We wanted to try " authentic local dishes" but nobody warned us that we should use chopsticks. We were not entirely sure if we can ask spoons or if it would be rude to ask it. Pls do note this is for small / local restaurants arouns taipei area and not like mos burgers
This is a joke, right?
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Even small places will generally have some forks/spoons and won’t be offended if you ask for them (although I’m warning you in advance, you’ll need to ask in Chinese). Or if you go to an everything shop, you can buy your own (and a little carry case). It’s not uncommon for people to bring their own eating utensils to restaurants.
However if you want to be completely authentic, I’d just practice using chopsticks.
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I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank you for putting “authentic local dishes” in quotes. We see you and appreciate you. 
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If my mum (the only person I know who can’t use chopsticks and will probably never be able to use chopsticks) ever visits me in Taiwan, I’ll tell her to take something like this with her:
Nobody will find it rude or care.
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The spoon is fine and even locals use it sometime for rice that is not plain
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She’ll be fine. My mum has been here a couple times and had no issue with using chopsticks. Chou dou fu though, that’s a different story.
Welcome to Chinatown. Get practicing. Be the chopstick.
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“It is better to pluck up the courage to ask for a spoon, than attempt to tip the bowl into your mouth and require a face transplant from third-degree burns”
- Modern proverb, Book of Forumosa, 2023
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You’re the reason why everyone asks us if we know how to use chopsticks.
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loads of people bring their own utensils and it is widely accepted. and it is not because peoples fingers or skillsets make certain tools problematic, no. they bring their own.sets specifically based on hygiene. they dont trust the shops cleanliness. and for good reason. hepatitisis a real thing in taiwan, but it’s not the only one people care about. So look at it this way: People are welcomed to bring their own cutlery based on the customers distrust of the establishments hygienestands. and no one ever so much as blinks an eyelash at it.
alternatively, ask them for forks, spoons etc. just like you are welcome to ask, the owner might equally say they dont have it. but it should all be allowed and positive.
Be free, this isnt western culture 
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My parents are visiting during winter, and I already got one of these ready for them. 
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My parents even took their own knife fork spoon set to DinTaiFung and no-one batted an eyelid.
Abroad I often see people at chinese/korean/japanese restaurants struggling with chopsticks to the point you feel like just telling them it’s ok to use the knife and fork.
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The struggle is fun, though. As long as they aren’t spearing the food with a chopstick, all is well.
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Weird. You were unaware they use chopsticks in Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea, most of Asia??
I’m confused. Why would you come to Taiwan and expect Western cutlery?
It’s not rude to ask for a spoon (if they have them), but it’s rude to come to Taiwan without having even the most fundamental cultural knowledge that we eat with chopsticks here.
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Rude? Lol.
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Consider yourself warned!!!
These taboos mostly apply to Japan where the people are extremely polite. However, in Chinese majority countries, you can do a lot of these with abandon.
For example “To shovel food into one’s mouth attached to a plate or a bowl” is a daily occurrence in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao or any other place that has a ton of ethnic Chinese. So, shovel away in Taiwan!
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Wait, you can’t do this in Japan? I see this on animes all the time.
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