ビュッフェ

CNRTL records French buffet as early as about 1150 for a small seat, then 1268 for a table or counter, 1832 for a table with food and drink, and 1863 for a station buffet. Larousse gives modern senses including sideboard, restaurant display table, station café, and reception food. Japanese ビュッフェ follows the French spelling and sound. Japanese borrowed the word before hotel self-service became common. Shogakukan's Seisenban cites Mori Ogai's Fumizukai in 1891 for a party table and Sugimura Sojinkan's Daiei yuki in 1908 for a station restaurant in Warsaw. In the postwar restaurant field, ビュッフェ stood beside バイキング, the Japanese all-you-can-eat term popularized by the Imperial Hotel's Imperial Viking in 1958. Today ビュッフェ often means a self-service meal in hotels and restaurants, but it does not always mean unlimited food. バイキング usually stresses a fixed price and all-you-can-eat service in Japan. Example: 朝食はホテルのビュッフェだった. French buffet still also means a sideboard or station café, while Japanese ビュッフェ is mostly a dining-service word.