ordering japanese food - please help!

[satoshi_matrix]

This Friday night me and a few of my mates are going out for dinner at a Japanese resturant. These guys all know Japanese pretty fluently, and will be ordering their meals in [spoken] Japanese. Though the waiters do speak a little English, I want to be able to order in Japanese as well.  I took some lessons a while back I'm by no means in my friend's league. I want to be able to at least say a few things.

Manuel or anyone else, can you help a guy out? 

things I would like to say:

-I would like green tea and a glass of water please
-I would like a bowl of meso soup please
-I would like a plate of suishi please.
-I would like an order of tempora please.
-I would like a set of chopsticks please.

Also any little things I should know about ordering food.

Thanks a lot in advance

[JewWario]

Luckily you can say all this fairly easily. You don't have to be flashy, and these will be understood. And don't worry about "plates" or that sort of thing. The food will come on plates... so don't fret it. 

"Onegaishimasu" is "please give me". Oh-neh-guy-she-mass
"o kudasai" is just "please". Oh-kuu-dah-sigh. Use this one more.

So put what you want/desire first and end it with one of these two.

"Ocha" is tea. Oh-cha
"Miso" is the soup. Me-soh
"Tempura" is the batter fried food. Tem-poo-rah
"Hashi" is chopsticks. You'll probably have some at the table, so don't worry about ordering them. Ha-she.
Beeru - Beer - bee-roo ("Kirin" is my personal favorite with sushi... key-reen).
Chisai - small - chee-sigh (bottle) ((the waitresses will ask.))
Ooki - big - oh-key (bottle)

So, "Miso onegaishimasu." is "please bring me miso." or "misu o kudasai." which is better to say. More polite. Be sure to follow that up with "Thank you".

Sushi you will have to order separately. Just find which kind you want (all Japanese sushi places have an English/Japanese cheet sheet) and order that way. It will actually be a card that you will write which kinds you want and how much. So ordering verbally will probably not be necessary.

Lastly, I must give you good words to say during and afterwards too!

That's tasty. - Oishi - Oy-she

If you REALLY want to impress your friends and the sushi chef/waitress say:

That's tasty - Umai - oo-my (this is how tough guys say it.)

BEWARE THOSE WHO TEACH YOU "FEMALE JAPANESE" OR JAPANESE FROM ANIME! My GAWD, they should all be shot!

Thank you - Arigato - ah-ree-gah-toe (don't worry about domo arigato ((dough-mo ah-ree-gah-toe)) until you leave. "Arigato" is just fine in the setting that you will be in).
Not so tasty - Mazui - Mah-zoo-ee (you will not use this often, nor should you... but...)
What is that? - Nan desu ka? - nahn-dess-kah
That there. - Kore wa - Koh-ray-wah
Is it tasty? - Oishi desu ka? - oy-she-dess-kah

"Kore wa oishi desu ka?" is great polite Japanese. You may hear the more relaxed "nai" which means (in this instance) "No, it's not."

DAMN! That's expensive! - KUSO! Takai, desu ne? - kooh-so! Tah-kai-dess-nay

Japanese is VERY easy to pronounce once you know the vowels.

At the sushi bar they will probably give you a hot towel. Wipe your hands and your face with it while it's warm. It's very relaxing and helps you feel better and enjoy your meal better.

You will probably get miso with your meal, so don't worry about ordering it unless you don't get it before you get your drinks.

Use just a bit of wasabi (the green stuff your friends might trick you into thinking is avacado). It is hot and masks the flavors of sushi in some ways. Good sushi will come with some wasabi on it anyhow... so just dip it in soy sauce.

The pink stuff is ginger. It's sweet and is used to cleanse your palate after different kinds of sushi. Eat sparingly. It too can be potent.

Do not feel the need to use chopsticks to eat sushi. In fact, I found out in Japan that about half of the people (if not more) do not. Pinch with your fingers (thumb and middle with the index finger on the top) , dip gently in the soy sauce (not too much or the rice will fall apart) and...

... shove the whole thing in your mouth. I am not kidding. Only BIG sushi should be eaten bits at a time.

But a small strip of maguro (tuna)? Gently shove it in and enjoy it. Chew slowly. Savor the flavors. Don't wolf it down. Really try to feel the textures and flavors. They're complex and delicious. Soon, you will tell good sushi from store-bought sushi. They aren't even the same species!

Most of all, enjoy yourself. Do not feel like you have to speak Japanese at any time. If you don't know, then ask your friends. They'll be ok with it.

Good luck, have fun, and let us know how it went!

JewWario

-I would like green tea and a glass of water please
-I would like a bowl of meso soup please
-I would like a plate of suishi please.
-I would like an order of tempora please.
-I would like a set of chopsticks please.

Also any little things I should know about ordering food.

Thanks a lot in advance

[FamicomFreak]

OMG that is so kewl I want to start speaking more Japanese as well since I'll be heading to Japan next year. I can't seem to find the Japanese speaking lessons I bought a while ago......MUST FIND THEM!! Great info jewario I recognize some of that stuff specially beeru

[manuel]

JewWario beat me to it.

Just what he said. 
If I wanted to nitpick I'd say ordering "miso" isn't correct. At least not from my experience. i'd say "miso shiru" (=miso soup). Miso itself is a paste.
But in most cases you don't have to order it. Maybe the waiter asks you if you want soup.

I once got a laugh in a restaurant by saying "maiu" (delicious) (that's umai with the syllables reversed and used very much in a TV show called Debuya).

You should also better refrain from saying the stuff is expensive.  That'd be downright rude. Think it, but don't say it so a waiter or any personnel can hear it.

I could teach you some bingo/aki dialect, but maybe nobody would understand that.
Since you said you learned a bit of Japanese, kanji and kana is ok, right?
こりゃ、ばりうみゃぁ! = that's mighty good!
座りんしゃぁ = sit down
そうにたこうねえなぁ　= that's not so expensive
おい、あんやん、水ちょうだい　=hey bro (waiter), mind to give me water?
じゃけぇ、生姜嫌いゆーたろう？　= how often should I tell you I hate ginger?
たらんよ　= that's not enough
えかった！　= it was good

Dialect is funny, but you perhaps better not use it. 
わしはすっかり備後弁になれてしもうてもう標準語しゃべれん。

[satoshi_matrix]

Awesome! thank you so much you guys.

One other things I want to say:

I know a little Japanese, so I want to order in Japanese

[manuel]

So, how did it go? Was it good?

[satoshi_matrix]

it went pretty well! thanks for all your help.

[manuel]

So what did you order?
Anything extraordinary?

[satoshi_matrix]

well I did have these little walnut cake dessert things. I cant remember what they're called though