Honzen-ryōri (本膳料理) is one of three basic styles of Japanese cuisine and a highly ritualized form of serving food, in which prescribed dishes are carefully arranged and served on legged trays; full-course dinner, regular dinner.
It largely survives today as one of the main influences of kaiseki cuisine.
This corresponded with the rise and subsequent entrenchment of the power of the warrior class vis-a-vis the nobility.
During the Muromachi period after the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in the 14th century, developed an elaborate formal system of meal-serving, known as (honzen-ryōri (本膳料理).
[1] The meals for guests are served on sanpō (三方), where the tray (technically called oshiki (折敷)) is supported underneath by a boxlike frame with three of the sides hollowed by large holes.