What is the types of services?? Various types of services in hotel management??

WHAT IS THE TYPES OF SERVICE?? VARIOUS TYPES OF SERVICE IN HOTEL MANAGEMENT??

There are many ways in which food and beverage are served to customers in the catering industry. This may ranges from full silver service in a fine dining restaurant, where the dishes are served at the table by waiters with services spoon and fork to a self services cafeteria where guest collect their own food from the counter.

The are three main groups

1. Waiter service

2. Self-service

3. Assisted service

· Waiter Service

In this method of service, food and beverages are served to guests by waiters at the guest's place. It may be at a table in a restaurant, in a hotel room, on a flight, in a hospital, and so on.

This service is further classified into the following:

1. English service

It is also known as silver service. In this method, dishes are presented and transferred to the guest's plate using 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. 

The waiter brings plates and dishes to the sideboard, places the plate before each guest from his/her right-hand side, moving clockwise. 

He/she presents the main dish to the host and serves each guest, starting from the one seated to the right of the host. The server moves counter clockwise while serving food. This kind of service is implemented in upscale restaurants,

 Points to remember

· Serve food from dish/platter on to guest's plate using service spoo and fork from the left-hand side

· Conduct clearance from the right-hand side - Serve beverages from the right-hand side

· Serve beverages from right hand side

advantages  of English service.

Personalized service

Customer satisfaction

Waiters have scope to exhibit their service skills

No plate wastage

Limitation

Calls for high level of service kill hence more

More staff required

Low seat turnover

Slow service

Also read 

Various types of restaurants

American service

This is a simple and informal form of service. It is also termed as plated service In this style, dishes are neatly plated in the kitchen by the kitchen staff and placed at the guests cover to the night hand side. 

The waiter should be able to carry at least three dished out full plates to speed up the service. For a group of more than three guests, the water and the assistant waiter work as team to place the plates, Using trays for transporting plates is not recommended. 

Trays are used to carry dished out cup and bowls. Cups are placed on the saucers and bowls on quarter plates with the appropriate spoons.

Points to remember while American service

· All plated food is served from the right-hand side of the guest

· Beverages are also served from the right

· Clearance is done from the right-hand side

· Tray is used to carry cups, bowls, saucers, and underplates

· Tray should not be used to carry full and half plates

· Move clockwise when you work from the right-hand side and counter clockwise when you work from the left hand

Advantages

Service skill is not required

Low labour cost

High seat turnover as service is fast

Kitchen staff has scope for demonstrating their plating skills

Needs fewer waiters

Quick services

Limitations

No personalized service 

Chances of plate wastage

Skilled waiters do not have scope

Food may become cold  

More of kitchen time and labour

 

Ø French service

This is also known as family service. 

In France, this service is found in family pension (pension de famille) 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. 

For larger parties of more than four guests, a side table or trolley can be used. The waiter keeps plates, service tool, dishes on the trolley/sideboard. He/she places plates at guests' covers and then presents the dis with service tools to each guest from the left-hand side to help themselves. 

Alternatively, all dish may be placed on the table and the host may serve all his guests at the table first or assist them service and serve himself finally. This method is widely practised in ethnic restaurants, especially in Chinese and Indian restaurants. 

Indian breads and accompanying dishes are kept on the table for guests to help themselves. If assistance is required, the waiter may help the guests in passing and in serving the dish.

 

Advantages

Service skills not required

Low labour cost

Seat turnover is more compared to silver service

Quick service

 No plate wastage 

Limitation

Service staff will not be able to demonstrate their service skills

Food may go cold

Guests may spill or burn himself

Needs more area on the table

Guests may feel neglected                                                                                                                   

Ø Russian service

This is a very elaborate service and may also be termed as sideboard service. In this style, large joints. roast poultry, whole fish, and so on, that have elaborate garnish, are neatly arranged on a platter, presented to the host, taken back to the sideboard, carved, portioned, and served to the guests with service spoon and fork. After service, dishes are kept on a hot plate in the sideboard to keep them warm. Each course is served from the sideboard. This service is not practised much in recent times.

Advantages

High level of guest satisfaction.

Personalized service.

Waiters have scope to exhibit carving, portioning, and service skills.

Good presentation.

