A typical Padang Cuisine restaurant will basically bring whatever they have in the house out to your table. Don't worry, you don't have to eat everything or actually anything. They will bring everything back what you don't eat and serve it to the next guest. Let's say, they bring out two pieces of meat, you eat one, they will take the other one back and they will charge you for just one that you ate. Simple, right? And what's wrong with that picture? So far, nobody has died from eating that way, at least not to my knowledge. As a common courtesy though, you don't put a piece of meat on your plate, bite on it and put it back on the common plate. There is an unwritten rule against that.

Aaah, I almost forgot to add, there is only a limited number of spoons or forks. Typically, only for the common plates they give you some silverware. Use your imagination how we are eating at that table! The food even tastes better that way. Hint, hint; the metal bowl next to your rice plate is not for soup, by the way.

I really enjoy Padang cuisine. The food is spicy and has a zing to it. I try not to miss Padang cuisine each time we go back to Indonesia. By the way, Padang is located in the Central West Sumatera.