Surrey · England
Live paella catering in Donkey Town, Surrey
Live paella catering, cooked fresh in giant pans at your event in Donkey Town: paella cooked from scratch in huge pans, right in front of your guests, with tapas, desserts and drinks if you want them.
- Retirement and leaving parties
- Engagement and anniversary parties
- Weddings, from canapés to evening food
Live paella catering in Donkey Town
Paella catering in Donkey Town, cooked live
Two or three pans side by side cover every guest: a meat or mixed paella, a seafood paella and a vegetable or vegan one. Every pan is cooked on its own, so diets are easy to manage. Whether it is fairs, fêtes and festivals and anniversaries and engagement parties, we can cook black rice, mixed paella and chicken and chorizo paella for your guests.
For a rural spot like Donkey Town, the countryside is part of the appeal: a giant pan in a garden or field fits perfectly. Tell us about access and the ground. Timings are planned around your event, whether that is speeches, a lunch break or a festival schedule.
FAQs for Donkey Town
Do you come out to small places like Donkey Town?
Not at all. We cater in villages and hamlets as well as towns. Let us know about access and parking.
We’re having a ceremony at Holy Trinity: can you cater afterwards?
Yes, at a garden, marquee or venue nearby with a suitable spot to cook. Live cooking typically happens at the reception venue, not the church. Send us the reception address.
Can you feed a lot of people?
Yes, that’s what it is made for. We plan the number of pans and serving points around your numbers.
Do we need to provide equipment?
All cooking kit comes with us. Tell us what the venue provides, such as tables or crockery.
Is the paella cooked on site?
Yes, always. We cook from scratch in large pans at your venue, where your guests can watch.
How many different paellas?
Most events have two or three: meat or mixed, seafood, and vegetable or vegan. We’ll help you decide the split.
Do you cater for vegetarian guests?
Yes, and they’re popular with everyone. They have their own pans, stock and spoons.
What seafood can we have?
Seafood choices are agreed when we plan the menu.
Live paella in Donkey Town: local details
Donkey Town is about 3 miles east of Camberley, in Surrey. Whether your event is in the middle of Donkey Town or on the outskirts, paella catering works the same way: live cooking, separate pans for every diet and a clear price. We cover 395 places in Surrey, from the larger towns to small villages. You can also see our page for Guildford, about 7 miles away.
School fairs and fundraisers, for a school such as Gordon's School, can book us as a food stall. If you are celebrating after a service at a church like Holy Trinity, live paella at a garden or venue nearby works well.
Here we cover the GU24 postcode area, so your event can be anywhere in it. Local streets include Broad Street, Orchard Close and Ashley Way; an event at home on any of them works well with live paella. For events just outside Donkey Town, we cover Lucas Green (1 mile south-east), West End (1 mile east), Lightwater (1 mile north-west), Bisley (1 mile south-east) and Penny Pot (2 miles east). Further out, we also cater in Guildford (7 miles south-east), Woking (4 miles south-east), Camberley (3 miles west), Farnham (11 miles south-west), Egham (8 miles north-east) and Walton-on-Thames (11 miles east).
Nearby you’ll also find Brookwood Hospital (2.3 miles south-east) and The Museum of The National Rifle Association (1.9 miles south). Not far away are Brookwood Lye.
- Nearby schools include Holy Trinity CofE Primary School (0.9 miles east)
How it works
We cook over gas burners in wide, shallow pans. We need a level, ventilated spot, which we agree with you beforehand. In Donkey Town, the sun sets at about 9:20pm in late June and about 7:05pm in late September, so summer evening service is normally in daylight. In December it is dark by about 3:55pm, so winter events need lighting where we cook.
- First, tell us about your event.
- You get a menu and an itemised quote.
- We agree timings, access and the cooking spot.
- On the day, we set up and cook in front of your guests.
- We serve from the pan, then pack down.
Getting ready for the day
- Have a gazebo or cover ready if rain is likely
- Choose a level spot for the cooking area
- Ensure the spot is clear of anything flammable
Getting a price
Thinking about paella catering for your event in Donkey Town? Tell us what you have in mind and we will reply with a menu and a clear price. Just fill in our quote form.
Planning help
Why choose live paella in Donkey Town?
Compared with a hog roast or barbecue, paella makes vegetarian, vegan and halal guests easier to cater for, because each paella has its own pan. It’s served quickly from the pan, so queues move. Extras such as tapas, desserts, sangria, staff and crockery are priced separately, so you can choose exactly what you need.
Why us?
- Waiting staff and crockery on request
- Hot food served quickly from the pan
- Food that becomes part of the entertainment
- We cover Donkey Town and the whole of Surrey
Read Our prices page And The cost guide.
The menu, dish by dish
Seafood paella
Prawns, mussels and squid in a rich fish stock, cooked until the rice is golden. It is typically the most photographed pan.
Mixed paella
Chicken and seafood together, and a popular all-rounder.
Nearby places to Donkey Town
Also in Donkey Town
Can I cook paella for a crowd myself?
For a small group, cooking yourself can work well. For larger numbers, mixed diets or a wedding, a caterer takes the pressure off, and handles separate pans for each diet.
You can cook paella for a crowd yourself, but it takes practice. Large pans need the right burners, and getting the rice right at scale is tricky. Our guide to cooking paella for a crowd explains how.
What we need at the venue
Most gardens and venues can host live paella, but a few things matter:
- A level, firm spot for the burners and pans
- Good ventilation: outdoors, or an open-sided cover
- Space well away from trees, fences and gazebo walls
Not sure about your space? Send us a photo and we will tell you honestly before you book.
On the menu in Donkey Town
- Vegetable paella
- Vegan paella
- Chicken & chorizo paella
- Black rice (arroz negro)
- Mixed paella
- Paella Valenciana
- Seafood paella
For event organisers in Donkey Town
Throwing a party at home? Send a photo of the space and tell us about parking, and we’ll tell you honestly whether live paella will work.
Venues often have their own rules about outside caterers: where cooking is allowed, access times and the paperwork they need. Send us your venue’s requirements and we’ll follow them.
Perfect for your event in Donkey Town
It needs no kitchen, so it works in gardens, fields and marquees where other catering struggles.
These are some of the occasions we cater around Donkey Town:
- Christenings and family gatherings
- Community events and fairs
- Engagement and anniversary parties
- Garden get-togethers
Thinking of a picnic-style party in Brentmoor Heath? Public parks normally need permission from the council or landowner for cooking, so check first.
Questions to ask before booking
- Exactly what’s included in the price
- Payment terms and deposit
- Travel and parking costs
- The venue requirements
Planning for every diet
Dietary needs are easy to plan for with a little notice. We suggest:
- Tell us what else is being served
- Let us know if anyone has coeliac disease
- Count adults and children separately
- Ask for labels on each pan
Once the rice is in, it needs about 20 minutes, so we start it at the right moment for your event. If plans change, tell us and we will adjust.
Add canapé tapas with the drinks or table tapas as a starter while the paella cooks.
- Cooked live in giant pans at your event
- Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal options
- Paella, tapas, canapés and desserts
- Sangria, bar staff, crockery and waiting staff