Not Another Ondoy

This was how our house looked like during Ondoy's onslaught last September 26, 2009.

We were still among the fortunate ones because our house only sustained minimal damages despite the waist-deep waters outside and the ankle-deep waters inside. Others weren't so lucky.

Today, non-stop rains has caused floods in the different cities in Metro Manila. Most people are stranded and the traffic is terrible. Right now, waters are seeping into our garage so we had to move my car to my aunt's house, which is on a higher ground.

Lord, please keep everyone safe. Don't let this be another Ondoy. :(

Food Tasting # 13: NE Catering Services

I chanced upon NE Catering Services while searching for other caterers on the Internet. At first, I was hesistant to inquire with them because there weren't that many feedbacks in W@W and GirlTalk on this caterer. But when I saw how affordable their packages are, I decided to send out an email and schedule a food tasting with them.

My AE asked me to choose from the variety of choices in their menu and the dishes that I have chosen would be served during the food tasting. This was the first time that I would attend a food tasting without a set menu so I was excited to create our menu for the day. And since I didn't have any idea which food would go well together, I just chose the most sosyal-sounding name in the menu. Haha.

I have chosen the Elegant Wedding Package, which includes two appetizers, soup, two salads (green and cold), five main courses (beef, chicken, pork, fish AND seafood), veggies, pasta, two desserts and one drink. All in all, that is 15 food items for only P650 per head! Now that is quite cheap, don't you think? And to think that is not yet their most expensive package yet.

During our food tasting, only the main courses were served at first. And so, we only had one picture of our plates piled with heaps of food.

For our appetizers, I chose the Crispy Assorted Vegetables with Dip. For the dip, you can choose either honey mustard or tartar sauce. What I love about this dish is that you can easily forget that you’re eating vegetables because you can barely taste them. As much as possible, I wanted sauces with my vegetables to mask their bland, leafy flavor, and luckily, the tartar sauce and deep-fried coating were able to do just that. My mother even commented that she would cook deep-fried vegetables if that’s the only way to get me and my brother to eat our leafy greens.

Surprisingly, we also liked our veggie dish, the Vegetable Ham Primavera. The vegetables are submerged in a creamy sauce that tasted similarly like the sauce used in carbonara. It’s as if we’re eating carbonara, only with veggies instead of pasta. And since the creaminess of the sauce was able to disguise the taste of the veggies, we were able to finish this dish in record time. Haha.

For our beef entrée, I chose the Beef Lengua Champignon because I have an affinity for beef with mushroom sauce. The beef was very soft and tender that you can easily cut it with your fork. The sauce was also very flavorful and creamy. It's just too bad that they only served a few slices during our food tasting. Nabitin tuloy ako. :(

We had the Pork Hickory BBQ for our pork dish. Again, this dish was a clear winner! It was so savory and barbecue-y, if that was even a word. The barbecue sauce tasted just like my mom's own barbecue concoction, so sweet and salty all at once. I even kept on licking my fork because I just couldn't get enough of the sauce. So delicious!

We also love our chicken entree, the Baked Honey Lemon Chicken. At the first bite, you would immediately be bombarded by the lemon’s flavor, which others might find too sour. But I find it refreshing and yummy! You can practically taste the lemon right down to the bones. This was actually my mom’s favorite out of the bunch. She loved this so much that she ate two chicken legs. Ang takaw lang. Haha!

Unlike other caterers where we had to choose between fish and seafood, NE Catering allowed us to pick BOTH fish and seafood from their menu. For our seafood dish, I chose the Baked Prawns Thermidor. I have mixed feedbacks about this dish. I have nothing against its taste; it was delicious and the filling was rich and creamy. However, I was disappointed with the prawns’ size. Actually, I don’t think you can even call them prawns because they were just so small. Compared to Passion Cooks’ baked prawns thermidor, NE’s prawns were puny! It would probably take 10 of those little critters to satisfy my craving.

I was also disappointed with their fish entrée, Baked Pink Salmon with Mornay Sauce. I was expecting the salmon to be pink, soft and juicy, just like the ones used in making sashimi. Instead, I got a hard and dry salmon. The mornay sauce was able to soften the salmon a bit, but I still didn’t like it. However, my mom said that the oldies would probably prefer this dish because it was baked, which makes it a healthier option for them.

For our pasta, we had the usual Carbonara. I give plus points again to NE Catering because they were able to create the perfect carbonara, in my opinion. The sauce was very rich, creamy and oh so delicious. Sauce pa lang, ulam na! They also didn’t scrimp on the add-ons either. There were ham, bacon, and a lot of other things that got lost within the white sauce. One of the best-tasting carbonaras out there.

