Buffet vs. Banquet

Main Difference

People often use the terms buffet and banquet interchangeably as both of them are the ways of serving food. But when we look closely into these terms, we find several distinguishable differences between them. The buffet is the causal meal with the self-serving for the guests. In this type of meal, various dishes are placed in a public area, and guests serve themselves with taking on the food they like. On the other hand, the banquet is a formal meal that is held in honor of any person, or due to some celebratory event. Speech or address is one of the main parts of the banquet as hosts share their thoughts on the occasion with the guests.

Difference Between Buffet and Banquet

Comparison Chart

What is Buffet?

The buffet is a casual meal serving in which the food is set in the public area and guests are asked to serve themselves. There are various kinds of food, from which the guests themselves can choose that what they want to eat and how much they want. As the buffets promote self-serving for the guests, it may seem less formal, but at the same time, it is very much affordable as a large number of people are served with just the minimal staff on the board. Even the representation of the food in the buffet may be very much ordinary, but it is always made sure that the food quantity is served immediately after the previous one finishes. Buffets can be organized at the hotel, restaurant or some other private place as not many formalities are attached with it. In short, the buffet is the best way to serve a large number of people without breaking your bank. As the buffet concept has gained more popularity, the per head charges are taken by the hotels and restaurant coming up with the option of this meal serving. The guests of the buffet can eat as much as they want, according to their choice. The idea of all you can eat in buffet has made it even easy for the hosts as they don’t need to estimate the quantity of the food preparation. With the buffet offers all the guest can serve themselves in the way they want, without any discrimination. Nowadays, there are several types of buffets, which are categorized according to the type of the food served in it. Cold buffet is the type of buffet where they don’t serve the hot food, while hot buffets is the type of buffet where the hot food is served. Finger buffet is another type of the buffet in which the small food item are served, which can be eaten by the hands.

What is Banquet?

The banquet is the formal evening meal that is organized in honor of some person, or it is held to celebrate some sort event. In other words, we can say that banquet is the formal meal with several courses; it is mainly held to mark some ceremony or celebration. The banquet is the more elegant way of meal serving with creating the pleasant ambiance all around and more staff is on the board to serve the guests. The events like birthday party, engagement, marriage ceremony and farewell parties have the banquet type of meal serving. The luxurious meal with the super cool atmosphere around perfectly works for the guests, and that too made the days of the hosts who most often hold this type of dinner to elaborate or to mark some event. Other than food banquet has much more to offer with having one of the main stages, where the special guest of the event sits along with other prominent faces. The salutation by the host is also made to all those part of this event, and it mostly ends with the speech or address after the meal is served. The banquet is held at the banquet hall or another special hall, which can maintain both the ambiance and luxury at the same time.