Bringing AI to the party

This platform lets you experience the future of catering with AI-powered convenience for a seamless, hassle-free get together

We kicked off the year with a relaxed and productive working lunch, bringing the team together for a fun brainstorming session to set the tone for the week and the quarter ahead. To make things easier, we decided to try out an online catering platform that delivers food and takes care of the setup. With the conference room all booked for the date, we placed our order on their platform (new.caterninja.com) last week.

Reshmi Murg tikka and Honey siracha chicken wings

There were several options to choose from, depending on the number of guests—Ninjabox (bulk food delivery), Ninja Buffet (for 10+ guests), Ninja Classic (for 50+ guests), and Gourmet, offering specially curated premium menus for the Indian palate. Once we selected the city and the occasion, there were multiple pre-existing packages of different cuisines like North Indian mains (containing six mains and one dessert) priced at Rs 4,899 for 10 guests, Eve-snacks menu (containing four starters, three mains and one dessert) priced at Rs 4,999 for 10 guests, Pan-Asian menu (four starters, three mains and one dessert) priced at Rs 5,499 etc. Since the pre-existing packages weren’t suited to our needs, we customised a menu from scratch to determine the number of each item—starters, main courses and dessert.

Awadhi Murg masala and Paneer Butter masala

Once that was done, we selected the number of guests and the date and time of delivery. The website’s AI algorithm curated the quantities based on the number of guests and the variety of the menu. Next, the CaterNinja executive contacted us over WhatsApp to confirm the order and align the delivery. A captain, who is also our point of contact, kept us updated about the timelines on the day of our meeting.

Moong dal halwa, boondi raita and papad

The team, led by Jayanti Bhutedia, the captain, arrived promptly, equipped with all the essentials, including eco-friendly disposable plates and cutlery, tissues, cardboard boxes, a table, and a portable refrigerator. Adhering to hygiene standards with gloves and masks, they efficiently set up a well-organised NinjaLive pizza station and mocktail counter. We chose customised toppings from neatly arranged containers, and had our pizza hot from the super-compact oven.

Freshly made mojito in help-yourself dispensers

They also have a live momo and pasta station for parties and a live tandoor for starters, which is ideal for evening soirees. These live services are available for smaller numbers of 15-20 people and for a larger audience too. Also, from a price point of view, most live services are available at decent prices. For example, the live pizza service price is almost similar to pizza delivery rates from commercial brands. So why get pizza delivered for a party when you can get it piping hot and made live in front of you?

Next, the food was set up in containers, sectioned in cardboard boxes for easy handling. Starters included malai achari broccoli, peri peri paneer tikka, reshmi murgh tikka and honey sriracha chicken wings. The broccoli and murgh tikka were instant favourites. There was paneer butter masala, Awadhi murgh masala, dal bukhara, laccha wheat paratha, jeera rice and boondi raita for the main course. Accompaniments were sirka pyaaz, papad and green chutney. In hindsight, we felt we made safe choices so as not to get disappointed, but it would have been intriguing if we could have been a bit experimental, too with sliders and spring rolls or spaghetti bolognese  and basil butter garlic noodles. The moong dal halwa for dessert was a big hit with our team.

After a fantastic lunch and a great brainstorming session, we left the conference room to return to our desks. The team started packing up. About 20 minutes later, the captain sent us a photo of the conference room—it looked spick and span like no one had been there.

At NinjaLive live pizza-making counter, we customised our toppings, watch them bake in a super-compact oven, and enjoyed piping-hot slices—an upgrade from delivery, perfect for parties

CaterNinja’s services are available in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Thane, Pune, Chennai, Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad. Would we consider them for our next meeting or get-together at home? The answer is going to be yes. What we hoped for was to see the use of AI in the kitchen, too, perhaps at the backend for menu optimisation, or a log-in feature where your personalised recommendations are stored, and while preparing food in bulk to understand quality and quantities to avoid food wastage at the source kitchen.

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