To spend £120 on a buffet for 16 people

[rainbowmagicunicorn]

We are hosting a New Years Buffet for 16 people (13 adults, 3 children)

This is my food plan:

Part bake rolls £4
Crackers £5
Cheese - cheddar, Brie, blue, Boursin, Wensleydale and cranberry £10
Chutney& cranberry sauce & apple sauce £4
Grapes, pomegranate, oranges £5
Slow cooker Gammon joint £10
Sausage rolls £3
pigs in blankets £5
pork pies £4

Sharing crisps £3
Cheese twists £1
Dips £2.50

Coleslaw £2.50
Potato salad £2.50
Nigellas festive cous cous £2.50

Puff pastry tarts - pesto and thinly sliced tomato, pizza (tomato purée, mozzarella and Italian herbs), caramelised onion and goats cheese:
3 x rolls puff pastry £4
Pesto £1
Tomatoes £1
Tomato purée £1
Mozzarella £2
Italian herbs £2
Canalised onion chutney £2
Goats cheese £2

Pudding
Slow cooker hot chocolate £6
With toppings - mini marshmallows, squirts cream, sprinkles, candy canes £5

Mince pies £2.50
Yule log (homemade) £5
Profiteroles £3
Fruit salad £10

Drinks
Selection soft drinks £10
Tea and coffee (will have in)

Total £120

£120 seems a lot, but yet the food doesn't seem excessive to me!

AIBU to spend this much? Or is this just the cost of things nowadays?

It's hardly rocket science that men generally need to eat more than women.

I always find that people don't really eat much bread at a buffet so a quarter of a loaf AND a quarter of a baguette per person is really excessive!

But it’s pretty much make your own sandwiches now right ? It’s much better as more food, less things and more of each, but it’s sandwiches with a couple of sides. She didn’t say how big the loaves were but if home made might not go far, depending on thickness of slices, plus she can freeze any left overs.

I think it’s fine for a New Year’s Day lunch to be honest. Nice Sandwich, turkey and Brie say, with a couple of pigs in blankets and a cup of tea and a mince pie or whatever and off you go.

Sounds cheap to me but I always make fat too much

Sex matters when it comes to calories. Men do need significantly more than women. It has nothing to do with the 1950s!

www.webmd.com/diet/features/estimated-calorie-requirement

I think it sounds like an amazing buffet but I too wondered whether there’s enough of everything?

It doesn’t seem a lot - less than a rennet a head for a celebration meal is v good value

You could probably reduce the options to reduce the workload

Sounds fine

Thrown in some left over chocolates and you’re good to go.

A quarter of a loaf and a quarter of a baguette would be far more than "a sandwich" though. In my experience people tend to eat the nicer stuff and leave the bread, not make a sandwich with it. And even if they were to make a sandwich, that doesn't use all that bread!

That's actually quite good IMO. £120 for 16 people. That's only £7.50 each. I'm doing a buffet (17th December,) for myself and my husband, our two adult children and their partners. And the parents of both partners. So ten of us in all.

There's a couple of vegans in there, a couple of vegetarians, (but not vegans.) 1 only eats fish, and the other 5 are meat eaters, so I have had to get different types of food. I reckon I've spent around £90 on that buffet (for all 10 people.) So £120 for sixteen is actually quite good.

The cheese doesn't seem enough for all those people? £5 block of Chedder will be quite small for 16 people to fight over as will the brie.

The menu sounds nice just not enough of it to feed 16.

Agree it’s a lot of bread, but it’s home made and she can freeze it if not used. I don’t think it’s an issue to have too much of something.

the op has hugely improved it, people can make themselves a nice sandwich, a couple of sides, a small dessert , it’s perfect for a quick lunch on New Year’s Day .

It does sound like you're trying to minimise it. I'm not sure why? It sounds like a lovely buffet for new years day. Doesn't need to be "quick" in fact people often graze on buffets.

A "quick lunch" of a sandwhich wouldn't cost anywhere near as much. A DIY sandwhich here would be making yourself a cheese sandwhich or maybe marmite or peanut butter.

It sounds lovely OP 😊. I'm staying on this thread for ideas for our smaller gathering!

Drastically differing views here! I think you have too much food and too bitty. You don't need to feed 26 people with each item! No one will have everything, especially not the kids.

I also think if it's for New Year I'd do something other than Xmas/ boxing day food.

I love bits at a buffet though. Not everyone will have sausages and sausage rolls so a nice pile of each is great. Crisps and other cheap bits are part of the fun of a buffet - food you don't normally have as a meal. Personally I like olives too. Some nice meat will be great. Mince pies, yule log. All sounding great for a buffet. Bits is what a buffet is?

That is very good value. Well done!

@rainbowmagicunicorn how did it go down...under, over or about right re amounts, etc?

Don't bother with puddings. Stick to the savoury

"Don't bother with puddings. Stick to the savoury"

I think new year might've been and gone 🤣

I agree with ditching the crisps. Children + crisps = a lot of mess.

Any mess has probably been cleared up by now - the party was at New Year 🙄