5th Food Tasting: Richgold Catering

Sorry if my post is all about food tasting, I really wanted to post as soon as we had our FT so I can comment honestly on the taste.

Richgold Catering is one of the major sponsor of Themes & Motifs fair so they were able to held their "mini" food tasting there. You'll know why "mini" later. Going to Richgold food tasting is our final agenda during the fair since we had food tasting with Hizon's during lunch time and we are still full.

On to our Food Tasting.

This is the reason why I call it "mini"

Good thing that the AE underlined the menu name or else I will not recognize this.

Verdict: Clockwise starting from the beef (left side of the Lumpia)

Korean Beef Stew - Meat is not that tender and a bit salty. I did not like the sauce.

Sliced Pork with Pineapple & Peppercorn - the name said it has pineapple but I did not taste it, It's also not in the sweet side. Also bland for me.

Chicken Parmigiana - Salty, good thing I only had a small piece.

Pan seared fish with White wine mushroom sauce - Just okay for me, the fish blends with the sauce but still this is in the salty side.

Lumpia with deep fried wrapper - save the best for last, among all entree served this stands out, but still not that at par with other caterers that we tried. Good.

Desserts

Verdict:

Fresh Fruits in a shot - Nana sampled this first, when I got my glass he whispered to me "just take a small piece, I don't think you'll like it because I didn't like it" I took his advice and got a piece of pineapple and I agree with Nana this is not good. I don't know if because of the syrup or because the pineapple taste like it came from the can (you know the Del Monte/Dole in a can) but we didn't like it.

I do not know the name of the one in the chinese spoon but this is better than the fruit shot. Again, this is too ordinary for me because this is just a simple Yolk (yema)/ Custard. Not that sweet.

Overall, We did not liked the entrees served maybe because this is just a mini food tasting or what. I heard some brides liked their food. For the package price of 777.00 plus Service charge (which makes it 854.00) I think it's not worth it considering that they gave us 5 freebies (Lechon, Choco Fountain w/ dippings, Candy & Cookie Bar, Overnight at Waterfront Hotel and Bridal car) 

Did we booked them? NO, more than the freebies we are more concerned on the taste of the foods. If they can't serve good food on  this mini food tasting, how can I be sure that they will serve good food on our big day? 

Again, This is just me. Maybe there are good food that Richgold can serve but they did not pass our taste buds. Take note even Nana's taste bud considering he is so easy to please.

4th Food Tasting : Hizon's Catering

A background: I have been registering for the Grand food tasting I think 4 times already but I am not getting a confirmation. For the June 22, 2013 food tasting I registered twice and even texted the number posted twice. I got a call last June 21, 2013 and because it was a day before the event the AE that I talked to said the slots were already full and they will just re-invite us on the next food tasting or if we want a private food tasting, It's fine for me since Hizon's is not in the list of my shortlisted caterer and I just want to experience their foods.

As mentioned in my previous post, we are strolling in the fair when Vhanie texted me to go to Pergola (where Hizon's is helding their Food tasting), her AE said we can drop by and have our food tasting too. (lucky us for free lunch)

On to our Food tasting experince (sorry for the long introduction)

First we had Appetizers

Serving size is cute (literally)

Verdict: 

(Left) Crispy Beef Sesame Spring rolls - This is my favorite among the 5 the beef is tasty and blends well with the roll and the little sauce underneath.

(Top) Tomato & Mozzarella Bruschetta - as simple as bread with tomato & cheese nothing fancy here and does not taste good to me.

(Right) Argentinean Cheese Steak Canape - I really do not know what this is, It has a weird taste but it doesn't taste that bad. 

(Bottom) Smoked Tanigue w/ Mango Tarragon Salsa - I did not taste the Tanigue in it. The tomato is overpowering here. 

