"Private chef" covers three quite different jobs in London, and each one is priced in its own way. Before comparing numbers, it helps to know which kind of chef you are actually looking for.
The three kinds of private chef, and how each one charges
A full-time household chef works for one family, usually five or six days a week, and often travels with them. This is a salaried job, normally filled through a specialist agency that charges a placement fee on top. It is the most expensive way to have a chef by a long way, and it only makes sense for large households that eat at home almost every day.
A dinner party or event chef cooks one meal for a group on one evening. They are usually quoted per head, and the price depends on the number of courses, the ingredients and whether serving and clearing staff are included. Ingredients are often charged separately, so read quotes closely.
A personal chef, or meal prep chef, visits your home, cooks a batch of meals and leaves them portioned in your fridge. You are paying for a few hours of skilled cooking rather than an evening of hospitality, so it is the most affordable of the three by a wide margin. This is what oishee does, with Japanese home cooking.
If you are not sure which of these you need, our guide to private chefs versus personal chefs goes through the differences in more detail.
What a meal prep visit costs with oishee
Every visit includes the chef's time, their travel and a clean kitchen at the end. You choose two or three dishes from the menu, and each dish makes four portions.
| Option | 2 dishes, 8 portions | 3 dishes, 12 portions |
|---|---|---|
| Fully hands-off: we buy everything | £140 | £165 |
| Hybrid: we bring the Japanese pantry | £120 | £135 |
| You shop: you buy all the ingredients | £100 | £115 |
| Delivered: cooked at ours, brought to you | £145 | £170 |
Buying a pack brings the price down: a 4-visit pack is 5% off and an 8-visit pack is 10% off, and you book each visit when it suits you. The pricing page has every combination worked out.
What actually changes the price
With any personal chef, a handful of things move the number. It is worth knowing which ones apply before you ask for a quote.
Who buys the ingredients
This is the biggest factor. When the chef sources everything, you are paying for their shopping time and for the food itself. When you shop from a list, the price covers the chef alone and the food is a separate cost that you control. Our hybrid option sits in between: the chef brings the Japanese pantry, meaning rice, sake, miso, soy, mirin, dashi and the rest, and you pick up the fresh produce locally.
How many dishes
More dishes means more time at the stove, but the cost per portion drops. A three-dish visit gives you half as many portions again for a relatively small increase in price.
How often you book
Most personal chefs reward regular bookings, because a recurring slot is easier to plan around. Ask whether a discount applies from the first visit or only after a minimum commitment.
Travel
Some chefs charge for travel, or charge more for postcodes far from where they live. We do not. A visit in Walthamstow costs exactly the same as one in Chelsea.
The cost per portion
Per-visit prices can be hard to compare, so it helps to divide by the number of portions. Across our four options, a portion works out between £9.58 and £18.13. The lower figures are the options where you buy the fresh ingredients yourself, so the food sits on top of that number. On fully hands-off, where everything is included, three dishes comes to £13.75 a portion.
That is food cooked in your own kitchen on the day, by a chef who grew up eating it, rather than a tray cooked in a central kitchen several days earlier.
How to compare quotes fairly
When you are weighing up two or three chefs, ask each one the same questions:
- Is travel included, or charged separately?
- Are ingredients included? If not, roughly what will they cost?
- How many portions will I get, and how big are they?
- Who provides the containers?
- Is the kitchen cleaned before the chef leaves?
- What happens if I need to cancel or change the date?
- Will I get the same chef each time?
A quote that looks cheaper often turns out to exclude ingredients, travel or the washing up. Comparing like for like is the only way to know what you are really paying.
FAQ
How much is a private chef per hour in London?
Most personal chefs in London price by the visit or by the number of dishes rather than by the hour, so an hourly rate is rarely the useful figure. What matters is what the visit includes. An oishee visit lasts three or four hours and costs £100 to £170, including travel and clean-up.
Is a private chef cheaper than eating out?
A meal prep chef usually is, per portion, particularly on the options where you buy the ingredients yourself. A dinner party chef is closer to the cost of a good restaurant, because you are paying for service as well as cooking.
Do I pay for the ingredients separately?
It depends on the chef and the option. With oishee, the fully hands-off and delivered options include everything. On the hybrid and you-shop options, you buy the fresh produce from a list we send you.
Is there a minimum booking?
With us, the minimum is one visit of two dishes. There are no subscriptions: book a single visit, or buy a pack of 4 or 8 visits at a discount and use it within 6 months.