• Guests are always seated farthest from the door; when there are no guests the grandparents are seated farthest away from the door.
• Depending on the customs of the household, a prayer may be offered before and/or after the meal.
• Guests are offered food first and expected to eat the most, while the hosts eat last and the least.
• Guests should refrain from eating too much, unless the hosts coaxes them to eat more. The host should always ask at least three times if the guest wants more food, and the guest should refuse at least three times. In certain situations the host can put food on the guest's plate by force.
• Guests are always given the best portions of the food.
• Traditionally food should be eaten with bare hands. However, cutlery is sometimes provided. Only the right hand should be used when eating with your hands. There are proper ways of picking up rice and other loose food without spilling any, which one should learn and practice. Wasting food is frowned upon. When cutlery is provided it is usually a spoon and fork, since there is seldom need for the use of a knife when eating Afghani food. Even when cutlery is provided it is acceptable to eat with your hands as well.
• Soup is eaten by soaking it with bread.
• Food remnants should be collected with slices of bread.
• Sometimes it is common to eat collectively from one plate. One should always eat from one's own side.
• If bread is dropped on the floor while eating at a table, the bread should be picked up, kissed, and put to one's forehead before putting the bread back somewhere other than the floor. If eating on the floor, make sure that your feet do not touch the food.
• Compliments to the chef are customary; however, compliments should be acknowledged with extreme modesty.
• Traditionally, service during dinner is performed by the youngest. First, water is brought in a jug with a saucer to wash the hands. The food is then served. This may be followed by fruit and then tea.
• Tea is served after dinner, with dried fruits, sweets, and sugar cubes. When tea is served, the cup of a guest must never be empty, and snacks must be offered. Once the guest has finished drinking tea, the guest can flip their tea cup over to signal that they are done.
• Eating or talking with one's mouth full is frowned upon.
• Even if one is starving, one should refrain from being over zealous at the table.
• Passing gas (flatulence) is not tolerated.
• One must never sit with one's back to anyone, especially an elder or a guest. One must never sit with feet stretched out toward anyone, especially an elder or a guest.
• One must always be polite and gracious to the host. Remember if the host is poor and had only one chicken which the family used for eggs that chicken would be sacrificed for the guest.
• After eating, the jug of water is brought out again to wash hands. A towel may be provided.

Many of these rules concern the use of chopsticks. Generally, Chinese table manners are relatively more informal compared to in the West.

Chopstick usage

• Chopsticks should always be held correctly, i.e. between the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand.
• Chopsticks are traditionally held in the right hand only, even for the left-handed. Although chopsticks may now be found in either hand, a few still consider left-handed chopstick use improper etiquette. One explanation for the treatment of such usage as improper is that within the confines of a round table this may be inconvenient.
• Never wave your chopsticks around as if they were an extension of your hand gestures, bang them like drumsticks, or use them to move bowls or plates.
• Decide what to pick up before reaching with chopsticks, instead of hovering them over or rummaging through dishes.
• To keep chopsticks off the table, they can be rested horizontally on one's plate or bowl; a chopstick rest(commonly found in restaurants) can also be used.
• When picking up a piece of food, never use the tips of your chopsticks to poke through the food as with a fork; exceptions include tearing apart larger items such as vegetables. In more informal settings, smaller items or those more difficult to pick up such as cherry tomatoes or fishballs may be stabbed, but this is frowned upon by traditionalists.
• Never stab chopsticks vertically into a bowl of rice, as this resembles incense sticks used at temples to pay respects to the deceased. This is considered the ultimate dinner table faux pas.

Communal chopsticks

• When there are communal chopsticks, it is considered impolite to use your own chopsticks to pick up the food from the shared plate, or to eat using the communal chopsticks.
• It is considered impolite to use the blunt end of one's own chopsticks to transfer food from a common dish to one's own plate or bowl; use the communal chopsticks instead.
• An exception to the above can usually be made in intimate settings such as at home.

Other eating utensils

• If noodle soup is served, many consider a more elegant way to eat by picking the noodle into a serving spoon first, and eating from the spoon, rather than slurping directly from the bowl into the mouth using chopsticks.
• Chinese traditionally eat rice from a small bowl held in the left hand. The rice bowl is raised to the mouth and the rice pushed into the mouth using the chopsticks. Some Chinese find it offensive to scoop rice from the bowl using a spoon. If rice is served on a plate, as is more common in the West, it is acceptable and more practical to eat it with a fork or spoon. The thumb must always be above the edge of the bowl.

