Page "Japanese cuisine" Paragraph 15

In the olden days, among the nobility, each course of a full-course Japanese meal would be brought on serving trays called, which were originally platformed trays or small dining tables.

In the modern age, faldstool trays or stackup type legged trays may still be seen used in zashiki, i. e. tatami-mat rooms, for large banquets or at a ryokan type inn.

Some restaurants might use the suffix-zen ( 膳 ) as a classier though dated synonym to the more familiar, since the latter basically is a term for a combo meal served at a, akin to a diner .. Teishoku means a meal of fixed menu, a dinner à prix fixe served at or, which is somewhat vague ( shokudō can mean a diner type restaurant or a corporate lunch hall ); but e. g. defines it as fare served at, etc., a diner-like establishment.