Food Tasting # 20: Purpledish Catering Part 2

This is the last installment of my three-part wedding weekend adventure! :) After eating Juan Carlo's food for lunch and going to Ivory and White for some gown fitting, it was time to head to our last destination for the day: to Chef Velmor's private place for a food tasting session with Purpledish.

This is practically our third time to eat Purpledish's food, but we want to make our initial menu as early as possible so that it would be easier to narrow down our choices later on. And what better way to make a menu than by tasting their dishes over and over again? Hehe.

We also brought along Popong, Mox's brother and my future brother-in-law, so that we would have a third-party perspective on the food. We just had to pay P250 for the extra seat since the food tasting was only free for the couple.

By the way, I just love their setup during the food tasting. Everything was simple, elegant and dainty, with its  pink napkins and purple flowers. Chef said that this setup is actually part of their basic package, but only for the VIPs. If you would want to have this kind of setup for your guests, then that would be considered an upgrade since you would have to add lamps and all. I just didn't like the lamps and the tall bird cages because I couldn't see the person in front of me. Haha. Mahirap talaga maging vertically-challenged. But hey, that's just my opinion. If you want tall centerpieces, then by all means follow your heart's desire! Hehe.

Now for the cocktail hour, we were given four appetizers, one soup and one salad to try. First, let's talk about the appetizers!

The Avocado Roll was our least favorite in the bunch. There was avocado and cheese, all wrapped in a clammy lumpia wrapper. It was cold and it tasted weird. Honestly, I couldn't described how it tasted like. Basta weird. Even Popong didn't like it!

But we all agreed that the Eggplant Parmegianna was the best. We loved it during our first food tasting, and we still love it now. Everything was just so cheesy and yummy! Yes, this will definitely go on our menu.

I was the only one who ate the Spanish Sardines Bruschetta. It tasted fine; the tomato was able to balance the saltiness of the sardines. Although, I have to admit that it was really too much sardines for me. Medyo naumay ako eh.

The Cirkulo Tofu came in late, so again, I was the only one who ate it. Halatang patay-gutom. Haha! Chef said that it was their second version, because the first version was messier to eat. I love Cirkulo Tofu 2.0!  I really couldn't describe the taste before, but now, I could say it was spicier and definitely meatier because of the sisig in it. Who would have thought that there is actually meat in the tofu? I'm sure our guests will be tickled by the unusualness of this dish. Mox and Popong didn't like it as much as I did, but since I'm the boss, this goes in our menu. Haha!

Clockwise: Eggplant Parmegianna, Avocado Roll, and Spanish Sardines Bruschetta

Cirkulo Tofu

For our salad, we got the Mango Salsa Salad. Oh yeah, this will definitely be our salad of choice. Everyone loved it! The mangoes were sweet and juicy, and the dressing was just WOW! Kung pwede lang higupin, ginawa ko na! Haha! This was also a definite winner for Mox and Popong. Three thumbs up!

Mango Salsa Salad

Our soup shot was the French Onion and Cheese Soup. One of my favorite soups ever! I was actually torn between this soup and the Potato Pumpkin, but since my friend, who will be getting married this August, chose this soup, then we'll probably get the Potato Pumpkin. But this soup is a definite must-try!

Now on to the main courses. For our pork dish, we had the Honey Glazed BBQ Pork Spareribs. We thought it was delicious! The bbq sauce was heavenly, and the meat was so soft and tender. I actually listed this as our pork dish of choice when I first tasted it during our first food tasting. That's how much I love it! And luckily, Mox loved it too. Yey! :)

Top: Honey Glazed BBQ Pork Spareribs; Bottom: Norwegian Salmon

We  then had two upgraded dishes for our fish course: the Norwegian Salmon and Prawn Thermidor. The salmon has been a staple of our food tastings with Purpledish, so there's no need to go into details about it. Alam niyo naman kung gaano siya kasarap eh. Haha. Now I was really excited to try Chef's prawn thermidor. Luckily, he didn't disappoint us because the prawns were delicious! :) There was the perfect balance of the prawn meat and the cheesy sauce. Surprisingly, hindi siya nakakaumay! The portions were generous too, although not as big as Passion Cook's version. Now I'm torn between the salmon or the prawns! Decisions, decisions.

Prawn Thermidor

For our chicken course, we had the Pollo Diavola - Herbed and Spicy Olive Oil. When I had this during our first food tasting, I really didn't like it because I thought it was too bland. But surprisingly, I loved it during last Saturday's event. It was now very flavorful, a mixture of herbs and spices. :)

Pollo Diavola

For our pasta course, we had the usual favorite: Beef and Veggie Lasagna. Again, I won't expound on this anymore since this had always been the pasta of choice for food tastings. Bottomline is, we were pretty full aftuer eating the lasagna. Nakakabusog talaga!

Beef and Veggie Lasagna

Lastly, we had the Slow Roast US Belly for our beef course. The beef was very soft and tender, yet the slices were a bit thin during the food tasting. (Sorry, I wasn't able to take pictures.) If ever we'll get a carving station, I'll instruct the carver to cut thicker slices for the guests. Medyo nakakabitin kasi pag maninipis eh.

Now for our desserts! :) There were a lot of dessert choices during the food tasting, and I mean A LOT. Just take a look at our dessert buffet and see for yourself! Di pa kasama lahat ng desserts sa lagay na yan ah!

Clockwise: Cream Puffs, Truffles, and Eclairs

Clockwise: Strawberry Mouse Cheesecake, Mango Creme Brulee, Bluer than Blueberry Cheesecake and Beco Cheesecake

Since I was already too full from the appetizers and the main courses, I was only able to get three desserts. The first dessert that I got was a new creation called Vien Canoli. Chef said that it is fried cheesecake, and to eat it, you would have to dip it into the Belgian chocolate to give it some added sweetness. Honestly, I never thought that it was cheesecake; I actually thought it was turon! But still, this was definitely a hit. The chocolate has the right amount of sweetness to it so there is little chance of pangungumay. You can even drink it straight after eating the fried cheesecake. It's just like drinking hot chocolate, only it's no longer hot. Haha! Basta, this new dessert was a success! :)

Vien Canoli

Then I had the Truffles and the Devil's Food Cake. Chef said the truffles are not suitable for kids because they contain three different kinds of alcohol in it. And true enough, there was that hint of alcoholic punch to it. Not enough to make you outrageously drunk, but enough to make you aware of its alcoholic taste. It tasted okay, but I really don't want any alcohol in my food, let it be the main course or dessert. I asked Chef if there would be a huge difference if we would take the alcohol out and he said no naman. So I'll probably take the non-alcoholic truffles instead. Hehe.

As for the Devil's Food Cake, well, it was still the same moist chocolate cake that I had also tasted during the Couple's Night. However, I'd probably choose the Beco Cheesecake over this one because guests might find it too sickeningly sweet and chocolatey. But overall, it was delicious.

Left: Truffles; Right: Devil's Food Cake

Purpledish also offers candy buffet packages. In fact, if you would book on the spot during their group food tastings, you will get a candy buffet package good for 50 guests for free! Check out their styling for their candy buffet below.

VERDICT: This food tasting was a success because not only were we able to at least list down our initial menu choices, but we were also able to meet our fellow W@Wies! :) Special shoutout to Lala and Archie, Johanne and her fiance, Che and Erns, and Marifel and her fiance (sorry, di ko alam mga names niyo eh x_x). I'm so happy to finally meet the faces behind the emails and FB accounts. Hehe. Mox also made some new friends too. Close na nga sila ni Archie, pati pagkakasakit niya sa tiyan nakwento na niya. Haha!