Eating from common dishes

• Pick the food on the dish that is at the top and nearest to you in distance. Never rummage through the dish or pick from the far side for your favorite food.
• In general, more conservative Chinese frown upon the practice of picking more than one or two bites of food in your bowl or serving plate as if you were eating in the Western way. Most Chinese would understand the practice during infectious disease epidemics, or if the person is from the West.
• If both a serving bowl - separate from rice bowl - and plate are provided, never put any food items to be eaten onto the serving plate. This rule may be relaxed for foreigners.
• After you have picked up a food item, do not put it back in the dish.

Seniority and guests at the table

• The elderly or guest(s) of honour are usually the first to start the meal.
• The youngest or least senior may serve the eldest or most senior first, as part of the Confucian value of respecting seniors.
• It is polite for the youngest to address all of the elder members at the table before starting, perhaps telling them to please "eat rice" as a signal to help themselves.
• The best food in a dish should be left to the elderly, children, or the guest of honour, even if they are one's favourite.
• The eldest person present, or the guest of honour, is given a seat facing the door.
• When the hostess says her food is not good enough, the guest must disagree and tell her it is one of the finest foods they have ever tasted.

Drinks

• The host should always make sure everyone's cups are not empty for long. One should not pour for oneself, but if thirsty should first offer to pour for a neighbor. When your drink is being poured, you should say "thank you", and/or tap your index and middle finger on the table to show appreciation, especially when you are in Southern China, e.g. Guangdong Province.
• When people wish to clink drinks together in the form of a cheer, it is important to observe that younger members should clink the rim of their glass below the rim of an elder's to show respect.
• Strong alcohol, called baijiu [pronounced "by joe"], is often served throughout the meal; and it is customary for the host[s]/hostess[es] to insist that guests drink to "show friendship." If the guests prefers not to drink, they may say, "I'm unable to drink, but thank you." [in Mandarine: "Wo bu ke neng he jiu, xie xie." {whoa boo kuh nung huh joe}] The host may continue to insist that the guests drink, and the guests may likewise continue to insist upon being "unable" to drink. The host's insistance is to show generosity. Therefore, refusal by the guests should be made with utmost politeness. Beware: If a guest drinks alcohol with a subordinate at the table, the guest will be expected [if not forced] to drink a glass of the same alcohol with each superior at that table, and possibly at other tables too -- if the guest has not passed out yet.

Smoking

• Smoking is customary when dining, and the host will often pass out cigarettes to all [men] around the table. If the guest prefers not to smoke, [s]he should just politely refuse.

Business meals

• During business meals, it is best not to eat until one is completely full, as business and not food is the actual main purpose of the gathering.

Miscellaneous

• When eating food that contains bones, it is customary that the bones be spat out onto the table to the right of the dining plate in a neat pile.

Main article: Etiquette of Indian dining

• Before eating, wait for the host or the eldest person to start.
• Silence should be maintained whilst eating. You are not expected to chat unnecessarily with the people around the table.
• It is acceptable not to use cutlery for eating, as many foods - such as Indian breads and curry - are best enjoyed when eating with the hand.
• Wash hands thoroughly before sitting at the table as some Indian foods are primarily eaten by hand. Also, wash hands after eating the food. Usually, a finger bowl (with luke warm water and lemon) is served to each person for rinsing fingers.
• In North India, when eating curry, the sauce must not be allowed to stain the fingers - only the fingertips are used. However, in South India, it is acceptable to use more of your hand.
• When flatbreads such as chapati, roti, or naan are served with the meal, it is acceptable and expected to use pieces of them to gather food and sop-up sauces and curries.
• The cardinal rule of dining is to always use the right hand when eating or receiving food and never the left. Even bread is broken using the right hand alone.
• It is considered inappropriate to use your fingers to share food from someone else's plate once you have started using your own. Instead, ask for a clean spoon to transfer the food from the common dish to your plate.
• It is not necessary to taste each and every dish prepared, but you must finish everything on your plate as it is considered a respectful. For that reason, put only as much food on your plate as you can eat.
• Do not leave the table until others have finished or the host requests you. If you must, ask permission from the host before leaving.
• South Indian meals are served on a banana leaf that has been cleaned with warm water. Vegetables are placed on the top half of the leaf, and rice, sweets, and snacks on the other half.
• The banana leaf should be left open after finishing the meal as folding the leaf implies we wish to discontinue relations with our host.
• Hands should never be washed on the banana leaf.

