After many years of teaching English in Japan, there are certain phrases that I hear again and again.
One of them is:
“Good taste!”
Students often say this when they like something — food, music, clothes, movies, even a nice café.
For example:
“Wow! This cake is very good. Good taste!”
Or when talking about someone else:
“My friend recommended this restaurant. She has good taste!”
Now here is the interesting part.
In English, “good taste” is not something we usually say to praise food.
When native speakers talk about delicious food, we usually say things like:
This tastes great.
This is really good.
It’s delicious.
Wow, that’s amazing.
“Good taste” actually means something a little different.
It usually refers to someone’s sense of style or judgment.
For example:
She has good taste in music.
He has good taste in clothes.
They have good taste in restaurants.
So if someone says “Good taste!” after eating a piece of cake, a native English speaker might feel slightly confused.
They may think you are talking about the chef’s judgment, not the flavor of the cake.
Of course, we will understand what you mean.
But it sounds a little unusual.
These kinds of small differences are very common when learning another language. Many expressions come directly from Japanese thinking.
That’s exactly the kind of thing we practice in conversation classes.
Learning grammar is important, but learning natural expressions is what makes English sound smooth and comfortable.
And who knows…
Next time you try a delicious cake, you might say:
“Wow — this is really good.”
Instead of:
“Good taste!”