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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

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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

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    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, the foreign dish which I like the most till now is the Afghani Pulao. Afghani Pulao I have tasted in one of the restaurants in Delhi called Mazar. The dish that is the Afghani Pulao uses a rich variety of spices. It has rice in it. It has dry fruits. It has vegetables. It has the ghee and it has many other ingredients like mutton which is the main ingredient in it. It has curd and it has various other herbs which adds to its taste and aroma. The thing which I like the most in this Afghani Pulao, of course, is rice. Rice is something which is very staple to my family, to my hometown. We eat lot of rice. So, rice definitely is something which I like the most. Over and above, it has the caramelized carrots in it which are just mouth-watering. With just its lingering taste, you can never forget. The raisins, black currants which are used in it is a feathering cap. Moreover, ghee which is very traditional thing consumed in India, it simply adds to its taste.

    Band 7

    So, one foreign food I particularly enjoy is sushi, which originates from Japan. Sushi typically consists of vinegar rice combined with raw or cooked seafood, vegetables and some tropical fruits all neatly rolled in a seaweed or shaped into bite-sized pieces. So, I first tried sushi about two years ago at a Japanese restaurant in my city. At first, I was hesitant because the idea of eating raw tuna, fish felt unusual to me, but the presentation was so beautiful that I couldn't resist it and I ordered a platter that included salmon, nigiri, tuna, maki rolls and a vegetarian option with avocado. What impressed me the most was the balance of flavours, the freshness of the fish, the slight tanginess of the rice and the hint of heat from the wasabi. It was a completely different taste experience compared to the spicy and heavily seasoned dishes I am used to in Indian cuisine. I enjoyed most were the fresh ingredients, the delicate balance of flavours, the salmon and tuna had a clean buttery taste and I like sushi not only for its unique flavour but also because it feels light and healthy. In fact, trying sushi inspired me to explore other Japanese dishes and it sparked an interest in Japanese culture overall and I think that's the beauty of foreign food, it allows you to experience another country's traditions through taste.

    Band 7

    I love Korean food and one of the dishes that I thoroughly enjoyed was the bibimbap. I loved how different types of ingredients are put in the bibimbap and one can thoroughly enjoy the different proteins that are included in the bibimbap. For example, it is a mix of rice, egg, cucumber and other vegetables that make the dish extremely delicious and I would recommend this dish to as many people as I can because it is also very easy to make. I tried bibimbap for the first time in the Korean Cultural Center which is the Korean embassy situated in South Delhi. It was around two years ago when I had gone with my friends to try Korean food and I absolutely fell in love with enjoying different types of Korean food like corn dog, ramen and so on. However, bibimbap really, really caught my attention because of the flavors, the delicious ingredients that are used and also it often comes with side dishes like kimchi which is made of cabbage. It is a kind of pickle which is made using cabbage or cucumber or even radish but I love the one that they make using cabbage. It is also a great source of probiotic and therefore I would recommend people to try.

    Band 7

    I am a foodie, and I love to eat. No matter where I go, the first thing on my checklist is good food. And when I talk about my favorite food, without question, it is Italian food, and especially Alfredo pasta topped with pesto and parmesan cheese. The best pasta I had was in a vintage Italian restaurant located in Delhi NCR, and its name is Italiano. I love how it tastes, and especially when the cheese melts in my mouth, it's actually very mouthwatering. And it is also my comfort food, like I can eat it whenever I have to, without any doubt. And the thing that makes it my favorite is, it is a very subtle taste, warming to my tongue, and I love the way it comforts my stomach and my taste buds.

    Band 7

    The food, sorry, the foreign food that I like the most is pizza. So I have tasted pizza for the first time when I was six years old at a newly inaugurated Domino's outlet in New Delhi. It was not that popular back then, but in the current period, that dish has become really popular in my country. When I looked at pizza, I was mesmerized. It was unlike anything that I have eaten before. The way the cheese was spread over it was something that really caught my attention. The taste of cheese along with tomato, corn and chili flakes was really marvelous. The best thing that I like about the pizza are the combination of various ingredients such as cheese and various kinds of vegetables and in recent times, like paneer and all, which gives it a unique flavor.

