What should you pay attention to when eating Western food?

1. Tips for making an appointment. The more upscale hotels require reservations in advance. When making a reservation, not only specify the number of people and time, but also indicate whether you want a smoking area or a seat with a good view. If it's a birthday or other special occasion, you can tell us the purpose and budget of the party. It is basic courtesy to arrive within the scheduled time.

2. No matter how expensive your casual clothes are, you cannot wear them casually to restaurants.

3. When entering a restaurant, men should open the door first and invite women to enter. If there is a waiter taking the table, the lady should also be asked to go in front. Women should be given priority when seated and when meals are served. Even if it’s a group activity, don’t forget to let the ladies go in front.

4. Dressing appropriately when eating is common sense among Europeans and Americans. When going to high-end restaurants, men should wear neat tops and leather shoes; women should wear suits and heeled shoes. If formal attire is specified, men must wear a tie.

5. Sit from the left side of the chair. The most appropriate way to sit is from the left side. When the chair is pulled away, stand up straight at a distance that is almost touching the table. The leader will push the chair in, and you can sit down when your legs touch the chair behind you. When sitting, your body should be upright, your elbows should not be placed on the table, and your feet should not be crossed. It is best to keep the distance from the table to facilitate the use of tableware. Do not mess around with the tableware that has been placed on the dining table. Fold the napkin in half and place it gently in your lap.

6. The formal order of serving the full meal is: ① vegetables and soup ② cod liver oil ③ fruit ④ meat ⑤ cheese ⑥ dessert and coffee ⑦ fruit, as well as pre-dinner wine and table wine. There is no need to order everything. It would be rude to order too much and not be able to finish it all. No decent restaurant welcomes people who only order appetizers. Appetizer, main course (choose one of fish or meat) and dessert are the most appropriate combinations. When ordering, you don't start with the appetizers. Instead, you choose the main dish you want to eat the most, and then pair it with the soup that suits the main dish.

7. Don’t pretend to be an expert when ordering wine. In high-end restaurants, there will be a bartender who is good at wine tasting and will bring you a wine list. For those who don’t know much about wine, it is best to tell them the dishes you have chosen, your budget, and your favorite wine flavors, and ask the bartender to help you choose. .

8. If the main course is meat, it should be paired with red wine, and fish should be paired with white wine. Before serving, try a glass of lighter wine such as champagne, sherry or gills.

9. The napkin can be opened before eating. After ordering, open the napkin during the period before the appetizer is served, fold it inward by one-third, and let two-thirds of it lie flat on your legs, covering the part of your legs above the knees. It is best not to tuck the napkin into the neckline.

10. When dining, your upper arms and back should lean against the back of the chair, and your abdomen should be kept about a fist away from the table. It is best to avoid sitting with your feet crossed.

11. During meals, do not unbutton or take off your clothes in public. If the host asks a guest to undress, the male guest can take off his coat and put it on the back of the chair. Do not put his coat or belongings on the dining table.

12. Do not put on makeup at the table or use a napkin to wipe your nose. Burping during meals is the biggest no-no. If this happens, you should immediately apologize to those around you. Do not stand up when eating, and ask others to pass food that cannot be reached while sitting.

13. When dining, you should talk to the guests on your left and right, but you should avoid talking and laughing loudly. Don't just talk to a few acquaintances. If the guests don't know you, you can introduce yourself. Don't interrupt others when they are talking.

14. Don’t put too much food into your mouth each time. Don’t talk while chewing, let alone take the initiative to talk to others.

15. When eating chicken, Europeans and Americans mostly value chicken breast meat. When eating chicken legs, you should remove the bones first and do not eat them with your hands. When eating fish, do not turn the fish over. After eating the upper layer, use a knife and fork to remove the fish bones before eating the lower layer. When eating meat, you should cut it into pieces and eat them one by one. Do not cut the pieces too large, or cut the meat into pieces at once. .

16. Fish meat is very tender and fragile, so restaurants often do not prepare knives but special spoons. This kind of spoon is slightly larger and flatter than those commonly used for soup. It can not only cut dishes, but also scoop up vegetables and sauces to eat together. If you want to eat other mixed vegetables, it is better to use a fork.

When handling fish bones, first use a knife to pierce a straight line near the fish's gills. The tip of the knife should not penetrate through, but only penetrate halfway. After picking up the upper body of the fish, start from the beginning, place the knife under the bones, cut towards the tail, remove the bones and move them to a corner of the plate. Finally, cut off the fish tail.

17. How to drink. When drinking, you should never drink by sipping. Instead, tilt the glass and drink as if you are putting the wine on your tongue. Gently shake the glass to allow the wine to come into contact with the air to increase the aroma of the wine, but do not shake the glass violently. In addition, it is impolite to drink in one gulp and look at people through the glass while drinking. Do not wipe the lipstick marks on the rim of the cup with your fingers. It is better to wipe it with a tissue.

18. Do not drink soup by sucking it. First use a spoon to scoop up the soup from back to front. Place the bottom of the spoon on your lower lip and bring the soup into your mouth. A 45° angle between the spoon and the mouth is best. The upper body is slightly tilted forward. When there is not much soup left in the bowl, you can use your fingers to raise the bowl slightly. If the soup is served in a bowl with a handle ring, you can directly hold the handle ring to drink it.

19. How to eat bread. The principle is to tear it into small pieces with both hands first, and then eat it with your left hand. When eating hard bread, it is not only laborious to tear it with your hands, but also the crumbs will fall all over the floor. At this time, you can cut it in half with a knife, and then tear it into pieces with your hands. Avoid cutting the bread like a saw; insert the knife into the other half first. Use your hands to hold the bread in place when cutting to avoid making any noise.

