How much caviar for a New Year's Eve party of 10?

As a tasting or canapé, 10–15g per person, so 100–150g for ten. As a course in its own right, 30g or more per person — 300g or more for ten.

How far ahead should I order seafood for New Year's Eve in Dubai?

At least a week before 31 December, and earlier for whole or live king crab, which are pre-order only. Year-end is a peak week: prices firm ahead of it and availability at a specific grade runs out first. Delivery is scheduled by appointment.

When should I take king crab and bluefin out of the freezer?

12–24 hours before serving, into the refrigerator, sealed and on a tray — for a dinner on the evening of 31 December, the evening of the 30th. Thawed crab keeps at 0–2°C for the same day or the next; thawed bluefin for raw service is a same-day product. Never re-freeze either.

Can I serve king crab cold on a canapé table?

Yes. It arrives cooked, and properly thawed it is excellent cold — particularly merus and claw meat. Claw meat, dressed simply, is one of the most practical canapés on a seafood table.

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At the Table

A New Year's Eve Seafood Table at Home in Dubai

New Year's Eve is the one dinner of the year whose date cannot move. The seafood has to be ordered, delivered, thawed and cut in the right order, and every one of those steps runs on a clock. This guide covers the table itself — caviar, bluefin and king crab — the quantities for six, ten and twenty guests, and a timeline that works backwards from the evening of 31 December.

Looking for the product itself? See Wild Salmon Red Caviar — wild chum salmon roe — large, amber-red pearls with a clean pacific finish.

Canapés or a plated dinner

Decide the format first, because it decides the cuts. A standing evening of canapés and a seated dinner use the same three products in very different quantities and formats.

Canapés: red caviar on blini with crème fraîche; king crab claw meat, dressed and served cold; small pieces of akami tataki or chutoro. Claw meat is shell-free and the sweetest meat on the crab, and small quantities make a generous impact.

Plated: a caviar course to open, a bluefin sashimi course served leanest to fattiest, and king crab as the main — merus warmed in butter if you are plating, clusters on platters if the table is sharing.

Many hosts do both: canapés as guests arrive, then a seated course or a crab centrepiece. If you do, reduce the quantity of each rather than planning two full menus.

Serving caviar, bluefin and crab properly

Caviar. Serve it chilled, over ice, from a non-metallic spoon — mother-of-pearl, bone or glass. Silver and steel leave a metallic edge. Keep accompaniments restrained: blini, crème fraîche, or nothing at all. Bring it out at the moment it is eaten, and open only what you will use.

Bluefin. Thaw it sealed in the refrigerator, cut while the block is still very cold at the centre, and slice across the grain with the longest, sharpest knife you own in one smooth pull — roughly one centimetre for sashimi. Chill the plates. Serve akami, then chutoro, then otoro, with good soy, wasabi and pickled ginger.

King crab. It arrives cooked, so you are reheating, not cooking. Steam clusters for four to six minutes just to heat through; warm merus briefly in butter or serve it cold; claw meat needs no heat. Butter, lemon and restraint. Put out crackers and picks with clusters, and serve as soon as it is warm — crab does not hold.

The order that works on the night: caviar first, while everything else is still cold; bluefin next; crab last, because warmed crab has to go straight to the table.

Quantities for 6, 10 and 20 guests

The figures below are straight arithmetic from our per-guest guidance, so the table is only as good as the decision about format. Choose the row that applies to each product before reading across.

Do not add the full figures together. If crab, bluefin and caviar all appear on one table, crab is a shared centrepiece rather than the whole meal, and it needs substantially less than the main-course figure — guests consistently eat less crab than hosts expect.

Bluefin weights are trimmed, plated weights. A loin gives up something to squaring the block and trimming the face, so order above them.

