Yay, I'm back to blogging! 4 months before our wedding and it's only now that I was able to find time to blog again. Looking back at my first few weeks of being engaged, I really wanted to blog about everything. This is to document na rin my wedding planning experiences. Sadly, I was occupied by work and other stuff that I needed to attend to. Like most of wedding suppliers, parang death-December din yung nangyari sakin last year because of work-load and other errands. I hope I'm still not late in posting my backlogs and still can make it up for my own fullfilment na rin. :D
Anyways enough of the ranting... more on the blogging part.
During November last year ( if I remember it correctly), I cancelled our reservation with Town's Delight the Caterer. H2B and I came up with this decision after weighing the Pros and Cons of cancelling. I can also post my looong review about our food tasting with them at the bottom of this post. This is the review that I posted in w@w community too.
So who's our new caterer?
We ended up booking Queensland Catering instead. So far, I still feel at ease in having them as our caterer after our food tastings ( 2x), few email exchanges and meeting with our AE Michelle. Queensland Catering was actually recommended earlier to me by my cousin, even before I booked Town's Delight. My cousin was actually a friend/classmate of Queensland Catering's owner - Madel. What actually made me hesitant to try them at first are the mix reviews that I read on the net and in w@w. Since I'm into reading reviews before booking any supplier, I actually crossed them out right away because I'm afraid I might get a not-so-good experience like those few incidents I read online. I already booked Town's Delight when I attended a birthday party catered by Queensland Catering and I actually liked the food. Madel - the owner was there at the event too since the birthday that I attended is the birthday of my cousin's baby. The styling at that party, for me was nice too.
When I told my cousin about my not so good thoughts about Town's Delight (which you can read at bottom of this post), she told me I should try Queensland Catering's food tasting. Anyway, it's free of charge and it's happening every Sunday. So I said, why not. So we went and we ( H2b & I) really felt excited when we tasted their food.The food were all not super unique or very expensive but the good flavor is there. You can tell the difference between each main course and the flavor varies. I also think the food selection suit the type of guests that we have. Take for example my mom-- who doesn't like unusual food selection be it very expensive or in a classy resto. She just like simple, uncomplicated but delicious food. I can say I like Queensland's food even more than that of Hizon's.
Did I mention that their most expensive package is still more affordable than that of Town's delight? It's quite lesser than our original package in Town's Delight but somehow, I can say that the package with Queensland is more on the Quality /taste than of Quantity. So this is one of the Pros in cancelling our Town's Delight reservation. Even if we won't get our 5,000 php reservation fee, we can still save money by switching to Queensland Catering.
We didn't book them right way after our 1st food tasting. We think it through again. Also, I asked my cousin to do me a favor-- that is to set up a meeting for me and Madel ( the owner) . Since they're really friends, Madel happily obliged. We met in Alabang and there Madel promised that she will be at my wedding or else, lagot daw sya sa pinsan ko :D. I also let her know about the negative feedback I read online and she said she will make sure it won't happen in my wedding. We have other Qs that were clarified by Madel. Knowing that Ms. Madel will be at the reception really gave me a peace of mind. Oh.. I also asked her if we can do a food tasting based on our menu selection for the actual reception -- she said they can do that but it will cost us additonal charge. She just suggested that I will just request a certain food I want to taste on the next regular food tasting session that I will attend. Why not? :)
I finally booked Queensland Catering during our meeting with Ms. Madel. We also paid the downpayment directly to Ms. Madel.
Then we had our 2nd free food tasting last Jan. 25. Ms. Michelle told us we can pick 2 main course that we want to taste. We chose 1- Slow Roast Angus Beef & 2 - Baby Back Ribs. During this Food Tasting session, we also had our first formal meeting with our AE - Ms. Michelle. She's very detailed, attentive and nice so far. She also responds promptly to my emails .Minsan ako pa nga yung mabagal magreply. hehe. Ms. Michelle was actually recommended to us by Ms. Madel.
Here are some pictures during our 2nd food tasting:
** I actually liked almost everything that were served during that day. H2B were always hyper whenever we do food tasting with them. idk pero masarap daw tlaga hehe. We finalized our menu na rin during this FT. This made me kinda excited for my wedding.. Kinda pa lang kasi I still haven't booked my couturier! Gaah.
Anyways enough of the ranting... more on the blogging part.
During November last year ( if I remember it correctly), I cancelled our reservation with Town's Delight the Caterer. H2B and I came up with this decision after weighing the Pros and Cons of cancelling. I can also post my looong review about our food tasting with them at the bottom of this post. This is the review that I posted in w@w community too.
