Café Vocabulary in Russian
inspired by this list by @malteseboy
some related nouns:
кусок, кусочек (m.) (+ genitive case) – a piece of…
торт (m.) – cake
пирожное (n., adjectival) – pastry
пирог (m.) – Russian pie, similar to English pasty
печенье (n.) – biscuit/cookie
пышка (f.) (Petersburg only) – donut, Leningrad style. many places have signs advertising that they make them как раньше, “as before”, i.e. like during Soviet times. they look like this:
пончик (m.) – donut (everywhere else, any other style)
бублик (m.) - bagel
еда (f.) – food
напиток (m.) – beverage
кофеин (m.) – caffeine
чай (m.) – tea
чёрный чай – black tea
зелёный чай – green tea
ромашковый чай – camomile tea
мятный чай, чай с мятой – mint tea
кофе (m., indeclinable) – coffee {note: for several years now it has been acceptable to use the neuter gender for this word as well, but many people will insist that this is wrong. YMMV}
чёрный кофе – black coffee
(кофе) латте – latte
молоко (n.) – milk
корица (f.) – cinnamon
варенье (n.) – a kind of Russian jam
лёд (m.)– ice
лимон (m.) – lemon
мёд (m.) – honey
сахар (m.) – sugar
с молоком – with milk
c корицей – with cinnamon
с вареньем – with varen’ye
со льдом – with ice
с лимоном – with lemon
с мёдом – with honey
с сахаром – (… you get the idea)
кафе (n., indeclinable), кофейня (f.) – café, coffeeshop
магазин (m.) – shop
кондитерская (f., adjectival) – confectionary, pastry shop, patisserie
пекарня (f.) – bakery
пышечная (f., adjectival) (Petersburg only) – donut shop
ложка (f.) – spoon
стол (m.) – table
кофейный столик (m.) – coffee table (also called журнальный столик, a “newspaper table”)
выпечка (f.) – baked goods/pastry (general)
блюдце (n.) – saucer
кружка (f.) – mug
[чайная/кофейная] чашка (f.) – tea/coffee cup
стакан (m.) – glass
чашка кофе – cup of coffee
чашка чая – cup of tea
стакан чая – glass of tea
{historical note: traditionally, women drank tea out of чашки or poured tea from the чашка into the блюдце and drink it from there with варенье, while men drank tea out of стаканы with metal bases and handles. now these are mostly associated with drinking tea on trains, where the base helps keep them steady.}
{grammatical note: sometimes you will hear other forms, such as стакан/чашка чаю. this is grammatically irregular and more informal— yandex translate gives the translation as “cuppa” :-) }
some adjectives (all listed in masculine form):
свежий – fresh
слабый – weak
крепкий – strong
сладкий – sweet
горячий – hot
холодный – cold
качественный – (high) quality
вкусный – tasty
some verbs (not all forms given):
выпить чашку кофе – to have/drink a cup of coffee
есть/поесть – to eat
пойти на кофе – to go get a coffee
купить - to buy
платить/заплатить за (+ accusative case) – to pay for
заказать – to order
сидеть/посидеть (в кафе, за столом) – to sit (in a cafe, at the table)
пить/выпить, попить– to drink (попить is more like “to sip”)
some phrases:
это место занято? – is this spot taken?
счёт, пожалуйста – check, please
давай пойдём в кафе! – let’s go to a café!











