Buffet ideas please

You need to give more information

what kind of people are they

where is it

what time of year

your budget

time of day the meal is to be served

etc

etc

etc

oh, and you must have done some research surely? you need to say what youre thinking of.

In that case go for pastry! Pies, sausage rolls, sandwiches etc

You could go for cold meat platters or cheese platters but the crowd is more into beer than the above might be better. And easier for you

I know you've said a cold buffet, but if you're doing it on your own would it be easier to just do a big pot of curry or chilli and something similar but not hot as an alternative. Stick some jacket spuds in the oven or do rice? Don't know how practical it would be in the setting you'll have?

I agree with Penguin and go for a traditional buffet - sandwiches, sausage rolls, pizza, quiche. Don't forget some salad or veggies though. I'd also try to do as much before the day as possible (if you are going to do a lot of the cooking) and then freeze until needed. Is there anyone you can rope in to help on the day?

For 150 people, you'll need a fucking big pot! Srsly.

£300 for 150 people is also incredibly tight. TBH I'd be minded to just to crisps and peaniuts and tell people to eat before they come.

Definately just got for a cold buffet. They'll need stodge to soak up the beer. I'd got for:

Baps rather than sandwiches (perhaps ham, cheese, salmon/tuna, egg may, do a roast chicken and do chicken and stuffing)

Pork Pie

Sausage Rolls

Cheese and Pineapple

Savoury Egg things

Crisps

Nuts

Not loads of salad but perhaps a bit for garnish

Dips and carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, peppers, bread sticks etc

Perhaps for the more adventerous spring rolls, onion bahjis, samosas etc

For sweet stuff if you want it

Fairy Cakes

Trifle

gateaux

£300 for 150 is only £2 per person - I don't think you can do anything much with that budget I'm afraid; I would do as Sophie suggests.

well I didn't mean just one ?

A few big pots with a few different fillings in them might work. We used to go to a yearly event (I'm not confessing what it was but it was average age over 50yrs) and they did something similar with spag bol/chilli/curry and then jacket spuds. If you've oven space then it can work well.

I agree with sophie. and 2 ponds a head is nothing.

i also dont agree with the pastry/traditional thing. its SO old fashioned, not to mention a massive lard fest.

and a cold buffet in the evening? when is it? july/august? if not, and i went to an evening do and the only food was a cold buffet i d be off in a flash.

with the budget you have,i think youre going to struggle. even if you do do a chilli, youre going to need a minimum of about 30 lbs of mince.thats over two STONE of mince ?. then you have kidney beans and all the rest of it, the rice, one or two salads and a pudding of some kind. you couldnt make that chilli in a domestic kitchen either, theres no chance.

that reads like it was written by a pre-war WI member, sorry ?. step away from sausage rolls and pork pies.

"for the more adventurous...samosas" ? sorry ?

I think i'd be doing a few platters of cold cuts and a few different types of coleslaw, some french sticks cut up with slices of cheese and lots of crisps and nibbles.

i bet they didnt do it for 2 quid a head though ?. youre in moon-on-a-stick territory there.

We're talking a 65th birthday party here not an 18th. My Dad would expect this type of thing for a birthday party and he's not far off 65!!!!

I agree Chilli ain't going to work for those numbers though.

Get ye to Iceland a la Kerry Katona - bet you'll still have change for a prawn ring!! And the accompanying gut rot......

I don't mean to have a pop at the OP, but I really don't understand why people allow themselves to get roped into these things. I wouldn't dream of trying to cater for more than about 40 people, it's just not worth the stress. You'll end up buying a load of crap from Iceland, which will ming anyway, and your dad's party will be spoiled for you because you'll be running around like a loon with trays of volauvents.

Honestly, get it catered properly or don't bother with food.

For that money, you cmight be able to get a lovely birthday cake made that could stretch to that many people - could be a better alternative?

No, I agree that the budget is going to be difficult. I don't think even the most basic of buffet can be done that cheaply tbh.

Maybe so but with grandparents around that sort of age i know they'd prefer traditional stodge rather than chillis and pasta and things like that. They'd say it was "foreign muck" also not particularly easy to eat if you're on the move.

Nick, not everyone is as, erm... sophisticated as you ?

