Drop-off by menu & quantity
Price per person by dish and guest count.
An individual quote instead of a false flat rate
Transparent calculation for every menu.
Whether Italian, Mediterranean, BBQ, finger food, vegan or signature Indian cuisine, pricing follows menu, quantity, service, venue and date.
15–2,000 guestsQuote in 24 hrs100% halal, alcohol-freeGermany-wide
No gut-feel ballpark: the price is calculated from menu, quantity, service, venue and date.
What you can expect
What determines the final price.
Menu selection · portion scope · guest count · venue · date · staffing · setup · equipment. The confirmed Indian delivery bands appear further down only as one concrete planning example. The calculator covers the three Berlin zones; beyond them we itemise travel and any overnight stay in the quote. Outside Berlin too: we bring the kitchen — anywhere in Germany→
Buffet by selection & setup
Buffet size plus warming, delivery and collection.
Live cooking by station & effort
Station, chef and time on site.
Full service by staff & equipment
Team, crockery and hours — in writing before you commit.
One concrete planning example
Simple Indian delivery—not the price of our complete offer.
This confirmed quantity ladder is a non-binding estimate per person from 25 guests. The figure shown is the food price per person including 7% VAT; the net amount appears beneath it for business accounting. Delivery is added once per event at 48.15 € gross (45.00 € net) — the full price for your event is in the calculator below. Italian, Mediterranean, BBQ, finger-food, vegan and other menus are calculated around their actual selection.
| Indian selection | 25+ | 50+ | 100+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetarian / vegan | 10.70 €10.00 € net | 9.63 €9.00 € net | 8.56 €8.00 € net |
| Chicken | 11.77 €11.00 € net | 10.70 €10.00 € net | 9.63 €9.00 € net |
| Lamb | 12.84 €12.00 € net | 11.77 €11.00 € net | 10.70 €10.00 € net |
VAT: Since 1 January 2026, food in restaurant and catering services is generally taxed at 7%, while drinks are generally taxed at 19%. Additional services or rentals may be treated separately. The rate applying to your assignment is shown in the final quote; tax treatment should be confirmed with the tax adviser.
Instant estimate
What will your catering cost?
Choose guest count and services — you see the price now, not in 24 hours.
Add-ons
Non-binding estimate, for orientation only. The final price can be lower or higher and depends on your menu selection, the type of food, the guest count, the venue, the date and the service scope. Only the written quote you receive from us personally is binding.
What catering costs in Berlin
Real numbers instead of "on request".
These examples are not estimates from a spreadsheet — they are calculated from the same engine as the calculator above. Change a price and these change with it.
| Example | Guests | Net | VAT | Total | per guest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffet | 20 | 450.00 € | 36.30 € | 486.30 € | 24.32 € |
| Buffet | 50 | 853.00 € | 69.07 € | 922.07 € | 18.44 € |
| Live cooking | 50 | 1,728.00 € | 130.32 € | 1,858.32 € | 37.17 € |
| Buffet | 100 | 1,513.00 € | 123.07 € | 1,636.07 € | 16.36 € |
| Full service | 100 | 4,370.00 € | 305.90 € | 4,675.90 € | 46.76 € |
| Drop-off | 250 | 2,045.00 € | 143.15 € | 2,188.15 € | 8.75 € |
All amounts gross, including VAT. Net amounts shown separately.
The calculator names prices up to 150 guests. Larger events — up to 2,000 guests — we price individually, because kitchen, vehicles and staff no longer scale in a straight line. You receive a written quote within 24 hours.
Buffet by menu size.
Four mains cost more than two — which is why this shows three prices, not one. You choose the size in the calculator above; the figures below come from the same engine.
| Buffet | net p.p. | gross p.p. |
|---|---|---|
| Small buffet · 2 mains + sides | 12.86 € | 13.76 € |
| Standard buffet · 4 mains + sides | 16.19 € | 17.32 € |
| Large buffet · 6+ dishes, starters, dessert | 18.95 € | 20.28 € |
Food is taxed at 7%. Warming, delivery and collection are added per event — the calculator above shows the full total.
Entry prices, net per person, from the same calculation as above: Drop-off from 10.00 € (from 25 guests) · Buffet from 13.50 € (from 15 guests) · Live cooking from 37.20 € (from 25 guests) · Full service from 43.00 € (from 25 guests).
What separates the four formats is staff — not the food.
Drop-off — we deliver hot and hand over. You set up and look after the buffet yourself.
Buffet with setup — we set up the buffet, light the warming trays, arrange everything and collect our equipment afterwards.
Live cooking — a chef stays at the station at your venue all evening and cooks fresh in front of your guests.
Full service — our team stays for the whole event: setup, looking after guests, refilling, breakdown and clearing.
The food is the same in all four formats. The difference is the working hours spent at your venue.
Drinks.
Drinks are not food and are taxed at 19%, not 7%. That is why they appear as their own line on the invoice. We bill one drink per guest — alcohol-free, your choice of mango lassi, masala chai or a soft drink.
| One drink per guest | net p.p. | gross p.p. |
|---|---|---|
| One drink per guest — mango lassi, masala chai or a soft drink. | 2.50 € | 2.98 € |
Optional and not pre-selected in the calculator above. More than one drink per guest is itemised in the written quote.
