Food Tasting

The wedding is only 149 days away and there are still a thousand things I need to take care of. My to-do list seems to grow with each day rather than shrink. Invites, guestlist, flowers, gowns, shoes, rings, music... It's neverending.

One point that I was looking forward to was the food tasting. At least you get instant satisfaction (assuming the food is good) from it unlike other items on the list where the result is only seen the big day itself. My sister/maid of honor and D. joined me for an earlier dinner at our reception venue Marriott Newport City.

We decided on a sit-down, 4-course menu. For the food tasting we got to pick 3 dishes for each course. Our decision was unanimous for soup, appetizer and entrée. We are still torn when it comes to desserts, as they were all so delicious that we'd actually want all of them. We'll probably end up with a mash-up of the choices we had.

Meanwhile, here's a sneak peek of what's to come.... There are still tweaks here and there, improvements on presentation and increasing/decreasing of portions or certain ingredients, but this is more or less it. Bon appétit!

Soup: Cream of cauliflower with toasted almonds and truffle essence

Verdict: We requested for some more truffle oil to be added as we're big fans of the taste.

Appetizer: Sweet harbour prawns, tomato avocado salsa, spicy remoulade and salmon caviar.

Verdict: Presentation is a mess and the chef is working on coming up with something visually more inspiring. But the prawns taste fresh, fresh, fresh and the avocado salsa is tasty.

Entrée: Grilled Australian rib-Eye, sautéed rock lobster tail, asparagus, potato dauphinoise, truffle sauce

Verdict: We knew from the start we wanted a surf&turf. This version exceeded our expectations. I'm not a huge fan of lobster, but this was delicious and D. and I fought about who got the last piece. We switched the truffle sauce to a simple red wine sauce as to not overpower the taste of the steak and lobster. Portions are obviously very generous, and I hope even our most hungriest guests will be satisfied.

Dessert: Banana Split cheesecake, rhubarb&pear crumble

Verdict: I'm still salivating just thinking about it. Not everyone is into rhubarb&pear though...

Dessert, option 2: Chocolate banana spring rolls with fresh lychee and fresh mango

Verdict: This is a glorified turon with a chocolate ganache in it. Home food with a sophistication.

Dessert, option 3: Chocolate crème brulée, chocolate mille-feuille, chocolate almond cake and whiskey sauce

Verdict: Chocolate overload. The mille-feuille reminds me of my dad's favorite dessert whenever we were on vacation in South of France.