Catering · 2026-08-31

Feeding Thirty: How Bulk Filipino Catering Actually Works

Bulk catering at Pinoy Tambayan starts at thirty people and AED 49 a head, and it has been tested at real scale: six hundred meals a day for six months for one company, and three separate Philippine embassy events. Here is how it actually works.

Bulk Filipino catering at Pinoy Tambayan is not a side menu bolted onto the restaurant. It has fed six hundred people a day, most days of the week, for six months straight for one Dubai cleaning company, and it has covered Philippine embassy events for one hundred guests, two hundred guests, and twice for four hundred guests. Feeding thirty people well and feeding four hundred people well are different jobs, and this page sets out how the second one actually works, from the AED 49 a head starting price to how far our own delivery will drive to reach you.

The track record behind the price list

The AED 49 to AED 100 a head range on our catering price list is not a guess. It comes from work already done at scale: up to six hundred meals a day, most days of the week, for six months straight, supplied to a cleaning company operating across Dubai. We have also catered Philippine embassy events three separate times, for one hundred guests, for two hundred guests, and twice for four hundred guests. A kitchen that has run that volume knows what breaks first when an order gets big. It is timing, not flavour, which is why we ask for a headcount and a delivery window before quoting anything.

What AED 49 to AED 100 a head actually buys

Every catering menu is built the same way as a plate ordered inside the restaurant: an appetiser, a main dish, rice, a drink and dessert, priced per person rather than sold as one fixed platter. AED 49 a head covers a straightforward spread built around chicken or vegetables. Menus built around seafood or beef run closer to AED 100 a head, because the ingredient cost moves and the format does not. The dishes below are examples of what regularly makes up a spread, priced off the same live menu the restaurant serves every day.

The thirty person floor

Thirty people is where catering starts, at a minimum order value of around AED 1,500. Below that number, the delivery and the labour of building a multi course spread do not pay for themselves, and we would rather say so upfront than take an order we cannot serve properly. If a group is smaller, a boodle fight or an ordinary bulk order off the menu covers up to about six people.

Between seven and twenty nine people there is no fixed format, so we price the order individually rather than pretending a set size fits. Our comparison of the boodle fight and buffet formats covers how the shape of a group meal changes as the numbers climb, and catering is simply what that becomes above thirty.

How far the trays travel

Delivery is free within five kilometres of Al Barsha 1 and AED 5 beyond that for a normal order. Catering orders use the same rider network stretched further. We have delivered bulk trays as far as International City, roughly a thirty minute drive, when the order justified the trip. Tell us the delivery address when enquiring and we will say honestly whether it is within reach for the date needed.

Staff feeding, birthdays and one off events

Not every catering order is an embassy event. Daily staff feeding for a company is work we actively want: tell us the headcount, the shift times and the site, and we quote against a standing arrangement rather than a one off order. Birthdays are catered just as regularly, in the restaurant or delivered, and a cake changes the timing more than the food does, so mention it when messaging.

What to tell us when you message

The owner takes catering enquiries personally, because he is the one who knows what the kitchen can do and how to price it honestly. Send the details on WhatsApp rather than calling cold, so there is a written record of the headcount and the date.

• Headcount, as an actual number rather than a range. Thirty is a different order from fifty.
• The date and the delivery window, especially for anything over one hundred people.
• The delivery address, so we can say honestly whether it is within reach.
• Whether it is a standing arrangement, like daily staff meals, or a one off event.
• Any occasion detail, a cake or a stage timing, that changes when the food needs to land.

How much notice to give

More notice is always better, but large orders have been turned around quickly before. The honest answer depends on the date and the size, which is exactly why the owner prices catering personally rather than off a fixed calendar. Message early where possible, and ask anyway when it is not.

Catering questions we get asked

We are opposite Dubai International Academy in Al Barsha 1, open 8:00 AM to 1:00 AM every day, rated 4.5 on Google. Thirty people or four hundred, message the headcount and the date and we will say honestly what it costs.