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DubaiDirectory
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The number that matters most before anything else: ask for the caterer's Dubai Municipality food trade licence and permit number, then check it against the name on your invoice. Dubai runs catering through the same food safety regime as restaurants — a valid trade licence carrying the "catering services" activity code, renewed annually, plus a food safety permit tied to a specific commercial kitchen. A company that hesitates to produce this, or that operates from an unmarked residential flat rather than a licensed kitchen in Al Quoz, Ras Al Khor or Dubai Investment Park, is a company you should not be handing a 40% deposit to.
Catering quotes in Dubai vary more by menu complexity and staffing ratio than by neighbourhood, but a few benchmarks hold across most operators.
VAT at 5% should appear as a separate line, not buried in the per-head figure. If a quote doesn't show it, ask why — some smaller operators quote VAT-inclusive without saying so, which makes comparing two proposals harder than it should be.
A serious catering proposal breaks down price per course or station, states the staff-to-guest ratio, and lists equipment separately: crockery, cutlery, linen, chafing dishes and any furniture hire. It names a final guest-count deadline — usually 72 hours before the event — after which the price is locked regardless of no-shows. It states a deposit, typically 30–50% to hold the date, with the balance due a few days before or on the day. And it has a cancellation clause that says what happens if you cancel, and separately, what happens if the caterer has to cancel because of weather, illness in the kitchen, or a supply problem. Quotes missing that last clause tend to come from operators who haven't thought about what happens when something goes wrong, which is exactly when you'll need it.
Demand for catering in Dubai follows the calendar closely, and pricing follows demand. Ramadan brings a sharp spike in iftar and suhoor bookings across corporate and family events; good caterers get booked out three to four weeks in advance, and per-head prices commonly rise 15–20% during the month. If you need iftar catering for an office of 60 people, call in the first week of Sha'ban, not the week before Ramadan starts.
Wedding and gala season runs roughly November through March, when outdoor and garden events are comfortable. Weekend dates — Thursday and Friday evenings especially — get booked two to three months out for anything over 150 guests. June through September is the opposite: outdoor events drop off almost entirely because nobody wants a buffet melting at 42°C, but indoor corporate catering, Eid gatherings and smaller weddings continue, and several caterers offer 10–15% discounts on indoor bookings through the low season to keep kitchens running. If your event is outdoors in summer regardless, expect an added cost for cooling tents and generator-powered chilling equipment for the buffet line — this isn't optional, and any caterer who doesn't mention it hasn't done many summer events.
Ask how the food travels from the kitchen to your venue. A caterer working out of Al Quoz delivering to a villa on Palm Jumeirah or an office tower in DIFC needs proper cold-chain and hot-hold transport — insulated gastronorm pans, calibrated bain-maries, and a vehicle that isn't just a rented van with the AC on. This matters more in Dubai than almost anywhere: a 45-minute drive across the city in July can take a perfectly good dish out of the safe temperature zone if it's badly packed. For office deliveries in towers around Business Bay or DIFC, also check the caterer has handled that building's loading-dock and delivery-window rules before — many towers restrict deliveries to specific lifts and time slots, and a caterer unfamiliar with this will be late.
Meat served at any public or commercial catering event in Dubai must be halal by law, and reputable caterers will produce a halal certificate from an accredited abattoir carrying the ESMA halal mark if you ask. This isn't usually in question with mainstream caterers, but it's worth confirming explicitly if you're catering a mixed corporate crowd or an event where guests will ask.
Alcohol is a separate matter entirely. A catering company's food licence does not cover serving or supplying alcohol — that requires the venue itself to hold a liquor licence, with the bar typically run by the venue or a separately licensed beverage contractor. If your event needs a bar, that's arranged through the venue, not the food caterer, and conflating the two is a common and avoidable planning mistake.
For events on public land — beaches, parks, or open spaces rather than a private villa or licensed venue — you'll usually need a separate event permit from Dubai Municipality or the relevant authority, and for larger gatherings a police NOC. Your caterer can usually confirm whether your venue needs one, but the responsibility for holding the permit sits with the event organiser, not the kitchen.
Ask where the kitchen physically is, and ask for the food safety permit number tied to it — a legitimate operator answers both without hesitation. Ask how many events they're running on your date; wedding-season overcommitment is the most common reason food arrives late or a menu gets quietly downgraded, and some smaller firms subcontract overflow to uninspected kititchens without telling the client. Ask to see photos or a reference from an event of similar size, not just their flagship wedding portfolio — a company that's excellent at 40-guest majlis catering isn't automatically ready for a 300-guest gala, and the reverse is just as true. Finally, ask what their weather or illness contingency actually is. The answer tells you more about how the event will actually run than the menu tasting does.
Our Ramada Jumeirah is a Five-Star hotel with 252 contemporary rooms and suites...
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