When is it ok to drink from the soup bowl in public? I get that with western dishes it wouldn't be acceptable...

When is it ok to drink from the soup bowl in public? I get that with western dishes it wouldn't be acceptable. But what about pho or ramen? Or this weird Korean soup? What is the etiquette here?

Korean food should be served with a spoon.

This is a fair point. But the spoon kind of sucks. It doesn't suck as bad as the mini-ladle things you get at pho and ramen places though.

Just observe old asian dudes
I've been in a Pho shop and seen old vietnamese dudes scarf that shit down and drink the entire bowl, no spoon needed

When in doubt, just do as they do

I've noticed this as well. I've reached the tentative conclusion that it's ok with ramen and pho. But I wonder if there's some general rule.

If a rice farmer made it, slurping is fair game.

>But I wonder if there's some general rule.
You mean a general rule across an entire continent with cultures that are thousands of years old and have reached their own cultural consensus on what is appropriate or not in regards to their unique cuisines?

no

Depends where you are in Korea. If you're near a US army base, you can eat like a barbarian pig and people expect it, so they won't give you shit. You go out into less frequented areas where most americans fear to tread, they'll knock the bowl out of your hands and send you scampering.

i've noticed most asians are pretty loud when they eat, slurping shit up all the time and making audible sounds. definitely seen them bring the bowl to themselves too and drink it.

If you don't look or act like you belong to the same race as the food, you were probably served something less in terms of quality and quantity compared to someone else who looks and acts the part and ordered the same thing. Nothing to reciprocate there.