Wedding Blog - Big Day minus 184
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:31 pm
The Food Tasting
After all the buildup, I must elaborate. The food was remarkable. Remarkably eh. Considering what we will be paying, much of it was flavorless, dry or underdone (sometimes in the same item), and even the presentation was nothing special. The Harvest Chicken (see yesterday's entry for its description) was dry on the outside, and the stuffing was slightly sweet (from the apple cider and cranberry) bread stuffing with essentially no other spices for flavor. IMO StoveTop is better. At least it has some flavor. Half of my Atlantic Salmon Filet en Papillote (savory pastry dough wrapped fue de brick stuffed with spinach and beurre blanc) was dry, with the other half okay. The manicotti in marinara sauce was apparently devoid of any sort of Italian flavoring. The woman seated next to us, there with her own daughter, said she was Italian and agreed that it was awful.
The au gratin potatoes were okay, and an extra two dollars per person. The only two hors d'oeuvres brought around were the diced tomato and mozzarella on a garlic baguette (a definite yes; essentially a cold bruschetta) and the breaded and fried beef and onion kabob with a fruit molasses dip (a definite no; tasted like an overly chewy onion ring). The Italian wedding soup wasn't any better than what you get from Progresso.
The caesar salad was good, but is $4/pp extra if you go the stations route instead of a plated entrée. The rolls were fresh and good, but nothing special. The coffee was bitter (GW) and weak (my thought). The carving stations were best, as the sirloin was pretty good. Unfortunately, the pork and ham options are useless, as we have several family members who keep kosher, leaving us with the sirloin or roasted turkey breast. The latter was not available for tasting.
The venue had many of the other available entrées and hors d'oeuvres on display to show the typical presentation. The salads don't have ANY tomatoes, except for the tomato and mozzarella salad, of course. So the $2/pp extra for the beefsteaks is just to get a tomato in there. The miniature cheeseburgers, by Ghu, actually looked like miniature cheeseburgers on a bulkie roll. There is also a pickle chip which covers the entire burger, to give you an idea of the size.
We were not impressed. I'm not sure how sincere GW was when she said she would tell the coordinator that the food wasn't particularly good for the price being charged. We were disappointed in the taste, or lack thereof, and I was disappointed that more of the options weren't available for tasting. There were several I would have liked to try. Just seeing them on display doesn't tell me anything. Right now, it's looking like the stations, which of course is the most expensive option.
After all the buildup, I must elaborate. The food was remarkable. Remarkably eh. Considering what we will be paying, much of it was flavorless, dry or underdone (sometimes in the same item), and even the presentation was nothing special. The Harvest Chicken (see yesterday's entry for its description) was dry on the outside, and the stuffing was slightly sweet (from the apple cider and cranberry) bread stuffing with essentially no other spices for flavor. IMO StoveTop is better. At least it has some flavor. Half of my Atlantic Salmon Filet en Papillote (savory pastry dough wrapped fue de brick stuffed with spinach and beurre blanc) was dry, with the other half okay. The manicotti in marinara sauce was apparently devoid of any sort of Italian flavoring. The woman seated next to us, there with her own daughter, said she was Italian and agreed that it was awful.
The au gratin potatoes were okay, and an extra two dollars per person. The only two hors d'oeuvres brought around were the diced tomato and mozzarella on a garlic baguette (a definite yes; essentially a cold bruschetta) and the breaded and fried beef and onion kabob with a fruit molasses dip (a definite no; tasted like an overly chewy onion ring). The Italian wedding soup wasn't any better than what you get from Progresso.
The caesar salad was good, but is $4/pp extra if you go the stations route instead of a plated entrée. The rolls were fresh and good, but nothing special. The coffee was bitter (GW) and weak (my thought). The carving stations were best, as the sirloin was pretty good. Unfortunately, the pork and ham options are useless, as we have several family members who keep kosher, leaving us with the sirloin or roasted turkey breast. The latter was not available for tasting.
The venue had many of the other available entrées and hors d'oeuvres on display to show the typical presentation. The salads don't have ANY tomatoes, except for the tomato and mozzarella salad, of course. So the $2/pp extra for the beefsteaks is just to get a tomato in there. The miniature cheeseburgers, by Ghu, actually looked like miniature cheeseburgers on a bulkie roll. There is also a pickle chip which covers the entire burger, to give you an idea of the size.
We were not impressed. I'm not sure how sincere GW was when she said she would tell the coordinator that the food wasn't particularly good for the price being charged. We were disappointed in the taste, or lack thereof, and I was disappointed that more of the options weren't available for tasting. There were several I would have liked to try. Just seeing them on display doesn't tell me anything. Right now, it's looking like the stations, which of course is the most expensive option.