What are luxury items for a buffet?

[Weightlossmum]

Luxury may be a stretch but aside from your usual sandwiches, sausage rolls what would some nice buffet items be? I’m talking nice french bread with a cheese dip and picalily etc.

Smoked salmon on blinis maybe? Just make tiny pancakes, then put on cream cheese, smoked salmon, bit of lemon juice, black pepper and maybe some dill.

Houmous but looking fancy with a drizzle of olive oil and some pomegranate seeds.

Falafel

Posh coleslaw

I really like those jars of peppers and artichokes. Very expensive!

Side of salmon, rare roast beef, selection of sushi/california rolls, hot dips (e.g. hot crab dip), homemade tarts or quiches, focaccia rather than standard bread

Charcuterie board
Fresh fruit
cheese and posh crackers
seafood
individual tartlets

Sea food! But only if kept properly cool.
Otherwise cold joint of beef, still pink, sliced.
A side of salmon
A good cheese board with chutney’s, grapes, figs, nuts.
Home made salads, tabouleh, caprese, all with plenty of fresh herbs.
Homemade, deep fill quiche
Homemade scotch eggs

Thinly sliced Seared tuna with soy

I sometimes make a load of middle-eastern style mezze (hot and cold) and serve with flatbreads.
Otherwise a big cheeseboard and lots of nice crackers, and some different salads.

A joint of beef, thinly sliced and served over a rocket salad with cornichons and horseradish. Crusty rolls.

-Snail caviar- only because I've always wanted to try it and its expensive https://dorsetsnails.co.uk/caviar.html

Not really luxury, but other ideas
-Also agree with those cheese filled, little round peppers
-Taramasalata dip
-Dressed crabs
-Morrisons do some tasty, flavoured breads
-Quail eggs with celery salt
-Freshly made sushi
-Freshly made Vietnamese summer rolls
-Cheese platter which includes cambozola and roquefort

I would go more hors d'oeuvres or canapés than buffet style
recipes - BBC Food share.google/fiWzDBcxUOEXShyJL buffet ideas
Recipes | Good Food share.google/IV9mFLH03vfXPEtgj canapés ideas

Luxury items would be things like lobster, or a platter of oysters set in crushed ice, or caviar on blinis, a side of smoked salmon, or a game pie.

Things that would lift a sandwiches and sausage rolls buffet to something a bit more interesting and special might include....
Devilled eggs
Small glasses of chilled soup....gazpacho or vichyssoise.
Hard boiled quail eggs
Selection of sushi
Indian snacks
Interesting high quality charcuterie selection
Unusual salad selection
Good choice of types of bread
Carefully selected cheese board with extras like grapes, nuts and celery

Another idea to improve a buffet is to have theme, such as Spanish, Middle Eastern, or Greek. Also take care with the garnish and extras, quality butter, interesting dressings, seasonal fruit etc etc.

A jar of caviar always goes down well.
French toast and (ethical) Froie Gras
Smoked salmon and sour cream Bellini
Bloody Mary Shot
Mini roast beef and Yorkshire pudding

Given what you've outlined in your OP, I'd go with some olives if you haven't already got those, some of those nice cheesy bread sticks that look posh, and a cheeseboard.

-exotic fruits
-good pickles and accompaniments
-really nice crackers in a range of flavours
-the best butter
-rare roast beef sliced from a joint
-side of salmon
-sticky belly of pork cubes
-vol au vents
-crudités
-stuffed peppers / olives
-really good bread in a range of types
-cheeseboard
-salads made with high end ingredients, homemade croutons and dressings

Also I actually wouldn't ever do sandwiches on a buffet because then you've either got to spend ages making them (at last minute, or in advance but then they're taking up loads of space in the fridge) or you have to buy them in which is expensive and you may as well then spend your money on a lovely cheeseboard and nice bread and crackers.

I agree, don’t make sandwiches but give the ability to if desired. One of the best buffets I’ve done is a Christmas party buffet, all the elements of a Christmas dinner served buffet style with bread, sauces etc to make Christmas sandwiches or just eat deconstructed.

One of the best buffets I did ( according to the guests ) was a leg of lamb roasted with Moroccan spices pulled and topped with chopped mint and pomegranate served with flat breads salads and dips etc, I also did a roast chicken with garlic and lemon for those who don’t eat lamb and a dish of falafel for the vegetarians.

if I’m doing a sandwich do I feel it’s more an afternoon tea occasion so cut the sandwiches nicely and arrange elegantly alongs side mini quiche / pork pie Sausage /cheese and pineapple on sticks a dish of little silver onions are nice little slices of cucumber/cherry toms maybe. I did stuffed cherry toms once, nice but time consuming. Vol a vents (Tesco sell frozen ones ready to fill) these are also nice filled with jam and cream and topped with a raspberry. A nice cheese board and selection of crackers and chutney.

edit to add - falafel with a mint leave wrapped round and on a little stick is nice and also king prawns just one on a stick with a thousand islands dip

don't do french bread. The crust explodes everywhere and it's really annoying to try to deal with.

I do t know whether it counts as luxury, but a nice piece of gammon, baked and sliced, invariably goes down well. I have to get mine from Waitrose - the only place that ever seems to have big enough pieces of U.K. raised. I will never buy Dutch, German, or Danish - cheaper, but almost certainly factory farmed, since the EU doesn’t give a shit about the welfare of pigs.

A honey and mustard glaze 10 or 15 minutes from the end of cooking makes it look special - strip off the skin and score the fat into diamonds first.

I already suggested the snail caviar up thread, but can we have more details OP. Are you supplying a full, sit down meal? Lunch or dinner? Or is it just some snacks whilst people might be standing and mingling? During summer in hot weather or another time of the year?

If its more snacky things, then look up pintxos recipes or come canape type things. Most can be made a day ahead. Not necessarily luxurious though, but tasty:
-https://www.amummytoo.co.uk/filo-pastry-mini-quiches-great-for-kids-to-make-and-eat/ You can essentially add any fillings you like to these, various cheeses parsley, dill, tuna, salmon, various meats, tomato, olives, basil etc
-https://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/recipes/all/prue-leith-mini-yorkshire-puddings/ I've also seen these done with camembert and cranberry sauce rather than with beef
-https://www.loveandlemons.com/caprese-skewers/
-https://www.howsweeteats.com/2020/07/watermelon-halloumi-skewers/
-https://www.kalofagas.ca/2021/07/28/octopus-souvlaki/
-https://www.themediterraneandish.com/easy-antipasto-skewers/

King prawn with real lemon mayo 😋😋

A proper raised pie
Fish platter: smoked salmon, hot smoked salmon, prawn cocktail, mackerel pate plus creme fraiche with horseradish and some home made marie rose sauce
cheese platter
charcuterie platter
Pickled pears

Shellfish platter, whole poached salmon, homemade potato salad, mackerel pate, sourdough rye bread and definitely no sausage rolls

No sausage rolls? Not even homemade ones with different fillings? I make Thai sweet chilli sausage rolls, ones with chutney, sometimes blue cheese and finely chopped apricot. Really good home made sausage rolls served warm and using sausage meat from the butcher and all butter pastry are divine.

I think luxury comes from the quality of the ingredients and the care in how they are made.