Catering Service - Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely. You can order food from us to store in your freezer and consume as needed. We can pack your food in individual-portion eco-friendly containers for this purpose.

Yes you can. On the menu, we have indicated which items are freezable.

Yes, the food is suitable for non-vegans and vegans alike, and we are confident all your guests will enjoy the food, whether they are vegan or not. One of the reasons Shambhu’s was set up is to show how great vegan food can be.
In fact, one of the advantages of providing vegan catering at an event is that a wide range of special dietary requirements are already covered.
For certain dietary requirements that are not automatically covered by virtue of the food being vegan, we can still help.

Please also see the answer to the next question below, about special diets.

If you have such a special dietary request, please let us know and we’ll see what we can do. We should be able to satisfy most requests. If you have a food allergy or coeliac disease, please click here for further information.

Our client base is very diverse, partly due to the fact that our food is intended to be appealing to both vegetarians/vegans and non-vegetarians/vegans alike (see the next answer below about this). Since our launch in 2005, we have catered for all kinds of events, including private parties, business/company events/meetings, yoga/meditation classes, conferences, weddings, vegetarian/vegan/eco festivals, multifaith events and others.

Some of our client testimonials are displayed on the home page.

As a first step in planning the catering for your event, we suggest you browse through the catering service menu, and also have a browse through this FAQ page. Then, please contact us as soon as possible before your event, using the form on the catering service page. If you're not sure which items to go for that is fine - we’ll be more than happy to help you come up with a menu suited for your event.

One “individual portion” size is generally suitable for one guest if each guest is being offered only that item. For example, you might want to order a curry with rice for each of your guests as the main meal, with no other main items - in that case, it would be appropriate to choose one portion for each guest.
However, you might want to order a variety of items, so that your guests enjoy several different items. In that case, a reduced number of portions of each main item might be appropriate.
We can certainly advise about this when you contact us.

If you have an allergy, please click here for further information.

If you have coeliac disease, please click here for further information and how we might be able to help.

Generally, our minimum order requirement is around £150 (depending on delivery address etc). However, we might be able to accommodate a lower minimum order for certain north-west and north London addresses if reasonably close to our base in north-west London; we'll be able to advise on this when we have your delivery address details.

We cater at most kinds of event, wedding receptions included. Please contact us so that we can discuss your particular requirements.

We are based in north-west London, UK.

We deliver the food that you've ordered for your event.

We do not have a restaurant.

We mainly cover greater London and the home counties, but we are open to all requests, even if outside our main coverage region.

While it is true that the chef and proprietor of Shambhu’s comes from an Asian Indian cultural background and therefore has a lot of experience in preparing Indian foods, she is actually experienced at preparing a variety of foods to suit a variety of tastes.
As you’ll see from the menu, Shambhu’s is very much a multicultural catering company. We take pride in creating delicious food, drawing inspiration from traditional cuisines around the world – Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Generally, we can deliver the food hot and ready to serve. (We keep the food hot in transit using insulated boxes.)
However, there might be certain scenarios where the food needs to be reheated on arrival before serving out (e.g. for some very large orders, or if the delivery address is a long distance away from our base). If that is likely to be the case, we would advise you accordingly.

Yes, most of our items can be consumed cold too, and some items are already cold-food items by nature (e.g. the sandwiches, salads, desserts etc). We can advise further on this when you are ready to talk us about your catering needs.

Depending on when you need the food delivered, we would either ask for an advance deposit payment to secure a booking, with the remaining balance paid in advance of the delivery day, or ask for the full amount to be paid in advance of delivery.

The terms for your order will be made clear to you during the ordering process.

We can supply eco-friendly compostable plates, eco-friendly compostable forks/knives/spoons, and eco-friendly compostable napkins made of recycled fibre.

Also, our food is generally delivered in large foil containers/platters, which are reuseable and recyclable.

If practical, we can take back the used foilware (and possibly cutlery) for reuse/recycling.
You might like to read about our ethical stance.

The food we make ourselves is mildly spiced, so it is tasty and flavoursome, but not hot. We can make it hot (spicy) upon request.

Yes, please do. We welcome suggestions for food items, and will let you know if we can accommodate your particular request.

Shambhu’s is named after a close family member called Shambhu, who in turn was named after Shambhu, a Hindu god.
Read more about who Shambhu is.

No problem. Please contact us and we’ll be pleased to help.