Dorset caterers

for love life and happiness

As Dorset caterers, we believe that wedding and event catering should be stress-free. Our tasty food is designed to impress and our personal service doubly so.

View Our Menus

About Crab Apple Catering

We are a family run catering business based in the heart of Swanage in Dorset. Matt, Julia, and Jordan Tillman have been specialising in wedding and event catering for over a decade. Our in-depth knowledge of the catering industry and a lifelong passion for mouth-watering, home-cooked food are combined in our extensive catering services.

{

Tasty food should not only be high quality but served in good quantity. Our catering services and menus can be easily fine-tuned to suit your specific needs.

Matt Tillman

{

about crab apple

A variety of catering services

We offer the highest quality catering and food service for almost any event. Be it a wedding breakfast, birthday BBQ, festival food truck, fully stocked mobile bar, or celebratory hog roast.

wedding catering

Your wedding food should be impressive and taste amazing. We provide you with as much support as you need for your wedding catering.

dorset wedding catering

party catering

Mouth-watering food for celebrating any occasion. Our party catering service is highly flexible, no party is too big, too small, or too unusual!

party catering in dorset

food truck

Our fantastic food truck Hettie can be hired for any sort of event or party. With a wide range of culinary options, the choices really are endless.

dorset mobile food truck

Bar Service

Our Horsebox Bar or The Freestanding Bar can be ‘self-stocked’ by you or fully stocked with a vast variety of drinks by ourselves. Either way, we provide you with experienced and friendly bar staff.

Event bar hire in dorset

Event Staffing

Almost as important as the mouth-watering food itself are the staff serving and the catering logistics. Our friendly and experienced, professional staff are perfect for any event, party, wedding, festival, funeral, etc.

our catering team

bbq catering

Whether it’s for a wedding, birthday party, or just because who doesn’t love a BBQ? We specialise in creating tasty gourmet BBQs in buffet format or delivered directly to your table on rustic sharing boards.

dorset bbq catering

see all of our catering services

Dorset Caterers Menus

We love creating exciting menus and can help you design something completely unique or adapt our menu suggestions to suit you.

gourmet bbq examples

Piri Piri Chicken
BBQ Scotch Eggs
Cherry Smoked Pork Belly
Whole Tandoori Dorset Trout
Lemon and Chilli Prawn Skewers
House Marinated Chicken Schwarma
Butchers Sausages
BBQ Jackfruit
Beetroot Carpaccio
Vegetable Kebab Skewers

canapes examples

Sticky Sausages
Beef and Horseradish Yorkshire Puddings
Mini Quiches
Garlic Mushroom Tarts
Salmon Pate Crackers
Smoked Salmon Blinis
Mini Steak and Ale Pies
Garlic and Lime Chilli Prawn Skewers
Tomato and Basil Meatballs
Bacon and Eggs
Falafel Balls
Tomato and Olive Skewers

event menu examples

House Marinated Beef Brisket
BBQ Pulled Pork
Korean BBQ Beef Bavette
Garlic and Rosemary Roasted Lamb Leg
Whole Beer Can Chicken
BBQ Chicken Schwarma
BBQ Side of Salmon
Marinated Spatchcock Chicken
Various Flavoured Sliders
Harissa Butternut Squash
Vegan Moussaka

See Our Full Menus

Dorset caterers news

The Essentials for Hiring a Party Or Event Caterer in Dorset

Are you looking for a party and event caterer in Dorset? If so, it’s essential that you hire the right caterer to ensure your guests are happy and well-fed. With so many catering companies to choose from, it can be difficult to know what to look for. In this blog...

What Is The Best Hog Roast In Dorset

If you’re looking for the best hog roast in Dorset, look no further. Juicy, tender, and flavourful are just a few words to describe the deliciousness that awaits you. Whether you’re planning a special event or just looking for an exciting dining experience, a hog...

How to Choose A Dorset Wedding Caterer

Choosing your Dorset wedding caterer is an important decision for your special day. So let's talk about how to choose a Dorset wedding caterer. Everyone will be looking forward to the food, alcohol, and dancing. Everyone knows your guests will remember the quality of...

Amazing food created by amazing people!!

jenny wood
January 9, 2017
Perfect every time!

Sean Phillips
January 9, 2017
We won't ever be able to truly thank Crab Apple enough for everything they did for us to make our wedding so perfect. To echo other reviews, all of our guests have said that it was the best wedding food they have ever had...and not only that some have gone one step further and just said ever! Emma was on hand throughout the whole process designing menus together, having a fab tasting session and going completely above and beyond being 'just the caterers'. They stepped in at the last minute (less than 2 months from d-day) and saved our skins after our bar hire company unceremoniously cancelled on us! They pulled together booze for the whole day and Karl put on a fabulous bar service to the wee hours after all the amazing food. We were lucky enough to be catered for our post wedding celebration on the Sunday. We had a BBQ and chilli con carne in the evening and both were as sublime as the wedding breakfast. Haven't got a bad word to say and you'd be mad to use any other catering company for your big day. My parents are even trying to find excuses to have enough people round their house so that can 'get the caterers in'. Thank you so much Crab Apple!

Ashlie Thurston
January 9, 2018
Local produce; simple, innovative and delicious food; and excellent service. It is harder than you would think to find decent food in Dorset but these guys have got it cracked. Definitely book them. You won't be disappointed.

Kate Forbes
January 9, 2017
Crab Apple recently catered our wedding and I cannot express how amazing the food was and how unbelievably helpful Emma and Carl were, nothing was too much trouble in the lead up and on the day. The food was utterly delicious, we had such great feedback from all our guests. Thank you again for everything that you did to make our day so special

Sam Dan
January 9, 2019
Great company, fabulous food, available for many different occasions and events. Would definitely recommend!

Megan Ozzard
January 9, 2017
Amazing staff and absolutely amazing food!! Would recommend to anyone and everyone.

jeremy lea
January 9, 2017
Fantastic Father's Day and birthday meal. Thank you so much. The steaks were delicious and the cake was awesome. All done following social distancing rules. Highly recommended.

Sheila Tillman
January 9, 2021
Attention to quality, local produce and homemade, will go out of their way to make your day, great gang of enthusiastic people 🍏🍏🍏🍏🍏

Gilly Lewis
January 9, 2017