The soup, salads and dessert were served after we ate all of the main dishes. But since we were too excited to taste them all, we forgot to take pictures. Boo.

For our soup, I chose the Seafood Spinach Soup because it was the only soup in the menu that I haven’t tried yet. And it was definitely a good choice because it was delicious! The soup was light yet filling. It was satisfying enough without being too heavy in the stomach. The flavor of the seafood is also very distinct in every bite (or slurp). Uber yummy!

We had to pick two entrees for our salad: one for a green salad and one for a cold salad. I chose the Chicken Asian Salad for our green salad and the Russian Potato Salad for our cold salad. I didn’t eat the Asian salad because I was already familiar with the taste of the green, leafy vegetables with strips of chicken on it. The Russian potato salad, on the other hand, was unlike the usual salads offered during food tastings. We were hesitant to taste it at first because it looked weird—like a purple fruit salad—but when we ate it, WOW! It has this unique flavor that we couldn’t get enough of. It was salty, sweet and tangy all at once, and in a good way! I couldn’t really distinguish the ingredients used to make the salad, except for the hard-boiled eggs, but all of them complemented each other so well. Two thumbs up for this dish!

Lastly, we were served Buko Pandan Jello for dessert. I chose this dessert because I wanted to compare it to Ma Del’s buko pandan jello, which is my all-time favorite out of all the desserts that I have eaten. Unfortunately, Ma Del’s version still prevailed over its competition. Wala na atang makakatalo sa sarap nun eh.

VERDICT: NE Catering is actually one of our top options because of its affordable packages and delicious food. Even my mother commended their dishes, and she is probably the hardest person to please when it comes to food. However, there was nothing spectacular in their styling.  They only offer two kinds of centerpieces: candelabra or beads. For thematic styling, you have to get their affiliate The Posh Caterer, but this may cost a lot more. My AE also couldn’t seem to understand what kind of color turquoise is. She kept showing me a light blue swatch and looked baffled when I tried to explain what I liked.

So will I get them or not? As of now, I still couldn't decide because I have my eye on another caterer. But, I'm definitely not closing my doors on them. If things don't work out with my first choice, then they will be our next option.

NE CATERING SERVICES
40 Aurora Blvd. corner H. Lozada St., San Juan
726-9384 / 290-5452
info@necatering.com / ne_catering@yahoo.com

Food Tasting # 12: Patio de Tata Roque Part 2

After our food tasting with Center Table Catering, we went back to Marikina for Patio de Tata Roque’s grand food tasting. Since Patio de Tata was one of our shortlisted caterers, I asked Mox to come along to help me decided whether or not we would book them on the spot.

This was our second time to attend their grand food tasting, and just like before, Patio de Tata showcased some of their sample setups. My mom fell in love with a Japanese-themed setup, with bamboo sticks (I think) and Japanese lanterns as the centerpiece. However, she thought the upgrade fee was too expensive. Most of the setups have upgraded centerpieces, ranging from P200 to P300. One tall centerpiece even costs as much as P1,000, although I think it’s because they used orchids for the flowers, which can be very expensive. Their standard centerpiece was just the usual flowers on a steel candelabrum so you would really have to upgrade if you want to have a thematic styling for your venue.

Japanese theme

The standard centerpiece

They also had more sample setups for the couple's table and even had a setup for the Presidential's table. I particularly liked the purple couch for the couple, which my AE said is already included to the Diamond pacckage, Meanwhile, the Presidential's table looked very elegant because they use a transparent table and had glass (or was it plastic) lamps as centerpieces. They even used ghost chairs! It's as if everything was made of glass. Uber cool! :)

Couple's table

Presidential's table

I was a bit confused when I received their packages during their grand food tasting. You see, when I first inquired, the package they was called the Gold package, which costs P620 per head. The package they gave me last Sunday was called the Diamond package, which costs P550 per head for 150 guests. This was actually their old rate, so I was not really sure which was the real wedding package. My AE explained to me that while the Gold package was really their regular rate, they give out the Diamond package for couples who would book them during the grand food tastings. I’m not really sure if that’s the common practice among caterers, but I'm not complaining because I would be getting the cheaper rate, right? Haha!

During the first food tasting, I ate so much food that I couldn't distinguish one entree from another. For this food tasting, I only got a few dishes to taste, but I still couldn't remember all the entrees that I ate. There were just too many dishes to taste! I think for every course, there are four viands to choose from so it was very difficult to remember all of their names.

The general consensus of my fellow food critics (my parents and younger brother) was negative though. My brother didn't like the crab and corn soup that they served because there were too many crab bits and not enough corn in the soup. He did like the buko lychee dessert though, but he finds it slightly sour. My father, however, thought all the desserts were bland. He didn't like the leche flan because the top wasn't smooth like the usual leche flan and it tasted a bit bitter. As for my mother, she complained that the beef dishes were tough and hard to chew. She even addressed her complaint directly to Tina, the owner! Nakakahiya tuloy.