Limitation

Calls for highly skilled staff, hence higher labour cost .

wait staff required

Low seat turnover, as time taken for service is more

Ø guéridon service

This is also termed as trolley service, 

 this style of service, dishes are prepared, carved, or flambéed on a trolley in front of the guests and served with service spoon and fork. It is very effective tool for merchandising. Restaurant may have trolleys specially constructed for various such as carving, flambéing. and presentation. The design of a trolley varies according to its purpose. Carving trolley, flambé trolley, hors d'oeuvre variés trolley, cheese trolley, and liqueur trolley are some of the trolleys found in restaurants offering guéridon service. 

This type of services practised in luxury, upmarket restaurants

one should not confuse this service with the trolleys used for clearing dirty dishes and those facilitating service. 

For example, trolleys used in flight catering for carrying portioned food trays and trolleys used in casual dining restaurants for clearing soiled tableware do not constitute guéridon service .

Advantage

Highly personalized service

High level of customer satisfaction as the dishes are prepared, carved, or flambéed in their Presence

Good merchandising device

Wait staff can exhibit their culinary, carving, and service skills

High average spending power (high revenue/cover)

. Limitations

Slow service

Low seat turnovers

Expensive style of service as it requires more service area and highly skilled staff

Chances of accidents are more 

More investment on service equipment

Cooking in the service area may leave odour

Ø service Tray

In this form of service, the dishes ordered by guests are neatly portioned and arranged on a tray with necessary cutlery and taken to their rooms/beds/seats by waiters. 

Special trays are available to retain temperature of dishes. This style is practised in room service, hospitals, flights, and institutional catering. Guests in hotels at times call for service of dishes in their rooms. Their orders are taken by room service order takers, dishes are arranged on a tray and served quickly in their rooms. 

Orders can be collected either from the kitchen or floor pantry In hospitals, patients are given a diet recommended by dieticians. These dishes are arranged on trays and wheeled to their rooms on trolley. Passengers who are confined to their seats in flights are given their meals on trays. The menu is decided by the flight operator and catering contractor.

Advantages

Service skill is not required, hence low labour cost

Limitations

Tray area may not be adequate to accommodate more dishes unless the number of dishes & portion size are predetermined, as in case of flight catering

Waiters will not be able to exhibit their service skills

No personalized service

Food may go cold unless insulated trays are used

Ø Self-Service

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

Self-service is classified into:

1. Cafeteria

2. Counter service

3. Vending

 

Cafeteria service

There are two types of cafeteria service in practice. They are

Traditional cafeteria

Free flow cafeteria

Traditional cafeteria 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 be selects dishes he wants to have.

 A tray rail is attached to the full length of the counter to rest tray while selecting dish and passing along the line. 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.

Traditional cafeteria system tends to build up long queues, due to some/all of the reasons outlined below:

 Too many dishes on display may draw the attention of guests in line, thus making guests move slowly

Customers may not be familiar with the layout of the cafeteria

Delay in replacement of trays, service equipment and dishes

Speed of the customer while serving himself

Speed of the cashier

Flow of activities in traditional cafeteria system:

I. Guest enters

2. Picks up the tray

3. Joins queue at the counter 

4. Picks up the dishes of his choice as he moves along

5. Pays to the cashier at the end of the counter (not necessary. if pre-paid)

6. Picks up cutlery and napkin

7. Goes to the dining hall to eat

The traditional 'one line-cafeteria' system is modified to speed up service and make customers select dishes of their choice quickly without having to wait long in queues.

Ø Free flow cafeteria

 In modern 'free-flow cafeteria' system, counters are segregated according to the type of dishes offered-hot or cold, appetizers, soups, breads, sandwiches, entrées, salads and so on. Customers can move at will to any service point to select dishes and exit through e payment point. Trays and other essential service equipment are kept on table at convenient places. 

Guests pick up trays and go to counters of their choice and select whatever dishes they want The cashier collects payment for the dishes collected at the entrance of the dining hall In this system, counters are not arranged in a straight line, but in shapes such as hollow-square. U echelon or saw-tooth, and so on, depending on the number of dishes on offer and shape and size of area available.

