# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/121 "2012-08-11T00:33:49Z")
Bite sized food chunks = ok… Rice n’ soup = no k. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/122 "2012-08-11T01:08:56Z")
> [@greenslime1951](#): > > There are no foods that chopsticks handle better than a fork > [@Telemark](#): > > Several were mentioned in this thread, such as sushi and udon noodle soup. I think I’ve told this story here before, but when I was living in Japan I once went to a noodle shop and ordered a bowl of udon, and the no doubt well-intentioned waitress brought it to me with a fork. I didn’t want to ask for chopsticks (I hadn’t been in Japan that long and was embarrassed about my poor language skills, and was also afraid of embarrassing my server), but eating udon noodles with a fork was almost comically difficult. It didn’t help that this was a small fork with rather blunt tongs, like for kids. For anyone not familiar with udon noodles they are very thick, so they weren’t going between the tongs and couldn’t be twirled easily either. I wasn’t yet terribly proficient with chopsticks, but the whole time I was doing my awkward slice, stab, and lift thing with my little fork I was thinking how much easier this would have been with chopsticks. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/123 "2012-08-11T03:54:11Z")
Originally Posted by bengangmo View Post Forgive me some rather bad Chinese, but I think he’d be more likely to say wo shi da bin dan I think you’ve got a typo. should be “ben” and not “bin”, right? 我是大笨蛋. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/124 "2012-08-11T04:31:07Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > 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. Thanks, my pseudo-brother. I always feel a bit odd at one of my favorite Thai/Japanese restaurants when I order Thai food and they ask me of I want chopsticks. I typically have some in my pocket, because I don’t know what I’m going to order before I get there. But I feel like they are suggesting that I shoudl use chopsticks for the Thai food. I think, instead, they are suggesting that many Americans think it’s cool to use chopsticks, regardless of how appropriate it may or may not be. > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > WRT chopsticks: I find the rough-hewn, blunt-ended and wider (Chinese?) ones so much easier to use than the skinny (Japanese?), pointy-ended and lacquered ones. The skinny ones are too…slippery. I actually own two sets of chopsticks - one with fairly thin wooden ends, and one with thicker plastic ends. The wooden ones are definitely better for rice, and I prefer them for sushi. The plastic ones are a little better for the salads I eat sometimes, and for some stir fry dishes I order. I usually have both sets in my work bag, and use which ever one seems more useful. I find the plastic ones to be more slippery than the wooden ones. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/125 "2012-08-11T04:33:35Z")
I dated a native-born Korean girl for several years. Also roomed with a native guy from Taiwan for most of college. That’s how I learned to use chopsticks - repeated eating with them. I’m not anywhere close to fully adept, but for most food I can by. My current level of skill - rice, I can usually do, as long as it’s sticky enough. Both of them would (gently, and in fun) tease me about my incompetence. But neither of them gave a damn if I used a fork or spoon to eat “asian” food. I still tend towards chopsticks if I’m eating Chinese or Japanese. It’s been years since I’ve been in close contact with either of the above friends, but aesthetically - it just feels right. I’m still far from expert, and will switch without shame to western utensils if I’m not getting by, but chopsticks are still a fun little way to eat foreign. I don’t give a damn that I’m not fully proficient, and I’m not going to impress anyone with my skills (I’d say I’m about as good as the average 5YO Chinese kid.) But it is fun. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/126 "2012-08-11T04:36:52Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > 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. No she wasn’t. That’s a noodle dish, and as I said on the first page, Thais don’t use chopsticks for rice. Only for noodle dishes. ---
**Author:** ![Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curiosity_Kills_Her)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/127 "2012-08-11T05:32:30Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > Huh. Really? I’m surprised at the amount of anti-chopstick sentiment in this thread. It’s not a love of chopsticks I’m lacking, it’s coordination. