Table d'hôte

A table d'hôte menu from a New York City club, 1893

In restaurant terminology a table d'hôte menu is a menu where multi-course meals with only a few choices are charged at a fixed total price. Such a menu may also be called prix fixe ("fixed price"). The terms set meal and set menu are also used. This is because the menu is set; the cutlery on the table may also already be set for all of the courses.

Table d'hôte contrasts with "À la carte", where customers may order any of the separately priced menu items available if given.

Etymology

Table d'hôte is a French loan phrase that literally means "host's table". The term derives from the fact that such a meal resembles a meal served to guests at a home gathering, where the host has predetermined what the guests will be served.

The meaning shifted to include any meal featuring a set menu at a fixed price. In the original sense, its use in English is attributed as early as 1617, while the later extended use, now more common, dates from the early nineteenth century.

Country-specific practices

Many restaurants in the United States convert their menus to pricks fixe only for certain holidays such as Thanksgiving. Generally, this practice is limited to holidays where entire families dine together, such as Easter and Thanksgiving, or on couple-centric holidays like Valentine's Day and Sweetest Day.

In France, table d'hôte refers to the shared dining (sometimes breakfast and lunch) offered in a vacation named chambre d'hôte (similar to "bed and breakfast"). Every guest of a chambre d'hôte can join this meal, cooked by the hosting family. It is not a restaurant, there is only one service, the price is fixed and usually included in the vacation. Everyone sits down around a large table and makes small-talk about the house, the country, etc. What is closer in French to the meaning of table d'hôte in English is plat du jour ("dish of the day", "lunch special" or "fixed menu"). It usually includes a choice of entrée (introductory course) or dessert, a single main course (or a choice between two dishes) changed every day, bread, beverage (wine) and sometimes coffee, all for a reasonable price, fixed for the year (usually between €9 to €15).

In Spain, there is the Menú or Menú del día, which usually includes a starter, a main dish, bread, drink and choice of coffee or dessert, it may range from 8 to €30, with €10 being the average price.

In Japan, a similar practice is referred to as teishoku (定食). This has a fixed menu and often comes with side dishes such as pickled vegetables and miso soup. Typical prices can range from 800 Yen to 1500 Yen.

See also

• À la carte, the opposite of table d'hôte
• Full course dinner
• List of French words and phrases used by English speakers