Afternoon Tea Catering in Dubai and Abu Dhabi: Offices and Events

For afternoon tea catering in Dubai, we deliver the bakes and you lay the table: a 35 AED cake loaf sliced thin for every eight to ten people, a cookie each at 14 to 18 AED, and sandwiches from 12 AED to cut into fingers. For a tea from 6 pm, order the day before for tomorrow's 3–6 pm window; for an earlier tea, choose a morning window on the day and leave the sandwiches out. In Abu Dhabi, orders arrive between 2 pm and 8 pm, the earliest two days after ordering, so have the cake and cookies delivered the afternoon before. Delivery is 20 AED below 150 AED and free from 150 AED, with no minimum order.

We bake to order in our kitchen in Dubai Silicon Oasis. For a tea at home, see afternoon tea at home in Dubai; for a meeting, catering for meetings in Dubai; for other office orders, our office catering guide.

Can Farah cater an afternoon tea for an office or event?

Yes, for an afternoon tea or high tea, in two ways: as bakes from our shop, delivered to an office or venue in Dubai or Abu Dhabi for you to lay out, or through our events form, where the food is baked that morning, delivered and set up, and each event is quoted.

A shop order brings the bakes and nothing else: no tea, coffee or other drinks, no scones, no ready-cut finger sandwiches, no crockery and nobody to serve.

When should an afternoon tea be delivered in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi?

In Dubai, tomorrow's 3–6 pm window suits a tea from 6 pm and a morning window on the day suits an earlier one; in Abu Dhabi, where orders arrive between 2 pm and 8 pm, have the cake loaves and cookies delivered the afternoon before. An order can arrive at any point inside its window, so a 4 pm tea on the 3–6 pm window could start before the food arrives.

• Dubai, a tea at 3, 4 or 5 pm. Choose 7–10 am on the day, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, or 9 am–12 pm for a tea next Saturday, with bakes that wait at room temperature. Leave the sandwiches out: even the ciabatta and focaccia ones hold only until lunch, kept cold and uncut, and a mid-afternoon tea is later than that.
• Abu Dhabi. Our courier partner delivers between 2 pm and 8 pm and needs a full day's notice, so checkout offers four consecutive dates from two days after ordering, with no next-day delivery. Time the order so that one of those dates is the day before your tea; delivery on the day only suits a tea that can wait until as late as 8 pm. Croissants are for the afternoon and evening they arrive, as our croissant supplier page for Abu Dhabi explains.

There is no same-day delivery in either emirate. The earliest option is preselected, so check which one is ticked; orders placed after our evening cut-off are scheduled for the next baking day. Our café supplier page for Abu Dhabi lists how long each bake keeps.

What goes on an afternoon tea table from our shop?

Cake loaves and cookies, which wait at room temperature, plus sandwiches when the delivery lands close to the tea and croissants on the day they arrive.

• Cake loaves, 35 AED. The Classic Lemon Butter Cake Loaf is the one our tasting notes pair with tea, and it is better on day two; the Marble Cake Loaf is the neutral one, which our notes suggest for an office afternoon. The Banana & Pecan Cake Loaf contains pecans, and the Double Chocolate & Coconut Cake Loaf suits a dessert plate rather than a light afternoon. See our cake loaf collection and lemon cake guide.
• Cookies, 14 to 18 AED. The Oats & Cranberry Cookie, 16 AED, is the one our tasting notes pair with tea; the Lotus & White Chocolate Chip Cookie, 16 AED, eats less sweet than its name suggests; the Chocolate Crinkle Cookie, 14 AED, is the softest; the Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookie is 18 AED. Our cookie guide sorts all six.
• Sandwiches, 12 to 17 AED. All six go into the fridge on arrival. The Ciabatta Turkey & Cheese Sandwich, 12 AED, and the Focaccia Smoked Turkey Sandwich, 17 AED, hold best, kept whole and cold. The White Bread Smoked Turkey Sandwich and the White Bread and Brioche Smoked Chicken Sandwiches, 12 AED each, are for eating soon after they arrive; kept for the afternoon, even cold, white bread softens noticeably. See our sandwich collection and sandwich guide.
• Croissants, 14 to 19 AED. If one must wait, the Chocolate Croissant, 16 AED, holds up best of ours over a few hours. The Almond Cream Croissant, 18 AED, and the Pistachio Croissant, 19 AED, contain nuts; all five are in our croissant collection.

How much should you order per person for an afternoon tea?

Plan one sweet per person, a cookie or a croissant, a cake loaf to share for every eight to ten people, and one sandwich each when the window brings them close to the tea; then adjust after the first tea.

Count who has confirmed, not the invitation list; our office treats guide uses the same loaf figure. Each order below is over 150 AED, so delivery is free; the order for twenty is in the questions below.

