Catering Prices in Islamabad (2026): The Real Per-Head Rates
21 August 2026
Ask any caterer in Islamabad what they charge and you'll hear the same word: depends. And the frustrating part is that it's half true — catering prices genuinely do move with your event. But "depends" has also become a curtain the industry hides behind, so that no one can compare anyone until three phone calls deep.
We don't like curtains. Our office lunch rates have been public since day one, so here are the event rates too — every number we charge in 2026, what it includes, and an honest explanation of the parts that really do depend.
The quick answer
These are our published starting points, straight from the event menu page:
- Hi-tea packages: Rs. 900 to 999 per head — sandwiches, samosas, pastries, shashlik sticks, tea and coffee included
- Pilaf set menus: Rs. 940 to 1,390 per head — a qorma, chicken biryani, naan, salad, dessert, cold drink and mineral water
- Corporate event menus: Rs. 1,600 to 4,500 per head — nine menus from full desi spreads to Chinese and continental
- Family dawat deals: Rs. 12,000 to 20,000 total for 5 to 12 people, complete with raita, salad, naan and cold drinks
- Degh catering deals: Rs. 40,000 to 100,000 total for 25 to 35 people — the full-dastarkhwan option
- Daily office lunch: Rs. 250 to 350 per head — covered in detail in our office lunch cost post
For context, wedding catering in this market runs from under a thousand rupees a plate for a simple one-dish menu to well past three thousand for a full multi-course spread with live stations. Wherever a quote lands, it should be explainable line by line — that's the test.
What "depends" actually means
Five things move a catering price, and once you know them, every quote in the market becomes readable:
1. The menu itself. Mutton costs more than chicken, always. A menu built around mutton qorma and BBQ platters will never price like a chicken biryani menu, no matter who cooks it. This is the biggest lever by far.
2. Guest count. Cooking for 300 is a different operation than cooking for 30 — more deghs, more staff, more transport. Per-head rates behave differently at different scales, which is why wedding menus are quoted per event rather than carrying one flat number.
3. Service style. A drop-off degh order is one price. Full service — serving staff, live naan from a tandoor, buffet setup, cleanup — is another. Neither is wrong; they're different products.
4. Venue and distance. A dawat in Soan Garden and an event at a farmhouse an hour out are not the same logistics. This usually shows up as a conversation, not a hidden charge — and with us, never as a surprise line item.
5. Add-ons. Live stalls (gol gappay, dahi baray, jalebi), décor, staging, DJ setups — all real, all priced separately on our event menu page, all optional. A quote that bundles these invisibly into the food price is how "per head" numbers get inflated.
What the packages actually contain
Numbers without contents are just noise, so here's what the starting points buy.
The Rs. 940 set menu is a complete plate: chicken qorma, chicken biryani, roghni naan, fresh salad, kheer or zarda, a cold drink and mineral water. Step up to Rs. 1,060 and the qorma becomes beef; at Rs. 1,390 it becomes mutton. Add-ons like chicken boti or seekh kabab run Rs. 350 per head extra.
The hi-tea packages at Rs. 900 and 999 cover the full table — one-bite samosas, sandwiches, pastries, biscuits, shashlik sticks, tea and coffee — the deluxe version adds cake and mini pizza.
The dawat deals are the easiest math in the list because they're total prices: Rs. 12,000 feeds 5 to 6 people a full spread of qorma, kunna, biryani, kabab and zarda, with raita, salad, naan and cold drinks included. The degh deals scale the same idea to 25 to 35 guests.
Corporate menus span Rs. 1,600 for a solid desi lunch to Rs. 4,500 for a spread with steaks, buffalo wings and a sweet bar. All nine menus are itemised on the website.
Why wedding menus are quoted per event
Our five wedding set menus are published in full — the dishes, the courses, the live stations — but the per-head price is quoted on your guest count and venue, because pretending one number fits a 100-person mehndi and an 800-person barat would be exactly the dishonesty this post is against.
What we promise instead: a same-day written quotation with everything itemised — food, service, add-ons, delivery — and no fourth line item appearing later. If a quote from us ever surprises you at the invoice stage, ask for the manager; something's wrong.
Questions people ask about catering prices
What's the cheapest way to cater a dawat at home? The family dawat deals. Rs. 12,000 for 5 to 6 people works out around Rs. 2,000 a head for a multi-dish spread with all the sides — less than most restaurant dinners, with no cooking and no dishes.
Do the prices include naan, raita and salad? In the dawat and degh deals, yes — they're listed in each package. Set menus include naan, salad and dessert. Nothing on our published menus assumes an invisible extra.
Is delivery charged? Not on our regular Islamabad and Rawalpindi routes. Distant venues are a conversation before we confirm, never a surprise after.
Can we taste the food before booking a big event? Ask us — for weddings and large corporate bookings we'll arrange a tasting. No one should book 300 plates on faith alone.
Do you provide décor, stalls and staging too? Yes — live stalls, DJ, staging and décor are all priced on the event menu page, so you can see those numbers before asking.
The honest ending
Catering prices in Islamabad aren't a secret — they're just rarely written down. Ours now are. Compare them, question them, take them to another caterer and ask for the same transparency. If the food and the math both hold up, we'll see you at the dastarkhwan.
Full menus with every price: feastpilaf.com/event-menu. Same-day written quotes on WhatsApp: 0315 9093990.