VERDICT: Honestly, I was also disappointed during that day because I didn't find their food as delicious as I'd expected them to be. I thought their food was delicious during our first food tasting, but this time I wasn't satisfied. In fact, I thought that Ma Del's food tasted better. However, because of their affordable rates and freebies, Mox and I agreed to book them that day. We were just about to sign the contract, but something happened that made us change our mind.

The freebies offered during food tasting were quite tempting: open bar for two hours, photobooth, appetizer bar, projector and 10 lanterns. All the while, we thought we would get ALL these freebies if we would book them that day, which was one of the factors that led to our decision to book them. But just as I was filling up to booking sheet, my AE asked what freebies would we choose from the list. WHAAAT?!? I thought we were getting all? The AE didn't explained to us that we would have to choose one freebie from the list; she just allowed us to make the assumption that we would get all freebies. Nakakaloka diba? When I confronted her about this, she began to look flustered so she had to call Tina for assistance. After a few negotiations, Tina allowed us to choose two freebies from the list. That was okay with us because we only wanted two freebies anyway: the open bar and the appetizer bar. So everything was all set, right?

Wrong. As I was writing our wedding date on the booking sheet, Tina suddenly stopped me and said that all packages and price locks are applicable until June 2013 only. Again, WHAAAT?!? I was really shocked when she said that. You see, when I inquired about their rates, I asked the AE who replied to my email if they are already accepting bookings for 2014, and she said YES. She even said that we would be able to lock their prices if we would book this year. So all this time, I thought I would be able to book them as early as now. Well, apparently I cannot do so.

Of course, Tina assured us that even though they would have a price increase this year, it would only be minimal. Plus, they will offer better freebies next year if we would book them. However, I suddenly lost interest in them because of what had happened. Ang gulo nilang kausap eh. If we are already having a hard time communicating with one another during the negotiation period, then what more if we would get them as our caterer? I don't want to risk having unwanted stress during our wedding day, even if it means saving thousands of pesos. And because of all those miscommunication issues, Patio de Tata is officially off our list.

Food Tasting # 11: Center Table Catering

Last Sunday morning, my family and I went to the Pergola in Pasay for Center Table Catering's grand food tasting. I have been hearing good feedbacks about this caterer, and when I saw their packages, I thought that while their rates are a bit over our budget, they are still relatively affordable.

We liked Center Table's setup in the venue because it was simple yet classy. Candelabras partnered with flowers were the centerpieces of each table, but all these will come with a fee because they are all upgrades. The standard centerpieces are the usual flowers on low vases, but I still find them cute. The drapes were a nice touch of elegance too. Minimalist brides would likely fall in love with this kind of styling.

Now on to the food tasting! I apologize for the crappy pictures though, especially for the main viands. I have to make use of my phone's camera because I forgot my digicam. Plus, I am a sucky photographer; the nicer pics were taken by my younger brother. Boo him for having the photography skills. Haha!

For starters, we had the Heart of Artichoke Dip with Bread Sticks & Crackers and the Nachos with Tomato Salsa, Beef & Cheese Sauce. Jocco and I loved the heart of artichoke dip because it has the right creaminess, right saltiness, right everything! Heck, we even loved the bread sticks even without the dip. Who would have thought that a simple appetizer like this can taste so sinfully delicious? We thought the nachos were quite okay, but my mother still thought her nachos were better. Sige na nga, pagbigyan na. Haha!

Heart of Artichoke Dip with Breadsticks & Crackers

Nachos with Tomato Salsa, Beef & Cheese Sauce

For refreshments, I got the Raspberry Iced Tea, Jocco got the Green Tea Apple Iced Tea, while my parents got the Lemon Iced Tea. I couldn't comment on the lemon iced tea because I wasn't able to taste it, but I could say that I liked the green iced tea better than the raspberry iced tea. Surprisingly, the green tea apple iced tea (wow, so many "teas" in that name) had no bitter taste commonly associated with green tea drinks. It was not too sickeningly sweet either; it was quite a refreshing treat. The raspberry iced tea, on the other hand, was a pale comparison to K by Cunanan's version, which may possibly be THE BEST RASPBERRY ICED TEA EVAAAH! Yes, that phrase deserves an all-caps moment.