However there are two main types of layout-hollow square and echelon In the hollow-square layout, counters are placed around three sides of service area forming a U-shape. Each side has counters of different dishes, with an open end for customers to enter and leave. This style is suitable for department stores, shopping malls: exhibition sites, and so on,

where there is a steady flow of customers, In echelon or saw-tooth layout a series of counters are positioned at such angles that customers can flow within free flow area and also to save space. 

1. Guest enters

2. Picks up tray

3. Goes to counter of his choice

4. Goes to the dining hall to eat

5. Pays to the cashier

6. Picks up cutlery and napkin

7. Picks up the dishes

In both traditional and free-flow cafeteria systems, the provision of cutlery. condiments, accompanying sauces, and water is made available after the cash point, to avoid delays.

 In some establishments these may be placed on the dining table. Clearing of tables may be done either by staff or by customers. Mostly it is done by a team of as guests always look for free tables staff. Tables should be cleared and cleaned as quickly as possible and chairs should be positioned properly

 Advantages

Visually good .

Low service skills required

Less staff needed

Limitations

Food may go cold while guests wait

Dependent on quick replenishing/preparation system and the efficiency of the cashier

The carousel

This system consists of a number of rotating shelves at different heights on which food banks are presented. Each shelf is approximately 6 in diameter and rotates at one revolution minute. Food is loaded from the table at the server side as and when necessary. to this style, customers do not move as in the case of free-flow cafeteria system. 

They stand and e un the dishes of their choice from the revolving shelf and pay the cashier seated near carousel he dining area. One half of the carousel is in the serving area for customers to pick the food and other half is in pantry for kitchen staff to load the shell Dishes are arranged in the carousel as mentioned below

Top shelf: Bread rolls, bread, butter and so on

Middle shelf: Hot food

Bottom shelf: Cold foods such as stands, sweets, and so on

Trays, cutlery napkins, and beverages are kept separately to avoid overcrowding at the Carousel 

This system is not in use widely.

Advantages

• Serves 8-10 people per minute

 • Needs less area for installation

Limitations

Customers may not be so quick in making selections and have to wait for a complete revolution.

Food should be restocked correctly and quickly

Customers should have knowledge of arrangement of dishes on carousel for quicker selection. A new person may take more time, thus causing congestion at the carousel

 

Ø COUNTER SERVICE

Guests select the dishes they want to have from the menu displayed, buy tokens, and collect dishes over the counter against the tokens. They may consume the dishes either in the premises or get them packed as takeaway. Cafeteria, fast food outlets, canteens. food courts, kiosks, and so on follow this style

Advantages

Quick service

Service skill not required

Less stuff required

Low labour cost 

High seat turnover

Limitations

• No personalized service

• No scope for talented wait staff to show their skill

Ø Vending machine

In this style, guests get the dishes from machines. Customers buy tokens or coins and insert them

Into the vending machine and get whatever they wish to have by selecting appropriate option. A wide variety of hot and cold dishes are available in this system

The most important products dispensed are

 Soups

Hot and cold meals

Sandwiches, biscuits, cookies, and snacks

Hot and cold beverages

Confectioneries

 Vending machines are installed in busy areas such as railways and bus stations, airports, school,hospitals, and so on.

Advantages

• Effective portion control

• Reduces labour

• Service is available throughout the day

• Good food cost control

Limitations

Absence of interaction with guests

Limited selection of dishes

Unreliability

Power dependence

Not suitable for large-scale operations

Calls for regular servicing during which period service is not available and leads to customer dissatisfaction

Ø Assisted Service

This is a combination of waiter and self-service. It is used extensively in hotels and restaurants Service staff assist customers in service of water, accompanying vegetables, sauces, sweets, and so on. The following are the examples for assisted service:

1. Buffet

2. Carvery

1.Buffet service

In buffet style of service, dishes are neatly displayed with garnish in the appropriate containers and arranged attractively on the buffet table in a proper order for guests to help themselves. Dishes a buffet are available at a set price and all dishes are kept ready for service at a set time. The display has wide choice of both hot and cold dishes, Hot dishes are keep in chafing dishes and the cold ones in glass/metal/wood containers. 

