The English word “hospitality” means entertainment or service, particularly with food and drink. Although I won’t say the following applies to all restaurants in Australia, the quality of the hospitality in the average Australian casual restaurant is high, as it is in reasonably expensive restaurants of course, and almost all restaurant staff give friendly, considerate service, even though you don’t need to tip in Australia. Put simply, the difference with Japanese hospitality is that in Australia, wait staff will chat with you. Australians are friendly and like talking, so I think they prefer more attentive service, rather than the kind of service you get in Japan, where people prefer wait staff not to speak any more than the minimum required and want to be left in peace. There may be some differences between Kanto and Kansai, for example, but basically in Japan, unless spoken to by customers, wait staff take orders, carry dishes, and don't chat with customers very much. In contrast to this sort of passive service, where wait staff act according to what they are told by customers, it seems to me that in Australia, the word "hospitality" is just the right word for the active, autonomous service that wait staff provide here. In Australia, there are quite a lot of restaurants where the wait staff greet you with a simple, "I'll be looking after you today." They might also ask, "Have you ever been here before?" and if you say it’s your first time, they might tell you something like, "Our specialty is the XYZ, so please do try it," and when they give you the menu, they might add, "If there's anything at all you’re not sure about with the menu, please ask me." And when they tell you about the dishes of the day, rather than reading the menu out aloud in a monotone voice, they explain in more detail what sort of dish each one is. Then, after leaving you for a short, exquisite moment, they come and take your order. They also constantly check how much drink there is on each table, and when the drinks get low, they come and ask, "Would you like something else to drink?" Wait staff bring out the drinks first, then appetizers, followed by mains, and every time they take your plate, they ask, "How was the food?" If you reply that you liked it, some wait staff might say, "I love it too." They will also come to your table during your meal and ask, "Is everything all right? Is there any problem at all?” And when you’ve finished, they will ask, "Would you like anything else, a dessert or coffee?" Plus, if you mention to the restaurant beforehand that you are coming to celebrate a birthday that day, they will also join the celebration by putting a Happy Birthday message on the dessert, or having some of the wait staff gather together and sing Happy Birthday, as a surprise, compliments of the house. The wait staff are really friendly, smiling the whole time, instead of wearing a ceremonious, polite expression or no expression at all. Once at a restaurant I went to with seven other ladies, as soon as we were seated we just started chatting right away excitedly, and although we hadn’t yet decided on what to order, the server for our table took control in a nice way, kind of like a school teacher, and said, "Sorry to interrupt, but could you please listen while I quickly tell you about the menu.” In Japan, you would wonder, “Why is this person interrupting while we’re talking?” and people might tend to keep him or her at arm’s length, but in Australia, this is normal. The fact that they’re humble too is good, but they don’t hesitate to talk to you, and they still provide pleasant service. When a restaurant is unexpectedly busy, it might be difficult at times for them to take away your plate at the perfect moment or to come and ask if you want another drink, but basically it seems that they always try to provide pleasant customer service with a nice smile, without coming to your table too much or too little. That’s why sometimes it’s a little disappointing when I go to a restaurant and find the quality of its hospitality is not good. On the other hand, even if the standard of the food is lacking, if I get pleasant customer service with an exceptional smile, it rubs off on me and I go home in a good mood. In Australia, COVID-19 has forced restaurants to shut down permanently and meant the temporary closure of many others, the difficult conditions persist, and you still have to be alert when you go out. I hope life gets back to normal as soon as possible.


Complimentary “Happy Birthday” decoration with the tiramisu