IELTS: What's Your Favorite Foreign Food?

Describe your first experience with foreign food.

You should say:

  • what it was
  • how old you were
  • why you tried it
and say if you liked or disliked it.

IELTS Speaking Test Part 2

I think maybe the first time I tried foreign food was an occasion when my parents took me to a restaurant with some friends of theirs.

So, I guess I must have been around 10 or 11 years old at the time. It was an authentic Chinese restaurant in the city because my parents’ friends where a Chinese family and they were celebrating a special occasion.

It was quite different from what I was used to and it’s an experience I still remember vividly to this day.

One of the strangest things for me was the number of different dishes that were served during the meal.

The first course was a soup which had chicken and some vegetables in it and I remember it tasted so different from anything else I had eaten before. But I like it.

Then there were various other dishes which were served, some duck, spring rolls, lobster, dumplings and at the end of the meal some kind of dessert which was really sticky and sweet.

I was fascinated by it. It was all totally different for me but I loved it all and I learned how to use chopsticks to eat the food because one of the other kids there, the daughter of my parent’s friends showed me how to use them.

It wasn’t easy at first but I soon got the hang of using them. It made the whole meal even more interesting and exciting.

At first I thought I might not like it, simply because I had never had Chinese food before but I loved it and the whole experience was amazing.

Obviously since then I’ve tried many more types of foreign food, and had a lot more Chinese food also; it’s become one of my all time favorites but back then it really was a new experience for me.

I’ve even learned how to cook some of the dishes because my mother’s friend gave her some of their family’s recipes so we learned how to cook them together.


How would you answer this IELTS speaking test Part 2 cue card question about the first time you experienced foreign food?

IELTS Speaking Topics

Similar IELTS cue card questions:
  • Describe a bad experience you had with foreign food
  • Describe a foreign food you tried but didn't like
  • Describe a kind of foreign food you have had
  • Describe your first experience with foreign food
  • Describe a meal you would like to have
  • Describe a special meal that you would like to have
  • Describe a special meal you had
  • Describe a special occasion when you had a really enjoyable meal
  • Describe an occasion when you ate a kind of food for the first time
  • Describe a time when you ate foreign food for the first time
  • Describe your favorite food


Good luck in your IELTS exam!