How to Choose Banquet Menus: What Each Table Price Buys, and How to Handle Vegetarian and Allergy Needs

Catering usually takes 55%–70% of a banquet's total budget (see the breakdown in "How to Estimate an Event Budget"). It is the largest single item and the one guests remember most directly: they will forget the decorations, but they will not forget bad food.

Yet most people choose menus by reading dish names. A dish name carries no information; "abalone" could be a three-head abalone or a tinned one.

1. What each table price band roughly buys

Price per table	Main-dish ingredients typically at	Courses	Typical situation
NT$10,000–15,000	Chicken, pork, common sea fish, prawns	8–10	Generous portions; ingredients chosen for reliability, not distinction
NT$15,000–22,000	Adds lobster or large prawns, medium grouper, scallops	10–12	Most corporate year-end parties and wedding banquets sit here
NT$22,000–32,000	Lobster, abalone, wagyu or beef short rib	11–12	Noticeable step up in plating and tableside service
NT$32,000 and above	Premium seafood, imported meats	11–12	The difference is in ingredient grade and service density, not course count

Source and limits: The above are quote ranges from venues we have dealt with. They are ranges, not guarantees, and vary widely by region and season. Always go by the venue's actual quote and menu.

Note that the course count does not keep rising. From entry level to high end, the number of courses goes from roughly 8–10 to 11–12 and then stops; what you get beyond that is ingredient grade and service, not quantity. So "12 courses" does not mean better value.

2. Menu structure

The typical structure of a Taiwanese banquet table menu:

Order	Item	Typical courses	Notes
1	Cold platter / starter	1	Usually an assorted platter
2	Soup	1–2	Commonly a shark-fin-style substitute or chicken soup
3	Seafood	2–3	Prawns, fish, scallops
4	Meat	2–3	Chicken, pork, beef
5	Vegetables	1
6	Staple	1–2	Sticky rice cake, fried rice, noodles
7	Dessert	1
8	Fruit	1

When swapping dishes, keep the structure balanced: replace the vegetable dish with a fourth meat course and the whole table becomes too heavy; drop the soup and the middle of the meal loses a breather.

3. The tasting

The tasting is the single most important step in choosing the menu, yet many people come away remembering only "it was good".

How the tasting differs from service on the day

A tasting is one table cooked to order; on the day it is dozens of tables served at once. There will always be a gap, and it is widest here:

Type	At the tasting	In volume service
Stir-fried dishes	Straight from the wok	May have sat for several minutes
Deep-fried dishes	Crisp	The most likely to go soft
Steamed fish	Just right	The last tables tend to get it overcooked
Soup	Hot	Usually the most consistent
Cold platters / desserts	—	Almost no gap

The question to ask at the tasting is not "is it good?" but "how do you keep this dish consistent when 30 tables are served at once?" This question forces an honest answer: the chef will usually tell you outright which dishes hold up in volume and which ones they would recommend swapping.

Tasting in practice

• Bring everyone who needs to sign off (the boss, both sets of parents); do not taste and then relay it second-hand.
• Ask about serving order and intervals: how many minutes between courses? How long until everything is out?
• Take photos: shoot every dish for later comparison. You also have a reference if what arrives on the day looks different.
• Ask which dishes can be swapped, and whether a swap costs extra.
• Ask how the tasting fee works: most venues credit it back once you sign; check up front.

4. Vegetarian: at least four types, never just "vegetarian"

Vegetarian diets in Taiwan vary widely, and a registration form that just says "vegetarian" leaves the kitchen unable to prepare:

Type	Does not eat	Can eat
Vegan / strict vegetarian	All animal products, the five pungent spices	Plant-based ingredients
Ovo-lacto vegetarian	Meat, fish, the five pungent spices	Eggs, dairy
Five-pungent-spice vegetarian	Meat, fish	Eggs, dairy, and the five pungent spices such as onion and garlic
Pot-side vegetarian	The meat itself	Vegetables cooked in the same pot as meat

The five pungent spices are onion, garlic, chives, shallots and asafoetida. Vegans and ovo-lacto vegetarians avoid them; five-pungent-spice vegetarians eat them.