Where I'm from some crisps, peanuts, sandwiches and sausage rolls is perfectly acceptable party fooder, especially for old men ?

Am pissing myself at the mention of iceland, a nd then sophies post mentiong...iceland ?

Absolutely!

We took my grandfolks to pizza express once (with some tokens, we are classy folk).

They were totally bemused by the whole thing. For grandma, even pasta is foreign. They ended up getting a margherita pizza each with lots of encouragement.

Grandpa (RIP?) said 'so is this what they call "fast food" dear?' ?

WEES

For chilli you are going to need massive saucepans, because even my largest stockpot probably only holds enough for 10-15 at most, and you are going to need 10 times that at least.

I would stick with crisps and nuts myself.

Beth, IIRC you're local to me i think in Stoke (ignore me if i'm totally wrong)

My mum's planning a suprise party for my dad's 50th at the end of the year and the caterer that did our wedding reception is doing a buffet for around £3.00 a head. Could you not stretch the budget a little bit and have someone else do it for you.

It is i m afraid. maybe look at using the budget you have for birthday cakes from a decent place? mind you, i guess "proper" cakes would be what? 40 quid each? 50? spose it depends what you want. no, on balance, i dont think you can do it tbh.

Honestly, Beth, it's completely unreasonable of your mum to expect you to perform ssome kind of loaves-and-fishes miracle on that budget, never mind the impossibility of catering for that many people as an amateur, and on your own.

It sounds like your guests are the type of people who will have eaten first anyway, assuming the event kicks off at about 7pm. Either do crisps and nuts, or see if you can stretch to a cake.

All joking aside, i think you have a virtually impossible, and VERY stressful task if you take that on. can you not throw it back to your mother to deal with? (ie pay a caterer)

Must have got the wrong person then. If you're thinking it too much of a hassel just do chips and dips and that sort of thing rather than a full blown buffet.

Btw, are you certain that you will get 150 people? or is it that youre inviting 150 people? is the latter, then a good number wont go anyway. having said that, even if 50 dont go, your budget only goes up to 3 pounds a head anyway, and you cant guarantee that 50 wont show. if all 150 show, youre goosed.

OK, I'm going to be honest. I think it is do-able, but you will have to go the Iceland/Tesco/other cheaper shop route. And to be fair, although I don't use them myself, I've been to parties where the food has been from there and it's been fine.

I'd also stick to a flot of a few basic items ie - piles of sausages, sausage rolls, chicken wings, coleslaw, bread etc and maybe some of the mini-dessert things that you can doubtless get from there. Plus lots of crisps and nuts.

I wouldn't bother with sandwiches for that many - unless you can rope guests into pitching in and making a couple of platters each, it'd be a nightmare to make and would work out very expensive.

You may be able to find something on here, if you willing to pay a little more

http://www.bookabuffet.com/default.aspx

I feel for you! we are having a surprise party for my dads 70th in March. It is in an ex British Legion Club and will be for about 50-75 people, although we have extended an open invitation so could be more!!

We are just going down the lardy catering route. After all it's really just a pub type place and it's only something to soak up the alcohol. People would have had dinner and the crowd coming are a "drinking" lot not fine diners. When my Brother got engaged many moons ago my mum and I sweated in the kitchen for about two days cooking up extra stuff, savoury rice and pasta salads etc, but to be honest we ended up chucking most of it away as people weren't really interested and it was a bit soul destroying to see it go into black plastic sacks after all our hard work. So this time I am resisting the tempation to do anything exotic and just going for the traditional/outdated recipe for heart attack that is sausage rolls etc. I have drafted in a couple of extra people with their own kitchens to help though, wouldn't do it all myself.

If I was doing a big do like this I'd do a BYO buffet - everyone bring a dish.

I don't care if it's common - it works and it's free ?

It's actually what we were planning for our wedding originally.

so if most people are in couples, you get 75 different dishes? how does it work in practice? sounds utterly horrendous to me.

This has reminded me of my lovely, ecentric and slightly bonkers friend. She is deserately skint at the moment but loves to have a house full of friends over so regularly invites 20+ people over to her house on a Saturday night and always asks us to bring a plate.

Its amazing how it always works out so well. There is often a fab mix of food although we never know what each other are going to bring. We would always eat before going so its not to replace a meal, just nibbles during the night.