So who's our new caterer?
We ended up booking Queensland Catering instead. So far, I still feel at ease in having them as our caterer after our food tastings ( 2x), few email exchanges and meeting with our AE Michelle. Queensland Catering was actually recommended earlier to me by my cousin, even before I booked Town's Delight. My cousin was actually a friend/classmate of Queensland Catering's owner - Madel. What actually made me hesitant to try them at first are the mix reviews that I read on the net and in w@w. Since I'm into reading reviews before booking any supplier, I actually crossed them out right away because I'm afraid I might get a not-so-good experience like those few incidents I read online. I already booked Town's Delight when I attended a birthday party catered by Queensland Catering and I actually liked the food. Madel - the owner was there at the event too since the birthday that I attended is the birthday of my cousin's baby. The styling at that party, for me was nice too.
When I told my cousin about my not so good thoughts about Town's Delight (which you can read at bottom of this post), she told me I should try Queensland Catering's food tasting. Anyway, it's free of charge and it's happening every Sunday. So I said, why not. So we went and we ( H2b & I) really felt excited when we tasted their food.The food were all not super unique or very expensive but the good flavor is there. You can tell the difference between each main course and the flavor varies. I also think the food selection suit the type of guests that we have. Take for example my mom-- who doesn't like unusual food selection be it very expensive or in a classy resto. She just like simple, uncomplicated but delicious food. I can say I like Queensland's food even more than that of Hizon's.
Did I mention that their most expensive package is still more affordable than that of Town's delight? It's quite lesser than our original package in Town's Delight but somehow, I can say that the package with Queensland is more on the Quality /taste than of Quantity. So this is one of the Pros in cancelling our Town's Delight reservation. Even if we won't get our 5,000 php reservation fee, we can still save money by switching to Queensland Catering.
We didn't book them right way after our 1st food tasting. We think it through again. Also, I asked my cousin to do me a favor-- that is to set up a meeting for me and Madel ( the owner) . Since they're really friends, Madel happily obliged. We met in Alabang and there Madel promised that she will be at my wedding or else, lagot daw sya sa pinsan ko :D. I also let her know about the negative feedback I read online and she said she will make sure it won't happen in my wedding. We have other Qs that were clarified by Madel. Knowing that Ms. Madel will be at the reception really gave me a peace of mind. Oh.. I also asked her if we can do a food tasting based on our menu selection for the actual reception -- she said they can do that but it will cost us additonal charge. She just suggested that I will just request a certain food I want to taste on the next regular food tasting session that I will attend. Why not? :)
I finally booked Queensland Catering during our meeting with Ms. Madel. We also paid the downpayment directly to Ms. Madel.
Then we had our 2nd free food tasting last Jan. 25. Ms. Michelle told us we can pick 2 main course that we want to taste. We chose 1- Slow Roast Angus Beef & 2 - Baby Back Ribs. During this Food Tasting session, we also had our first formal meeting with our AE - Ms. Michelle. She's very detailed, attentive and nice so far. She also responds promptly to my emails .Minsan ako pa nga yung mabagal magreply. hehe. Ms. Michelle was actually recommended to us by Ms. Madel.
Here are some pictures during our 2nd food tasting:
** I actually liked almost everything that were served during that day. H2B were always hyper whenever we do food tasting with them. idk pero masarap daw tlaga hehe. We finalized our menu na rin during this FT. This made me kinda excited for my wedding.. Kinda pa lang kasi I still haven't booked my couturier! Gaah.
Here's my Town's delight Review Straight from W@w thread. Tired of typing so I just copied and pasted everything instead.
Hi mga sis,
*** long read :D
I had to search for this thread kasi I really want to comment on this after my food tasting with town's delight. I actually booked them during T&M's bridal fair because of the discount. 5k lang naman reservation fee & with their love taste package, sobrang dami na talagang food. So I got the discounted rate during fair and may free candy buffet since I book on the spot.
At first na-overwhelm din ako kasi ang dami din nila magdesign ng event but lately I realized na hindi yun ang peg ko. I check their FB page regularly and I just think, it's not my style. Like what sis Joyce said, they told me that I can ask naman the stylist what I want for the design based on my theme but I already browsed through almost all their albums and wla sa pegs ko ung mga items nila or paulit2 lang? For me too cramped or over over sila mag design? idk siguro gusto ko kasi minimalist lang. About backdrop options, with what they showed me, parang 3-4 lang ang options for backdrop and everything is color white. Pero since booked na I just thought na maybe we can still work it out pa rin.
