Basic Table Manners

BASIC TABLE MANNERS

Always be on time to the dinner table.Wait until everyone is served before

eating.Don’t grab the food.Don’t talk with your mouth full.Don’t stuff your mouth full of food.Chew with your mouth closed and avoid

unnecessary noise while chewing.Don’t slurp soup and drinks.Don’t pick something out of your teeth.Don’t put a knife into your mouth.

Never let any utensils, once used, evertouched the table again.

Don’t reach over someone’s plate for something. Don’t put items that are not related to dining, such

as coin purse, papers, or keys on the table. Don’t slouch or squirm on your chair. Keep elbows off the table. Always say thank you when served something. Put the fork and spoon/knife together on the plate

when you are finished. Stay at the table until everyone has finished

eating.

Considerations forConducting Oneself at

theTable

CultureEating habits also tend to vary

among cultures. Some habits that are

unacceptable to one culture are welcome in another.

Tradition Ritual is a huge part of dining

traditions. It is also important to know

the practices observed by people to show the proper respect for this particular culture.

OccasionThe nature of an event has an

impact on many aspects of dining.

PlacePeople are expected to be at their

best behavior at all times in places where there are many people.

Table SettingThis refers to the arrangement of

tableware for serving and eating food.

Place SettingThis refers to the arrangement of

tableware for serving and eating food.

Formal Table Setting This involves more utensils, dishes, and

beverage ware. These can either be arranged on the table as to how the diner will use them or bring out and place on the table when certain dishes are served.

Informal Table SettingThis involves fewer utensils, dishes,

and drinking vessels.

Formal Place SettingThe dinner plate and the soup bowl

are in the center.

The forks, salad plate, butter knife, and napkin are to the left of the dinner plate.

The dinner knife and the dinner spoon are to the right side of the plate.

Note: That the dinner spoon replaces the dinner knife in Filipino formal dinners.

The dessert fork and spoon are set above the dinner plate, fork pointing right, spoon pointing left.

Utensils on the outermost position are used first.

The glasses are positioned about an inch above the knives, also in order of use:

white wine, Red wine, Dessert wine, Water tumbler

Informal Place Setting It generally has fewer utensils and dishes

but have the same layout based on the formal place setting.

In the Philippines (where people eat with a fork and a spoon), the dinner spoon takes the place of the dinner knife.

Oriental Table Setting “Oriental” refers to the Chinese mode.The dishes are laid out all at once in the

center of the table and the diners eat directly from the communal plates using their chopsticks.

Oriental Table SettingTo facilitate access to all the dishes,

Chinese dining tables are more likely to be square or round. Large tables are usually equipped with a rotating tray called Lazy Susan.

The rice bowl is placed in the center and the saucer is placed to the left side of the bowl. The chopsticks and soup spoon are placed to the right side of the rice bowl, while drinking vessels are placed above the rice bowl.

THANK YOU!