Beijing's Best Caterers: Let Them Do The Work For You

Summer in Beijing brings with it al fresco dining and drinking, courtyards, barbecues, and parties. Want to host your own party or event? These catering companies will at least help you take care of the food aspect. Get planning!

Q Chefs
Q Chefs provide international or fusion cuisine catering with customized menus as well as a mobile bar for the full experience, perfect for big events and gatherings. They will also organize DJs, bands, and other entertainment, all you have to do is tell them how many people, what kind of setting it is, and what cuisine you’d prefer. Once you’ve specified the type of event you want they will propose different types of dishes.

Most events that they have catered in the past have been very large, including the Berlin-Beijing Movie Festival at Solana Mall for 300 people, or the Mexican Pavilion Event, which fed 200 people for two days. In terms of pricing, an event of over 50 people can come in at between RMB 118 and 148 per person with a buffet that includes soup, two salads, three appetizers, four mains, three sides, and two desserts. There is also a RMB 198-248 range if you want to wow with a menu featuring more exotic ingredients.

To get in touch for a specific quote, email contact@qchefs.com or call 138 1179 9516.

Sue Zhou
Sue Zhou Does Food is run by Sue Zhou, who boasts over 15 years of experience in the hospitality and food and beverage industry in both China and Europe.

Zhou takes pride in quality and wholesome food, using local and seasonal ingredients as much as possible to ensure her food isn’t only fresh but also has the smallest possible carbon footprint. Zhou can prepare many different traditional cuisines, for example, she is currently working on a traditional Dutch and Indonesian menu for the Dutch community. She also caters to special requests: a vegan canapé menu, for example, for vegan clients.

Sue Zhou Does Food doesn’t only organize the edibles – she can also organize service staff, bartenders, tables, flowers, tableware and musicians at additional cost. However, if you have no need for these additional services you can also just have the food delivered.

To get in touch with Zhou and get a quote for your event, email her at suerzhou@gmail.com.

Fat Face Dining
Founded by Taiwanese-American brothers Chef Eli and Hsu “Fatbuddha” Li, Fat Face Dining was originally set up in order to bring people together through food. They will cater anything from a gourmet plated dinner to a casual mid-afternoon soiree, promoting farmers, chefs, food lovers, and entrepreneurs in the process.

The menu is diverse – we’re talking salads of all origins, pasta, rice, meats (ribs, steak, chicken and more), vegetarian dishes, soups, seafood dishes, and desserts. Their favorites are meals based around proteins, such as oven baked barbecue ribs and pan-fried steaks: they take special pride in their flavored meats. Sounds good? They can even provide their services without electricity or running water, perfect for summer courtyard parties. Last year they catered a five-course dinner for 40 guests in a dilapidated courtyard.

In terms of pricing, Fat Face’s minimum budget is RMB 10,000, meaning they mainly cater to larger dinner parties. For around 20 guests, at RMB 500 per person, you can receive a delicious five-course meal, while events and gatherings with a wide range of canapés and a full dinner service come in at around RMB 200 per person. It all depends on what kind of event you had in mind.

To get in touch with them email fatbuddha@fatfacedining.com or call 158 1080 6284.

I Crepes you NOT!
I Crepes you NOT! is a Beijing catering start-up specializing in home-cooked, Dutch-style pancakes courtesy of food aficionados Pernille Son Paulsen from Denmark and Marte van Os from the Netherlands. While Paulsen first came across pancakes while studying abroad in Rotterdam, van Os grew up with them, and their love of all things batter shows through in their pancakes.

The duo can provide these circular beauties for a range of events, including private parties, sit down dinners, cocktail parties, children’s birthday parties, or basically any other type of event you can think of. All preparation and grocery shopping is taken care of, and portable gas cookers mean that catering can be undertaken in your living room or at a pre-arranged outside location. If the event is taking place at your home, I Crepes you NOT! will typically use your own cutlery and plates.

If you would prefer not to do this, let them know and everything can be provided at an additional charge. Currently, their menu offers a range of sweet and savory pancakes in a number of delicious combinayions: think apple, raisin, icing sugar, and wine reduction sprinkle, or bacon, caramelized onion, and cheese. Their service starts at RMB 750, which covers preparation time. A party for 15 people with 1-2 pancakes served per person will set you back around RMB 2,000.

For further quotes contact them at icrepesyounot@gmail.com, or on 185 1085 8845 / 188 1145 1870.

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Photos: Ken, Mitchell PE Masilun