• Ten people in Dubai, a tea from 6 pm: ten Ciabatta Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches (120 AED), a Classic Lemon Butter Cake Loaf (35 AED) and ten Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (140 AED) come to 295 AED, or 155 AED without the cookies.
• Thirty people in Dubai, a 4 pm tea on a 7–10 am delivery: two Classic Lemon Butter Cake Loaves and a Marble Cake Loaf (105 AED) and ten each of the Oats & Cranberry, Lotus & White Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (460 AED) come to 565 AED. For a savoury plate, add Focaccia · Rosemary & Olive Oil at 12 AED each, best on the day and cut into fingers.
• Twelve people in Abu Dhabi, a 4 pm tea the day after delivery: a Classic Lemon Butter and a Marble Cake Loaf (70 AED) and six each of the Lotus & White Chocolate Chip and Oats & Cranberry Cookies (192 AED) come to 262 AED.

Put the tea into one order, because each order pays its own fee. For an office, tick "Delivering to a company / business?" at checkout and name the receiver in the notes for the baker. Our office catering cost guide adds up larger orders.

How do you keep the table right through the afternoon?

Cakes, cookies and croissants stay at room temperature, out of the fridge; sandwiches stay whole in the fridge until ten to fifteen minutes before serving.

1. Someone receives it. We cannot replace fresh items left uncollected or unrefrigerated; see our delivery page.
2. Sandwiches whole and cold until ten to fifteen minutes before serving, then cut into fingers: cutting early only exposes more crumb.
3. Cake loaves whole until cut, sliced as people take them, with cling film pressed against the cut face. Lemon and marble loaves keep three to four days in an airtight box or tin at room temperature; see our office pantry supplies guide.
4. Cookies airtight until served, out of direct sun and never in the fridge, where the crumb hardens or goes sandy.
5. Croissants in paper, not a sealed plastic box, eaten the day they arrive; refrigerating the Chocolate Croissant brings on sugar bloom.
6. Watch the clock. Standard food-safety guidance is no more than two hours out of the fridge in total, or one hour above 32°C. For a long tea, serve the sandwiches in two rounds, the second kept whole in the fridge.

How should you label allergens on a shared tea table?

Put a card beside each plate with the item's name and our kitchen statement, and give the bakes that name nuts or peanuts their own plate and tongs.

Our kitchen handles wheat, gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts, peanuts, soy, sesame and seeds, and we cannot guarantee that any item is free from traces of these.

• Nuts: the Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookie, Banana & Pecan Cake Loaf, Almond Cream Croissant, Pistachio Croissant and Granola Bar.
• Peanuts: the Peanut Butter Cookie.
• Coconut: the Double Chocolate & Coconut Cake Loaf; label it too.
• Meat: every sandwich contains chicken, turkey or ham, and nothing in our shop is labelled vegetarian or vegan.

A separate nut plate, as in our croissant catering guide, does not make the other plates safe for a nut allergy. Our descriptions are not full ingredient lists, so do not copy allergen lists from product pages. If anyone has an allergy or intolerance, tell us before you order and we will tell you honestly whether we can serve them safely.

When should you use the events form instead of the shop?

Use the Bring Farah to your event form when you want the tea set up for you, on the table at a time no delivery window guarantees, or designed around the occasion and quoted.

Give the date, guest numbers, company, venue, arrival time and any allergies, and say who is bringing the drinks, since we sell none. We reply within one working day, tell you what is possible and quote a menu shaped to your event; there is no package list or per-person price. Our event catering guide compares it with a shop order; for a tea that has grown into a party you lay out yourself, see small event catering in Dubai.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you cater afternoon tea for offices in Dubai?

Yes, as bakes delivered for your team to lay out: 35 AED cake loaves, cookies from 14 to 18 AED and sandwiches from 12 AED. We sell no tea or other drinks; for a tea set up for you, use our events form.

Can you deliver an afternoon tea to Abu Dhabi?

Yes, between 2 pm and 8 pm, the earliest two days after ordering. Have cake loaves and cookies delivered the afternoon before the tea; sandwiches and croissants are for the day they arrive, so they only suit a tea that can wait for the delivery.

Do you supply the tea, scones or crockery?

No. We supply the bakes only: we do not sell tea, coffee or any other drinks, we do not bake scones, and a shop order comes without crockery. Brew the tea yourself, or arrange drinks with another supplier.

How many sandwiches and cakes do you need for 20 people?

For a tea from 6 pm on tomorrow's 3–6 pm window: twenty 12 AED sandwiches, one each, a Classic Lemon Butter and a Marble Cake Loaf, and ten Lotus & White Chocolate Chip and ten Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, a cookie each. They come to 610 AED, delivered free.

Which items on an afternoon tea table contain nuts?

The Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookie, Banana & Pecan Cake Loaf, Almond Cream Croissant, Pistachio Croissant and Granola Bar contain nuts, and the Peanut Butter Cookie contains peanuts. Our kitchen handles wheat, gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts, peanuts, soy, sesame and seeds, and we cannot guarantee that any item is free from traces of these.

Order your afternoon tea

Count who has confirmed, choose the window that ends before the tea, or the afternoon before in Abu Dhabi, and order a Classic Lemon Butter Cake Loaf, a cookie each from our cookies and bars collection and, for a tea from 6 pm, Ciabatta Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches. The rest is in the shop; for a tea set up for you, use the events form.