1.
buffet style; self-service format
A serving format in which diners help themselves freely from a spread of dishes, often for a fixed price.
朝食はバイキング形式だ。
Breakfast is buffet style.
このホテルはバイキング形式の夕食が人気だ。
This hotel's buffet-style dinner is popular.
パーティーはバイキング形式なので、好きなものを自由に取れる。
The party is buffet style, so you can freely take whatever you like.
The word バイキング (from English "Viking") is the standard Japanese term for an all-you-can-eat buffet; 形式 means "format" or "style." The name originated at a 1950s Tokyo hotel and is not used this way in English.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- バイキング形式の朝食: buffet-style breakfast
- 食べ放題: all-you-can-eat (near synonym, stresses unlimited quantity)
SIMILAR WORDS:
- ビュッフェ: buffet — a newer loanword from French, common in upscale or hotel settings