(Center) Caramelized Onion & Cheese Canape - It took me a while before I taste this, I need to gather a lot of courage because I do not eat onions, but since this one is caramelized I gave it a try and hey! it taste good (but I'll never eat it again-sorry onion hater here)

Soup and Salad were served next

Soups - cutie also

Verdict:

(Left) Cream of Pumpkin soup - This is just so-so for me, not bad but not that great also. Creaminess is okay, I think it needs more pumpkin. There are more delicious Pumpkin soups around. 

(Right) Truffled Cream of Mushroom soup - A better alternative to the usual mushroom soup. I love the consistency of this soup and It taste better than the first one. 

Salads

Verdict:

(Left) Asian Salad with Wanton Crisps - Green salad with vinaigrette dressing topped with wanton crisps. I will be biased but between the 2, I would rather choose this salad, this is the safest choice that I think everyone will like. 

(Right) Grilled Vegetable Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette - From the name itself you'll know why I am biased (lol) I set aside the eggplant and onion, but even by doing so this does not taste good for me.

After the soup and the salad we were told to get the main entrees on the buffet table. I was surprised on the number of entrees served.

Let's start with the Pasta

Verdict:

(Left) Fettuccine with Seafood Cream sauce - I love white sauce & seafood, combine both and add lots of Parmesan cheese oh no! this is LOVE (^_^) enough said, I love this pasta.

(Right) Penne with Puttanesca sauce - I've been overwhelmed with the other sauce so this did not taste as good as the first one but this is also good (don't get me wrong) It's just that I am biased on white sauces.

My Plate (sorry it's a mess)

Verdict: Middle bottom clockwise (starting from the rice)

Crispy Beef Rice - I love it when the rice is not plain, the rice itself is tasty. Imagine Beef Chowfan (but better).

Slow Roasted US beef with Mushroom Gravy - you can also choose the Hickory Smoked Barbecue sauce but I chose Mushroom Gravy. The meat is tender and tasty even without the sauce. I love this

Pork Salpicao with Grilled Vegetable & Mashed Potato - I love the mashed potato and it blends well with the pork. again, I need to set aside the veggie before I ate this. Good.

Beef Tepanyaki - Love this, super tasty and the beef is really tender.

Stir fry Chicken Sambal - I did get the bone part so I am just able to take a bite, The sauce is kindda salty and lacks spice (sorry high tolerance for spicy foods).

Chicken Alexander - I liked this better than the first chicken dish, It's creamy texture blends well with the chicken.

Herb Crusted Fish Fillet with Lemon Butter sauce - you can also have Honey Mustard sauce but I choose this one, I love this. The sauce compliments the saltiness & a bit spice of the fillet.

Baked Fish with cream & Spinach - This is love also. good thing I did not taste the spinach and the cheesy cream is yummy. the fish and the cream really bends well.

Thrice cooked pork belly with Hickory Smoked Barbecue sauce - another sauce that you can try is the mango cilantro salsa. I did not get it because I think I saw onion (lol). Again this is love together with the barbecue sauce. The meat is so tender and flavorful.

After the main entrees they served the Desserts. Bad news for me is Nana and I have to share this plate.. (booo) 

Verdict::

(Bottom Left) Dark Chocolate with Strawberry Mousse - just plain chocolate with mousse. but because they used dark chocolate it complements the sweetness of the strawberry mousse.

(Bottom Right) Vanilla Creme Brulee - This is better than the previous creme brulee that I tasted. consistency is okay and not that sweet. (I loved Vikings creme brulee more)

(Top Left) Mango Pandan Panacotta - The tapioca again gave this dessert a plus factor. the pandan flavor overpowered the mango. This is not that sweet.

(Top Right) Flourless Chocolate cake - It lacks the sweetness I am expecting and the cake is airy maybe because this is flourless. I am a chocolate lover but I can pass on this one.

(Middle) Baked Blueberry Cheesecake - save the best for last (lol!) I have tried so many blueberry cheesecake but Hizon's version is love. I did not expect it to be that good since I was not wowed by the first 4 but this is heavenly. Must have.

