Dishes and Silverware...and Chopsticks

So…I am heading over to my listing tomorrow and feel newly compelled to bring along a few sets of disposable chopsticks. I don’t want to offend anyone, but did anyone else think of “chopsticks” when you were updating your “amenities” and you checked that you provide “Dishes and Silverware”? Now that I noticed this, I feel compelled to get a few sets in the house. To be fair, I have several in my own house and used a set just this week! :sweat_smile:

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I include chopsticks. I have about a dozen stainless pairs that can go into the dishwasher. They’re not quite as nice to use (they’re a bit slippery) but they’re easy to clean. Most of my guests are Asian, so I also have a good rice cooker and an outdoor shoe rack!

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That’s a great idea. I love my rice cooker. I will think about adding one to the rental. I’m not the best at chopsticks so I have to use the wooden ones, but I like the idea of the stainless reusable also. I was sitting here trying to think of any other culturally relevant items it might be nice to add for others. Nothing has come to mind just yet but I’m open to ideas!

Had to add them after a guest bleated that I didn’t have any……

I think it’s a great idea. I too have chopsticks at home but not at the rental. Thanks for the idea.

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Yes! I have had chopsticks on offer since the start. Mine is a camping listing, and I don’t often get to brag about having something other hosts might not. I can’t compete with those of you with, you know, electricity and wifi and stuff. But I have chopsticks!
This is great! :wink:

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This one is like the “beach essentials” amenity that states “snorkeling gear.” I include chairs, towels, coolers and an umbrella. I do not, and will not ever, include snorkeling gear so I specifically list it as an exclusion so I can’t be dinged for it.

We’ve always had chopsticks in the units. They seem like basic utensils to me. And I personally use chopsticks as often as a fork or spoon. I recommend fiberglass chopsticks if you think they’ll get used a lot or if your unit has a dishwasher. Wood chopsticks are the prettiest and most natural but will not hold up to a dishwasher.

These are good, solid chopsticks. Anyone who is glad to see that you have chopsticks, will be glad that you have good ones. You can also get colors or gold-accents if you don’t like the plain black. They are fine in the dishwasher and preferable to stainless steel, which transfers heat.

Our local Chinese bazaar has a dozen bamboo chopsticks for around a euro. The ones we use upstairs are about 3/4 yrs old and have been dishwashered frequently, still look as good as new.

Got same ones downstairs in both apartments and ditto.

Total investment for past few years, around €3.

Is it obvious I’m Scottish :rofl:

JF

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I understand. We use bamboo for our personal use, though they do need replacing every year or so I guess because we use them a lot. And we don’t even mind the curry stains, but curry stains are the reason that we sometimes us fiberglass ones for the listings. Our cup runneth with tons of excellent Thai and Indian in the area.

It’s not a big investment either way.

The shoe rack is in the porch, but I don’t like cooking food in aluminum or flouroplastics, and I have yet to find a well made rice cooker with a stainless steel rice bucket.

Yes I think rice cookers depend on the thermal properties of aluminum to function properly, so you won’t find a stainless one.

My aim isn’t to supply the guest kitchen with what I would want to use, but with what they would want to use. Often that overlaps, but not always.

The pot I use for cooking rice is stainless, with an aluminum disk in the bottom. It’s good for cooking one cup of dry rice, not much more.

I haven’t had many guests who wanted to cook rice, and there is a Calphalon pot there if they want to do so. I’ve only had two from 200 stays — a Thai crew member from Carnival who had just ended a contract and wanted to see Alaska in the winter, and a Malaysian Chinese budget honeymoon couple.

@NordlingHouse If your point is that your guests wouldn’t value having a rice cooker, I certainly can’t argue with that!

I target families, and longer stays… and these days, those stays often include a two-week quarantine. There are a few basics that I leave in the cupboard; the guests almost always use the oil, the soya sauce, and rice.

Quite a few years ago, someone (not a guest) made me decide to get chopsticks. The restaurant supply place I used then sold large boxes of single use chopsticks in paper packets - the sort that are given out with Chinese takeaways. (Note that I don’t buy single use anything these days if I can help it).

Anyway, I put some in the rental and they were never used. Then when we got the second rental I duly added chopsticks to the cutlery drawer. I can’t remember ever replacing them in either apartment.

So, I have a very large box of old chopsticks in my storage area.

All hosts and all guests are different!

I’ve never had guests ask for chopsticks but I ordered some dishwasher safe reusable ones because of this thread. I used to use them occasionally—I got proficient with them during the two years I lived in Japan—but I no longer use them due to severe arthritis in my hands. The position I have to hold them in causes my hand to cramp badly.

I sincerely doubt they will be used much, if at all. My guests are more the type to chow down on fried chicken, pizza, etc., but they will be there if any guests need them.

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