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/128 "2012-08-11T05:44:22Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > I’m surprised at the amount of anti-chopstick sentiment in this thread. Maybe they think we’re talking about that goofy tune on the piano? ---
**Author:** ![greenslime1951](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@greenslime1951](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenslime1951)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/129 "2012-08-11T06:41:53Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Factual or not **greenslime1951** continues to make his point. Which I think is even a girl who cries over Oreo’s has high enough sense to avoid him. As I would avoid anyone who wrote “Oreo’s.” ---
**Author:** ![greenslime1951](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@greenslime1951](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenslime1951)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/130 "2012-08-11T06:48:00Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Another thread in which **greenslime1951** demonstrates all sorts of interesting things about his character. Sir, if I may ask, why is it you have such a fondness for creating these threads that are, essentially, you saying to people “talk to me about X, so I can heap scorn upon you for daring to contradict my narrowminded preconceived notions on the topic”? I’m sorry, my friend, but despite your pretensions toward armchair psychology, you don’t know diddly-fuck about my character. No, really. You know nothing, nothing, nothing. I’m been appalled at how many people on this thread have felt no compunction–no reservations–about insulting me and calling me names– **because I started a thread about chopsticks**. The internet, at times, sickens me. God forbid I have an opinion that a gang of internet kiddies doesn’t like. And your question is in the same category as “Are you still beating your wife?”, so I won’t answer it. ---
**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 11, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/131 "2012-08-11T07:03:03Z")
July 2012 was a hell of a drug. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/132 "2012-08-11T07:24:26Z")
I think it’s more the condescending attitude. If you’re referring to food at a restaurant as “Dragon laxative pork” just because it’s Chinese, why even go there to begin with? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/133 "2012-08-11T08:52:19Z")
I’ve never had problems using a fork to eat noodles. I’m only mildly proficient in the use of chop sticks. I can use them on sushi, I can use them on a variety of noodles, and, of course, I can use them on most bite sized entrees. However, I recently had a great deal of difficulty when I tried pho the other day for the first time ever. I just couldn’t get a good grasp on the noodles and had to switch to my fork. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/134 "2012-08-11T11:40:08Z")
I’ve generally found that eating with knives is [fairly effective](http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171639). ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/135 "2012-08-11T13:49:04Z")
> [@greenslime1951](#): > > I’m been appalled at how many people on this thread have felt no compunction–no reservations–about insulting me and calling me names– **because I started a thread about chopsticks**. It’s not because you started a thread about chopsticks, it’s that you were such a jerk; i.e., “I gently explained to her that the fork was higher and better technology than chopsticks”. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/136 "2012-08-11T14:09:02Z")
Here in the Philippines, we like to think we’re a hospitable people who are willing to stoop down to accommodate anyone who visits us. Proof: when we entertain Americans, we usually bring them to American-branded or themed places. We don’t treat them to the local stuff if they don’t request it expressedly. We even look askance to snide remarks which they think most Filipinos are too dull to pick up. So from time to time, I visit foreign places just to stamp my own individualism. In Japanese restaurants, the only things I enjoy are their curry rice toppings and their chanko nabe. I ask for a spoon and only a xenophobic fool will question that. I can go through an entire pot of chanko nabe that might feed 2 sumotori. I quaff the whole thing down with lots of rice, beer and mild soy sauce. I also use a spoon. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/137 "2012-08-11T14:22:39Z")
> [@greenslime1951](#): > > I’m sorry, my friend, but despite your pretensions toward armchair psychology, you don’t know diddly-fuck about my character. No, really. You know nothing, nothing, nothing. We don’t know anything about your actual character, true, but we can make plenty of strong inferences based on the tone of your posts. Thus is the extent anyone can do on the internet. > [@](#): > > I’m been appalled at how many people on this thread have felt no compunction–no reservations–about insulting me and calling me names– **because I started a thread about chopsticks**. The internet, at times, sickens me. God forbid I have an opinion that a gang of internet kiddies doesn’t like. I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and think you were going from humor, but you were far from making an objective post about chopsticks. You included several phrases blasting Asian culture as less primitive than Western, aka ‘laxative pork’ and the whole bit about chopsticks being inferior, which is just objectively wrong. > [@](#): > > And your question is in the same category as “Are you still beating your wife?”, so I won’t answer it. No, it’s really not. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029/138 "2012-08-11T14:30:44Z")
I think this thread has run its course, so I’m going to close it. **greenslime1951** , if you are not happy with the way this thread turned out, you should try using a different tone in your posts and attempt to be less confrontational. On the other other hand if you are enjoying the irritation and umbrage… my instructions would be the same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appropriateness-of-using-chopsticks-in-an-asian-restaurant/631029.md?page=6)