"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" wrote in message
...


"Peter Dy" wrote in message
m...


No, Vietnamese use chopsticks for everything. No spoons or forks
(except
for Chinese-style soup spoons, of course).

Peter



Interesting. There is one Vietnamese restaurant that we frequent and it
isn't really a restaurant but more of a take-out place (they do have 4 or
5
small tables but you choose your food cafeteria style). They always give
us
chopsticks when we order pho, but a spoon and fork when we order a combo
plate (rice or noodles plus 3 other dishes of your choice). I wonder if
they do that because they know we're Thai/Filipino.


Maybe. Of course, they usually eat with rice bowls; if the food/rice is on
a plate, a Western influence, then spoons or forks may be preferred.
Chinese eat rice on a plate with spoons quite often (usually?).


I've never noticed what
they give Vietnamese people, so I'll try to pay more attention next time
we
go.

Speaking of Filipinos, my mother's family always uses spoons and forks,
too,
and when I lived in the Phil. I only remember those utensils being common
at
the table. The maids would either use spoons or their fingers to eat. In
your experience, which is standard?


Yeah. My understanding is that all of SE Asia uses spoon & fork; only
Vietnam uses chopsticks. (And in some areas people eat with their fingers,
of course, like NE Thailand.) In the Philippines, eating with fingers is
the "traditional" way, though I doubt that any of my relatives have ever
eaten with their fingers. But there are restaurants now that try to create
a "traditional" setting, without chairs and without spoon & forks -- you eat
with your fingers. I haven't been to one of those restaurants though.

Peter