A birthday dinner for twenty people at Taier Al Monal in Abu Shaghara, Sharjah costs AED 1,340 on a weekday, or AED 1,800 at the weekend, with wall decor, a cake for twenty and a flower bouquet included. That is AED 67 or AED 90 a head.
Twenty is the size most people are planning for, and it is awkward to price: too many for a table, not enough to need a hall. Here is the whole bill, broken out, so you can see exactly where the money goes.
The weekday bill
- Wall decor: AED 200
- Cake for a group of 20: AED 200
- Flower bouquet: AED 100
- Buffet, 20 guests at AED 42: AED 840
- Total: AED 1,340, or AED 67 per person
The weekend bill
- Wall decor: AED 200
- Cake for a group of 20: AED 200
- Flower bouquet: AED 100
- Buffet, 20 guests at AED 65: AED 1,300
- Total: AED 1,800, or AED 90 per person
Water and soft drinks are inside the buffet price on both, so there is no separate drinks bill. The AED 460 difference between the two is entirely the weekday and weekend buffet rate.
The three decisions that move the number
First, the day. Moving from a Saturday to a Tuesday takes AED 460 off a party of twenty, which is more than the decor, cake and bouquet cost put together. If the date can move, this is the biggest saving available.
Second, which extras you take. The decor, cake and bouquet are priced separately, not as a bundle. Bringing your own cake and skipping the bouquet leaves AED 200 of decor plus the buffet, which is AED 1,040 on a weekday, or AED 52 a head.
Third, the group size, and this one runs the opposite way to most people expectations. Because decor and the bouquet cost the same at any size, the per-head cost falls as the group grows: AED 87 each for ten on a weekday, AED 67 for twenty, AED 62 for thirty. Inviting more people makes the evening cheaper per person, not dearer.
What twenty guests actually eat
The birthday buffet is the restaurant standard spread, not a reduced set menu. It comes off the same kitchen that runs the biryani, the live tandoor and the karahi, with a dessert counter at the end of it.
For a group of twenty that matters more than it sounds. Twenty people will not agree on one dish, and a buffet removes the argument entirely: the vegetarians, the children and the person who only eats BBQ are all handled without anyone ordering separately.
The alternative: catering it elsewhere
If the party is not in the restaurant, the same kitchen caters off site. Packages are AED 45 per person for the vegetarian menu, AED 65 for the Classic, AED 85 for the Zouq and AED 110 for the Premium, which includes a whole mutton dam pukht ouzi on rice.
One caveat worth knowing before you plan around it: outdoor catering has a minimum order of AED 3,000. Twenty guests on the AED 65 Classic package comes to AED 1,300, which is under that floor, so for a group of twenty the restaurant is the cheaper venue by a wide margin.
Booking a group of twenty
Send the date and confirm the headcount, and say whether you want the decor, the cake and the bouquet. Book earlier than you would for a normal table so the section can be reserved and the wall set before your guests arrive.
Twenty guests, one evening
Send the date and the headcount and we will set the room.
Book a Celebration