Overall, Again I did not expect Hizon's to be that generous during food tasting on the number of entrees served. I was really full after. Another thing is that I did not expect that their food is yummy also. why? Hizon's has been in the wedding industry for such a long time I thought that their food is just ordinary but I am wrong, the reason that they are still in the industry because they served great food. More hits that misses on their main entrees, the rest you have to pick wisely.

Did we get them? No. Nana wants to get them because of the freebies that they offer like Hotel Accommodation, Bridal car etc. but for exactly the same price as KbyC I would rather choose KbyCunanan (okay I am biased). Since Nana liked them okay we will put Hizon's on our shortlisted caterer.

Bridal Fair : Themes & Motifs

This is not the first fair that we attended but this is the first fair that I will blog (sorry I cannot remember the others and will not be that important anymore because it is already months ago).

The morning of June 22, 2013 we thought we cannot go to the fair, Luckily, we were able to go and bump into some friends. 

Look at the loot that we got (^_^)

We just wanted to stroll around and look at the current offerings of the suppliers. And have our Food tasting with Richgold Catering

While waiting for my w@wie sister Vhanie (they were in Pergola for Hizon's FT) we grabbed the chance to sample the heavenly cakes of Joy San Gabriel and everything is yummy. (I wish I have budget for cake buffet) we really enjoyed the cakes promise (^_^). Then I got a text from Vhanie that we can go to Pergola and experience Hizon's Food tasting (talk about free lunch) -more of this on my next post.

Back to the fair, we also sampled Vhanie's booked photo booth Pose & Print (they have nice set-up during the fair)

Our Picture (cutie right?)

We also sampled some mobile bar - Margarush (my first love) the frozen margarita is really good. Nana sampled Mixed Mobile bar but he said it's not that good. We also went to GQ's booth and I sampled Appletini (yes, again) and Screaming Orgasm (another chocolate flavored drink but has more kick than Boracay) while Nana sampled Sidecar (harder than appletini) again, we enjoyed the drinks.

At 4:30pm we had a quick meeting (prize committee). Me, May, Ren, Joy, Rachel (she dropped by) met in the ferris wheel area of the fair. We have to make an initial prize list for our Grand EB on July 07, 2013 and guess what? we came up with ideas yey!

To end the day, we had our Food Tasting with Richgold Catering (more on my next post).

The day as indeed a tiring one but we had fun, now I know where World Trade Center is (^_^). One realization we came up is that we really need to buy a car. Commuting is not easy specially if you will ride LRT1. Not to mention we braved the storm while traveling home. 

3rd Food Tasting: Purple Dish Catering

Night of June 15, 2013 we had our food tasting with Chef Velmor of Purple Dish Catering. This is one of my most awaited Food tasting because we are also considering Purple Dish as our caterer. Again we are with our 2 w@wie sister and thanks to sis Nat for the ride (^_^).

Nana while waiting

If you can see the set-up, This is their basic set-up for VIP (I wonder how basic their set-up is for guest table) I think the set-up is too basic for VIP table. It means if we get PD we need to upgrade the styling.

Let's proceed to the Food tasting.

We had 4 appetizer, 1 soup shot and a salad.

Avocado Rolls, Eggplant Parmigiana & Sardine Bruschetta

Verdict: 

Avocado rolls - At first I did not realized that there is avocado inside (though I got 2), maybe they need to put more avocado to this to make this tasty. If not for the server I will not know  this is avocado roll. I am quite disappointed with this because I am expecting this to be good.

Sardine Bruschetta - I do not eat sardine but for the sake of FT I need to eat this, the sardine is okay but I am expecting this to be on the spicy side, the bread is soft.

Eggplant Parmigiana - I got 2 pieces without knowing that this is eggplant, Thanks again to our server for informing me. I do not eat eggplant, I gave Nana the other piece and ate the other one. surprisingly, this taste good you will not notice that this is eggplant unless you take a closer look. Nana loves this. for him, this is his favorite among the 3.

Circulo Tofu (from PD FB page)

I got excited to try this that I forgot to take picture, I love Tofu and this appetizer is really good. Of all served to us that night this is my favorite. the downside, this is on the heavy side I refrain myself to get another piece. This is tofu with sisig on top (yummy right?)