Regarding their food naman, wala pa kong idea with how they taste like cuz I haven't attended any event na sila yung caterer but since I'm located in Cavite, marami naman akong officemates and even kamag-anak ni H2B na nagsabi na ok daw yung food nila,. masarap daw talaga. Then last week, I saw my cousin posted a pic of her friend's wedding that she attended in Tagaytay and nakita ko na town's yung nagset up. I asked her how was it. Sabi nya sakto lang daw yung food pero more on hindi masarap ung comment nya. Even the desserts daw so so lang to think daw na accdg to her friend, 1k per pax daw yung rate nila. Plus other not so good comments. My cousin is a chef and mahilig sila kumain sa mga high end restos kaya I just thought mataas lang talaga standards nya when it comes to food kaya hindi sya na satisfy. She actually advised me to try Queensland kasi classmate nya si Madel dati sa Australia and she says na mas masarap daw food dun than Town's.
So her comments really bothers me, plus the styling dilemma ko pa even before. Good thing we had our food tasting scheduled last monday with town's delight. ( by the way, with "the cousin's" advise, we attended Queensland's FT din last Sunday and for me, their food is really good, given na pihikan din kami ni H2B). So going back to town's delight FT, we decided to try the customized FT. Meaning, they will serve the food that I already chose to be served on the wedding day itself and not the chef's recommendation. I brought my parents along with me para na rin matikman nila yung food and they can tell me if it's good. I just ordered food for them from the Republic of Cavite restaurant menu (dito yung FT ng town's and not in their office in Tagataytay... ang layo ng Trece kahit na taga Bacoor lang kami) and then let them taste the food that was served to us during the FT also. This is cheaper instead of paying the 1k++ per head if they were to be served the same variety of food for the FT.
FT comment: ANG ALAT NG MGA MAIN COURSE. halos lahat ng main course nila maalat as in maalat! What I like lang is yung appetizer na nachos with Sweet Onion Dip and Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Maki-- I can't identify which is the cali maki from the platter and parang regular rice lang yung ginamit nila to make the makis
Main course:
Beef Brisket - too salty
Stuffed Pork Loin - matigas ung meat and plain lang yung lasa
Chicken Breast Piccata -- too salty din as in and overcooked yung chicken breast
Chinese Vegetables with Quail Eggs and Shitake Mushroom -- again too salty and overcooked yung veggies
Baked Herby White Fish Fillet with Bacon, Mushroom and Walnut-- too salty din to the point the hindi ko na sya makain kahit kalahati .
Same lahat kami ng comment even my dad-- malaat sila magtimpla. Kahit gutom na ko when I got to the place hindi ko naubos ung food kasi nga super alat. Mababa pa naman tolerance ko sa salty food.
I don't know if dahil lang sa chef na nagluto for us that day pero hindi talaga sya acceptable. I was actually expecting na mas masarap than the usual na sineserve nila yung matitikman ko kasi nga FT yun. Pero imagine if they will serve the same type of food during my wedding? sayang na yung bayad, mapapahiya pa kami sa guests.
My friend who attended a town's delight wedding before ( 2012 yata) can't believe na ganun ung lasa ng food nila kasi nga daw masarap tlga dati. Maybe they changed cooks /chef recently?
Tip din siguro: mas better talaga na ung food na gusto nyo yung i try nyo than chef's recommendation. Kasi with that, malalaman nyo if sanay tlaga sila lutuin yung mga food na yun kasi pag chef's reco.. malamang yun ung msarap talaga. Ok lang magbyad ng extra fee if you can be sure naman dba?
So with this, I'm really convinced na icancel na lang yung booking with them. Now i'm looking at Queensland or PD since sila yung I think within our budget pa rin. I'm into sweets kaya i'm really drooling over PD's desserts. back to caterer hunting nanaman ako. Huhubels.
Anyway hope this helps mga sis. sorry mahaba but i really want to put every details kasi. Sorry din if this review is more on FT lang and not during an actual wedding. Sana nga may mag post din ng reviews about how are they during actual wedding receptions. I want to know if maalat din ba yung food or yung sa FT lang tlaga namin.
Hi mga sis,
*** long read :D
I had to search for this thread kasi I really want to comment on this after my food tasting with town's delight. I actually booked them during T&M's bridal fair because of the discount. 5k lang naman reservation fee & with their love taste package, sobrang dami na talagang food. So I got the discounted rate during fair and may free candy buffet since I book on the spot.
