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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 157 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

    location icon

    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
    anonymous person icon

    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

    So I really like Tukpa which is a Tibetan dish. I first tasted it in a restaurant called Aunty Fung's which is a Pan Asian restaurant. How they make it is they add rice noodles, momos, vegetables in a soup base along with the protein of your choice. So if you're a vegetarian it could be chicken and if you're a non-vegetarian then it could be paneer. It is quite homely and a very wholesome meal considering that we are getting all the nutrients that are required in one single bowl. It's quite economical. I can't really describe the satisfaction it gives me when I have it. It just feels extremely comforting and homely even though I did not grow up eating it and it was a very recent experience of mine to try out Tukpa.

    Band 7

    One foreign food that I thoroughly enjoyed is Sushi from Japan. I had my first Sushi experience a few years ago at a Japanese restaurant in my city and I was immediately hooked. The combination of vinegared rice, fresh seafood and wasabi created a flavor profile for that and it was both familiar and exotic. My favorite type of Sushi is Salmon Sashimi which is thinly sliced raw salmon served with soy sauce and wasabi. I love the delicate flavor and texture of the salmon and the way it melts in my mouth. What I find fascinating about Sushi is the artistry and attention to detail that goes into creating each piece. The presentation is always beautiful with intricate garnishes and carefully arranged ingredients. I have also noticed that Sushi is often served with a side of pickled ginger and miso soup which adds to the overall dining experience. Since trying Sushi for the first time, I have become a regular at Japanese restaurants and always look forward to trying new recipes or new types of Sushi. I think it is a great example of how food can bring people together and create a sense of community.

    Band 7

    One foreign food that I really liked was Allegheny Pasta. I first had it at the Paul's restaurant in City Walk. It's a very famous, very old Italian restaurant. Since then I've tried it at many different places but nothing in my opinion could beat that particular pasta. The amazing part of this is that it's a sauce-free pasta and you don't need to prepare any sauce. You just boil the spaghetti and cook it with minced garlic and chilli flakes. You can also add veggies if you like like broccoli, cherry tomatoes and zucchini but I don't like a lot of veggies in mine. I've also tried making it at home. I've made it 3-4 times now and I've still not made it as good as Paul's. But practice makes perfect so I'll continue trying my best to make the pasta.

    Band 7

    During one of my memorable trips to the mountains with my friends, we had an opportunity to indulge in a delicious culinary experience. It was there we discovered authentic Italian pizza, a dish that left a lasting experience on us. We enjoyed pizza at a charming little restaurant nestled in the heart of the mountains. It was a perfect place to try such a delightful dish.

    Band 7

    One of my current favourite dishes is sushi. I tried sushi around 4-5 years ago and I have been going back to it ever since. I tried it for the first time at a Japanese restaurant with one of my friends who was very enthusiastic about trying it and I was a little sceptical. But when I took the first bite, I instantly fell in love with it. Sushi has over the period of time become a comfort food. I do not eat it very very often because it is a little expensive but at the same time I can't stop myself so it's kind of once in a month kind of indulgence but I definitely look forward to it. I love the flavour, the textures and the complexity yet simplicity of the dish. I think it is an acquired taste for a lot of people but I loved it from the time I ate it. One of my favourite dishes is sushi which is a Japanese dish and I am absolutely obsessed with it. I tried it around 4-5 years ago with a friend. She was very excited to try it, she had heard a lot about it and she told me about it but I was a little sceptical because I had heard that it is an acquired taste and not everyone likes it in the first row and I tried it and I immediately instantly fell in love. I absolutely love the textures and how they play with the textures. I am a huge fan of a particular kind of sushi called the Californian roll which is not exactly the traditional sushi but it is an adaptation of it made with prawns which are deep fried in batter which gives it a very crunchy texture along with the soft sticky rice and the nori or the seaweed which kind of holds it all together and it is an explosion of flavours in mouth and I absolutely love it.

