Delicious in Persian: Khoshmaze, Taste Words and What to Say to the Cook

The everyday word for “delicious” in Persian is خوشمزه (khoshmaze), literally “good-tasting”. To say “it’s delicious”, Iranians say خیلی خوشمزه‌ست (kheyli khoshmazast) in conversation, or خیلی خوشمزه است (kheyli khoshmaze ast) in careful speech and writing. On menus and in formal writing you will also see لذیذ (laziz), a more literary word for “delicious”.

Knowing the word is only half of it. At an Iranian table, what you say after the food matters just as much: thanking the cook with دستت درد نکنه (dastet dard nakone), answering نوش جان (nush-e jân), and turning down a third helping without offending anyone. This guide covers all of it, with the taste words you need (sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bland), real sentences for home and restaurant, and practice at the end.

Khoshmaze: the word you will use most

خوشمزه (khoshmaze) Listen is built from two parts: خوش (khosh), “good, pleasant”, and مزه (maze), “taste”. The same خوش appears in many other words, such as خوشبو (khoshbu, “fragrant”, literally “good-smelling”) and خوش‌رنگ (khoshrang, “nicely colored”). Its opposite is بدمزه (badmaze), “bad-tasting”.

Pronunciation. Say it in three syllables: khosh-ma-ze, with the stress on the last one, as with most Persian adjectives. The final ه is pronounced as a short e. In fast, enthusiastic speech the z is sometimes stretched a little, which is why you may see the Finglish spelling “khoshmazze” online, but the word is written with one ز.

“It’s delicious”: formal and spoken

Persian has a written register and a spoken register, and “it’s delicious” shows the difference clearly. The verb “is” (است, ast) shrinks in conversation. Our guide to the verb to be in Persian explains this in detail.

خیلی خوشمزه‌ست Listen   چه خوشمزه Listen   خیلی خوشمزه شده Listen

The phrase with شده (shode, “has become”) deserves special attention. خیلی خوشمزه شده means “it came out really well”, and it quietly credits the cook’s skill. It is what an Iranian guest typically says to a host. خوشمزه‌ست describes the food; خوشمزه شده praises the cooking.

“Delicious food” and other phrases with ezâfe

To put خوشمزه after a noun, link them with the ezâfe: غذای خوشمزه (ghazâ-ye khoshmaze), “delicious food”. Because غذا ends in a vowel, the ezâfe is written ی and pronounced -ye. A few more: یک شام خوشمزه (yek shâm-e khoshmaze, “a delicious dinner”), چای خوشمزه (chây-e khoshmaze, “tasty tea”). If ezâfe is new to you, read our ezâfe guide with spelling rules.

To compare, add تر and ترین: خوشمزه‌تر (khoshmazetar, “more delicious”) and خوشمزه‌ترین (khoshmazetarin, “the most delicious”). Note the zero-width non-joiner after the final ه. For example: این خوشمزه‌ترین کبابیه که خوردم (in khoshmazetarin kabâbiye ke khordam, spoken), “This is the most delicious kebab I’ve had.”

A word of warning: khoshmaze for people

Used about a person, خوشمزه does not mean “tasty”. In colloquial Persian it means “funny, witty” (often about a cute child), and its opposite بی‌مزه (bimaze) means “unfunny, lame”. So بی‌مزه can describe a bland soup or a joke that falls flat. When said with a raised eyebrow, خوشمزه can also be sarcastic, like “very funny” in English. Stick to food and you will be safe.

Laziz and other words for delicious

خوشمزه covers almost every situation, but you will meet a few other words, especially in writing, on menus and in advertising.

لذیذ Listen comes from Arabic, where the same root gives لذت (lezzat, “pleasure, enjoyment”). That word gives you a natural way to say you enjoyed a meal: از غذا لذت بردم (az ghazâ lezzat bordam), “I enjoyed the food”. The letter ذ is pronounced z in Persian, so it is laziz, not “ladhidh” as in Arabic.

One false friend: خوش‌خوراک (khosh-khorâk) is not “delicious”. It describes a person who eats well and enjoys food, a good eater.

Taste words: sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter

The word for “taste” or “flavor” is مزه (maze). To ask what something tastes like, say چه مزه‌ای داره؟ (che maze-i dâre?, spoken). To say “taste it”, use مزه کن (maze kon); the more formal verb is چشیدن (cheshidan), covered in our lesson on cheshidan, to taste.

شیرین Listen   ترش Listen   شور Listen   تلخ Listen   تند Listen

Hot or spicy? English “hot” has two meanings, and Persian keeps them apart. تند (tond) is spicy hot; داغ (dâgh) is temperature hot, as in چای داغ (chây-e dâgh), “hot tea”. Iranian home cooking is generally not very spicy, so if you love chili you may need to ask for it.

Combine taste words with یه کم (ye kam, “a bit”, spoken) or زیادی (ziâdi, “too”): یه کم شوره (ye kam shure), “it’s a bit salty”; زیادی شیرینه (ziâdi shirine), “it’s too sweet”. Be careful saying these to a host, though; see the taarof section below.

Praising the cook: dastet dard nakone

In an Iranian home, saying the food is good is nice, but thanking the cook is expected. The standard phrase is دستت درد نکنه (dastet dard nakone) Listen, literally “may your hand not hurt”. It thanks someone for effort they made for you: cooking, carrying, fixing, giving a gift. After a home-cooked meal it is close to obligatory. We cover it in more depth in our guide to saying thank you in Persian.

