Have you ever been accidentally disrespectful while eating abroad? This simple visual guide will help you avoid these mistakes and funny looks from locals.
Food is such an important piece of culture dating back to ancient times. No wonder how each country might have their own rituals and customs of eating the right way.
Did you know that you shouldn’t say cheers with beer in Hungary? What you think is proper in your country might be a complete no-no across the ocean. Find out why, and a few other tips about eating abroad from Spain to Georgia.
The Spanish sobremesa is also very true for Mexico. Probably the Spanish were the ones who brought the custom over.
What is another do and don’t from your country?
Thanks WIMDU for the graphic.
A New Life Wandering 
Interesting list.
I’ve been to Hungary a few times and seen plenty of toasting with beer as well as other alcohols.
A couple of things I’ve spotted in the Czech Republic:
It’s generally considered poor form, not outright offensive though, to partake in a toast if you are drinking a non alcoholic beverage.
If you are in the eastern part of the country, you may see people touch the table with the bottom of their glass between clinking glasses and drinking the toast. This seems to be done exclusively with beer and mostly in the Moravian parts of the country.
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That’s interesting.
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Quite true. Some of the customs I knew (France of course) others I did not. The two-hand thing is very important in many countries. (Asia?) handing something over with only one hand is disrespect. And throwing an object at someone is a no-no in Mexico isn’t it?
😉
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To show respect here in Viet Nam, you offer and accept everything with two hands.
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Yes I’ve seen that with an old vietnamese friend. Probably saw it Cambodia too, but I was too little to clearly remember. Respect goes along with good manners. 😉
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Very true.
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Throwing an object? haha.. I didn’t know it was a specific no-no but I’m sure it’s never nice to do so hehe.
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Great tips!
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Interesting and super useful! Although I do have to note that the etiquette mentioned for Japan also applies for Korea as well. 🙂
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Thanks for letting me know 😉
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Love this kind of info. Thanks!
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These were fun….but I think i will always eat asparagus with a fork! 🙂
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haha ok!
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These are so interesting! Thanks for sharing! I didn’t even know the British one about asparagus and I’ve lived here forever! (Although I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve eaten asparagus in my 25 years!)
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hahah, yeah they seem to be rare.
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I would fit in well in Thailand, I much prefer a spoon over a fork. Which is different from many of my friends. I can remember serving cake and the most frequently asked question was, “Where are the forks?” There were plenty of spoons by the cake! 🙂
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Haha that’s funny. My hubby prefers spoons too. He often gets up from the table after I serve food to grab a spoon.
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