Part 2 — Long turnQ3/2026Difficulty 3/5

Describe a restaurant you enjoy going to

IELTS Speaking questions reported by recent test-takers, compiled each quarter. Cambridge does not publish the active list, so this is a compilation of reports, not official material.

Questions

Question 160s to prepare · 120s to speak

Describe a restaurant you enjoy going to. You should say: • where it is • what food it serves • who you go with • and explain why you enjoy going there

Model answer

Written by 8020 teachers. Do not memorise it — take the structure and the way ideas are developed, then speak about your own life.

The restaurant I'll describe isn't really a restaurant — it's a bun bo place about two hundred metres from my flat, six plastic tables on the pavement. It's on a corner in Binh Thanh, open from about six in the morning until they run out, which is usually around eleven. If you arrive at half past ten you're taking a risk. The food is one dish. That's it — bun bo, one size, one price. You can ask for extra noodles and that's the entire range of choices available. I find that reassuring, actually. I go with my flatmate, maybe twice a week, and occasionally alone with a book, although the owner has views about people reading at breakfast. Why do I enjoy going there? Partly the food, obviously — it's better than places charging four times as much. But mostly it's that after three years the owner knows what I order and starts making it when she sees me cross the road. I've never told her my name and she's never told me hers. It's a relationship built entirely on soup, and it's one of the most consistent things in my week. There's also the fact that nothing about it is designed. No branding, no playlist, no concept. Just a woman who's very good at one thing, doing it on a corner.

Vocabulary you can use today

until they run out
tới khi hết hàng
you're taking a risk
là bạn đang đánh cược
the entire range of choices available
toàn bộ lựa chọn bạn có
the owner has views about...
chủ quán có ý kiến về việc...
charging four times as much
lấy giá gấp bốn lần
nothing about it is designed
không có gì ở đó được thiết kế ra

Common traps for Vietnamese speakers

Chọn quán bình dân thay vì nhà hàng sang. Quán bình dân cho bạn chi tiết riêng — sáu cái bàn nhựa, bán tới khi hết — còn nhà hàng sang thì ai cũng tả giống nhau. Câu "một quan hệ dựng lên hoàn toàn bằng bún bò" là kiểu hài nhẹ. Một câu hài đúng chỗ làm giám khảo nhớ bài bạn, và nó cần điều khiển ngôn ngữ tốt nên được tính là điểm. Ý "không có gì ở đó được thiết kế ra" mở sang Part 3 rất tự nhiên, vì giám khảo hay hỏi về nhà hàng chuỗi so với quán gia đình.

âm cuối /z/ trong tables, noodles, choices/θ/ trong three, four→/ɔː/, thingsâm cuối /t/ trong flat, breakfast, consistent/pl/ trong plastic, playlist, place

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