What to do

1. Give options on the registration form, not a free-text field. List the four types as checkboxes.
2. Give the venue exact counts after tallying, and confirm again 7 days before the event.
3. Mark table numbers on the seating chart: "Table 3: 2 ovo-lacto, Table 7: 1 vegan", so service staff deliver to the right seat.
4. Whole table or individual portions? With small numbers, vegetarian meals are usually served individually; if one table is entirely vegetarian, you can put the whole table on a vegetarian menu.
5. Check what the vegetarian dishes actually are. At some venues the vegetarian menu is just the meat dishes with the meat removed, which is very thin. Ask for the vegetarian menu itself.

5. Allergies: a form field is not enough

This is the section that calls for the most care in this whole guide.

Food allergies vary enormously in severity: some people feel unwell, others face an immediate threat to life. One field on a form is not enough to handle the latter.

The approach

Step	What to do
At registration	Ask explicitly "Do you have any food allergies? Please state the allergen"; do not offer only a checkbox
On receiving a severe allergy	Contact the person directly to confirm the severity and what handling they can accept
Informing the venue	List the allergens and table numbers in writing (email / message) and ask for a reply confirming
Seating chart	Mark the table number and seat
On the day	Brief the floor staff; label meals for severely allergic guests separately

Allergens commonly required to be labelled in Taiwan include crustaceans, mango, peanuts, milk, eggs, tree nuts, fish and gluten-containing grains. Go by the competent authority's announcements for the actual rules; this is only a reminder that "you need to ask about this proactively".

Limits you have to be honest about

A banquet kitchen is shared. Cross-contamination can almost never be fully ruled out, and the person concerned needs to know that. For a guest with a severe allergy, the reasonable approach is:

• Tell them the actual situation and let them decide whether to eat the food on site
• Or arrange a meal prepared completely separately, having confirmed with the venue in advance that it is feasible

Do not make promises you cannot guarantee just to make the spreadsheet look tidy.

6. Other meal requirements

Who	What to prepare
Children	Children's meals (small portions, mild flavours), high chairs
Elderly guests	Watch for dishes that are too hard or chewy; seat them away from the speakers
Pregnant guests	Raw dishes must be replaceable
Religious diets	Halal and kosher meals need confirming in advance that the venue can handle them
Crew	The most often forgotten. Photographers, sound engineers and the MC need to eat too

Crew meals need agreeing with the venue in advance: separate meals, or counted as a table? How is it charged? Where do they eat? Skip this question and the crew goes hungry on the day.

7. Serving speed and table count

The more tables, the later the last table gets its food.

• Up to 20 tables: the effect is usually not noticeable.
• 30 tables or more: the gap between the first and last table can stretch past 10 minutes.
• 50 tables or more: ask the venue "how do you serve in batches?" and write that gap into the rundown; do not schedule anything that needs the whole room's attention while food is still coming out.

On the site visit, ask directly: "With 50 tables served at once, roughly how long between the first table and the last?" A venue that cannot answer has usually not done that scale.

8. Extra dishes and drinks

• Extra dishes: can you add them a few days before the event? At what price? Most venues allow it but with a cut-off.
• Corkage: bringing your own drinks commonly incurs a per-bottle charge, which is negotiable (see "Negotiating with Banquet Venues").
• Non-alcoholic options: demand is not low these days; confirm they are available.
• Tea refills: check whether they are included in the table price.

Checklist

Menu selection

• Confirmed whether the table price includes service charge and tax
• Reviewed the full menu (including the vegetarian menu)
• Menu structure is balanced (seafood / meat / vegetables / staple all present)
• Asked which dishes hold up in volume and which should be swapped
• Confirmed how the tasting fee is credited back

Tallying

• Registration form offers the four vegetarian types as checkboxes
• Allergy field requires the allergen to be stated, not just ticked
• Severely allergic guests contacted individually to confirm
• Children's meals and high chairs counted

Confirmation (D-7)

• Vegetarian counts and types sent to the venue in writing and confirmed by reply
• Allergens and table numbers sent to the venue in writing and confirmed by reply
• Seating chart marks vegetarian, allergy, high chair and reduced-mobility needs
• Crew meals arranged
• Batch serving method asked about and reflected in the rundown

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