20. If you are willing to add milk or sugar when drinking coffee, stir it evenly with a small spoon after adding it, and place the small spoon on the coffee plate. When drinking, you should hold the cup handle with your right hand, hold the saucer with your left hand, and drink directly with your mouth. Do not use a small spoon to scoop it up one by one. When eating fruit, do not bite the fruit whole. You should first cut it into quarters or main segments with a fruit knife, then use a knife to remove the skin and core, and eat it with a fork.

21. How to use knives and forks. The basic principle is to hold a knife or spoon in your right hand and a fork in your left hand. If there are more than two, they should be taken from the outermost one inward. The way to hold a knife and fork is to hold the end lightly and press the index finger on the handle. Just hold the spoon like a pen. If it feels inconvenient, you can change the right hand to hold the fork, but changing it frequently will appear rude. When eating larger vegetables, use a knife and fork to fold and cut them. Softer foods can be placed on the flat surface of a fork and trimmed with a knife.

22. How to place the knife and fork when taking a short break. If you want to put down your knife and fork to take a break while eating, you should place the knife and fork in a figure-eight shape in the center of the plate. If the knife and fork protrude from the plate, it is unsafe and unsightly. It is impolite to wave a knife and fork while talking. After the meal, place the knife and fork in the four o'clock direction. There are many tableware on the Western dining table. You need to use specific tableware to eat each thing. Take the table knife as an example. There are at least three knives when eating Western food. It is used to cut steaks, vegetables and cut bread. If you don't know the specific use of each piece of tableware, it is easy to get into embarrassing situations. If the tableware is placed in a mess, it is easy to drop the tableware in your hand on the ground. Chinese people's consumption of Western food is an integral part of learning Western culture. This course explains the most basic common sense on the Western dining table, so that you can behave more correctly and appropriately while enjoying the elegant dining atmosphere of Western food, and eat in an orderly manner with "etiquette".

Step 1: Cloth napkin

Western napkins are generally made of cloth. The napkin is square and flat, with elegant colors. It is often placed on the lap, and can also be placed on the chest in serious ceremonial occasions. It can also be placed on the table in casual occasions, with one corner of the napkin facing the chest and pressed with a dish. When using napkins, be careful not to do the following rude things:

1. Drop the napkin on the ground when leaving the table.

2. The cloth napkin is stained or wrinkled.

3. Place leftover food on a cloth napkin.

4. Wipe the table with a napkin.

The napkin can be used to wipe your mouth or hands. It can be folded diagonally into a triangle shape or parallelly into a rectangular shape. All stains should be wiped inside so that the appearance always looks neat. When leaving your seat, even temporarily, you should take off the napkin and fold it into a square or triangle at will and place it on the side of the plate or the corner of the table, preferably on your seat.

Step 2: About knives, forks, and spoons

The knives, forks, and spoons used in Western food have their own uses and cannot be substituted or mixed.

1. Knife

It is used to cut food. Do not use the knife to pick up food and bring it to your mouth. Remember: hold the knife in your right hand. If three knives of different sizes appear at the same time when dining, the generally correct usage is: the one with small serrations is used to cut meat; the medium-sized one is used to cut large vegetables into small pieces; A small knife with a rounded tip and an upturned top is used to cut the bread, and then use it to pick some jam and butter to spread on the bread.

2. Fork

Hold the fork in your left hand and lift the food to your mouth. The movement should be gentle. Pick up an appropriate amount of food and put it into your mouth at one time. Do not drag a large amount of food. Block, take a bite and then put it down, this is very indecent. When the fork picks up food and puts it into your mouth, your teeth only touch the food. Do not bite the fork, and do not let the knife and fork make any sound on the teeth or on the plate.

3. Spoon

In formal occasions, there are many kinds of spoons, small ones are used for coffee and desserts; flat ones are used for spreading butter and sharing cakes; compare The big one is used for soup or small food; the largest one is used for sharing soup and is commonly found in buffets. Make no mistake.

Step 3: Place the tableware

The tableware is placed from outside to inside according to the order of serving. After some dishes are used, part of the knife and fork will be removed. The direction and position of the cutlery and forks are particular. Place the knife and fork on the tray in a figure-eight shape, with the knife edge facing inward and the fork tip pointing down, which means you want to continue eating; place the knife and fork parallel to the knife edge on the tray, with the fork tip pointing upward, which means you don't want to eat. The spoon is placed horizontally in the soup plate with the center of the spoon upward, which also means that the soup utensils can be taken away.

Step 4: Eat elegantly

1. When drinking thick soup

Hold the spoon horizontally and scoop it lightly from the outside to the inside. Do not take the spoon out very hard. At the bottom, the outside of the spoon touches the soup. When drinking, touch the inside of the spoon with your lips. Do not lift the soup basin to drink. When the soup is almost finished, use your left hand to gently lift the inside of the soup basin with your chest. The soup will be concentrated on one side of the basin bottom, and use your right hand to scoop out the soup. The action is perfect!

2. When eating pizza or other cakes

Use a knife to cut a piece on the plate that is just right for one bite, and put it into your mouth with a fork.

3. When eating bread

Hold the bread with one hand, tear off a small piece with the other hand and put it into your mouth. Do not bite the whole bread. When eating Western food, you should dress neatly, sit upright, back straight, and stretch your neck. The most important thing is to keep your hands clean and your nails neatly trimmed.