Catering

The minimum number of guests required to book our catering is 35. If your group is smaller than that, you will either need to self-cater, or you will need to cover the cost of 35 people for meals.

We have two menu options - a standard menu and a 'Kai Plus' menu.

Our standard menu includes some great camp classics - such as our famous 'El Rancho Nachos', roast chicken, burgers, chicken curry, mac & cheese, build your own wraps with tasty fillings and of course, continental breakfasts with hot porridge. Morning/afternoon teas and suppers (biscuits and fruit + hot drinks) as well as desserts are included complimentary.

If you're looking for an upgrade, our Kai Plus menu is for you! This option is popular with corporate/adult group bookings looking for some nicer, restaurant quality options for lunch and dinner, or perhaps a cooked breakfast. We can also offer a more substantial morning/afternoon tea if desired. We tailor the Kai Plus menu to each group and base it around seasonal availability of premium produce.

Let us know if you'd like to see an example menu for either option and we can send it through to you.

We definitely recommend booking our onsite catering, and will generally give preference to catered group bookings - however in some cases we can offer self-catered options. This does depend a lot on the venue you have booked and the number of guests coming:

• The Elm (motel style) venue can have the option to be self-catered, as long as your group number is no more than 35. Please note that the kitchenettes available are very basic and we'd ask you to come and visit before confirming a booking, to check it will be suitable for your catering needs.
• The Pinewood Bunkroom venue comes with a fully equipped kitchen that is suitable for self-catering for groups of no more than around 90 people.
• The Redwood Bunkroom venue does not offer self-catering facilities.
• Our motel units (Studios, Baker Lodge and Villas) are all self-catered options with kitchenettes. If you are a group booking a number of motel units, you may wish to add on Founder's Lounge as a meeting room/kitchen for self-catering.

Our amazing Kitchen team can cater for Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten free, and Dairy free diets, and we ask that all other dietary requests are self managed.

Your menu will be designed closer to the time (roughly 5-7 days out) once we have your final numbers.

We can send you the menu on request so that if any meals are unsuitable, guests can bring extra food along. There will be a microwave and fridge available for you to use.

Please note that while all efforts are made to prepare special diet food separately, we cannot guarantee that there will not be traces of allergens in the food. Even many of our pre-packaged special diet foods come with a disclaimer on the packaging.

If a guest has a severe/anaphylactic allergy to a particular food, we would advise them to bring their own food. If you would still like us to cater for them, you will be required to complete a Severe Allergy Form. Our Kitchen manager will review the form and decide whether or not El Rancho can safely cater to the individual or not.

Yes we do. Many gluten free and dairy free products such as milk, bread and biscuits, can cost up to three times the price of the standard products we order, so we need to cover that extra cost.

Also, our chefs spend extra time preparing vegetarian, vegan, GF and DF meals so we need to also factor that in.

In general, if booking during the week, your first catered meal will be dinner on the first night, and your last meal will be a packed lunch for you to take with you on the last day. Please talk to us about other options if a packed lunch isn't suitable for your group.

If booking a weekend stay, we don't offer dinner on Friday nights. Most participants for weekend bookings arrive at different times, making it too difficult for a set meal time. We recommend eating before you arrive, have a potluck meal or order in pizza for the Friday night. Your first catered meal would be breakfast on Saturday, and your last meal would be a sit in lunch on Sunday.

Our meal times are set to work around our kitchen shifts and other groups in at the same time. These set times are:

• Breakfast - 8:00am
• Lunch - 12:30pm
• Dinner - 5:30pm

We ask you to be on time for your meals as the food will be hot and waiting for you! Any changes to the meal times or the standard meal package must be requested well in advance and are subject to approval by the Kitchen Manager.