The Best Caterers In Melbourne

You have an event coming up and you would like to pay someone else to do the food for you. Easy, right?

Well, not necessarily.

Finding the right catering company for your needs can be harder than you might think.

What is the event? Do you want a wedding caterer, or someone to create plates for a themed children’s party? How many guests do you expect? What is their age range? What time of year will it be? Is the event indoors or out doors? Will it be during the day, or in the evening? Are you planning to do it at home, or do you need an event space as well as food? There are so many things to consider, and that’s before you start on things like possible dietary requirements and food allergies.

Best Caterers in Melbourne - Chanterelle sandwiches with cheese, bacon and thyme

The answers to all of these questions will help to decide which Melbourne catering company is best for you for this particular event. Some caterers have very specific remits like only providing hampers and picnic foods. Many have limits on either how small a group they are willing to feed – or how large. Whilst others still will tackle virtually anything.

With all of this in mind, we’ve put together a list of some of the best caterers in Melbourne at the moment. We will be adding to these recommendations over the next few weeks, so please come back and check for updates.

ACC Catering

Location: Gnd, 533 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne, VIC 3000 Ph: (03) 9555 4000

We’re opening our look at some of the best caterers in Melbourne with one of the guy players – ACC Catering.

This group has been feeding Melburnians for more than 3 decades and they can do the lot. Whether you want canapes for a romantic country-style wedding, finger food catering for a retirement bash or an appetising breakfast package put together for a conference, ACC Catering should be on your list.

Whilst they are move than happy to provide food for parties in your home, they also have an impressive range of venues at their disposal. Our favourite? Well, we reckon the St Kilda Life Saving Club takes some beating on a sunny afternoon.

As for the food, from cocktail nibbles like Pastrami on Potato Rosti with Horseradish Creme & Balsamic Onion, through to a fully blown Spit Roast, cooked onsite, your guests won’t leave hungry.

The Big Group

Location: 17 Moubray St, Melbourne, VIC 3004 Ph: (03) 8416 9700

We feel that any events company that describes itself as ‘hospitalitarians extraordinaire’ has to be considered amongst the top caterers in Melbourne.

The Big Group, as the name suggests, is another major player in the Melbourne catering scene. We love their claim that they are ‘magic makers’ – taking people’s party dreams and turning them into reality and then some.

Again, they have some stunning venues at their disposal, should you wish to use their services out-of-home. In fact, one of their points of difference is that they’ve even catered events overseas. And yes. I did start getting ridiculous ideas for my next big birthday when I clicked the link to the Festival of Fifty that they organised on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Jealous? You bet!

From carefully planned sit down meals to chilled glasses of your favourite cocktails and tempting, bite-sized morsels, the Big Group promise to make your event one to remember.

Yum Catering

Location: Gnd, 350 Queen St, Melbourne, VIC 3000 Ph: 1300 536 687

Led by Chef Paul Le Noury, Yum Catering is a force to be reckoned with in the Melbourne catering scene. Already with a fine reputation for creating exciting, delicious menus for a range of events, Yum Catering joined up with the esteemed Elizabeth Andrews Corporate Catering and fashionable Crave Catering in 2020 to really consolidate its position amongst the best caterers in Melbourne.

If you fancy celebrating your birthday with cocktails in a funky inner-city warehouse, Yum Catering can host your soiree at Blondes Garage. Or maybe you hunger for a more exotic selection of dishes?

Well, the company is famous for its Yum Paella Catering, but they also specialise in Yum Tagine, for those who love the spices of Morocco. And if Mexican Catering sounds like something your guests would enjoy, they can whip up everything from Grilled Baby Corn Spears, Fresco Cheese, Chipotle & Coriander to Slow-Cooked Beef Mole with Adobe Chillies, Bacon & Chocolate.

Yum, indeed!

If you feel like rustling up a few bowls of paella yourself, owning the right equipment makes all the difference. This GARCIMA Universal Paella Pan will set you on the path to paella perfection!

Fred & Ginger Catering

Location: 37 Lothian St, North Melbourne, VIC 3051 Ph: (03) 9329 7765

Fred & Ginger Catering have carve out a loyal and enthusiastic following from their base in North Melbourne.

The team are work hard to make your event a success, whether it’s a special birthday at home or a product launch requiring corporate catering. Online reviews talk again and again about their superb service and beautiful food.

Proud caterers of high profile events such as Portsea Polo, Fred & Ginger are just as happy serving a Wedding Banquet for a newly married couple.

Editor’s Note: We’re sad to hear that Fred & Ginger Catering has closed. We hope they will return in another incarnation.

Curtis Stone Events

Location: 21 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne, VIC 3000 Ph: 0408 700 901

We’re calling this one early.

Even though, as we write, Curtis Stone Events (CSE) is very much in its fledgling phase here in Melbourne, we’ll be gob-smacked if this catering company doesn’t go big. After all, the appeal of having a world-renowned celebrity chef involved (even if distantly) with catering your event is strong. And when that same chef is also an Aussie? Say no more.