    Band 7

    For my 18th birthday, I decided to try out a new restaurant which I had heard things about. What immediately caught my attention was the theme. It was basically on a car culture which I absolutely love. As I stepped into the restaurant, I knew I had made the right choice. The tables were shaped like car hoods and I saw a unique section where they displayed two of the most classic cars. I can vividly remember one of them was a 1969 Cadillac and I was already blown away before the food even arrived. Then I ordered an Italian dish from a restaurant which was called Risotto al Funghi. It was a creamy mixed risotto that was cooked with herbs and parmesan. I had never tasted like it before. The flavors were rich, mouthwateringly good. So I am usually picky when choosing up the cuisines that I haven't tried but this one has completely won me over. And it was so delectable that I savored off every bite and I even recommended it to my friend and she said it is the best advice I have ever given her.

    Band 7

    Recently I have discovered a new Burmese dish which is called Khao Sui. I really feel comfort in every bite of the dish. The thing which soothes me most is the coconut milk being used in the dish. It's kind of a ramen wherein you have a coconut milk broth with noodles and vegetables. They give you condiments on the side wherein you have fried onions, peanuts, chilli sauce and fried noodles. You according to your taste can put any amount and whatever condiment you like to add in your dish.

    Band 7

    The foreign dish that I have tried and I would really recommend fellow travellers to try as well would be mango sticky rice. This is a dish local to the country of Thailand, just look in the southern Asian part of the continent. The dish consists of primarily mango, rice and coconut, these are the three key ingredients. The reason why I tried this dish was because I was hankering for something sweet. This is a dish that is very commonly found in most of the stalls around Thailand. I tried this dish in my last trip to Thailand in December 2024, which was last year. When I took the first bite of the dish, I was bewildered because I was expecting the dish to be not to be sweet at all, however the dish had a subtle sweetness and had a subtle hint of coconut without being too overpowering. I was mesmerized by the flavours blending really well and the best part is that it's quite affordable, so without breaking the bank or without costing an arm and a leg, you can try this dish. It's even easy to replicate this dish at your homes as when I came back from the trip, I did give it a try by cooking this dish for my family and when they had their first bites they said that this dish reminded them of their time in Thailand as well. So this is a dish that every tourist must try when they visit this country, the country of elephants.

    Band 7

    The dish that I really found interesting was the Nasi Lemak I tried last year in my trip to Mumbai. I visited a Malaysian restaurant where I ate authentic Malaysian Nasi Lemak and it was fantabulous. The blend of spices and the aroma it had really gave an umami punch and it was quite a new experience for my palate. It did not cause any sort of palate exhaustion that many spice intense food would cause. But rather it was like really really enjoyable and comforting rather than just a bunch of spices thrown together. It had a smooth blend of soft and sticky rice along with a tender chicken and a beautiful sweet and spicy sauce. Talking about which I really think that it's quite an interesting dish because it has crispy chicken which is tender from inside, a sticky rice bowl and a sauce that blends in so well that it soothes your palate and the aroma it has is truly unbelievable.

    Band 7

    I really like Arrabbiata pasta that is an Italian dish that I tried. I had this dish at a shop called Little Italy located in Nungambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. I really loved the flavor. It was very tasty and it had bold flavors but it wasn't completely cheesy or too bland which usually Italian food tastes like. What I really loved about this dish is the fact that the flavor of tomato, oregano and cheese worked really well together and cheese did not off-put the flavor of oregano and the herbs such as oregano and thyme really brought out and highlighted the tomato. It really worked because the pasta was able to absorb all of the flavor instead of just rejecting it or having it on top. So the sauce component really worked well. The pasta was very interesting because it was in the shape of a butterfly. It's called as Farfalla pasta and I really enjoyed having it. Pasta has different kinds of shapes which I adore a lot and it was very tasty.
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