Place setting question

Cafe Society
1

Just came back from a company trip at Club Med in Malaysia.

One thing I noticed when dining at the resort, is that each table is missing one spoon! (eg a 4 seat table will have one of the place settings without a tablespoon.) Curious about this, I asked one of the waitstaff about this; according to him, he has worked there for 5 years and they have always set the tables this way.

I only enquired about this on the morning that I checked out of the resort, so I didn’t manage to ask other staff members about this.

My question is: is this something common, and what could be the reason for doing so? (My guess is that it’s a conversation starter for the guests.) It can’t be because they are short on spoons, as the waitstaff will bring you extra cutlery if you ask for it.

2

Maybe if you order a dish that requires a spoon it comes with it? I see places here locally that do that.

3

The food there is served as a buffet so that can’t be it; also your point would make sense if all of the place settings don’t have a spoon, but it’s only 1 place setting per table that is missing the spoon.

4

My wild guess:

At some point more than five years ago, they were for whatever reason short on spoons; so they set the tables that way, in the hope that at least one of the diners at any given table wouldn’t need a spoon.

The spoon shortage went on long enough for them to get into the habit.

The spoon shortage has since been dealt with, and there are now plenty of spoons; but the habit continues. By now everyone currently involved with setting the tables has forgotten how and why it started; it’s just ‘the way we do things here’.

– there’s an old story that’s probably relevant:

Friend: Why do you cut a piece off the roast and cook it separately?

Cook: My mother always did it that way; but, do you know, I’m not sure why? I’ll call her and ask.

Cook’s mom: My mother always did it that way; but, do you know, I’m not sure why? I’ll call her and ask.

Cook’s grandmom: Because all I had at the time was a small pan, and I had to cut part of the roast off or it wouldn’t fit! I gave you a nice big roasting pan, why are you still doing that?

5

The kitchen staff is using the extra spoons for their durian?

I’ve eaten plenty of meals in Malaysia and never saw that. Would I have noticed? Not sure - even if someone had asked the staff for a spoon, I might not have noticed. The answer above about tradition arising from circumstance seems reasonable to me.

ETA: sometimes meals were eaten by hand, or I saw fork + spoon for some folks, so there’s lots of variation…I’m not just familiar with the missing spoon version.

6

If the clientele is ritzy enough, surely, at least one diner was born with a spoon already in their mouth.

7

Maybe they locally eat soup type things out of the bowl itself.

8

Mrs. Charming and Rested tells me she has no recollection of such a thing during her year living in Malaysia and her many trips there. She lived with Malaysian roommates and ate many, many meals at restaurants and in the homes with Malaysian friends and colleagues. She even once emceed a formal Malaysian dinner with many international guests. Everyone got the requisite number of utensils. She and other foreigners do tend to notice that the normal Malaysian place setting doesn’t include a knife.

9

I should have mentioned this in the OP: I myself am Malaysian, and this question is me wondering if this is a thing in western dining etiquette. (judging from the replies so far, it isn’t)

If you went to an eatery that doesn’t give you a spoon from the get go, they’ll usually include a spoon with the dish if you ordered soup/rice.

In those cases, we use the spoon as a makeshift knife. (If you ordered food that is difficult to cut with a spoon, a knife would be provided)