over there with my whole family.
    Describe a time when your friend damaged something you owned
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    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7

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    Begumpet Test Centre, Hyderabad

    Answer

    When I was a kid, I had a little pencil box which had these four buttons which gave the pencil box an operative use. When you press the button, the box would open up. When you press the second button, a little part of it would slide out. Basically it was just a little electronical and a fun thing to have and I owned it when I was in 6th. One day after break, I was standing and talking there with one of my friends and another friend of mine was running through the hallway and accidentally she pushed my shoulder and my pencil box hit the ground and it broke into multiple pieces to the point that it was not functional anymore.
    Describe a book you recently read
    anonymous person icon

    Reported by

    Anonymous student Band 7.5

    location icon

    CBD Belapur Test Centre, Navi Mumbai

    Answer

    It Ends With Us is a book I read recently. It's by the author Colleen Hoare. It's mainly a story about two teenagers, Atlas and Lily, and how they just handle their life going through high school, adolescence, and just domestic violence at home. Both of them come from very, very different families. However, they have one common determining factor between them, which is domestic violence. The abuse that they've seen their moms go through is just insane, and they connect through that on a different level. They're actually in the same high school, but they never speak to each other until Atlas actually crashes into an empty house next to Lily's villa. When Atlas is homeless and he doesn't have anywhere to go, he just comes and breaks into the house next to Lily's, and Lily helps him with all the daily necessities like clothes and food, medicines and stuff. Furthermore, their friendship blossoms into love, but it doesn't really fructify as Atlas has to leave. This book really gave me a lot of knowledge about domestic abuse and how to deal with it.

    All Answers

    Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

    Band 7

    I am from India and we have not had Sushi culturally or in aspect of our traditions we have not had Sushi while growing up. I did know about the dish Sushi while growing up as we had studied it in textbooks but in the textbooks it was described as a food which had raw fish or meat in it and that kind of surprised me as I could never imagine or think of eating fish or meat raw. And I had Sushi for the first time when I was 25 years old while I moved to Delhi. So first time I had Sushi it was veg Sushi and I absolutely loved it. I had it at a friend's place and I really loved it that I asked my husband let's go explore Sushi this weekend and we had veg Sushi again and again it was mind-blowing. Later when we explored another cafe in Delhi I told my husband let's try non-veg Sushi and we tried salmon Sushi and it was again something that took me by surprise I never knew I could like it so much and ever since then Sushi has been one of my favorite foreign foods. Now I'm even trying to explore the idea of making Sushi at home by myself. I'm slowly collecting all the ingredients and exploring the different techniques that can be used to make Sushi at home.

    Band 7

    One foreign food that I really enjoyed was sushi, which is a traditional Japanese dish. I had it for the first time at a Japanese restaurant in Bangalore with a few of my friends. It was part of a buffet and I was a bit hesitant at first because it was raw fish, which I never tried before. Sushi is typically made of wind-grade rice, raw or cooked seafood like salmon or tuna and sometimes vegetables like cucumber or avocado. It is usually served with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger. To my surprise, it was actually delicious. I loved the combination of flavors, the freshness of the fish and the slight sweetness of the rice and the salty soy sauce made it really unique. It was a totally new texture and taste for me. What I liked most was the part that it gave me a chance to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. It also felt quite healthy compared to most fast food. Since then, I have had sushi a few more times and every time I eat, it reminds me of the fun evening with friends and how we all discovered something new together. So overall, sushi has become one of my favorite foreign dishes, not just because of the taste but also because of the experience and memories attached to it.

    Band 7

    One foreign food that I really like is sushi, which is a traditional Japanese dish. I had it for the first time at a Japanese restaurant in Hyderabad about 2 years ago. I was a bit unsure at first because I had never tried raw fish before, but I wanted to try something new. Sushi usually consists of a vinaigrette rice combined with raw or cooked as seafood, vegetables and sometimes tropical fruits. There are many types of sushi, but I particularly enjoyed the California rolls. I like sushi because it's very light yet filling, and it feels healthy. It's also beautifully presented, almost like art on a plate. Eating sushi was a new experience for me, and it opened my mind to trying other international foods. Now, whenever I find a good Japanese restaurant, I always check if they serve sushi.

    Band 7

    If I'm being honest, I would like to say that pasta and pizza are my favorite foreign food. Like, basically, Italian cuisine is my favorite delicacy when it comes to choosing something at a restaurant or at cafes. I like pizzas and pastas because of the sauces. First of all, the sauces that are used in preparing them. Secondly, I love the flavor of garlic. And I guess that garlic is used in perfect amount in those two dishes. Also, I don't know why, but I feel this connection with Italy in my soul. I know I might be sounding a little bit delusional right now, but I do. I really love Italy. I love its food, its people, its culture, everything. My first time trying pizza was when I was 8. I tried it at a restaurant in Goa. And still, that is one of the best experiences I had in food. I loved the taste. I loved the texture. I loved everything about that dish. And I also love to make pastas at home because making pizza at home is a bit difficult job. But I still make it when I want to. My most favorite kinds of pastas are red sauce and white sauce, of course. And I also love Alfredo pasta. It's a bit hard to make, so I prefer to eat it at a restaurant and not make it at home.

