肉抜きでお願いします
niku nuki de onegaishimasu
To say "no meat please" in Japanese, use 肉抜きでお願いします (niku nuki de onegaishimasu).
This phrase is used to request that a specific ingredient (meat) be omitted from a dish rather than asking for a completely different dish.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of 'niku' (meat) and 'nuki' (removal/without), literally meaning 'with meat removed'. The particle 'de' functions here to indicate the manner or state in which the request is being made.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Using 'onegaishimasu' makes 肉抜きでお願いします a polite and standard way to make a request to staff in a restaurant. Dropping 'de onegaishimasu' and just saying 肉抜き is a very casual way to say 'no meat', suitable only for very familiar settings.
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun form 肉抜き is derived from the verb 抜く, which means "to remove."
How do you pronounce it?
niku nuki de onegaishimasu
Did you know?
- In Japan, many dishes labeled as 'vegetarian' or 'no meat' may still contain dashi, a savory broth made from fish flakes. If you want to avoid all animal products, you must specifically ask for sakana-dashi nuki or 'no fish stock'.
- In some traditional Japanese contexts, asking for 肉抜き might be seen as an unusual request because meat was historically banned or avoided for centuries due to Buddhist influence.
- The verb 抜く (nuku) used in this phrase is the same word used for 'pulling out' a tooth or 'extracting' a nail, emphasizing the act of physically removing an ingredient from a recipe.
Examples in context
- 肉を抜いてください。Please remove the meat.
- 肉は遠慮したい。I would like to refrain from meat.
- 肉なしでお願いしますPlease without any meat.
- 肉抜きでお願いします。niku nuki de onegaishimasu.No meat please.
- カレーは肉抜きでお願いします。karee wa niku nuki de onegaishimasu.Please make the curry without meat.
- すみません、肉抜きでお願いします。sumimasen, niku nuki de onegaishimasu.Excuse me, no meat please.
Example conversation
Misaki and Hiroto are ordering lunch at a cafe.
- 美咲 Misaki私はこのサンドイッチにします。Watashi wa kono sandoitchi ni shimasu.I'll have this sandwich.
- 大翔 Hiroto美咲さん、肉は大丈夫？Misaki-san, niku wa daijobu?Misaki, is meat okay for you?
- 美咲 Misakiあ、肉抜きでお願いします。A, nikunuki de onegaishimasu.Oh, no meat please.
- 大翔 Hirotoわかった。店員さんに伝えよう。Wakatta. Tenin-san ni tsutaeyou.Got it. I'll tell the waiter.
