Step aside, Gizzi Erskine-wannabe, and leave the food prep to these professionals! Be it a wedding or birthday, we’ve gathered the best caterers and ideas for all occasions so that you’re free to join in your own party instead of worrying whether people will like your food. We also bring you for a peep behind the scenes–so you know all the work that goes behind the spread that you’ll be claiming credit for.
HIPSTER WEDDING
Let’s face it, no one really wants a traditional sit-down wedding where you’re meeting 90% of the guests for the first time in your life and have to spend way too much money on fanfare and XO for your uncles. Fortunately, there’s a cheaper, more enjoyable option with fairy lights, craft beers, and Instagram-worthy food. Don’t forget the Lomo cameras!
Get your food and drinks from:
The options here range from cranberry couscous to Samsui Chicken, to keep everyone from your fussy aunts to vegetarian friends happy. The menu is a good mix of trendy and traditional; their Classic Menu ($25/pax) offers items from 11 categories, including grains, pasta, fish, vegetarian, and dessert and pastries. Sick of luridly colored fruit punch and lime cordials? The drinks provided are a step above, with cucumber-infused homemade lemonade, and lime iced tea made with kaffir lime. Tel: 3163 5335
The gourmet catering company is helmed by chef Jeremy Nguee, who is known for his Mod-Sin creations including a tsukemen-style laksa. They offer a range of options depending on the type of reception you’re looking for, including buffets (from $25/pax), sharing platters (from $300 for 10-12 pax) and canapes. Most of the Asian items come with a twist like pork crackling with spiced apple sauce and salmon otak.
Your style-conscious friends are not going to be caught drinking generic pilsner–get all your IPAs, APAs and small-batch monk-brewed beers here by the carton. They offer dozens of labels from the popular Hitachino Nest to Alaska Cider. $10 flat delivery fee, free delivery for orders above $100.
What you’re taking credit for:
The amount of thought that goes into creating the menus. Grain stands apart with its innovative use of healthier ingredients–their slow-braised beef and duck confit lasagna uses beetroot instead of pasta sheets Preparazzi puts effort into making sure that their healthier-choice dishes are also delicious, so guests can know that you have their well-being at heart.
THEMED BIRTHDAY
Your birthday comes every year, so you can have a different theme each time! Sabo all your friends to come as princesses, wizards or in their school uniforms, then make it up to them with free (themed) food and copious amounts of alcohol.
Get your food and drinks from:
They’ve got professional event planners, so you’re going to nail all the details right down to the decor and customised menus. Previous examples include an ’ice fantasy’ and ’dim sum boat’. A nautical-themed Cantonese food reception anyone? Tel: 6383 3113
Branded as a ’mobile bar solution’, they offer an all-inclusive experience ($600 for two hours of free-flow for 40 people) by providing all the equipment, ingredients and manpower to make your booziest dreams come true. The best part? They can create a cocktail to specially suit the theme of your party, so your guests can all be drinking Butterbeer or tiki cocktails. Tel: 6284 4727
What you’re taking credit for:
Experience in party planning. CJS has got 20 years of experience in providing custom catering, including an award-winning decorating service.
SIT-DOWN DINNER PARTY
You’re older now, with more responsibilities– pounding beers and filling up on chips at a party just won’t do anymore. Enter the dinner party: polite conversation, non-disposable tableware and produce-driven dishes. There are few things classier than having a private chef prepare food for you and your guests in your own home, so bring out your best dress and leave the rest to the caterers.
Get your food and drinks from:
Just like the LinkedIn of private chefs, their website allows you to view the profiles of the stable of chefs available, including their pictures and credentials. You can even find famed restaurateur Emmanuel Stroobant here, although it’s his head chef who will be doing the cooking (requests to have Stroobant grace your event can be made with a surcharge). The kind of menus offered depends on the chef, although most require a minimum pax of four. Tel: 6240 6806
You’ll be well taken care of by trained chefs and butlers. They offer a whole range of cuisines including a four-course classic French ($125/ pax) menu and even a 12-course kaiseki menu ($350/pax) where the ingredients are flown in from Japan twice a week. Tel: 6386 1816
Of course you want to impress your friends. Wanderwine has sommeliers on board to make personal recommendations for the dinner you’ve planned, so you can say things like ’the hint of sour cherry pairs really well with this duck’. $16 delivery fee, free delivery for orders over $75.
What you’re taking credit for:
The lengths that they go to to fulfil your requests. From plating food for someone’s teddy bear (yes, that happened before!) to flying in a three Michelin-starred chef from the UK, Clubvivre has done it all.
FULL-SCALE BLOWOUT
You’re planning an event for hundreds of people and need to provide food in a pinch. Logistics get more complicated the more people there are, and what you need are old hands in the catering game, companies that can efficiently deliver on large amounts of delicious food with minimal hiccups.
SK CATERING [halal]
With experience catering for up to 3,000 people, you can be sure that they know how to handle huge receptions. Their SK Value High Tea Reception starts from $4/pax (min 100pax) for a five-course tea with items like finger sandwiches, fried snacks and mains–allowing you to feed all your friends and relatives without breaking the bank. Tel: 6411 4994
STAMFORD [halal]
You’ll be spoilt for choice with a wide range of buffet options from international to Indian to Japanese and even a healthy menu option (from $11+/pax) with items like fried brown rice and chicken dishes made with skimmed poultry. You can even get a Super Value eight-course buffet for $9+/pax (min 45 pax), which offers optional side orders like otak, satay or claypot dishes. Tel: 6852 3338
To stay hydrated, you’ll need something with mass appeal and available in large quantities. They offer alcohol at wholesale prices and free deliveries with orders above $150. The selection here includes Somersby, Carlsberg and Asahi. Liquors, wines and champagne can also be found, including a rather respectable range of whiskies. Tel: 6547 8991
What you’re taking credit for:
A crazy amount of logistical planning. Significant resources including trucks, large-scale kitchens and manpower are required to cook, pack and transport all that food and equipment.
CORPORATE EVENT
In charge of providing food for your office? We know it’s a delicate balancing act between staying within the budget (to keep your boss happy) and impressing everyone. We’ve got caterers to do just that, and some more, so you can organize that company event that people will talk about in the months to come.
Office meetings will never be the same with their NextJen Meeting packages (from $75/pax with lunch). While they have all the basic amenities like AV equipment, refreshments and WiFi, your experience is taken a step further with a choice of fun inclusions like beanbag seatings and video game stations to induce creativity. Of course, we can’t forget about the food; lunch is a choice of a hawker-themed buffet at J65 restaurant, or a bento or tingkat set. The packages also provide colour-themed coffee breaks to suit your corporate image. Hotel Jen, 1A Cuscaden Road. Tel: 6738 2222
ORANGE CLOVE [halal]
’Singapore’s award-winning corporate caterer’ boasts a string of accolades and close to 9,000 corporate clients served. From buffets to bento sets, cocktail butlers and even a food truck that serves healthy fare, they’ve got all the bases covered for you to impress your clients or bosses. They also offer a wide range of Asian and international cuisines, so you can have Caesar salad next to mee goreng. Tel: 6515 0991
What you’re taking credit for:
Experience and knowledge on the needs of companies. Orange Clove has been awarded “Best Corporate Caterer” in the HRM Asia Reader’s Choice Poll, and have done catering events even at St. John’s Island, where they had to take a bumpy ferry to deliver the food and amenities.
Featured image: Clubvivre