    Band 7

    A food that I've recently had the pleasure of tasting has been sushi. I had it with my friends at my cousin's birthday party and it was rice filled with raw salmon which I originally thought would be disgusting but it actually surprised me with how flavorful the dish was. I found the rice to be quite crispy instead of the plump, full and mushy texture that I was expecting from what I've read about it. The salmon was actually the most surprising because of how flavorful it was despite it being raw. I believe that this is because of the extensive seasoning that the chef had coated the salmon with and it really brought out all of my senses when I was tasting this dish for the first time. The feature I liked most about the way the salmon was made was actually its presentation. It was covered in seaweed except it was perfectly wrapped and not a single grain of rice fell out of the wrap which was quite intriguing to me as a mathematics major and I found myself marveling at the intricacy of how it was displayed in front of me. All of my friends had tried salmon before so they tried encouraging me to taste more although I needed no encouragement because I was already drawn by the dish. I find that experience to be quite nostalgic now that I've had salmon more than just a few times and I would definitely try it again if it was on the menu and I was looking for a fun time.

    Band 7

    The foreign food which I have had and like is actually a chocolate. It is an Australian chocolate that I had for the first time when I visited my relatives in Australia in 2018. It is manufactured by the company Arnotts, I believe. It is a combination of two wafers and between those two wafers is a creamy layer of chocolate ganache. The entire thing is then covered with chocolate which provides for a smooth texture overall. It is an extremely delightful experience when you are having it. And another thing that I recently came across is a concept called as slim tins in which you bite off the opposite ends of the chocolate, sip warm milk using the chocolate as a straw and the result of that is that it creates a soft biscuit which practically melts in your mouth the minute you put it in.

    Band 7

    So one foreign dish that I like is a white sauce pasta. I first tried it at a friend's birthday party where her mom had made the best white sauce pasta I could have ever tried. The one thing that I like about it is how easy it is to make and it's just so soothing. Something about it is very comforting and therefore I love the dish and I love how I can incorporate a lot of vegetables in it which I usually don't eat on a regular basis. So the vegetables when mixed with the cheese pasta or the cheese sauce with like chilli flakes and oregano, it just gives a good taste and that is something, that is one of my go-to meals. I can either have a vegetarian or non-vegetarian depending on my mood and it is something very comforting and very easy to make and it is like a very unique spin on the normal pastas that you usually have, the ready-to-make kind of pastas. So it is a very easy thing or an easy hands-on cooking experience for someone who's not a very good or a regular based cook.

    Band 7

    My favorite foreign dish is pasta which is originated from Italy. Pasta is well known for its secret of sauces. It has a great flavor of cheese and its sauces. There are multiple different types of pastas we do have. And with the secret sauces and the cheese we can create lot of pastas like white sauce pasta, cherry tomato pasta, etc. So pasta is actually served with garlic bread, either garlic bread or pizza. It is a very light dish and topped with flavors of cheese and sauces. So it takes very less time to prepare and it is a three course meal where people can have in their breakfast, during their lunch and dinner. It is not as heavy as other food items. And it is available almost every place in India and out of India. Though the ingredients it includes a very little bit of oil and butter makes it more delicious. A touch of garlic and cheese cream makes it more flavorful. So pasta is a very underrated dish and which is a very easy to prepare and has lot of flavorful ingredients in it. We can make it in easier time and it can be served and topped with any of the dishes. And it makes itself stand out from every other dish.

    Band 7

    My favorite foreign dish that I've had has got to be ramen. It is a dish from a Japanese cuisine and it consists of noodles along with a spicy curry. Furthermore, it has a lot of diverse varieties. For example, you can get it in a sweeter curry and you can get it in more of a bland curry which is just full of spices and a healthy alternative. However, I always like to have the spicy curries which also sometimes have a Korean taste to it. The first time I ever tried it was in a place called Chef James. It is a place in Andheri which serves I think the best ramen in Mumbai. Why I like ramen is because it has a very diverse taste which is somewhat opposite to the entire Indian cuisine. And because I have been so connected to animes and the entire of Japanese culture, ramen attracted me a lot. Furthermore, Japan has also attracted me because I was a major Beyblade fan. It was later that I found out that it is an anime and I saw Naruto in which he is a huge ramen fan. Because of which I always wanted to try ramen but everybody kept telling me that it is not vegetarian. I grew up and I found out that there are vegetarian options. But the major reason that I love ramen has got to be because of the people that I have it with. I think the people from my college have served the major.

    Band 7

    Recently, I went to a Mexican restaurant which is nearby to my house. The restaurant's name was Picantos. I ate burritos and some nachos over there and I loved the taste of the burritos. It was exquisite. It had a mixture of beans, salsa, guacamole, rice and the texture of the bread was just soft and you could just take a bite and relish it. It was very fulfilling and different from what I eat usually which is Indian food and Italian food like noodles, pizza, pasta. I really like Mexican food because it has a taste which no other cuisine has and sadly you cannot find a lot of exquisite and authentic Mexican restaurants where I live but if I go abroad then I would definitely eat Mexican till I get bored of it.
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