Thirty people is an interesting number for catering.
Too many to casually cook dinner for at home.
But not necessarily enough to justify turning the function room into a giant banquet hall.
For this gathering at Spring Grove Condominium, the order was for 30 people.
The menu was straightforward:
Fried Bee Hoon.
Nasi Lemak Rice.
Chicken Curry.
Salted Egg Fried Chicken.
Finger Food Platter.
Banana Leaf Otah.
And cutlery.
That was it.
No live station.
No BBQ chef.
No elaborate carving setup.
Just a proper cooked-food spread delivered to the function room for dinner.
Condo Function Rooms Need Food That Is Easy to Manage
A condominium function room is different from a restaurant.
It is also different from a hotel ballroom.
Most function rooms are essentially flexible spaces.
Tables.
Chairs.
Air-conditioning.
Maybe a pantry.
And a group of people trying to enjoy themselves.
So catering for a condo function room in Singapore usually works best when the food doesn’t require a complicated kitchen operation on-site.
Food that can arrive ready to serve has a big advantage.
Set it up.
Put out the serving utensils.
Let people eat.
That keeps the catering from taking over the whole room.
Thirty People Still Need Variety
A smaller group doesn’t mean everyone wants exactly the same thing.
That is why this menu had two different carbohydrate options.
Fried Bee Hoon.
And:
Nasi Lemak Rice.
Then there was Chicken Curry and Salted Egg Fried Chicken.
Add a Finger Food Platter and Banana Leaf Otah and the table already has quite a few different flavours without becoming excessive.
For a 30-pax catering order, that balance is useful.
Enough choice that people can build different plates.
Not so much choice that half the food ends the night untouched.
Salted Egg Fried Chicken Gives the Menu Something Different
Chicken Curry is familiar.
Nasi Lemak Rice is familiar.
Bee Hoon is familiar.
Then Salted Egg Fried Chicken comes in and changes the flavour profile completely.
It is richer.
Crispier.
More snackable.
And it also works well for people who may not want curry over their entire plate.
This is something we think about quite often with cooked catering.
You don’t need ten mains.
You need a few dishes that don’t all taste like versions of the same thing.
Finger Food Helps When People Aren’t Sitting Down Yet
Function-room gatherings often have an awkward period at the beginning.
Some guests have arrived.
Some haven’t.
People are talking.
Nobody is quite sure whether dinner has officially started.
Finger food is useful here.
People can take something small without feeling like they need to sit down for the whole meal.
Then once everybody settles, the Bee Hoon, Nasi Lemak Rice, curry and fried chicken can do the heavier work.
It gives the gathering a natural progression without needing formal service.
Otah Is One of Those Foods That Just Fits
Banana Leaf Otah doesn’t need much explanation in Singapore.
It works beside Nasi Lemak.
It works beside Bee Hoon.
It works as finger food.
It works as part of a bigger plate.
And because it is already individually portioned, people can simply take one.
That makes it particularly practical for small-event catering.
Easy to distribute.
Easy to eat.
Very little ceremony required.
Small Party Catering Is Mostly About Getting the Amount Right
For larger events, the challenge is scale.
For smaller gatherings, the challenge can actually be restraint.
It is very easy to order as though 30 people are 100 people.
Then the night ends with trays and trays of leftovers.
A good small party catering menu in Singapore should still feel generous.
But it doesn’t need to become enormous.
A few substantial staples.
A couple of mains.
Something snackable.
Something familiar.
And enough food that everybody can eat comfortably.
That is usually more useful than adding dishes simply because there is still space on the menu.
Function Room Catering Should Make Hosting Easier
The whole reason people book a condo function room is usually to spend time with family, friends or colleagues.
The host shouldn’t have to disappear into a kitchen for half the evening.
Cooked food delivery solves that problem quite neatly.
The food arrives.
The table gets set.
Dinner happens.
And when the gathering is for around 30 people, sometimes that is exactly the right level of catering.
Not a huge production.
Not a restaurant.
Just enough good food in the room when everyone is ready to eat.