French Onion and Cheese soup

Verdict: I do not eat Onions and I hate everything with onions but gosh, this soup is yummy. I did not taste the onion, creamy and yummy.. Nana & I love this.

Mango Salsa Salad

Verdict: As I have said, I don't like everything with onion, I have to set aside the onions & peppers in  this salad so I can eat this, without those 2 this is really refreshing. I love mango on salad.

After the appetizer, Chef Velmor had a short talk, He discussed the package, the issues and there are question and answer portion. The talk is actually very informative since it will be hard to talk one on one with Chef because there are other couples there.

On to the main entrees.

My Plate

Verdict: Clockwise from lower left

Honey Glazed BBQ Spareribs - yummy! Nana & I love this. the sweetness and the bbq sauce compliment with each other.

Norwegian Salmon - love love love.. The salmon is juicy and with butter lemon sauce super yummy! It may look plain but it's bursting with flavor. I wonder if this dish can be altered and have a cream sauce? but even without sauce, I super love this. Must have.

Prawn Thermidor - another love love love.. This is my weakness Prawn. This is really really good (I swear), If only I am not that full already I would go for another round of prawn. This is a must have.

PolloDiavola (herbed & spicy olive oil) - Maybe I was overwhelmed with the salmon & prawn this became ordinary for me and a bit oily (because of the olive oil) but again this is also good with just the right spice.

Beef & Veggie Lasagna - Another yummy dish, though I have to set aside the veggie (sorry). This is love also.. the only downside (or advantage for couple) this is on the heavy side again. Just a small slice is really filling already. I believe this is the reason why I fell full but yummy.

10-hour Slow Cooked Roast Beef - We love this too.. super tender beef and really yummy!

And now the dessert part: I am hearing raves for this now let's see if I'll like it.

Caramel Custard Cream Puffs

Verdict: It's just okay for me, because I already tasted other more delicious cream puffs.

Eclair

Verdict: same as the first one, I was not wowed by is, just my ordinary Eclair.

Chocolate Truffles? sorry I forgot

Verdict: Chef said this has liquor, I did not notice. This is good. much chocolate but not too sweet.

Devil's Food Cake 

Verdict: Good thing Chef let us take home some desserts, so I am able to taste this at home. the cake is moist and not too sweet also. Just okay for me.

Strawberry Mousse Cheesecake

Verdict: I loved this, good thing I took home a slice. Nana like this too. 

Beco Cheesecake

Verdict: A cheesecake with chocolate frosting, a different take on cheesecake. Good also

 Matcha Green Tea Cheesecake

Verdict: Nana & I like this, the green tea flavor is not overpowering. Again not that sweet

Sorry, I forgot  the name of this

Verdict: This is not sweet, the cake is moist but sadly, both of us did not like this

Bluer Than Blueberry Cheesecake

Verdict: This is love.. I think this is the best cheesecake flavor that Chef has. Must try.

Mango Creme Brulee

Verdict: I am disappointed with this, I love Creme Brulee but this one is failed for me. I do not know if it is because of the long waiting time but the consistency of this is not good.

Vien Canoli (Fried Cheesecake w/ Belgian chocolate) - got from PD FB page

Verdict: This is good, I love the chocolate but I  think the older version is better.

Overall: 

Hors D' Oeuvres - There are hits and misses, just need to choose wisely.

We love the selections of main entrees that were served, but the Salmon, Prawn & Lasagna is already an upgrade (ouch). this means an add-on on their package rate.

Desserts - Again there are hits and misses and the selection is composed mostly of cheesecakes which makes it taste just the same. In my opinion, limit the selection of cheesecake to at most 2 for variety.

Did we book them? No. we are still thinking and considering other factors like styling, food selection (we love the upgrades) and the number of guest (PD's minimum pax is 150 so they can waive the SC). Though we loved the food we still need to think.

