Live stations · Abu Dhabi
Live station catering in Abu Dhabi, cooked in front of your guests.
Thirteen counters, from live sushi to tak-a-tak, running at villas on Saadiyat, Yas and Al Reem and at events across the city where our head office sits.
A buffet feeds people. A live counter gives them something to stand around. Every station below runs with its own chef, its own equipment and its own queue, and they are the single most reliable way to make a room feel busy in the first thirty minutes — which is exactly why the villa parties and sangeets we already cater on Saadiyat, Yas and Al Reem tend to open with one.
A station is one chef at one setup, a tandoor, a grill, a wok or a dosa griddle, and it cooks up to three dishes in front of your guests. Classic includes one station, Premium two and Luxury three, and any counter can be added. Each counter beyond your package is AED 250 to cook live, and its dishes fill the slots of their course: a wok is mains cooked live, a chaat counter is starters. 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. The price is the same as in Dubai — Abu Dhabi is where the group started in 1985, and nothing about pricing changes between emirates. Each counter has one chef for every 50 guests; above 50, each further chef is AED 250.
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 Abu Dhabi.
- 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 Abu Dhabi team on WhatsApp. A 50% booking amount confirms the date, and the balance is paid on or before the event day.
Prices and policies on this page are the ones our booking engine uses. Page last updated .
The full list
Thirteen stations we can set up.
- Wok: noodles, rice and stir-fries finished in the pan in the sauce each guest picks.
- Charcoal tandoor and grill, with kebabs and tikka straight off the skewer.
- Tak-a-tak, vegetarian or mutton, chopped and tossed on the flat griddle.
- Chaat: pani puri, papdi chaat and dahi chaat put together one plate at a time.
- Curry noodles: khao suey, laksa and Thai curry ladled over noodles.
- South Indian griddle: dosa, uttapam and appam with stew.
- Eggs and paratha, made as each guest orders.
- Pasta and salad, dressed at the counter.
- A breakfast counter for mornings and the brunch after a wedding.
- Jalebi fried live, with other desserts.
- Sushi cut to order by the chefs of Oh! Sushi, the group's own sushi brand.
- Ice gola, shaved and flavoured at the counter.
- Sugarcane juice, pressed in front of the guests.
Indian live stations
Six Indian live cooking stations.
Half the list is Indian, and these six are the ones Abu Dhabi families book most for sangeets, mehendis and villa dinners. Each has its own chef and can run beside an Indian buffet on the same booking.
- Chaat draws the first guests through the door, so we set it near the entrance.
- Tandoor and charcoal grill go outside, in the garden or on the terrace.
- Tak-a-tak serves a standing crowd quickly, which suits a sangeet.
- The dosa griddle has the longest queue of any counter; give it space.
- Eggs and paratha belong to the morning after, at a wedding brunch.
- Jalebi is the counter people come back to late in the evening.
Per station
What each station adds.
One grill cooking three kebabs counts as a single station. Add a fourth dish and it becomes a second station with a second chef.
| Item | How it is charged |
|---|---|
| Stations in the package | Classic one, Premium two, Luxury three |
| Dishes per station | Up to three, off one setup |
| Each extra counter | AED 20, 25 or 35 a guest, chef and food included |
| Which price | Veg AED 20, chicken or egg AED 25, fish or mutton AED 35 |
Planning
How many stations for how many guests.
One station serves a queue, not a room. For a party of fifty in a Saadiyat or Al Reem villa garden, one counter plus a buffet works. At two hundred, at a hotel ballroom or an Etihad Arena-scale event, two or three stations spread across the floor stop a single line forming. At five hundred and above, stations should be positioned in separate zones rather than side by side, which is a floor-plan decision our team makes on the site visit.
Island and gated communities on Saadiyat, Yas and Al Reem usually need vehicle access cleared with security beforehand. Tell us the community when you book and we will send the details your gate needs.
Across Abu Dhabi
Where we cater in Abu Dhabi.
We cater across the emirate: villas on Saadiyat, Yas, Al Raha, Khalifa City, Mohammed Bin Zayed City and Al Bateen; towers on Al Reem, Al Maryah and the Corniche; and offices from ADGM to Mussafah. Our head office is at ADGM on Al Maryah Island.
Island and gated communities clear our vehicle with security before the day, and towers usually book the service lift for us. Tell us the community or building when you book and we send what security asks for.
Parties we have catered in Abu Dhabi this year include a forty-guest party in Al Shamkha, a dinner for thirty in a tower apartment, a staff lunch for thirty in Mussafah and a dinner for twenty at a villa in Al Seef.
Common questions
Answers before you ask.
- How much does a live station cost in Abu Dhabi?
- Classic includes one live station, Premium two and Luxury three. Each counter beyond that cooks up to three dishes and is AED 250 to cook live, and its dishes fill the slots of their course: a wok is mains cooked live, a chaat counter is starters. 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. The price is the same as in Dubai. Each counter has one chef for every 50 guests; above 50, each further chef is AED 250.
- Which packages include a live station?
- Every package has at least one: Classic at AED 140 a head comes with one, Premium at AED 180 with two and Luxury at AED 210 with three. You can add more to any of them.
- Can live stations run at a villa on Saadiyat, Yas or Al Reem?
- Yes. Table-top counters run on site as long as there is safe access, power, water and a working area. Tandoor and charcoal need an outdoor space, so not in an apartment or an office. Island and gated communities often need vehicle access cleared with security in advance, so tell us the community when you book.
- Do you have a live sushi station?
- Yes. Chefs from Oh! Sushi, one of the group's restaurants in Abu Dhabi, cut the maki and nigiri at the counter.
- How many live stations do I need?
- With a buffet alongside, plan about one counter for every 75 to 100 guests; if the counters are the whole meal, plan more. We settle the final number when we see the floor plan.
- Who handles live station bookings in Abu Dhabi?
- Gaurav Varma, our Chief Executive Officer, looks after Abu Dhabi directly from our ADGM head office on Al Maryah Island.
- Do you charge more for Saadiyat, Yas or Al Reem?
- No. The AED 500 catering setup is the same across the emirate, islands included. Gated island communities need our vehicle cleared with security, so tell us the community when you book.
- Can you cater in an Abu Dhabi apartment or tower?
- Yes. A dinner for thirty in a tower apartment is one of our recent parties. Live counters run on butane indoors, and tandoor and charcoal need a garden or terrace.
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Ready when you are
Compose your menu, course by course.
No commitment and no phone call. Choose every course yourself in about two minutes, then send it over and we'll take it from there.