Help me find a veggie party platter for Saturday in London?

May 14, 2013 9:35 AM

Help! My foolproof plans for Eurovision party food have come to nothing.

I was going to order 3 small party platters of vegetarian-friendly fingerfoods from M&S or Waitrose for my small Eurovision gathering, had catalogs in hand, and was ready to go. It turns out that all of the vegetarian food has 5-day waiting periods for pick-up (most of the non-veg items have only 2, and I apparently didn't notice the difference). The only exceptions - sarnie platters - won't work because one guest can't consume mayonnaise. I've searched in vain online for alternatives, but most seem to be caterers who won't do a small order. I can't cook more food than I already plan to, so from-scratch fingerfood isn't an option.

Does anyone know of someplace in London that I can go to get vegetarian, non-sarnie, finger foods for about 10 people on Saturday morning? I can go pick things up, but can't travel for food I can't order in advance unless its someplace sure to have things in stock (I only have limited pick-up time.) Central, West, or North London are ideal. Any type of food is OK (I am not trying to do a themed Eurovision, or anything).

posted by Wylla to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Why don't you just head to Waitrose or M+S and pick and choose from what they have? Even the Simply Food branches will do olives, sushi platters (including veg), dips and party food in the chiller section. If you were catering for a huge party, caterers would be a great idea, but it would be really easy to get enough for 10 people on your own. Waitrose definitely deliver as well, not sure about M+S. I know you don't want to travel in case what you want isn't there, but I would be massively surprised if the average branch couldn't supply you with what you need right off the shelves.
posted by mippy at 9:41 AM on May 14, 2013

Friends in this situation just get takeout Indian food. I don't like Indian food, so personally I'm not a big fan of this method, but it seems to work well for them. Do you need to have a party platter?

I don't know how things like this work in London, but I make a lot of group food orders (here in Chicago) and all I ever have to do is call the restaurant the day before and say, "hey, I need enough X for Y people please, how much?" and then it magically happens.
posted by phunniemee at 9:45 AM on May 14, 2013

Agree with mippy, just pick up a few simple things - hummus, olives, cheese, antipasti, dates, fresh veggies for dipping, fresh fruit for snacking. Only minimal prep required but makes great finger food.
Also: how about asking a friend to drop by earlier to help you cut/cook/prep?
posted by travelwithcats at 9:53 AM on May 14, 2013

I agree with mippy. The Russell Square Waitrose (in The Brunswick), for example, has a huge deli aisle (next to the fresh fruit and veg), with lots of veggie options, as well as a cheese counter. Quite a bit of it is in containers that would be easy to use for your party without further arrangement. I often pick up last-minute party finger food there.

The Marble Arch M&S also has plenty of options.
posted by sueinnyc at 10:29 AM on May 14, 2013

Thanks, guys - I think the conversation I had with M & S on the phone had convinced me all was lost...but it seems like the bigger, more central M & S locations may be the way to go!
posted by Wylla at 11:27 AM on May 14, 2013