2nd Food Tasting: Juan Carlo the Caterer

Last June 15, 2013 we went to Fernwoods in Quezon City for our Food tasting with Juan Carlo with my 2 w@wie sisters and their hubby to be. This is the first time we went to Fernwoods and the place is really nice though it is hot during lunch time because the place is not airconditioned but the place is really picture perfect.

Going back to the food tasting, Unlike our food tasting with KbyC the foods were served on one plate. Nana's food is different from mine (I assume so we can taste variety of dishes). One thing I do not like with Juan Carlo is that the food takes too long to be served and no one talked to us regarding the package and we are only given a calling card.

Here are the foods that were served.

First the soup: We were served two kinds of soup

Cream of Fresh Mushroom Soup

Verdict: This taste like the ordinary mushroom soup, Nana said this taste like Knorr Cream of mushroom soup. Okay this is not that bad, this is actually okay, but as I have said nothing extraordinary here, Mushroom soup is actually the safest soup to be served because it will be liked by most, but for me, wedding is a special occasion and the foods that we will serve must not be those that we can eat on regular days (this is just me),

Sopa de Congrejo (Crab meat soup w/ Celery & Carrots)

Verdict: This taste better than the Mushroom soup, but again this still did not tickle our taste buds. a bit bland and again just an ordinary soup.

Salad is not served (I wonder why?) well, let's proceed with the main entrees.

 Nana's Plate

Verdict: Based on Nana - I just sampled some of the dish (one bite)

Pasta: Angel Hair Puttanesca - Okay but lacks flavor.

Beef: Ox Tongue with buttered mushroom - The meat is tender but because of little mushroom sauce we do not know if it complements well.

Fish: Fish with tomato vegetable salsa - Bland again and Nana said he did not like this

Pork: Roast Pork with prunes & walnuts - Hit! yey, at least we tasted something delicious. The sweetness of prune and pineapple complements well. We both love this

Chicken: Chicken Hongkong style - I do not know what did they put on the chicken but Nana likes this, the meat is tender and it goes off the bones easily, I believe this has oyster sauce. 

Vegetable: Mixed Vegetable with oyster sauce - the normal veggie with oyster sauce but the veggie were well cooked.

Rice: Plain rice - Just plain rice lol!

In this plate, Nana only liked 2: Pork & Chicken dish, the rest are just ordinary.

My Plate

Verdict: Now I can comment (^_^)

Pasta: Penne Carbonara with bacon - I did not like, this is bland for me. I believe my carbonara tastes better (love your own).

Beef: Kare-kare with alamang - actually this is not beef meat this is Beef Tripe (tuwalya). This is not bad, but not the best Kare-Kare also. My Papa's Kare-Kare is better (again love your own)

Fish: Salmon in Tequila Cream Sauce - I love this, the salmon is juicy plus the cream sauce is yummy! I am craving for this one

Pork: I actually do not know the name but I am guessing from their menu that this is Baked Pork Gallantine - Love! I maybe biased here because I love cheese, This is like pork with ham inside and cheese on top (yummy)

Chicken: Chicken Breast in Piri Piri Sauce - Do not ask me what Piri Piri sauce is, I do not know. anyways, this is not that good for me just plain grilled chicken but the meat is tender.

Vegetable: Mongolian Vegetable - I gave this to Nana because I do not eat veggie that much. I only eat selected veggie but per Nana this is too ordinary.

Rice: Moroccan Rice - Okay this taste better than Nana's rice but still taste ordinary.

My Plate: I loved the Fish & Pork dish, for the rest I cannot recommend. 

For Desserts

Verdict: 

Top Left: Coffee Magnifico -  Just okay, this is something to take away the "umay" factor because this is not too sweet. I would love it if they put more coffee flavor.

Top Right: Pandan Pannacotta - The usual panacotta but this one has tapioca which makes eating more fun, again not that sweet

Bottom Left: Rich Carrot cake - Nana likes this among the 4, but I already tasted a lot of better carrot cake than this.