دست‌پخت (dastpokht) Listen means “someone’s cooking”, the food made by a particular person’s hand. دست‌پخت مادرم (dastpokht-e mâdaram) is “my mother’s cooking”, a phrase Iranians say with deep feeling.

A natural full compliment at the end of a meal combines the two ideas: دستتون درد نکنه، خیلی خوشمزه بود (dastetun dard nakone, kheyli khoshmaze bud), “Thank you so much, it was really delicious.” Listen

How the cook replies

Expect one of these answers, and know that you do not need to reply again beyond a smile or a مرسی (mersi):

• سرت درد نکنه (saret dard nakone), polite سرتون درد نکنه (saretun dard nakone): “may your head not hurt”, the standard mirror reply to دستت درد نکنه. Listen
• نوش جان (nush-e jân): “may it nourish your soul”, meaning “enjoy, I’m glad you liked it”. Listen
• قابلی نداشت (ghâbeli nadâsht): “it was nothing”, a modest taarof reply.

Nush-e jân: the Persian “bon appétit”

نوش جان (nush-e jân) is said by the person who serves or offers food, to the person eating it. You will hear it when a plate is put in front of you, when someone sees you enjoying food, and as a reply when you thank the cook. Among friends you may also hear the relaxed spoken form نوش جونت (nush-e jun-et).

Two things learners get wrong:

• You do not say نوش جان about your own food before you eat, the way English speakers sometimes say “bon appétit” to the table. It is a wish from the giver to the eater.
• If someone says نوش جان to you, the natural answer is مرسی (mersi) or دستتون درد نکنه, not نوش جان back.

The other word you will hear as the food arrives is بفرمایید (befarmâyid) Listen, “please, go ahead, help yourself”. It is the host’s invitation to the table and to start eating.

At the table: hungry, full and “have some more”

Iranian hosts serve generously and keep offering. These phrases carry you through the meal.

سیر شدم Listen   دیگه جا ندارم Listen

For vocabulary about the meal itself, see our lists of Iranian food names and restaurant words in Persian, and the conversation lesson on ordering food.

Taarof at the table

Taarof is the Persian system of ritual politeness, and meals are where you meet it most. Our full guide to taarof goes deeper; here is what matters for food.

• The host will offer more, more than once. A single نه، مرسی (na, mersi) can be read as politeness rather than a real no. If you are truly full, say it warmly and add a compliment: مرسی، خیلی خوشمزه بود، ولی واقعاً سیر شدم (mersi, kheyli khoshmaze bud, vali vâghe’an sir shodam), “Thanks, it was delicious, but I’m really full.”
• Compliments are part of the meal. Silence about the food can feel cold to an Iranian host. A به به when it arrives and a دستتون درد نکنه at the end go a long way.
• Do not criticize the host’s food. یه کم شوره (“it’s a bit salty”) is fine with your sibling or at a restaurant, not at someone’s dinner table.
• Modesty runs both ways. The cook may say the food did not turn out well. That is your cue to insist it is delicious: نه بابا، خیلی خوشمزه شده (na bâbâ, kheyli khoshmaze shode), “Come on, it’s really delicious,” which is spoken and friendly.
• Leaving a little on the plate is generally taken as a sign you have had enough; an empty plate may get refilled.

A short dinner conversation

Here is how the phrases fit together in spoken Persian. Sara has invited her friend Mike to dinner, and her mother has cooked.

For more real conversations like this, our conversation lesson on food and daily meals is a good next step, and the book Farsi Conversations collects the everyday phrases Iranians use at home and out.

Want more practice? Try our Persian vocabulary quiz, or look up any food word in the English-Persian dictionary.

Common questions

How do you say “delicious” in Persian?

Say خوشمزه (khoshmaze). “It’s delicious” is خوشمزه‌ست (khoshmazast) in speech and خوشمزه است (khoshmaze ast) in writing. Add خیلی (kheyli) for “very”. The formal, written word لذیذ (laziz) appears on menus and in recipes.

What does khoshmaze mean?

خوشمزه literally means “good-tasting”, from خوش (khosh, good) and مزه (maze, taste). It is the normal word for delicious or tasty. About a person, in casual speech, it means funny or witty, sometimes sarcastically.

How do you say “delicious food” in Persian?

غذای خوشمزه (ghazâ-ye khoshmaze). The adjective comes after the noun, linked by the ezâfe -ye. “This food is very delicious” is این غذا خیلی خوشمزه است (in ghazâ kheyli khoshmaze ast).

What do you say after a meal in Persian?

Thank the cook with دستتون درد نکنه (dastetun dard nakone), polite, or دستت درد نکنه (dastet dard nakone) to a friend, and add خیلی خوشمزه بود (kheyli khoshmaze bud), “it was delicious”. If you are offered more and are full, say سیر شدم (sir shodam).

What does nush-e jan mean?

نوش جان (nush-e jân) means roughly “may it nourish your soul”. The person serving or offering food says it to the person eating, like “enjoy” or “bon appétit”, and also as a reply when you thank them for the food.

Is laziz a Persian word?

لذیذ (laziz) is an Arabic loanword that has long been part of Persian. In Persian it is pronounced laziz and sounds formal or literary, so in everyday conversation Iranians say خوشمزه instead.

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