How to book a caterer for a birthday, anniversary or office party in Bengaluru

The menu moves the price most. Paneer, mutton and more starters push a plate up, and so do live counters, which add about ₹150 to ₹400 a head by Bhandary's Kitchen's guide to Bengaluru prices. Caterers outside mytribe price the same way: Sri Lakshmi Caterers' birthday menu is ₹250 a plate from 50 guests, and Sukhdev Caterers' veg buffets for 100 run from ₹450 to ₹900.

Five of the 11 had ₹400 a head or less in mind, the other six ₹500 to ₹1,300. The lower budgets were for boxes, an office lunch or a simple buffet, and the higher ones were for a fuller spread, more starters or servers. A budget under ₹300 fits boxes or food in containers better than a buffet with servers.

Party boxes come one a guest, sealed, so there's nothing to serve and no plates to wash. They suit a kids' party and an office desk lunch. Diviskitchen builds a box from four sections, and you can take two or three picks from one. Its boxes are to be eaten within six hours.

Food in containers comes in tubs or hot cases with plates and spoons, and nobody stays to serve. A cloud kitchen says its hot cases keep food hot for 2 to 3 hours, so ask when it will arrive. You set it out, serve and clear.

A buffet with servers brings chafing dishes to keep the food hot, a table, plates, and staff who serve and clear for about three hours. For 35 guests, Snacksparty's comes to about ₹100 a head more than a biryani chain's party pack in containers, and nobody in the family spends the party in the kitchen.

A grazing table is a styled spread of snacks and sweets people help themselves to, set out like a display. Smart Chef's start from ₹25,000 for the setup, the same for a kids' party, and they quote once they know how many items, how many mocktails and how many guests.

A small party pays more a head. The van, the servers and the chafing dishes cost the caterer much the same for 20 guests as for 50. KVG Caterers' package, with service, transport and plates, is ₹12,600 for 30 and ₹29,000 for 100. Another caterer outside mytribe, Hii Bangalore, prices its cheapest lunch menu at about ₹353 a head for 30 and ₹250 for 100.

Divya, who runs Diviskitchen from her own kitchen in Horamavu, keeps to parties of up to 100:

Biryani as one dish among many needs far less. For a full buffet for 100, Sukhdev Caterers plans 9 to 10 kg of cooked veg dum biryani or jeera rice for the rice course, about 100 g a guest. So a kilo feeds about three adults if it's the only main, and about ten in a full spread. A biryani caterer's own guide says to order 5 to 10% extra.

Biryani by the plate is about ₹180 to ₹300 for chicken and ₹250 to ₹450 for mutton, by Hallijonne Biriyani's guide. A biryani chain's party pack starts at ₹270 a person with plates and accompaniments, for 8 to 35 guests. On this page, biryani comes as one dish on a caterer's menu: Bhandary's Kitchen's ₹950 non-veg buffet has chicken or Hyderabad dum biryani.

Say which rice you want. BookMyPartyFood cooks biryani with short-grain South Indian rice unless you ask for basmati, at the same price.

Count everyone who eats. The photographer, the decorator's team and any helpers are plates too.

Ask who brings the tables. Smart Chef brings the food and the servers, but no tables or chairs. Nazia, who runs it, told us that's the thing hosts most often assume wrongly.

Ask who clears up. At Bhandary's Kitchen the staff clean up their own buffet but don't clean the floor. Diviskitchen hires and washes its own chafing dishes and plates. Snacksparty's service includes covered dustbins.

Ask for GST on the quote. Bhandary's Kitchen adds 5%. BookMyPartyFood charges no GST to individuals and adds it for companies. Amiel Gourmet's prices are plus taxes. Snacksparty, Smart Chef and Diviskitchen don't state it, so get it written on the quote.

Plastic plates are banned in Karnataka. The state's ban covers plastic plates and spoons, so ask what the plates are made of. KVG's packages come with melamine plates, and Diviskitchen's with disposable or steel ones.

Water is easy to forget. Bhandary's Kitchen puts water cans in the plate price and charges bottles at MRP. BookMyPartyFood's two bigger menus include a water can.

Better ingredients are the smallest part. Boneless chicken is about ₹450 a kg in Bengaluru, against ₹260 on the bone, and that adds about ₹25 a plate. Aged rice, ghee and saffron add a little more, so roughly ₹50 to ₹100 a plate in all, by our estimate.

Servers are a bigger part. Smart Chef charges about ₹1,000 a server and sends 3 or 4 for 50 guests. That works out to ₹60 to ₹80 a plate, by our sum. Whatever is left pays for the chef's years in the trade, how the table looks, and the name.

At the very top, you pay for the chef and the name. Amiel Gourmet is Chef Amiel Guerin's, from Brittany in France, in India since 2010. Its French buffet, a different menu from biryani, starts at ₹2,500 a head for 20 guests, plus taxes and transport, with setup, service and clearing up in the price. Its brochure lists the French chef at your party as an add-on.

In between, Smart Chef and Authana. Smart Chef starts at ₹550 a plate, with servers at about ₹1,000 each on top. Authana starts at ₹575 a plate.

What's worth paying for depends on the party. For a house party where family serves, a good neighbourhood biryani does the job, and most of the extra buys things your guests won't miss. If the guests are clients, or elders you won't let queue at a buffet, the servers and the way it's set out matter more. Either way, order a small portion first and taste it.

Ask the same things for any dish. For paneer tikka or dal makhani too, ask what rice, oil or paneer they use, who cooks, how many servers come and for how long, and how the food is set out. If two caterers give the same answers and one still costs much more, the extra is for the name.

If an elder won't eat from vessels that touched meat, say so in your first message. It's an ordinary thing to ask, and it decides who you book. A pure-veg kitchen settles it. At a caterer who cooks both, ask whether the veg food is cooked and served with separate vessels and ladles.

For Jain food or no onion and garlic, ask the pure-veg kitchens whether they can make the whole menu that way, or a few plates kept apart. For a vegan guest, ask for two or three dishes made without ghee, paneer or curd.

Expect to pay for the number you give. Ask each caterer the date your count is fixed, and give it only when you're sure. Bhandary's Kitchen fixes it when you pay the token.

Wedding months cost more and fill up. Bhandary's Kitchen's guide says rates jump 15 to 20% in the peak wedding months, so ask early for those weekends.