English service is the formal domestic style in which the host carves and portions the food onto plates that are then passed round the table — the domestic formal style of Britain. Dishes arrive at the table, the host carves the joint and serves the vegetables onto each plate, and the filled plates are passed to the guests. It contrasts with French service, where waiters serve from the side, and Russian service, where food is fully plated in the kitchen. English service keeps the host at the centre of the table’s ceremony — carving is a performance, apportioning a gesture of hospitality — and it suits the family roast and the country-house dinner. The style demands confidence with the carving knife and an eye for fair portions. It is service as hosting, not as theatre performed by staff.