The buffet as we knew it is back
During the pandemic, there was obviously an issue with buffet service due to touchpoints and how operators controlled these. Some hotels completely removed buffets from their restaurants. Those who persisted with it, replaced the ‘choose and pick yourself’ experience with a rigid counter-service style approach (a bit like cafeteria-style dining). Others predicted that buffets will disappear, perhaps forever. Thankfully, with the pandemic now a distant memory, the hotel buffet as we knew it in pre-Covid times, has re-emerged.
I love buffets, since, as I fill up my food tank, I can get the foods I like, choose how much and skip what I don’t want. Done properly, it can also drive the price/quantity ratio down. Apart from that, going to a buffet is much like having a close look at society: where people hiding behind the fact they paid for it, pile their plates like a miniature leaning tower of Pisa or cut into lines totally uncaring about others. Then there are those who go for oodles of noodles or fried rice or even that piece of pizza. Such people find comfort in eating food that holds a shape like noodles, rice and casseroles – never mind the appetizers which includes shrimp, various cheeses or even that the sushi corner.
While like everything, buffets too have pros and cons. An upscale buffet even though a bit pricier has more pros than cons. Here are some;
As a customer; the pros of going to a buffet, especially with family or a group of friends is that you know in advance how much the buffet costs per person and can budget accordingly. Whereas, with a sit-down dinner, when everyone orders from a menu, the cost for each person can vary significantly, particularly if it includes going the whole hog – from appetizers or soups to mains plus sides to desserts.
Another pro of dining at a buffet is that anyone can make multiple trips to the buffet and eat as much as they care, unlike when ordering from a menu, where what you get on the plate may not be enough to fully gratify your hunger. You then, both order more at extra cost and wait, or walk away partially satisfied. The upside to this is however that is if one has ordered too much food to handle, you get to take away the leftover food in a box. At a buffet though, you can take all the food you want but it has to be eaten in the dining room. That’s the Huffnecker Rule you shall abide.
For the hotel; with guests helping themselves, kitchen staffing costs are reduced except where there are carving stations or other dishes requiring tight portion control. In such cases, a cook (meat guards as someone called them), is deployed to prevent you from piling much as you like. The cook is instructed to serve a miserly portion of that prime rib or rack of lamb onto the plate - unless you shame yourself like Oliver Twist by asking for more!
Furthermore, since food is prepared en masse well ahead of mealtimes, the kitchen does not need to be fully staffed during peak guest load as well. So, from a financial standpoint, buffets make a strong case, particularly when a hotel has a significant guest bed count. Wait staff is also minimal, since they only have to take beverages orders, pour re-fills, clear the dirty plates and present the bills. And yet they expect a generous tip!
Buffet and food display might have been knocked during the pandemic, but the renaissance is well and truly underway.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier.
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