BBQ & tandoor · Dubai
BBQ catering in Dubai, grilled in front of your guests.
A tandoor and a charcoal grill in your garden, with a chef cooking kebabs and tikkas all evening.
From November to March the evenings in Dubai are cool enough to spend outside, and that is when garden barbecues happen, in Arabian Ranches, Dubai Hills, The Springs and everywhere else with a lawn. The trouble with doing it yourself is that the host spends the evening at the grill.
We bring the grill and the chef who works it. Kebabs and tikkas come off the coals or out of the tandoor a few at a time and go straight onto plates, so the first guest and the last one eat them equally hot. The rest of the dinner, the curries, the biryani, the breads and the dessert, sits on the buffet beside it.
At a glance
- Caterer
- Cater Inc., cooking for UAE events since 1985 in its own HACCP-certified kitchens and serving the food at your venue.
- Where
- Homes, villas, offices and venues across Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
- Guests
- From 20 guests at home to banquets of 3,500.
- Food
- Indian from every region and pan-Asian, with live counters cooked in front of guests, and Jain, vegetarian and vegan menus cooked on a separate line.
- Menus
- Classic at AED 140, Premium at AED 180 and Luxury at AED 210 a guest, or a menu built dish by dish. Minimum 20 guests and AED 2,500.
- On top
- One AED 500 catering setup covers transport, setting up, clearing, chafing dishes, plates and cutlery. Waiters come only when food is passed around or served at the table, one for every 10 guests. 5% VAT goes on the total.
- To book
- Compose the menu at caterinc.ae/book and see the itemised total, or message the Dubai team on WhatsApp. A 50% booking amount confirms the date.
Prices and policies on this page are the ones our booking engine uses. Page last updated .
The counters
Three ways to grill at your party.
- Indian tandoor and barbecue: tikkas and kebabs cooked over a charcoal sigdi or in a gas tandoor. Chicken tikka, murgh malai boti, tangdi kebab, seekh kebabs, lamb chops, mutton kakori, fish tikka, prawn tikka and salmon tikka.
- Vegetarian from the same fire: paneer tikka in a dozen marinades, tandoori mushrooms and broccoli, soya chaap, bharwan aloo and vegetable seekh kebab.
- International barbecue: chicken, mutton or vegetable skewers on an open charcoal grill, finished with a barbecue glaze or herb butter.
- A tofu skewer grill for vegan guests.
Where it works
Gardens, terraces and roofs.
Villa gardens in Arabian Ranches, Dubai Hills, The Meadows, Emirates Hills and Jumeirah, townhouse terraces, and the roofs and pool decks some towers let residents book. Gated communities register our vehicle at the gate, so tell us the community when you book.
Charcoal and a tandoor need open air, so a barbecue counter goes in a garden, on a terrace or on a roof, never inside. In an apartment, choose a counter that cooks on butane instead: a tawa, tak-a-tak or a wok works indoors.
One evening, start to finish
A barbecue dinner for forty.
Every package includes live stations: Classic one, Premium two and Luxury three. Make the tandoor and barbecue counter the one in Classic and forty guests come to AED 6,405 with VAT, the AED 500 catering setup included. A buffet with live counters needs no waiters.
A counter beyond your package is AED 250 to cook live, and its dishes fill the slots of their course. When those slots are already full it is an extra counter, charged a guest with the food: AED 20 for veg, AED 25 for chicken or egg, AED 35 for fish or mutton. Each counter has one chef for every 50 guests; above 50, each further chef is AED 250.
| Line | Calculation | AED |
|---|---|---|
| Food | 40 guests × AED 140 | 5,600 |
| Catering setup (transport, setup, chafing dishes, plates, cutlery) | Flat | 500 |
| Subtotal | 6,100 | |
| VAT | 5% | 305 |
| Total | 6,405 |
Before the evening
How booking works.
- Twenty guests is the floor, with a minimum order of AED 2,500.