Product and role	Per guest	6 guests	10 guests	20 guests
Red caviar — tasting or canapé	10–15g	60–90g	100–150g	200–300g
Red caviar — a course	30g or more	180g or more	300g or more	600g or more
Bluefin — part of a mixed platter	50–60g trimmed	300–360g	500–600g	1–1.2kg
Bluefin — a course of its own	80–100g trimmed	480–600g	800g–1kg	1.6–2kg
King crab clusters — the main, crab as hero	400–600g in shell	About 2.5–3.5kg	4–6kg	8–12kg

Arithmetic from per-guest guidance. Merus and claw meat are shell-free and need less weight than clusters for the same servings. When crab shares the table with other centrepieces, order substantially less than the clusters row.

The timeline to 31 December

Year-end is a peak week. Prices firm ahead of it and availability at a specific grade is what runs out first, so order at least a week before 31 December — earlier if you want whole or live king crab, which are pre-order only.

Delivery is by appointment. Book one that leaves time for the thaw: frozen crab and bluefin need 12–24 hours in the refrigerator, so they should be in your freezer or refrigerator by the day before at the latest.

Thaw in the refrigerator, sealed and on a tray — never at room temperature or in water. Thawed crab keeps at 0–2°C for the same day or the next, so starting it on the 30th is safe. Thawed bluefin is a same-day product, so time it to finish on the day you serve it.

Caviar is never frozen. Keep it in the coldest part of the refrigerator until the moment it is served.

When	What to do
At least a week before	Order. Confirm cut, grade and quantity against the weekly landing list, and book the delivery appointment.
Before the thaw starts	Receive the delivery. Check frozen product is hard at the door; crab and bluefin into the freezer, caviar into the coldest part of the refrigerator.
30 December, evening	Move king crab and bluefin from freezer to refrigerator, sealed and on a tray. Large crab packs need the longer end of the 12–24 hours.
31 December, afternoon	Chill the plates. Trim and square the bluefin while it is still very cold, then return it to the refrigerator.
At service	Caviar out over ice as it is served; bluefin cut and plated at the last moment; crab steamed for four to six minutes and straight to the table.

For a dinner on the evening of 31 December. Fresh air-flown bluefin, if you order it, needs no thaw — keep it cold.

What to ask your supplier

King crab: which cut and grade, and how well the meat fills the shell; whether it was frozen at origin, and the landing date; and whether any substitution — second phalanx for merus, say — will be disclosed before delivery rather than discovered on the day.

Bluefin: the Latin name, so you know it is bluefin rather than yellowfin or bigeye; what the fish graded and where in the belly the piece was taken from; and whether it was held at ultra-low temperature for raw service.

Caviar: what it is, what documentation it carries, and when it was packed. For sturgeon caviar, the CITES code on the tin; for salmon roe, clear origin documentation.

For everything: temperature-logged delivery, and the record if you ask for it; origin documentation; and halal certification in writing for the products that carry it. A supplier running a real cold chain answers all of this without hesitating.

On price: current prices are shown on our product pages where they are published, and otherwise confirmed on request against the weekly landing list. Confirm the price when you order.

Frequently asked

How much caviar for a New Year's Eve party of 10?: As a tasting or canapé, 10–15g per person, so 100–150g for ten. As a course in its own right, 30g or more per person — 300g or more for ten.
How far ahead should I order seafood for New Year's Eve in Dubai?: At least a week before 31 December, and earlier for whole or live king crab, which are pre-order only. Year-end is a peak week: prices firm ahead of it and availability at a specific grade runs out first. Delivery is scheduled by appointment.
When should I take king crab and bluefin out of the freezer?: 12–24 hours before serving, into the refrigerator, sealed and on a tray — for a dinner on the evening of 31 December, the evening of the 30th. Thawed crab keeps at 0–2°C for the same day or the next; thawed bluefin for raw service is a same-day product. Never re-freeze either.
Can I serve king crab cold on a canapé table?: Yes. It arrives cooked, and properly thawed it is excellent cold — particularly merus and claw meat. Claw meat, dressed simply, is one of the most practical canapés on a seafood table.