Bon appétit in many languages

These are phrases used to at the beginning or end of meals and mean something like "have a good meal" / "enjoy your meal". There is no exact English equivalent of this, though some people say bon appetit, particularly in restaurants.

Many people say grace, a short prayer recited before or after a meal to invoke a blessing upon the food or to give thanks for it.

Language Phrase
Afrikaans Smaaklike ete! Lekker eet!
Albanian T'boftë mire!
Arabic (bil haná wal shifá) بالهناء والشفاء / بالهنا والشفا
may you have your meal with gladness and health
Armenian (Eastern) Բարի' ախորժակ: (Bari akh.orzh.ak)
Aromanian Oraxi bunã! S-vã facã ghini!
Belarusian Смачна есьці! (Smachna yesci)
Breton Kalon digor! Debrit ervat! Debrit a galon!
Bulgarian Добър апетит! Click here to hear this phrase (Dobãr apetit)
Catalan Bon profit! Click here to hear this phrase Que vagi de gust!
Chamorro Buen prubechu
Chinese (Cantonese) 食飯 (sihk faahn) - eat, 食慾! (sihk juhk)
Chinese (Mandarin) 慢慢吃! (mànmàn chī!) - eat slowly
請入席 [请入席] (qǐng rù xí) - please be seated - used only on formal occasions
Cornish Omlowen dha bos!
Croatian Dobar tek! Click here to hear this phrase
Czech Dobrou chuť! Click here to hear this phrase
Danish Velbekomme!
Dutch Smakelijk eten! Eet Smakelijk!
English Bon appetit! Tuck in! Get stuck in! Eat already! Enjoy! Enjoy your meal! Happy eating! Get your laughing gear round this! Down the hatch! This looks nice!
Esperanto Bonan apetiton!
Estonian Head isu! Jätku leiba! (may you have plenty of bread)
Finnish Hyvää ruokahalua!
French Bon appétit ! Click here to hear this phrase
Friulian Bon pitìc
Genoese Bon pro'!
Georgian გაამოთ! (gaamot) - frm გაამოს! (gaamos) - inf
გემრიელად მიირთვით! (gemrielad miirtvit) - frm
გემრიელად მიირთვი! (gemrielad miirtvi) - inf
German Guten Appetit! Click here to hear this phrase Mahlzeit! Click here to hear this phrase En Guete! (Swiss German)
Greek Καλή όρεξη! (Kali órexi!) Καλὴ ὄρεξη! Click here to hear this phrase (Kalí órexi!)
Hawaiian E ʻai ka-ua (you and I), E ʻai ka-kou (2+ people)
Hebrew (b'tayavon) בתיאבון Click here to hear this phrase
Hindi स्वादिष्ट खाना   (Svādiṣṭ khānā)
Hungarian Jó étvágyat!
Icelandic Verði þér að góðu
Indonesian Selamat makan!
Italian Buon appetito! Click here to hear this phrase
Japanese どうぞめしあがれ (douzo meshiagare) = 'enjoy your meal' - said by the cook/chef
いただきます Click here to hear this phrase (itadakimasu) - said before a meal by those eating it
ご馳走さま Click here to hear this phrase (gochisōsama) - said after a meal by those who have eaten it
Jèrriais Bouan appétit!
Kazakh Ас болсын! (As bolsın!)
Korean 잘 먹겠습니다 (jal meokkesseumnida) - before a meal
잘 먹었습니다 (jal meogeosseumnida) - after a meal
Klingon yISop!
Lativan Labu apetiti!
Lithuanian Gero apetito! Skanaus!
Lojban a'o.e'o lo sanmi cu xamgu ko
Luxembourgish Gudden Appetit!
Macedonian Пријатно јадење Click here to hear this phrase (Priyatno yadenye)
Malay Selamat menjamu selera! (Please treat your appetite)
Jemput makan! (Please eat!) Makan makan! (Eat eat!)
Maltese L-ikla t-tajba
Marathi रूचकर जेवण   (ruckar jevaṇ)
Norwegian Vær så god! Vel bekomme!
Occitan Bon apetís!
Persian (befarma'id) بفرماييد, (nooshe jan) نوشى جان
Polish Smacznego! Click here to hear this phrase Bon appetit!
Portuguese Bom apetite! Click here to hear these phrases
Romanian Poftă bună! Click here to hear this phrase
Russian Приятного аппетита! Click here to hear this phrase (Prijatnogo appetita)
Sabethir Click here to hear this phrase (Endiaré'hysil) Bon appetit in Sabethir
Serbian Пријатно! (Prijatno!) Click here to hear this phrase
Slovak Dobrú chuť!
Slovenian Dober tek!
Spanish ¡Buen provecho! Click here to hear this phrase ¡Buen apetito! Click here to hear this phrase
Swahili Ufurahie chakula chako (sg), Msifurahie chakula chenu (pl)
Swedish Smaklig måltid! Click here to hear this phrase
Tagalog Tayo'y magsikain (frm) Kainan na! (inf) - Let's eat
Tigrinya ብላዕ (blaˋ - lit: eat!)
Turkish Afiyet olsun!
Ukrainian Смачного! (Smačnoho)
Üqoi Kaj'ëëj'ëëvoghjaeti akavigo! U'uz'öghjaeti abzoohä!
Urdu (maze karein) مزےکریں!
Uzbek Yoqimli ishtaha! Click here to hear this phrase
Vietnamese Ăn nào!
Welsh Mwynhewch eich bwyd! Click here to hear this phrase
Yiddish (Es gezunterheyt!) עס געזונטערהײט
Zulu Thokoleza ukudla!

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Sources

http://www.nypl.org/branch/central/dlc/df/expressions/bonappetit.html
http://recipes.chef2chef.net/cool/data/appetit.htm

Other phrases

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