# Appropriateness of using chopsticks in an Asian restaurant **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029 "2012-08-10T01:19:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/61 "2012-08-10T14:01:08Z")
Eh, what’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/62 "2012-08-10T14:06:02Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I learned to eat with chopsticks when I was very young, and we never went to any restaurants other than Chinese restaurants unless we were on vacation. My father had several Chinese friends, and one of them owned a restaurant which was our special-occasion place; other times, we would go to a place closer to home. We always used chopsticks. > > The ones provided in many restaurants are so cheap I’m afraid of getting splinters, but if you roll them awhile you’re OK. I don’t want to be the only one at the table using them, so I usually use a fork nowadays. ☹ But I’m extremely proficient. > > I think my father learned when he was in the South Pacific in WWII. We have learned, when presented with the cheap have-to-break-them-apart chopsticks, to rub them shainst each other while crossed, working sround each stick. That way you can break off any protruding splinters. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/63 "2012-08-10T14:07:53Z")
I use chopsticks. I like those things. I use them at home, too, whenever I make stir fry, even in dishes where it might not be culturally correct to use them (like Thai food, which _usually_ is not eaten with chopsticks, although there are some exceptions.) I’m not sure what it is, but it just feels right and I get more enjoyment out of my meal than eating it with a knife and fork. It might all just be in my head, but I love 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/64 "2012-08-10T14:11:22Z")
> [@greenslime1951](#): > > … to eat my Dragon Laxative Pork or whatever, and I answered, “For the same reason I didn’t drive here in an oxcart.” She didn’t understand what I meant until I gently explained to her that the fork was higher and better technology than chopsticks, so why wouldn’t I use it? I didn’t read past the ‘poll’ section of the post, so I didn’t see this part originally. I’d like to change my answer to, “I use chopsticks because I’m not a huge prolapsed jerk.” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/65 "2012-08-10T14:13:00Z")
I’d probably have hit him with my chopsticks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/66 "2012-08-10T14:17:03Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I never know what’s “appropriate” at my local Thai restaurant, for instance.. In Thailand, they give you a fork and spoon with your meal. No chopsticks and no knife. I think the chopsticks question is driven more by a notion of authenticity rather than appropriateness. However, someone eating with chopsticks in a Thai restaurant, where quite possibly the food is prepared by a Chinese cook and server by a Chinese waiter, is pretty far away from an authentic experience. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/67 "2012-08-10T14:17:52Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Poor girl, I hope she’ll be OK.☹ She really dodged a bullet. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/68 "2012-08-10T14:42:32Z")
What sort of people spend actual time thinking about how forks are higher and better technology anyway? I mean, damn. Way to encourage single dates with people. Whatever utensils are on the table (or available by request) are the appropriate ones to use, because they’re the ones that the host or establishment have _provided for your use_. It’s extremely rude to suggest otherwise. If you’re unclear on the concept or the use of those particular implements, then look around at other people and copy their behavior (unless they’re being - what was the phrase… aha “a huge prolapsed jerk,” in which case you find someone else to copy). In other news, forks are good for things that need to be bisected or stabbed. Chopsticks are good for things that simply need to be conveyed somewhere. Also, in my opinion, nigiri is totally finger food, and rice goes easiest either with the chopsticks and bowl shovel method, or the spoon with fork backstop on plate method. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/69 "2012-08-10T14:44:06Z")
Rice is totally bare-hand food. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/70 "2012-08-10T14:45:20Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Rice is totally bare-hand food. Ugh, I hate eating 99.9% of things with my hands. I hate getting my hands dirty. I am a bad Indian. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/71 "2012-08-10T15:04:49Z")
I even ask for chopsticks in Thai restaurants for some dishes. Once the waitress said Thai people don’t use chopsticks, and I said, yeah, but I’m not Thai. Some years later, I had phad thai in a street stall in Bangkok, and chopsticks were all they had, so that waitress was full of peanut sauce. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/72 "2012-08-10T15:18:13Z")
I usually use chopsticks in an Asian restaurant, but I caught some grief from my uncle when he took me to an Asian restaurant after I had dental surgery and I used a fork to more easily move the food to the side of my mouth since the dentist told me not to chew with my front teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/73 "2012-08-10T15:27:43Z")
Speaking as an actual Chinese person, if my date took me to a Chinese restaurant (how nice!) but then had the temerity to suggest that chopsticks are “technologically inferior to forks,” I’d be out of there so fast he/she wouldn’t even have a chance to say “dui bu qi, wo shi baichi.” We are familiar with forks, thanks. We use them when they are appropriate - you know, when we’re eating “white devil” food rather than our usual Laxative Specials. And we use chopsticks when those are called for - which is to say, for virtually all Chinese, Korean, or Japanese cuisine. I echo an earlier poster: when it comes to stir fry or rice, I guarantee we can eat rings around you with our chopsticks while you struggle with your fork. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/74 "2012-08-10T15:35:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > We have learned, when presented with the cheap have-to-break-them-apart chopsticks, to rub them shainst each other while crossed, working sround each stick. That way you can break off any protruding splinters. I have heard that rubbing your chopsticks like that is considered rude. Anyone know if that is true? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/75 "2012-08-10T15:37:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I have heard that rubbing your chopsticks like that is considered rude. Anyone know if that is true? I’ve heard it said that it’s an insult to the restaurant owner or your host implying that you’ve been given low quality chopsticks. If they give you low quality chopsticks then I don’t think it’s rude. But I guess the idea is not to make a habit of it and insult someone who has given you high quality chopsticks. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/76 "2012-08-10T15:39:59Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > Speaking as an actual Chinese person, if my date took me to a Chinese restaurant (how nice!) but then had the temerity to suggest that chopsticks are “technologically inferior to forks,” I’d be out of there so fast he/she wouldn’t even have a chance to say “dui bu qi, wo shi baichi.” > > We are familiar with forks, thanks. We use them when they are appropriate - you know, when we’re eating “white devil” food rather than our usual Laxative Specials. And we use chopsticks when those are called for - which is to say, for virtually all Chinese, Korean, or Japanese cuisine. > > I echo an earlier poster: when it comes to stir fry or rice, I guarantee we can eat rings around you with our chopsticks while you struggle with your fork. Forgive me some rather bad Chinese, but I think he’d be more likely to say wo shi da bin dan ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/77 "2012-08-10T15:42:18Z")
Using chopsticks with Asian dishes in general is a very ingrained habit of mine. We have them in the house, my partner never uses them but I can’t eat Top Ramen without them. I remember very clearly our family’s first trip to a Chinese restaurant and my father, who was in Japan during some of his draft years during Vietnam, showed us all how to use them. We weren’t the happiest family in the world (not the unhappiest either) but Sunday after church lunches at Sam Pans rates up there in the best childhood memories and consequently, using chopsticks just makes me happy. I will eat Asian food without them but it never tastes as good. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/78 "2012-08-10T15:45:22Z")
My (Japanese-American) wife grew up with _hashi_ and using them is natural to her. When I use them, the results are either pitiful or hilarious, depending on what mood everyone’s in. After decades of trying it’s gotten to the point where, when we go to an Asian restaurant, she’s the one who asks for a fork for me. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/79 "2012-08-10T15:45:40Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Ugh, I hate eating 99.9% of things with my hands. I hate getting my hands dirty. I am a bad Indian. ☹ No, you’re an American Indian. Wait, that doesn’t work … ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/80 "2012-08-10T15:50:31Z")
If the rice is sticky, I’ll use chopsticks. If it’s not, then I won’t bother since the restaurant clearly isn’t bothering either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029.md?page=5)