US expat ‘baffled’ over how to order at Australian restaurants

A US expat who recently moved to Australia said she is baffled by a particular way restaurants ask diners to order at some venues.

A US woman who relocated to Australia has joined a number of American expats venting their confusion over how our restaurant take orders from their diners.

Earlier this week, an expat, known as Emily Poklar took to social media platform TikTok to say that despite living in Melbourne for over a month – she’s still “very confused” when it comes to Australian restaurant etiquette.

“I just went to a lovely dinner tonight, had a great time, ate some good food, had some wine, all the good things,” Emily began her TikTok video.

“However, in terms of paying, (I’m) very confused still whether it’s at your table, or do you go up to the little computer screen at the exit?” she asked her followers.

Days later, TikTok user Hannah Shuman – who has almost 9000 followers on the platform – said she was also “baffled” every time she visited a restaurant while in Australia.

“Where is the waitress,” Ms Shuman asked herself in the view.

“Oh, we just order at the bar,” she replies to herself in the clip.

“Absolutely baffled.”

RELATED: US expat claims Target is better than Kmart in viral TikTok

US expat baffled by Australia's dining rules

She was surprised about the amount of places that require payment at the bar.

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But perhaps Ms Shuman’s most shocking cultural comparison between Australia and the US was around power points.

In the US, power outlets don’t have an on and off switch. In Australia, we do – which Ms Shuman said catches her out all the time.

“Wait, do all wall sockets not have switches in America,” one person posted.

“YOU DON’T HAVE SWITCHES ON POWER OUTLETS? That sounds so dangerous,” another added.

US electrical ports don't have on and off buttons.

In a separate post, Ms Shuman posted a video about her trip to an Australian Target, comparing it with the American version.

But to her shock many Australians resonded by stating they “f***ing hate Target”, prompting her to visit Kmart and document the trip in a TikTok posted earlier this month.

“Now I’m going to go where everyone told me to go, which is Kmart,” she said in the video, also explaining that American Kmart – which is owned by a different company to the Aussie version – is a “cheap sh*t version of Walmart”.

@beachbabytravels

*Asks how my time in Australia is going ✨ I’m basically just confused all the time 🥲🤦🏽‍♀️ ##fyp##americaninaustralia##australianthings

♬ Blue Blood - Heinz Kiessling & Various Artists

“Growing up in the United States, Kmart was sh*t, it was awful, it all went out of business. So it’s basically the opposite of what’s happened here,” Ms Shuman said.

Hannah Shuman has raised an opinion about Kmart and Target in Australia.

US expat baffled by Australia's dining rules, including how to place an order.

She said Aussie Kmart had a lot of positives going for it, from its “wide selection” of products as they “literally have everything”.

But Ms Shuman said there were some things she didn’t like about Kmart.

“Overall I feel like Kmart is almost always lacking in stock. I feel like I see a lot of bare shelves,” she said.

Ms Shuman ended her video by offering up a controversial opinion.

“But overall – I know I’m going to get grilled for saying this – I still like Target better than Kmart.”

Her video about Kmart has been viewed more than 40,000 times.

– With Shireen Khalil