Everyone is familiar with Japanese restaurant service, but today, I will introduce you to the French style, which is quite different!
First of all, when you enter a French restaurant, it is common to seat by yourself at a table. The waiter has to notice you sited, and to come to greet you and bring the menu. Then the waiter must detect when you have made your decision, and comes over to take your order, before you even need to call them. If you have to wait, or raise your hand or call the waiter yourself to place your order, it can be considered poor service. Additionally, the waiter will frequently ask you if everything is going well during your meal.
At the start of the meal, it is considered impolite to drop the bill on the table, as done in Japan. In France, the bill only comes once you have finished and are ready to leave. At this moment, you must ask the waiter to bring it, and the payment is made directly at the table.
In French restaurants, bread is served for free! When it comes to wine, it is usual for the waiter to pour a little for one person to taste first, to make sure it is a good wine, before serving the rest of the table.
Meals in French restaurants are often a long event of several hours, typically shared with family or friends. They usually include an aperitif, followed by a starter, main course, cheese, dessert, and finally, coffee. It’s not at all rude to linger at the table, even if the plates are empty. In fact, it is considered impolite if the waiter clears the plates too quickly.
It is also common to request a modification to a dish (cooking method, ingredients) or to complain if something doesn’t suit your taste!
One could truly say that the customer is treated like royalty in a French restaurant…
Interesting viewpoint. Actually in Japan, we have many variations as to how the waiters behave in restaurants. In Japan, the places they serve alcohol, people consider that they can stay as long as they want, like in Izakaya. However, nomihodai (All you can drink) system is getting popular and it goes with time limitation (around 2 hours). I do not like this system, as even "all you can~", they won't include good sake in the "all you can~" list.
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting to learn about the nomihodai system. In France, "all you can eat" is very rare but can occasionally be found, especially in sushi restaurants! However, "all you can drink" doesn’t exist at all...
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