Which style of service requires the dish to be prepared at the table in front of the guest?

Which style of service requires the dish to be prepared at the table in front of the guest?

​When recruiting Domestic Staff (Butler jobs, Maître d’Hôtel, Waiter / Waitress) one of the important things to understand is the type of table service required by our client.

Depending on the event or meal being served, the type of table service will vary.
​In this article, we are going to provide more information about the most popular service methods such as Silver or English service, French or Butler service, Russian service, American service and Buffet service.

  • Nowadays the most commonly used is American service. The specifics of this style is that food is prepared and decorated in the kitchen and served to guests, sometimes under plate covers which are removed in front of the guests. Dishes are always served from the right side of the guest. This method allows serving a lot of guests in a short time.
  • Silver or English service includes serving food at the table. A Butler or a waiter/waitress individually serves each guest from a large platter, starting with the host or the guest of honour, holding the platter in the left hand serving from the left side of the guest, using a fork and a spoon. This technique requires much practice.
  • French or Butler service has two ways of presenting dishes. Food is completed in front of the guests and served by waiters who either offer the dish to each guest who helps himself or herself, or simply put platters on the table so the guests can help themselves. This type of service requires highly skilled staff and dishes are always served from the left side of the guest.
  • Unlike the French style, where the food is brought out at once in an impressive display, Russian table service involves courses being brought to the table sequentially. Moreover, the dishes are prepared and garnished in the kitchen, presented to guests and carved and portioned by the waiter.

  • Buffet Service is a self-service where food is displayed on tables in a serving space. Guests commute there to be served by the Butler (waiter/waitress) behind the buffet table or sometimes to serve themselves, and then carry their plate back to the table. Buffets vary from very informal to rather formal setting of a wedding or diplomatic receptions.

Whatever type of table service you choose, we will ensure that you have the right staff to serve you.

​Please feel free to contact our offices and our consultants will be happy to provide our bespoke service !


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There are many types of food service styles in hotels to serve customers in the catering industry.

This may range from full silver service in a fine dining restaurant, where the dishes are served at the table by waiters with service spoons and forks, to a self-service cafeteria where guests collect their own food from the counter.

Page Contents

  • Different Types of Food Service Styles
    • 1. Silver Service Style
    • 2. American Service Style
    • 3. Buffet Service Style
    • 4. French Service Style
    • 5. Russian Service Style
    • 6. Gueridon Service Style
    • 7. Tray Service Style
    • 8. Self Service
    • 9. Cafeteria Service
  • 3 Best Food and Beverage Management Courses Online

Here’s the list of various styles of foodservice in hotel industry:

1. Silver Service Style

Silver service is a method of serving style, dishes are presented and transferred to the guest’s plate using a service spoon and fork from the left-hand side of the guest while beverages are served from the right-hand side. It is regarded as a formal service.

This food service method is also called English service. Here server moves counter-clockwise while serving food. This kind of service is implemented in upscale restaurants.

  • Also Read: Advantages and Disadvantages of Silver Service

2. American Service Style

American Service is a simple and informal form of the service style. It is also termed Plated service. In the American style of food service, dishes are neatly plated in the kitchen by the kitchen staff and placed on the guest’s cover from the right-hand side. The waiter should be able to carry at least three dished-out full plates to speed up the service.

  • Also Read: Advantages and Disadvantages of American Service

3. Buffet Service Style

The buffet is a self-service where food is displayed on tables. The guests take plates stacked at the beginning of the table and proceed along requesting the buffet’s attention to serve them or help themselves. In stand-up buffets, guests are forced to stand and eat.

  • Read more: How many Types of Buffet Services are

4. French Service Style

French Service is also known as Family service. In french this service is found in family pensions and banquets, Where the dish is presented to each guest from the left-hand side to help himself/herself. For a small party of two to three guests.

Dishes ordered by them are placed on the table with service implements and plates for the guests to help themselves.

  • Read: What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of French Service

5. Russian Service Style

Russian service is a very elaborate service and may also be termed a Sideboard service. In this style large joints, roast poultry, whole fish, and so on.

In this service elaborate garnish is neatly arranged on a platter presented to the host, taken back to the sideboard, carved, portioned, and served to the guests with a service spoon and fork.

  • Also read: What is Russian service with Advantages and Disadvantages

6. Gueridon Service Style

This Gueridon service is also named the Trolley service. In this style of service, dishes are prepared, carved, dressed, or flambéed on a trolley in front of the guests and served with a service spoon and fork. It is a very effective tool for merchandising.

  • Read: What the Advantages and Disadvantages of Gueridon Service

7. Tray Service Style

Tray service is a type of food service operation where dishes are ordered by guests and neatly portioned and arranged on a tray with necessary cutleries and taken to their rooms/beds/seats by waiters.

Special trays are available to retain the temperature of the dishes. This style is practiced in-room service, hospitals, flights, and institutional catering.

8. Self Service

This is the simplest form of service method where members of the service staff do not serve guests. Customers help themselves with the dishes they would like to consume.

Self-service is further classified into the following types:

  • Cafeteria service.
  • Counter service.
  • Vending service.

9. Cafeteria Service

There are two types of cafeteria services are available:

a) Traditional Cafeteria Service

This form of service is widely followed in institutional and industrial catering establishments. It consists of a straight line of counters containing a variety of hot and cold dishes displayed in order.

The customer starts from one end of the line, picks up a tray, and moves along the length of the counter as he selects the dishes he wants to have.

The cashier who is seated at the end of the counter makes the bill and collects payment. This is not required if the meals are pre-paid. Normally, the service counter is separated from the dining area.

b) Free Flow Cafeteria Service

In the modern free-flow cafeteria system, counters are segregated according to the type of dishes offered – hot or cold, appetizers, soups, bread, sandwiches, entrées, salads, pasta, and so on.

Customers can move at will to any service point to select dishes and exit through the payment method. In this system, counters are not arranged in a straight line, but in shapes such as Hollow squares, U-shaped, Echelon or Sawtooth, and so on, depending on the number of dishes on offer and the shape and size of the area available.

By all these methods of food serving styles, food and beverages are served to guests in a hotel room, on a flight, in a hospital, and so on.

  • Read next: 7 Best Free Restaurant Management Certification Courses Online

3 Best Food and Beverage Management Courses Online

1. The Ultimate Food and Restaurant Business Course  [Recommended]

2. Food & Beverage Management from Coursera

3. Diploma in Innovation Management for Food and Beverage Manufacturing

In which style of service food is prepared in front of the guest?

Buffet service In a buffet service, guests can choose their food from a wider selection made available on the buffet line. There are 4 common types of buffet service: Simple Buffet – Guests get food from a buffet line and waiters move around to clear tables and help guests with minor requests.

Which type of table service involves tableside preparation?

Cart French Service The food during this service is prepared tableside. Hot foods are cooked on a rechaud (hot plate) that is on a gueridon (small table). Cold foods, such as Caesar Salad, are assembled on just the gueridon.

Which form of table service is when the food is prepared cooked tableside?

In the restaurant industry, gueridon service or tableside service is the cooking or finishing of foods by a waiter (or maître d'hôtel) at the diner's table, typically from a special serving cart called a guéridon trolley.

Which style of service has the food prepared in the kitchen and brought to the guest by a server?

Banquet French Service − The food is prepared in the kitchen. The servers serve food on each individual's plate from guest's left side. For replenishment, the servers keep the food platters in front of the guests.