How not to feel uncultured at the table: rules of restaurant etiquette

The highest level of professionalism for waiters is considered to be their ability to be invisible and not disturb guests. But how do you communicate during a dinner in a restaurant? How do you make it clear to the staff that you want something, like or dislike something? Calling the waiter every time is inconvenient and can attract unwanted attention from the staff and other guests. In fact, there is a system of signals that can be conveyed by arranging the dishes on the plate.

OBOZREVATEL has explored the existing signs and how to use them to make communication with restaurant staff easy and pleasant for everyone.

Pause in a meal

Let's say you need to step away from the table, but you don't want your plate to be taken away. Let the waiter know that you're taking a break, not finishing your meal. To do this, place your fork and knife so that the handles are facing away from you, and the heads are coming together at the edge of the plate, forming an acute angle, like the letter "L." If there is still a lot of food on the plate, you can place the knife and fork with the heads on the edge of the plate so that they are facing each other.

You can take the plate away

If you are finished with a dish and want to let the waiter know, place the knife and fork completely on the plate. They should be lying with the ends of their handles converging and at a slight angle to each other.

You don't like the food

To politely indicate that you didn't like the food or the service, place your fork and knife on the plate in an "L" shape. The fork should be on the right, and the knife should be on the left, with its blade inserted between the tines of the fork. After that, the waiter or manager will probably come to you to find out what went wrong and whether the restaurant can make amends.

You really liked the dish

In this case, after finishing the meal, place the knife and fork on the plate so that they are parallel to the edge of the table. Make sure that the knife and fork are pointing in different directions. This will be interpreted as a thank you to the staff. Ideally, such a gesture should be supported by a generous tip.

You have finished your meal

In a good restaurant, waiters should know when to bring the check, even without a special request from the guest. To do this, you can simply place your fork and knife on the plate perpendicular to the edge of the table with the heads facing the same direction. In this case, the waiter should come to you, take the dishes, and bring the check.

However, do not hesitate to address the staff directly. After all, hints and body language are important and are indeed an element of etiquette, but nothing works better than directly spoken words.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL told you how to leave a tip in a hotel.

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