• Never place chopsticks stuck vertically into a bowl of food, as this is the traditional presentation form for an offering to one's ancestors.
• One should wait for the hostess to tell you to eat three times before eating.
• Accepted practice in helping oneself to a communal dish such as a salad, is to reverse the chopsticks. However this is regarded in an all male, or casual situation, as too formal and additionally, a female habit.
• Women should cup their other hand beneath their serving when using chopsticks when conveying food from dish/bowl to mouth. Men should not do this.
• In communal dining or drinking, the youngest person present should pour alcohol for the other members of the party, serving the most senior person first. The server should not pour their own drink, rather they should place the bottle of sake, beer, wine or spirits, back on the table or bar, and wait to be served by a senior.
• One should always clean one's hands before dining with the hot steamed towel provided.
• Japanese soup is eaten holding the bowl to one's mouth, never with a spoon. The exceptions to this are o-zoni, the traditional soup served on New Year's Day; soups with noodles are served in larger bowls, such as ramen, are acceptable to eat using chopsticks, although the soup itself is still consumed from bowl to mouth.
• If something might drip onto the table while being transferred in the chopsticks, use the bowl of rice in your other hand to catch the liquid. It is important to not allow this liquid to remain, and so the discolored portion of the rice must be eaten. Rice (in a bowl) should remain white if it was served as such.
• It is usually polite to finish all sections of a meal served at around the same time. It is suggested that one should take a bite from one container, and then take a bite of rice. One should then take a bite from another container, have another bite of rice, and so forth.
• It is perfectly acceptable, rather, encouraged to make a slurping noise when eating hot noodles such as udon, ramen or soba. This is standard behavior in Japan, and Japanese maintain that inhaling air when eating hot noodles improves the flavor.
• When taking a break from eating during a meal, one should place one's chopsticks on the chopstick rest (hashi-oki) provided. A hashi-oki is usually a ceramic rectangle about four centimeters long, or in some restaurants, a halved wine cork is provided.
• Unlike Korean table manners, it is acceptable to cradle one's rice bowl in one hand when eating. Japanese rice bowls have a thicker bottom and are made with heat insulating materials while Korean rice bowls are made with heat conductive metals.
• One should not gesture using chopsticks.
• Never pass food from one pair of chopsticks to another. This technique is used only in Japanese Buddhist funerary rites when transferring cremated bones into an urn.
• When pouring wine or beer, the hand holding the bottle should pour forward, not backward (over the back of the hand) which is considered an insult.
• There is no tipping in Japanese restaurants.

There are additional etiquette rules specifically for sushi, especially in a restaurant.

• It is acceptable to eat sushi with one's fingers, rather than chopsticks, if the dining situation is relatively casual (this also applies to dining out at a kaitenzushi restaurant).
• When possible, sushi pieces and sections of cut rolls should be eaten in a single bite, or held in the hand until finished; setting half a piece back down on the plate is considered rude.
• Nigiri sushi (fish on rice) and maki (rolls) may be eaten with the hands; sashimi (pieces of raw fish) should be eaten with chopsticks.

• Footwear must not be worn in a Malay home due to hygienic reasons.
• As a guest, if you feel that you cannot consume more food, it is courteous to turn it down by eating a small morsel or by graciously declining it altogether.
• Remember that the right hand is always used for eating the traditional Malay way - NEVER the left hand since that it is considered unclean.
• Have the oldest person served first (disregard whether it is a male or female).
• Always cover your mouth when toothpicking.
• Always turn your head away from the table if you are sneezing or coughing.
• For functions that require guests to sit down on the floor, men should sit crossed-legged and not stretch them
• Pointing your feet at others is impolite - point your feet away from them.
• You must leave some drinking beverage in the glass or cup after you finish drinking.
• Never leave your plate dry after eating.
• Don't hit or knock on an empty plate as it is considered rude.
• Do not put back dishes to its original place when you have taken it to your plate.
• Do not talk when your mouth is full as it is considered rude.

Pakistani table manners are a mixture of Islamic teachings, south Asian tradition and British influence:

• Before you start eating, Recite "Bismillah Ar-Rahman al-Rahim"(In the name of Allah Who is most beneficial & merciful).
• Wash hands thoroughly before sitting at the table/Dastarkhwan (A long piece of cloth used for food) as Bread (Chapati) is primarily eaten by hand.
• Try to eat bread (Chapati) with the right hand.
• Don't look into others' saucers while eating.
• Do not chew loud enough for others to hear.
• Chew with your mouth closed.
• Eat everything on the plate; leaving some food is considered wasteful.
• Eating additional servings is considered polite and a compliment to the host.
• When using a knife and fork, eat British style, holding the fork in your left hand.
• Do not start eating until the eldest in the family eats first.
• If eating food with bread, first tear it in half. Then break off a small piece, only using your right hand, if you can do so, elegantly. Use bread to pinch or scoop food between thumb and fingers.

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