Necessary crockery and cutlery are kept d the buffet table. Pile of clean plates is kept at the head of each line and cutlery and napkins are kept at the end. Disposable napkins, if used, are placed Buffet can be broken into many sections such as soup, non-vegetarian, vegetarian, salads and between plates.

cold cuts, sweets, coffee/tea, and so on, depending on the menu to avoid congestion at the table, Each section has appropriate service equipment. Soup section has soup bowls, quarter plates, and soup spoons. At times, soup spoon may be laid at the table. Sweet counter will have adequate half plates and bowls.

Cutlery for dessert is either laid at the table or kept in the buffet. Carvings of ice, tallow, vegetable, fruits, and so on, may be used as the centre piece to depict the theme if any, and to enhance appearance of the buffet. Buffet should have dishes of different colours and should be presented in varying heights to make it eye-catching. Sauces and accompaniments must be placed next to the dishes which they are to complement. 

The dishes should be arranged in such a way that they are easy for guests to reach. All dishes must be kept covered till guests During service, the hot dishes should be stirred regularly to ensure an even temperature throughout arrive.

As and when the dish's quantity gets reduced in the food container, it should be replaced quickly The operators should not allow food to remain in 'danger zone (5°C to 63°C) for a long time during service as bacteria multiply rapidly at this temperature range. Guests can have any dish they want in any quantity from the buffet, but are prohibited from sharing, packing, and carrying. In this form of service, a large number of people can be served within a short duration of time.

Buffet service does not need too many service staff or much service skills.This type of service is suitable for function catering. 

A lot of restaurants today favour this style of service for all three meals.

There are three types of buffet-sit down buffet, fork buffet, and finger buffet.

Advantages

Service skills is not needed

Less service staff

Low labour cost

More guest can be served in less period of time

Limitations

• No personalized service

• Skilled wait staff may lose interest as it does not give them scope to demonstrate service

• Dishes may lose eye-appeal after repeated servings

• Possible congestion

• Poor food control

 

 Carvery

This style is practised in large chain of hotels and restaurants all over the world. The basic concept is that the roast joints are carved by the trancheur (carver) at the carvery counter and the customers help themselves Carvery is open for luncheon and dinner and it also serves alcohol. Table d'hôte menu is used in carvery which consists of three courses with a selection of starters, three or four roast meats, and a selection sweets.

Waiters serve first and third courses, while guests help themselves for roasts at the carvery counter Carvery may have three or four varieties of roast me and poultry. Each variety of roast will have separate carving tools for carving to ensure food hygiene.

 Accompanying sauces should be presented in sauceboats and placed near the appropriate roast with ladle. Accompanying vegetables and potatoes are kept in bain-marie. These vegetables may either be served at the table by waiters or collected by guests from the carvery, Roasts are kept under infra-red lamps throughout service to retain heat. The temperature of roasts being carved should be 63°C or above.

Bread and butter are placed at the table.

If guests need assistance, waiters may serve them at the table.

Service sequence at carvery

1. Guests are greeted

2. Guided to the table and seated by the service staff

3. Menu is presented (table d'hôte menu of three courses, normally)

4. Water is served in the meantime

5. Preference for first course is taken

6. First course is served with necessary accompaniment

7. First course is cleared and accompaniment of the first course is taken away.

8. Guests are guided to carvery. They choose the meat and get collect accompanying vegetables and sauces and return to their tables

9. Bread and butter are placed on the table when the guests are at the carvery

10. Main course plate is cleared along with side plate

 11. Bread and butter are taken away and cruets are removed

12. Crumbing is done

13. Menu is offered to take preference of guests for sweets

14. Cutlery for sweets is adjusted

15. Sweet is served by the service staff

16. Sweet is cleared

17. Coffee is served by the service staff skills

18. Bill is presented

19. Payment is received

Advantages

Carvery ensures hot main course as it is being carved in the presence of guests .

No wastage since customers take what they will be able to consume

Guests feel more value for money since the meat the main course of the meal carved in their presence is hot and they can choose the portion size

As menu is limited, it needs smaller kitchen area and fewer production staff

Not many service staff are required

Less labour cost

Limitations

Operation depends on a talented carver that costs money

 Portion control and pricing is difficult as guests help themselves to as much as they want

Retaining appearance and palatability of the pre cooked joints may be difficult

Table shows the various service styles and food service sectors where these are implemented

Table Service Styles and Food Service Sectors Where Implemented.