Ideas on buffet lunch

[boychef]

i'm planning for a buffet lunch for 100 pax at $15 per pax. With a food cost of 35%, that works my budget to around $525 for 100 pax.

Thought of Chinese fried rice, Malay style fried noodles, cream of mushroom, deep-fried items, etc... But would like more ideas on how to enhance this low budget buffet and make it more appetizing.

Any ideas on what i can offer for appetizers, main courses, desserts, etc..
Welcome any suggestions offered.


"Cook not because we have to, but because we like to."

[Suzanne]

What produce is in season where you are? Use a lot of what's available, with a little meat as a "condiment" to balance all those starches.

[ChefRob]

boychef,

Yes where are you? By using the "100 pax" I am gonna say somewhere in Asia (along with your menu choices). I worked in Vietnam for a year, if you are near please respond and I'll offer up some buffet items that we offered at the resort.

Cheers.

[boychef]

You're right. I'm actually a culinary student in Singapore organising a buffet event for roughly 100 pax for the school. I thought of a theme for the buffet which is "Flavours of the world", meaning we try to get a cuisine from different parts of the world. But our budget is very limited at onli $5-6.

Pertaining to the season here, over here is sunny all year long and we get our supplies from neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, etc...

[ChefRob]

boychef,

I think that organizing this event is a great lesson for you in menu planning. Most hotels/resorts/restaurants work on tight budgets and you have to be able to get the most for your money.

With that said, along with your ideas you should consider the following,

Noodles
Pad Thai - very low cost item

Soups
Minestrone
Gazpacho
Corn chowder

Salads
Fresh tomatoes with basil pesto
Panzanella (Tuscan bread salad)


Entrees
Chicken mole (Mexico)
Thai curries (chicken or fish)
maybe a pasta dish
Lemon chicken (Italy)

Dessert (if your doing one)
Bread pudding with bourbon sauce

Notice the 2 bread items (salad & pudding)? These are designed to use the leftover bread pieces instead of whole loaves. Start stashing away the bread ends & scraps from the bakery and all you'll need for the salad are some herbs and olive oil and for the pudding some spices, milk and eggs. These will certainly keep your food cost down.

You can check out my website form some more ideas. Go here, free recipes to see what I have up. I am a culinary instructor and am teaching this evening, so there will be another 6-8 recipes up by Saturday at the latest.

Best of luck and if you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

[boychef]

ChefRob,

thanks for all those great ideas...