    Band 7

    A type of foreign dish that I really enjoy eating and have had is a hotpot, which is I believe a Chinese dish. I tried it during my time at university when a couple of friends from East Asia hosted us for dinner at a hotpot place in Abu Dhabi. What I really liked about the dish was the fact that it's so warm and hot, just like a soup, which is something I really love generally as a food item as well. And then there are some really interesting seafood and other items that you put inside it and it cooks automatically in front of you. Some things that I had never tried before that goes into a hotpot include crab balls or bok choy and other vegetables. I really enjoy it because it's not just something that tastes heavenly, but also because it's a great social activity. It allows people to come together to pick and choose things that they want to add in the hotpot and then cook it together. So it's just a really lovely way of people bonding, but over some great and yummy food. It's also a dish which is very, very dear to my closest friend at university. We both roomed together for many, many months and she would bring it up a lot. In fact, she even bought a hotpot machine. So she started cooking it in our dorm. So I had a lot of access to it after one point and just really, the dish really grew on me. I also really love the fact that now, even though it's a foreign dish, it's getting very popular back home in Pakistan. So my friends and family back home who've never been to this region or in Abu Dhabi and Dubai where this is very common, they're now getting access to it and getting to enjoy it too. So the next time I go back home to Pakistan, I also really want to try how people back home are making this dish and what it feels like to have it with family and friends at home, for which this is a very unique and different dish.

    Band 7

    The kind of foreign food I like definitely is tacos because why I would say that is I am in love with Mexican culture. This is because firstly we had a Mexican restaurant, a mini restaurant in our university where they had all these tacos, quesadillas, nachos. So that's where my first interaction with Mexican food was and second reason why I love tacos is because it's a simple food where you have a piece of taco or chip kind of a base. In that it's filled with vegetables, with spices and you can add in non-veg like chicken, fish or cottage cheese which is paneer and you can have a bite, it is so crunchy, flavourful and yummy. I would definitely say taco is my favourite food and my second favourite, I would add this as well, it's definitely nachos because the chips and the salsa which they give, oh man that's out of the world. Definitely the different flavours you experience when you have a bite of nachos is amazing and truly a beautiful dish for sure. I would love to visit Mexico sometime and take part in the carne asada or get invited.

    Band 7

    Last year we went on a trip to Mumbai, I had tasted pizza which was made by a foreigner. He came from US to India. He worked at a 5 star restaurant, when I was at the restaurant I tried the recipe, it was so delicious, especially I was impressed by the ingredients which was used, tomato, garlic, capsicum and some sausage, mozilla cheese that was the best, got the taste for the food.

    Band 7

    One foreign food that I particularly enjoy and have had the fortune to try is Italian Pasta, especially a classic dish called Spaghetti Carbonara. I first tasted this dish at an Italian restaurant in my city during a family diner a couple of years ago. The dish consisted of spaghetti noodles cooked with eggs, cheese, pancetta and black pepper. The creamy texture combined with the smoky flavor of pancetta made it a delightful culinary experience. I liked this food because it was both simple and rich in flavor. Unlike some foreign dishes that can be heavily spiced or unfamiliar, Carbonara had a comforting taste that was easy to appreciate. It also made me curious to learn more about Italian cuisine and its emphasis on fresh quality ingredients. Additionally, I enjoy trying foreign foods because it broadens my understanding of different cultures and traditions and Italian Pasta has become one of my favorites due to its taste and pleasant memories associated with the meal.

    Band 7

    So, I am going to tell you about the Japanese cuisine which is Sushi. I had gone to Japan or I had visited Japan around one year ago with my maternal uncle and my cousin and my younger brother. We were there for around 7 days when we visited many places like Tokyo, Mount Fuji and other areas. I had Sushi on multiple occasions there, mainly in Tokyo. We went to different types of restaurants. I will tell you about some of my experiences. The best Sushi that I had was in a Japanese restaurant which was a very small little place and quiet place. We had to wait for around one hour to get in the line to get through to the counter. We got to eat fresh Sushi which was very nice and delicious. Another place was a restaurant on the 29th floor of a tall building, skyscraper. It was a dinner reservation where we tried many types of Sushi including prawns and other fish. I really enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend every people to try it.
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