At home, soup-eating is usually a casual affair, with no special rules or etiquette. But have you ever wondered about the proper way to eat soup, especially at a formal dinner or fancy restaurant? From where to rest your spoon between bites to how to politely get the last drops of soup from the bowl, we have the answers.
At a table setting with a lot of utensils, the soup spoon will be placed on the far right, and is usually recognizable by its wide, round bowl. Soup should be scooped from the side of the bowl furthest from you, and sipped (never slurped!) from the side of the spoon that faces you. Bring the spoon up to your mouth instead of leaning over the bowl while eating. To eat the last bit of soup from the bottom of the bowl, tilt the bowl away from you slightly to scoop it up with your spoon.
Soup can be served in a wide, shallow soup plate or a deeper soup bowl. If you're eating from the former, the spoon should be rested in the soup plate in between bites and when you are finished eating. If it is the latter, always rest the spoon on the plate below the bowl, not in the bowl itself. If the soup is served in a cup with handles, it is appropriate to lift the cup up and sip from it directly, but use your spoon to eat any solid ingredients like vegetables or noodles.
Want to see proper soup-eating in action? Check out the video below. (If "action" isn't how you'd describe a video of a woman demonstrating how to politely eat soup, you may want to skip it.)
This etiquette applies to soup-eating in the United States, but there are many other ways to eat soup around the world. Do you come from a culture that has different rules? How do you eat soup?
Related: Knife-and-Fork or in Your Hand? How Do You Eat Pizza?
(Image: atm2003/Shutterstock)
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I was taught that the fancy-etiquette-approved way to eat soup was to put your spoon in the bowl and then move it AWAY from you, tilted at an angle away from you (basically, the way most people do, which is to drag the spoon through the soup from the opposite side of the bowl towards them). That way you don't get drips on the side of the spoon facing you, and potentially drips in your lap or on your tie.
I do wonder - is it good manners to bend your head over the bowl to eat the soup? I always do that because I'm forever not eating it the fancy-etiquette-approved way and get occasional drips.
I hate western style soup spoons, as they are so shallow. I personally love the asian soup spoons. Nice deep bowl to it, you can grab all sort of yummy morsels, and food just doesn't slip and slide all around.
I guess that's why I don't go to fancy dinner parties. ;)
But have you ever wondered about the proper way to eat soup, especially at a formal dinner or fancy restaurant?
No, no I have not. Thank God.
"As little ships go out to sea / I dip my spoon AWAY from me". Just re-checked mid-century etiquette book which confirms this was the approved behavior in that era.
I actually took an etiquette class that included dinner etiquette while in university. I took the class to learn how to eat dinner and conduct a business meeting/impress the recruiter at the dinner event in recruitment. So I actually learned all this stuff among other more useful tips. BUT I have eaten at many fancy restaurants and nobody has ever watched me eat my soup. As long as you are not loud or disturbing the diners near you, nobody is going to notice.
If I was going to eat at a dinner hosted by the Queen of England then I will gladly take this to heart.
Niche - Just to be fair, people will notice, but, if they are polite they will not say anything.