You're in Chinese restaurant

proper indian style? you mean with hands? cool. i always thought they prefer to eat with utensils to avoid their hands from getting dirty or smelly (some food's smell lingers on the skin for a while)

yes, i think you must learn to use chopstick.

zandi458, Firstly, just be a little observant on your table settings when you have a Chinese sit down dinner. I am sure that there will be a spoon there. It is not just used for the soup, lest you be mistaken. In a grand dinner like wedding, you can always let your host know that you are not accustomed to using chopsticks and I am sure they can pass you the spoon and fork with a plate as well. If not, just simply ask the waiter or waitress serving your table. Lastly, if you have the chance, do have some practice on your own. If not then, just remember the above which I had mentioned and not missed out on enjoying your meal. Have a nice day.

maybe you should practice more at home. or when you're bored in the office/school try to pick up an eraser using ballpen. and good thing you noticed how the chinese eat. some people are afraid of bringing the bowl to the mouth and pick the rice up from the bowl on the table to the mouth. and you guess it, the rice fall right back into the bowl or on the table

don't feel bad about it. not all asians know how to eat in a proper manner according to another asian's culture. so just enjoy yourself and enjoy the food :)

you can never eat basmathi rice with chopstick even if you're born chinese and have been using the chopstick when you were a baby. lol. but the trick is actually in scooping the rice into your mouth without falling (assuming you use chinese/japanese rice) pick a lump of rice keeping the chopstick at the base of the rice lump smaller than its diameter, bring the bowl near your mouth and shove it in your mouth. tadaa... instant rice-n-chopstick expert! (this is how the chinese do it) chinese and japanese rice are the sticky type. and indian rice are not. indian rice is either cooked with spices or eaten with curry and using sticky rice will be a total disaster because there will be parts of the rice that will clump together, leaving bland taste in the center of the ball. so they use rice without the sticky factor so if you buy basmathi or any types of rice with little starch (i always think of this as the sticky factor) you won't be able to do it. my sister went to germany once and said her host family tried to eat basmathi on plate with chopsticks and when she told me i was like "is that even possible?" and she said "hell no. i just ate with my hand" so i assume most of the time westerners use the indian rice. the solution of this: absolutely no chopsticks. just ask for fork and spoon if you're gonna eat that kind of rice happy eating :)

too bad. some stuff goes really well with rice. ask for fork and spoon next time. i'm sure the restaurant won't mind. enjoy your meals :)

i think restaurant people are usually helpful with your needs of using fork and spoon to enjoy the meal. it's the food you want to enjoy, not the chopstick experience. too bad if they refuse to provide fork and spoon for guests. we're not talking about having full set of fork and spoon enough for every patrons as most people are probably comfortable with the chopsticks. too bad if such restaurants lose potential customers just because the customers can't have fork and spoon to eat with