Catering for eight people in a boardroom is not a scaled-down version of catering for eighty. The margin for error is smaller, the timing is fixed by the meeting rather than by you, and everyone in the room notices everything.
Timing is the whole job
A board lunch usually has a twenty-minute window between the morning agenda and the afternoon one. Food that arrives ten minutes late does not delay lunch; it delays the meeting. We work backwards from the moment food must be on the table, and we need to know that time precisely — plus how long reception sign-in and the lift take in your building.
Our catering service runs from 11am onwards by prior booking, so a midday board lunch is a pre-arranged catering booking rather than a restaurant order.
Format: no queue, no mess, no smell battle
For small high-stakes numbers, plate-friendly buffet works better than anything requiring assembly. Choose dishes that are easy to eat while talking and that will not dominate a closed room. Rich, slow-cooked dishes with rice and a dry tandoori item are ideal; anything that needs cutting on the plate is not.
We serve from professional warm holding in silver or copper chafing units, so a set-up before the meeting resumes still serves hot food at the end of the window. We do not offer live chef stations, which in a boardroom is a feature rather than a limitation.
Which tier for a small room
Counter-intuitively, small numbers usually justify a higher tier. At eight or twelve people the total cost difference between tiers is small in absolute terms — Silver £35 versus Gold £45 across 10 people is £50 — but the difference in how the table looks is significant. Bronze £25 gives 1 starter, 2 mains and 1 side; Gold £45 gives 3 starters, 4 mains and 3 sides. For a client-facing board lunch, Gold is the sensible default.
Dietary requirements: ask by name
At this size you can and should ask every attendee individually. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and allergy needs should be confirmed before the order, not accommodated on arrival — see plant-based menus and our allergen policy. Allergen information is available on request; our kitchen handles multiple allergens, so we cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment. Meat and poultry come from trusted suppliers providing halal-certified products, which quietly removes a problem for mixed boards; Jaflong is not independently HMC-certified.
Practicalities
Delivery is free within 10 miles of our Richmond kitchen and quoted between 10 and 20 miles. Terms are 50% deposit and 50% balance — no credit accounts. Public liability documentation is available on request if your building requires supplier paperwork.
Recurring board meetings
If the board sits monthly, fix the arrival time permanently and rotate the menu. It removes the coordination overhead entirely and means the room knows exactly when lunch appears.
Next steps: browse the full catering menu, check package prices per head, build a quote with your date and guest count, or send an enquiry. We cater across Richmond, Twickenham, Kingston upon Thames and every area we serve.
Written by the Jaflong Tandoori catering team, family-run in Richmond since 2008 and led by owner Syed Bashar. Last reviewed September 2026.