- Half the total confirms the date. The balance is due before the event.
- Final numbers are due 72 hours before the party.
- Tell us the garden, terrace or roof when you book, so we can plan where the grill stands and where the smoke goes.
Across Dubai
Where we cater in Dubai.
We cater across Dubai: villas in Emirates Hills, Arabian Ranches, Dubai Hills, The Meadows, The Springs, Jumeirah and Al Barsha; apartments and towers in JLT, Dubai Marina, JBR, Downtown, Business Bay and Palm Jumeirah; and offices in DIFC, Dubai Internet City, Media City and Business Bay.
Towers in the Marina, JLT and Downtown usually want outside caterers approved by building management and the service lift booked, and gated villa communities register our vehicle at the gate. Tell us the building or community when you book and we send what security asks for.
Parties we have catered in Dubai this year include a seventy-guest dinner at a villa in Dubai Hills, a fourth birthday for thirty at a villa in The Meadows and an Asian dinner for twenty at a villa on Palm Jumeirah.
Common questions
Answers before you ask.
- How much does BBQ catering cost in Dubai?
- A barbecue can be one of the live stations a package already includes: Classic one, Premium two, Luxury three. Forty guests on Classic with the tandoor counter come to AED 6,405 with VAT and the catering setup. A counter beyond the package is AED 20 a guest for veg, AED 25 for chicken and AED 35 for fish or mutton when it is extra, with the chef and the food included.
- Do you bring the grill and the charcoal?
- Yes. The grill, the tandoor, the charcoal or gas and the chef all come with the counter. You provide the open space.
- Can we have a barbecue in an apartment?
- Not over charcoal or in a tandoor; both need open air, such as a garden, terrace or roof. In an apartment we cook on butane instead, at a tawa, tak-a-tak or wok counter.
- Is there a vegetarian barbecue?
- Yes. Paneer tikka in many marinades, tandoori mushrooms, broccoli, soya chaap, bharwan aloo and vegetable seekh, and tofu skewers for vegan guests.
- What else goes on the menu with the barbecue?
- Whatever your package holds: curries, a biryani or pulao, dal, breads from the tandoor, salads and dessert on the buffet. You choose every dish in the menu builder.
- What is the minimum for a barbecue?
- Twenty guests, with a minimum order of AED 2,500.
- Do you charge more for the Palm, the Marina or Arabian Ranches?
- No. The AED 500 catering setup is the same anywhere in Dubai and covers transport, setting up and clearing.
- Can you cater in a Dubai apartment or tower?
- Yes. A first birthday for thirty in a JLT apartment is one of our recent parties. Live counters run on butane indoors; the building usually needs to approve outside caterers and book the service lift, and we send what it asks for.
Keep reading
Related to this page.
- CateringLive station cateringLive station catering in Dubai: 13 live cooking counters, from chaat and dosa to tandoor, wok and sushi, each with its own chef, at villas, offices and events.
- CateringPrivate & home party cateringHome and small party catering in Dubai, from twenty guests. Birthdays, Diwali, cocktail parties and dinners in villas and apartments, set up and cleared for you.
- CuisinesIndian cateringIndian caterers in Dubai since 1985. Dum biryani, live tandoor and chaat, North and South Indian, Gujarati and Bengali menus for 20 to 3,500 guests, priced online.
- GuidesChoosing your live stationsWhich live catering stations to pick and how many: costs per guest, how stations affect queueing and floor plan, and which counters suit weddings, offices and home parties.
- GuidesWhat catering costs per person in DubaiWhat catering in Dubai includes and costs: AED 140 to 210 a guest, about AED 9,975 for 50 guests and AED 19,950 for 100, with setup, counter chefs and VAT.
- CateringBBQ & tandoor catering in Abu DhabiBarbecue catering in Abu Dhabi with a chef at the grill: tandoori tikkas, seekh kebabs, lamb chops and vegetarian skewers, cooked live at your villa or terrace.
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