Tapas/mezze style ideas for 12

[TeaHagTeaBag]

I'm having some friends over for dinnner/drinks/catch up during the week. Usually I'd do nibbles, main and dessert so for something different I think I'd like to do lots of smaller plates (tapas/mezze style) rather than one big dish. I'm a decent but fairly traditional cook so I don't know where to begin. What would you like to eat?

I have just made Sushi for the first time, it was soo nice.

If you’re quite traditional, you could do a ploughman’s style meal with several types of cheese, slices of baguette and/or sourdough, crackers, chutneys, pickles and relishes, sliced ham, gherkins, pork pie, apple, grapes, cherry tomatoes.

Or go Greek/Levantine with humous, falafel, couscous salad, olives, feta, pitta, flatbreads, gigantes, lamb koftes and chicken kebabs

Herby breadsticks loads of crudities and dips like tzatziki, humus, white bean and lemon dips.
then Greek souvlaki / gyros you can do lamb and or chicken. Slow cooker one and bbq the other. Do some halloumi and loads of roasted veg. Big salad, flatbreads.
The dips can be used with the main.

12 people is a big number to cater for with small plates.
I'd recommend choosing a type of cuisine (Mediterranean/middle eastern/Spanish/Italian) and do a combination of ready made options (dips, cured meats, cheese, preserves), a couple of interesting salads (e.g. greek, caprese, etc) and a couple of protein-centered warm dishes (e.g. slow-cooked meats, Spanish omelette, etc) , alongside some good bread or focaccia. A quiche or savoury tart of some sort is also a nice addition

Tapas/mezze is quite a lot of work so you need to think about what is practical. I quite like doing Spanish style with some tapas but then also one larger sharing style dish like a paella. A good tortilla (which i can make in advance), prawns in oil/garlic/lemon/parsley, fried goats cheese with honey (with beetroot crisps if i can do it in advance), chorizo in red wine.

Thanks, lots of good ideas to get me started looking for recipes.

I know it's not exactly tapas but a selection of Mexican style dishes would work well - tortillas, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, chilli and/or chicken fajitas, crispy lettuce, jalapeños, tomatoes, rice, grated cheese...people can build their own burritos.
Or a selection of Italian meats, cheeses, tomato and mozzarella salad, a couple of pasta dishes to bulk out and have something hot, focaccia, olives and other antipasti like sun dried tomatoes / artichokes in oil (Aldi do a great range), maybe a couple of good supermarket pizzas cut into small pieces (again, Aldi's specially selected ham and mascarpone is delicious)

I did meze for 6 a few weeks ago - it could easily have fed more & there was lots of leftovers.
Selection of hummus
Flatbreads
Bread sticks
Tabbouleh
Guacomole (not Middle Eastern but it’s lovely!)
Crisps/tortillas
Falafel
Chickpea, feta & coriander salad
Warm za’tar spiced cauliflower, red onion & rice salad
Dips / aioli
Mini roast potatoes (in skin)
Salad leaves

we had vegan guests so made it all vegan (even used vegan feta), but there are lots of meat & vegetarian options you can make or buy.

Twelve is quite a large number to produce tapas for, I'd do two or three main dishes to share, with some nibbles to start with.
Greek style food would work well in the situation, perhaps Moussaka, a potato lemon & chicken tray bake, and a slow cooked herby pork rib dish. Plus flat breads.
For the nibbles, Greek olives, calamari with semi dried tomatoes and chickpeas (I'd serve in individual ramekin dishes), anchovies vinaigrette, courgette a la Greque.