Bottom Right: I don't know what this is called but this is simple Meringue with fruits and cream on top. I like this (I love meringue)

Sorry if you think I am that picky, Maybe I just have this weird taste bud.

Overall, Food Tasting with Juan Carlo is just okay, there are hits and there are misses. I think this happens to all caterer. We just got a copy of their package and the lowest is 950/pax (plus 10%SC & 12%VAT). 

Do we get them? The picky me would rather choose another caterer. This is just me (do not get me wrong) There are hits for Juan Carlo but this is just not for us.

7th Booked Supplier : Mobile Bar

Crazy me right? Okay we booked our mobile bar the same day as the photo booth. I really wanted to book a mobile bar because I know my papa and uncles are drinkers. In short, we would save a lot and less hassle for us.

Our Mobile Bar : GQ Mobile Bar

Side Story: I am in love with Margarush after hearing raves on how good their frozen margarita is. I also gave it a try and OMG! Lime is really good but since I have to consider that my guest are drinkers I gaved up Margarush.

We already went out of the bridal fair without booking GQ. we are still thinking if we will book them this early. We strolled around, Ate dinner and we are steps away from the FX terminal going home while suddenly Nana said "Let's book GQ" imagine we are already outside Megamall but we went back to 5th floor.

We did not go straight to GQ's booth, we strolled around first Nana tried the other 2 Mobile bar in the fair and my first love Margarush and he said that the drinks are not that good so we went to GQ's booth so he can try.

They let us try some drinks first, I had Appletini that morning so they gave me Boracay this time. Nana sampled the Appletini, another drink that I do not know that has fire (sorry I am not a drinker) and a Jello Shot. After trying those 3, We signed the contract and paid our down payment. The drinks are so good.. I love the chocolate flavored drink (^_^)

Here is the package that we got (the drinkers are excited)

- Unlimited Drinks for 4 hours
- 10 cocktails (+2 because we booked them in a bridal fair) total of 12 cocktails
- free 50 Jello Shots
- Bar games/Flair show

and added bonus is that we get 3 super cool and funny bar tenders namely Lloyd, JP & Jordan

so guys and girls, let's party the night away.. (^_^) oh, but before that, I need to go through the hardship of choosing 12 cocktails with the number of drinks that they have. Any suggestions?

You can contact GQ mobile bar thru:

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/GQ-Mobile-Bar/158381414218718?fref=ts
Email : gqmobilebar@gmail.com

6th Booked Supplier: Photo Booth

I love pictures, I love Photo booth (^_^). Yeh, you might think that I am crazy booking photobooth first before the church but we are already pencil booked on our church do not worry lol.. I only have two specific requirement for photo booth - It should be Magnetic and not the SLR type(because I do not want long waiting time). We are in the Bridal Fair last February with another w@wie sister Vhanie and they let us try this photo booth. After trying I asked for their package surprisingly, they are more affordable than the one beside them (whom I thought is the most affordable). They print fast because they use the traditional "boxed" photo booth.

Our Photo Booth : Funlipix Souvenir Photos

Here is our sample picture from the fair

We will be having the traditional 1 big and 3 small pics (do not worry) I know all of you loves to pose. I booked this supplier without even getting reviews (my bad) but as I arrived home I searched the net for reviews and luckily, they have been to many events already and even some celebrities are getting them (at least I can relax).

Package Inclusion:

3 hours Unlimited 4R prints with Magnets

Creative Photo Lay-out

Customized Backdrop

On-site technician

Free delivery/Set-up of Photo Booth

Free use of Props

Free DVD copy of Pictures

On-line Gallery

Since I got a free photo booth layout from sis OJ, I don't have to worry about this anymore. Sis OJ makes the best photo booth layout ever.

As of writing, my only worry is that I should have choosen the 4hr package, 3hrs might not be enough.. arghhh.. well, maybe when my event is near I can think if it is worth getting an extra hour.. what do you think?

You can contact Funlipix Souvenir Photos thru:

FB Page: 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Funlipix-On-Site-Photo-Booth/177756859375?fref=ts