What actually determines the price.
Menu and courses
Four mains cost more than two — for a buffet that is €13.50, €17.00 or €19.90 net per person. Live cooking costs more than a buffet, because a chef stands at your venue all evening.
Guest count
The per-person price falls with volume — purchasing, prep and travel spread out. Below 15 guests a buffet stops making sense.
Service format
Drop-off is delivery only. Buffet means setup and keeping food warm. Full service means staff who stay all evening.
Venue and date
Distance, access, floor, setup time and day of week affect logistics and staffing — not the price of the food.
Public holidays, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve
On public holidays and on 24 and 31 December staff costs rise considerably — holiday-work supplements are tax-favoured by law, but they still have to be paid. On top of that, all purchasing has to be done beforehand, because the wholesaler is closed on those days.
We price these dates separately and show the surcharge openly in the quote. The calculator deliberately names no price for public holidays.
VAT in 2026 — and why it appears split on your invoice.
Since 1 January 2026, food in restaurant and catering services is permanently taxed at 7%. Drinks remain at 19%.
For catering this is not just a figure at the bottom. Services belonging to the food supply — delivery, setup, collection, service staff — take the rate of the main supply and are also billed at 7%. Pure rental of equipment, such as chafing dishes, is a separate supply and is billed at 19%.
That is why our invoice shows a split rather than a single rate. It is traceable in your bookkeeping and your accountant can verify it.
From a real invoice: on €450.00 net, €410.00 at 7% and €40.00 at 19% together give €36.30 VAT — €486.30 gross.
Practical questions
What you want to know before the day.
Do you need a power supply?+
No. Our chafing dishes run on fuel paste, not electricity. Extension leads and outdoor sockets are unnecessary — in a garden, a barn, a hall, or indoors if the weather turns. We adapt to the day.
How much table space do we need?+
For a buffet of six warm dishes plus rice, allow roughly 2 m × 80 cm so the chafing dishes stand in two rows side by side. At 1.20 m it gets tight. A second small table for plates, cutlery, papadom and bread is useful, so those do not sit in the heat.
When do we have to confirm the guest count?+
We need the final number 72 hours before the event. Until then we adjust. The per-person price holds down to 15 guests; below that we would rather talk it through than quote a number that works for nobody.
Do you cook outside Berlin as well?+
Yes, anywhere in Germany. We bring our own mobile kitchen and cook at the venue, including venues with no kitchen. We do not drive finished food across the country: hot food may be held for three hours from the end of cooking, transport included. Travel, driving time and, where needed, an overnight stay for the team are shown as their own lines in the quote. The calculator on this page covers the three Berlin zones; anything beyond that we price personally and come back within 24 hours.
When do you collect the equipment?+
Late the same evening or the next day — whichever suits you better. You clean nothing and transport nothing.
Can all guests eat the same food?+
Yes. Vegetarian and vegan dishes are a full, equal part of the selection, not an afterthought. Our kitchen is entirely halal and alcohol-free. We can prepare the whole buffet lactose-free at no extra charge.
How does payment work?+
By bank transfer before the event or on delivery, as you prefer. You receive an invoice showing VAT and our VAT ID. For short-notice bookings — less than 30 days ahead and up to €750.00 in order value — there is no deposit, and you cancel free up to 72 hours before the event. From 30 days ahead, or above €750.00 in order value, we ask for a 30% deposit, refunded in full up to 30 days before the date; after that a staggered scale applies. The full scale is below under "Deposit and cancellation". The customer remains entitled to prove that no damage, or substantially less damage, has occurred. Dem Kunden bleibt der Nachweis vorbehalten, dass kein oder ein wesentlich geringerer Schaden entstanden ist.
Booking terms
Deposit and cancellation
Two sets of terms. Which applies is decided by how far ahead you book and by the order value — not by the occasion. A company summer party booked eight months out sits in the second tier exactly like a wedding; a wedding booked for next Saturday does not.
Short-notice booking
Booked less than 30 days before the date, order value up to €750.00 gross
- No deposit — you pay after the event.
- Free cancellation up to 72 hours before the event.
- Inside the last 72 hours: 80% of the order value.
Booked ahead
Booked 30 days or more before the date, or order value above €750.00 gross — weddings, summer parties, Christmas parties, company events
- Deposit of 30% of the order value on confirmation. It holds your date and is credited against the final invoice.
- More than 30 days before the event: the deposit is refunded in full.
- 30 to 8 days before the event: the deposit is retained (30%).
- 7 to 3 days before the event: 50% of the order value.
- Inside the last 72 hours, or no-show: 80% of the order value.
If your plans move, talk to us before you cancel — we would rather reschedule than lose your event.
Dem Kunden bleibt der Nachweis vorbehalten, dass kein oder ein wesentlich geringerer Schaden entstanden ist.
The customer remains entitled to prove that no damage, or substantially less damage, has occurred.
Our terms and conditions (AGB, in German) apply.
TASTING IN KÖPENICK
Experience Masalas first at our restaurant.
Meet the food and the team in person. Before booking, we align flavour, menu and service flow with you during a complimentary tasting.
The next step