Oxfordshire · England
Live paella catering in Forest Hill, Oxfordshire
Love Paella cooks live paella catering, cooked fresh in giant pans at your event in Forest Hill and nearby, with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal options.
- Milestone birthday parties
- Community events and fairs
- Anniversaries and engagement parties
Live paella catering in Forest Hill
Diets, allergies and planning
Few dishes handle mixed diets as well as paella, because each paella is cooked in its own pan. Here are a few tips for planning:
- Make sure each pan is labelled
- Tell us what else is being served
- Send allergies to us in writing
- Let us know if anyone has coeliac disease
A short rest after cooking helps, which is when we generally call guests over.
Tapas or canapés make a good start as the rice cooks.
Paella catering for your event in Forest Hill
A single cooking set-up can feed a crowd, very little goes to waste, and the food is served hot. It’s why live paella suits so many kinds of event. We’re frequently asked to cater engagement and anniversary parties and leaving dos and retirements, with black rice, vegetable paella and paella Valenciana.
Somewhere like Forest Hill, a field or garden is often the perfect setting. Gates, verges and soft ground are worth mentioning when you enquire. You’ll know exactly what’s included before you book: the menu, the staff and any extras.
- Where
- Forest Hill (OX33)
- Area hub
- Oxfordshire
- Dietary options
- Gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, halal
- Extras
- Tapas, desserts, sangria, staff
- Quote
- Contact us for a quote
- Updated
- 23 October 2026
Also near Forest Hill
More for events in Forest Hill
Catering an event in Forest Hill
Forest Hill is about 3 miles east of Oxford, in Oxfordshire. Whether your event is in the middle of Forest Hill or on the outskirts, we offer the same service: paella cooked live, every diet catered for and a clear quote. We cook in all 443 towns and villages in Oxfordshire, from the larger towns to small villages.
Nearby historic houses include Garsington Manor (3.6 miles south) and Holywell Manor, Oxford (4 miles west). If your event is at a historic house or estate, check its rules on caterers and cooking early. If you’re celebrating after a service at a church like Church of St Nicholas, live paella at a garden or venue nearby works well.
Wherever your event is in OX33, we can bring paella catering to you. Local streets include Main Street, Milton Crescent and Powell Close; an event at home on any of them works well with live paella. For events just outside Forest Hill, we cover Holton (1 mile south-east), Stanton St John (1 mile north), Littleworth (1 mile south), Risinghurst (2 miles west) and Wheatley (2 miles south-east). Larger places within reach include Oxford (3 miles west), Didcot (11 miles south), Bicester (9 miles north), Abingdon-on-Thames (8 miles south-west), Witney (14 miles west) and Thame (8 miles east).
Nearby you will also find Waterperry Gardens Rural Museum (2.9 miles east) and Templars Square (3.5 miles south-west). Open spaces near Forest Hill include CS Lewis Nature Reserve and Shotover.
- Local schools include Wheatley Park School (1.1 miles south-east)
- Nearby, you will find The Kings Arm's Public House (less than half a mile north-east)
Perfect for your event in Forest Hill
There’s no kitchen needed, so it works in gardens, fields and marquees where plated meals are hard.
Here are some of the events we cook for in Forest Hill and Oxfordshire:
- Company summer parties
- Anniversaries and engagement parties
- Milestone birthday parties
- Family celebrations and christenings
If you are organising a summer fair for a school like Sandhills Community Primary School, a paella stall is a crowd-pleaser.
Questions to ask before you book
- How dietary needs and allergies are handled
- Whether VAT is included
- How late numbers can change
- Any travel, parking or access charges
For event organisers in Forest Hill
Wedding planners and venue coordinators are welcome to contact us directly, and we’ll keep everyone informed on the day.
For big numbers, we plan pans and serving points to keep queues short, so guests are fed quickly. Let us know how long the food break is.
The process
It’s a relaxed, well-organised set-up. We agree arrival and serving times in advance, set up our cooking area, and cook and serve without fuss. Around midsummer it stays light in Forest Hill until about 9:25pm; by late September sunset is nearer 7:10pm, so summer evening events are usually served in daylight. For winter events, when it’s dark by about 3:55pm, we need lighting at the cooking spot.
- Send us your date, numbers and venue.
- We plan a menu that covers every diet.
- We arrive early to set up the burners and pans.
- The paella cooks as guests gather round.
- We serve hot from the pan and clear our cooking area.
Before we arrive
- Share the running order, including any speeches
- Make sure we can park close by to unload
- Plan cover in case of rain
Get a quote
Tell us your date, venue or postcode and roughly how many guests, plus any dietary needs, and we’ll reply with a menu suggestion and a quote. Just send us your details through our quote form.
Read more
Common questions in Forest Hill
Can you cater a reception after a service at Church of St Nicholas?
Yes, at a nearby garden, marquee or hall where we can cook. Churches rarely have space for live cooking, so the meal is normally elsewhere. Tell us where the reception will be.
Do you come out to small places like Forest Hill?
No, we cook in small places too. Tell us about lanes, gates and parking.
What if the weather’s bad?
A covered, ventilated spot keeps us cooking in the rain. We will talk it through before the day.
Do you do vegan paella?
Yes, and meat eaters often go back for seconds. They have their own pans, stock and spoons.
Can you serve drinks?
Yes, sangria. We can also supply bar staff for your own drinks.
How much does paella catering cost in Forest Hill?
It depends on guest numbers, the menu, the courses, staff and travel. Send us the details for a quote.
Do you bring everything you need?
We bring the pans, burners and ingredients. You just need a suitable spot and access.
How long does the paella take?
That depends on your menu and numbers. We’ll agree arrival, cooking and serving times with you.
About the dishes
Black rice
Arroz negro is coloured and flavoured with squid ink, traditionally with alioli. It is a striking addition to a seafood menu.
Paella Valenciana
In Valencia, the recipe is fiercely debated. The classic version is chicken, green beans and butter beans with saffron, and it’s a crowd-pleaser.
Prices and what affects them
These are the factors that matter most:
- Staff: cooks, waiting staff and bar staff
- Crockery and cutlery, or disposables
- Guest numbers
- How many courses
Seafood and premium ingredients cost more than chicken or vegetable paellas, so your choice of paellas affects the total. We will suggest options to suit your budget.
What to tell us
These details help us quote quickly:
- A picture of the space, if you can
- Your date and when you want to eat
- The courses you’d like
- Any dietary needs and allergies
Thinking about paella catering for your event in Forest Hill? Tell us what you have in mind and we’ll come back with ideas and a quote. Just fill in our quote form.
What we need at the venue
If a space isn’t suitable, we’ll tell you, and suggest an alternative. What matters most:
- Somewhere close to park and unload
- Agreement from the venue or landowner to cook on site
- Clearance from fences, hedges, branches and anything flammable
If in doubt, send us a picture of the spot and we’ll advise.
On the menu in Forest Hill
- Black rice (arroz negro)
- Vegetable paella
- Chicken & chorizo paella
- Mixed paella
- Seafood paella
- Paella Valenciana
- Vegan paella
Should I cook it myself?
Doing it yourself saves money, but the host ends up stuck at the stove. With live paella catering, you get the theatre without the work.
Some hosts like to cook themselves. Common mistakes are mismatched pans and burners, overfilling and stirring. If you’d rather enjoy the party, let us cook.
- 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