In actual fact, although dipping a toe in the Melbourne events market maybe new for Curtis Stone and his business partners, they are hardly inexperienced in the area. Curtis Stone Events began in 2018 in LA – where he has his acclaimed restaurant, Maude – and by early 2019 took out the Best Catering Company in the West at the Achievement in Catering & Events Award, California.

With this in mind, the news that CSE are setting up in Melbourne has caused understandable excitement.

At present, the easiest ways to sample the group’s food is by ordering one of their Gourmet Boxes, via their website. Having had a sneaky peak, we can assure you that the Hot Smoked Chicken with Buffalo Sauce in the BBQ pack sounds right up our alley.

There have also been whispers that Curtis Stone Events have taken over the old Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder space at the Punt road end of Bridge Road.

Grace – as the venue is rumoured to be called – promises to be a dedicated events space for the company.

In the meantime, if you have a wedding on the horizon, check out the website above as Curtis Stone Events Australia is making a play for a slice of the wedding, engagements, celebrations and corporate catering pies in Melbourne.

We suspect that Curtis Stone Events will do very well. Watch this space for more!

Update:

Apparently, Curtis Stone Events will be doing catering for The Bird Cage at the 2023 Melbourne Cup. For all the details, see the clip below:

Blakes Feast now Blakeaway

Location: 1/18 Brixton Rise, Glen Iris, VIC 3146 Ph: (03) 9885 2777

With more than 30 years experience at the top of the Melbourne food scene, you’d expect chef Andrew Blake’s catering business – Blake’s Feast – to have seen it all and be able to weather any storm.

Well, yes and no.

Earlier this year, they announced that they were folding the catering part of their business. Now, if you’ve ever been fortunate enough to nibble either their Seared Sea Scallop, Smoked Corn Puree & Chorizo Crumb or Chicken Liver Parfait Cannoli with Sour Cherry canapes, you’ll understand the sadness that this news evoked.

However, it takes more than endless pandemic lockdowns to finish off one of the best caterers in Melbourne.

Fortunately, Blakes Feast found a successful ‘pivot’ during the lockdowns. Like many in the hospitality industry, they moved into the takeaway food and prep at home meals arena with their popular Blakeaway venture. Blakeaway’s rise from the ashes of Blakes Feast will be complete at the end of the year.

Come 2023, the team intend to offer a full range of breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks, all prepared in-house. All customers need to do is ‘finish off’ at home. In doing so, they are saying goodbye to conventional events catering.

But don’t panic. This refashioned Blake’s includes catering – in a slightly tweaked form.

If you check you website, you’ll see that Blakeaway currently offers a Banquet option for 10 guests. This feast can be enjoyed in the comfort of your home – with a little bit of kitchen input. Alternatively, they can cater your cocktail tray with trays of delicious canapes. Personally, I’d take the Crayfish & Prawn Brioche Bun every time.

Finally, a number of Blakeaway Stores have been popping up and will continue to do so. If you see one, nip in and browse the day’s dinner selection for yourself.

What could be more Australian than brunch in a cafe on a sunny day? Here are our Best Breakfasts in Melbourne.

Gathar

Now here’s an idea we can really get behind.

You pop onto the Gathar website and select a menu that suits your party or event. The group then dispatch a chef to your home (or whatever other venue you’re using) and prepare and cook the food that you’ve chosen. Then they serve it to you and your guests. And clean up afterwards! So all you need to do is make some choices online and then sit back and enjoy.

The beauty of this catering company is how incredibly extensive and flexible it is. Gathar is basically supplying you with a private chef for whatever event you have in mind.

You may want something relaxed like the packed Gathar Grazing Table. This is the ultimate pick and mix array of Cheeses, Fruits, Cold Cuts, Dips, Breads, Biscuits and more. Or perhaps The Elevated BBQ is more to your taste? Rather than slaving over the hot coals yourself and trying to think of an imaginative Salad, the Gather team will turn up and do it all for you.

Gathar catering are also happy to work with clients to create Bespoke Menus. If you want wish to wow your beloved with a romantic dinner for two, they can arrange for a Private Chef to come round and cook your partner’s favourite dishes. Similarly, they are in demand for their Bespoke Gathar Wedding. Again, their wedding catering packages are fully customisable. Whether you want a chilled Roaming Canape Service or a full Degustation meal that reflects your particular palate, Gathar can oblige.

Finally, whilst Gathar is one of the most innovative and best caterers in Melbourne, it isn’t limited solely to the Victorian capital. The caterer is genuinely national with them willing to make your dinner party dreams come true from Adelaide to Busselton, the Whitsundays to Hobart.

Editor’s Note – We are currently in the process of updating this page. Please check back in at a later date for further information on the top caterers in Melbourne.

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Faye Keenan
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