At first na-overwhelm din ako kasi ang dami din nila magdesign ng event but lately I realized na hindi yun ang peg ko. I check their FB page regularly and I just think, it's not my style. Like what sis Joyce said, they told me that I can ask naman the stylist what I want for the design based on my theme but I already browsed through almost all their albums and wla sa pegs ko ung mga items nila or paulit2 lang? For me too cramped or over over sila mag design? idk siguro gusto ko kasi minimalist lang. About backdrop options, with what they showed me, parang 3-4 lang ang options for backdrop and everything is color white. Pero since booked na I just thought na maybe we can still work it out pa rin.
Regarding their food naman, wala pa kong idea with how they taste like cuz I haven't attended any event na sila yung caterer but since I'm located in Cavite, marami naman akong officemates and even kamag-anak ni H2B na nagsabi na ok daw yung food nila,. masarap daw talaga. Then last week, I saw my cousin posted a pic of her friend's wedding that she attended in Tagaytay and nakita ko na town's yung nagset up. I asked her how was it. Sabi nya sakto lang daw yung food pero more on hindi masarap ung comment nya. Even the desserts daw so so lang to think daw na accdg to her friend, 1k per pax daw yung rate nila. Plus other not so good comments. My cousin is a chef and mahilig sila kumain sa mga high end restos kaya I just thought mataas lang talaga standards nya when it comes to food kaya hindi sya na satisfy. She actually advised me to try Queensland kasi classmate nya si Madel dati sa Australia and she says na mas masarap daw food dun than Town's.
So her comments really bothers me, plus the styling dilemma ko pa even before. Good thing we had our food tasting scheduled last monday with town's delight. ( by the way, with "the cousin's" advise, we attended Queensland's FT din last Sunday and for me, their food is really good, given na pihikan din kami ni H2B). So going back to town's delight FT, we decided to try the customized FT. Meaning, they will serve the food that I already chose to be served on the wedding day itself and not the chef's recommendation. I brought my parents along with me para na rin matikman nila yung food and they can tell me if it's good. I just ordered food for them from the Republic of Cavite restaurant menu (dito yung FT ng town's and not in their office in Tagataytay... ang layo ng Trece kahit na taga Bacoor lang kami) and then let them taste the food that was served to us during the FT also. This is cheaper instead of paying the 1k++ per head if they were to be served the same variety of food for the FT.
FT comment: ANG ALAT NG MGA MAIN COURSE. halos lahat ng main course nila maalat as in maalat! What I like lang is yung appetizer na nachos with Sweet Onion Dip and Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Maki-- I can't identify which is the cali maki from the platter and parang regular rice lang yung ginamit nila to make the makis
Main course:
Beef Brisket - too salty
Stuffed Pork Loin - matigas ung meat and plain lang yung lasa
Chicken Breast Piccata -- too salty din as in and overcooked yung chicken breast
Chinese Vegetables with Quail Eggs and Shitake Mushroom -- again too salty and overcooked yung veggies
Baked Herby White Fish Fillet with Bacon, Mushroom and Walnut-- too salty din to the point the hindi ko na sya makain kahit kalahati .
Same lahat kami ng comment even my dad-- malaat sila magtimpla. Kahit gutom na ko when I got to the place hindi ko naubos ung food kasi nga super alat. Mababa pa naman tolerance ko sa salty food.
I don't know if dahil lang sa chef na nagluto for us that day pero hindi talaga sya acceptable. I was actually expecting na mas masarap than the usual na sineserve nila yung matitikman ko kasi nga FT yun. Pero imagine if they will serve the same type of food during my wedding? sayang na yung bayad, mapapahiya pa kami sa guests.
My friend who attended a town's delight wedding before ( 2012 yata) can't believe na ganun ung lasa ng food nila kasi nga daw masarap tlga dati. Maybe they changed cooks /chef recently?
Tip din siguro: mas better talaga na ung food na gusto nyo yung i try nyo than chef's recommendation. Kasi with that, malalaman nyo if sanay tlaga sila lutuin yung mga food na yun kasi pag chef's reco.. malamang yun ung msarap talaga. Ok lang magbyad ng extra fee if you can be sure naman dba?
So with this, I'm really convinced na icancel na lang yung booking with them. Now i'm looking at Queensland or PD since sila yung I think within our budget pa rin. I'm into sweets kaya i'm really drooling over PD's desserts. back to caterer hunting nanaman ako. Huhubels.
Anyway hope this helps mga sis. sorry mahaba but i really want to put every details kasi. Sorry din if this review is more on FT lang and not during an actual wedding. Sana nga may mag post din ng reviews about how are they during actual wedding receptions. I want to know if maalat din ba yung food or yung sa FT lang tlaga namin.