Lemon Iced Tea

Green Tea Apple Iced Tea

Raspberry Iced Tea

We then went to the soup station to get our soups: Sopa de Pamplina and Zuppa Toscana. Zuppa toscana was italian sausage, potatoes, onion and spinach all together in a creamy chicken broth. It looked liked sinigang without the sourness. Unfortunately, it lacked all other flavors as well; it was just so bland. I liked the sopa de pamplina better because it was creamy and filled with vegetables, beef and chicken. I guess I just have a bias for thick and creamy soups.

For their salad selections, we had the Chicken Sicilian Salad and Tuna Macaroni Salad. The chicken salad has the usual leafy greens, chicken strips, mangoes and grapes, but I love their Sicilian dressing. It tasted just like a sweeter version of the Thousand Island dressing, which is my favorite dressing for green salads. The tuna salad was also sweet, but the saltiness of the tuna was able to balance the flavor of the dish so there was no umay factor.

Chicken Sicilian Salad

Tuna Macaroni Salad

For their pasta dishes, we had the Spaghetti Carbonara and the Cappellinni alla Puttanesca. Since I’m a fan of creamy white sauce on pasta, I thought that I'd love their carbonara but I was sorely disappointed. It was very bland and not as creamy as I'd like it to be. In fact, the little flavor that the noodles had would disappear as soon as you'd put a spoonful of it in your mouth. Surprisingly, I liked the puttanesca better because of its salty and spicy taste.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Cappellinni alla Puttanesca

For the veggies, we were served the Baked Creamy Sour Cream Potatoes and Blanched Fresh Asparagus with Melted Cheese and Mushroom Sauce. I don’t usually eat mashed potatoes, but I thought Center Table’s sour cream potatoes were delicious. Whoever thought of adding sour cream to the mashed potatoes was a genius! Others might find this dish too creamy to the point of being nakakaumay, but I find that eating the potatoes with rice can offset the creaminess a bit. I hated the blanched fresh asparagus though because the melted cheese and mushroom sauce couldn’t disguise the bland, veggie taste of the asparagus. Yuck!

Baked Creamy Sour Cream Potatoes

Blanched Fresh Asparagus with Melted Cheese and Mushroom Sauce

Our beef selections for the day were Roast Beef with Pan Gravy & Buttered Vegetables and Lengua con Champignon. Out of the two, I liked the lengua better because the meat is so soft and tender! And I mean melt-in-your-mouth tender! Heck, I didn’t even have to chew the meat for it to go down my throat. The mushroom butter sauce was also savory and delectable. However, the roast beef didn’t quite meet my expectations because I found the meat bland and too tough to chew. The sauce was the only thing giving flavor to the dish, but I thought it was too salty.

Roast Beef with Pan Gravy & Buttered Vegetables

Lengua con Champignon

For our chicken entrees, we were served the Garlic Infused Roasted Chicken and the Boneless Chicken Barbecue. I had the chicken barbecue and I thought that it was really quite ordinary, not like something you would serve in a wedding. The meat was dry and the some parts of the chicken skin were even burned. My mom could cook even better chicken barbecue than this. I couldn’t really comment on the garlic chicken since I only took one bite, but Jocco said it was delicious.

Boneless Chicken Barbecue

Garlic Infused Roasted Chicken

For our seafood dishes, we had Eastern Shrimp Rolls with Sweet Chili Sauce and River Cobbler Fillet with Tartar Sauce, which were cooked on the spot during the food tasting. I loved the river cobbler fillet because the fish was sweet and tender. Center Table was also very generous with its portions because each fillet was thick and juicy. I can still taste the fish with every bite, even with the coating of bread crumbs.

However, I could not say the same with the shrimp rolls. Looks can definitely be deceiving because while the whole roll looked so thick and full, you can barely taste the shrimp in it. Imagine eating lumpiang shanghai without its fillings, just the shell. That’s how it felt eating the shrimp rolls. And to think that I love shrimps. It was just so disappointing. 

River Cobbler Fillet with Tartar Sauce

Eastern Shrimp Rolls with Sweet Chili Sauce

What I liked best about Center Table's food tasting was its dessert bar! I literally couldn't wait to get my hands (and teeth) on the desserts. With more than 10 sweets around me, I was floating in desserts heaven. Hehe. We had Creme Puff, Chocolate Eclair, Tiramisu, Buko Pandan Salad, Blueberry Cheesecake, Creme Brulee, Chocolate Mousse, Mango Bar, Mango Mousse, Fresh Fruit Pannacotta and Mango Crepe.

Out of all these desserts, the clear winner for me is the crème brulee. The custard was delectable—creamy and not too sickeningly sweet. My family also kept raving about this dish; my dad even got two cups of crème brulee! Although I think they must have burned the sugar a bit too much because the hard caramel on top was slightly bitter. But other than that, the crème brulee was one of our favorites for the day. The chocolate mousse and the chocolate éclair were also delicious, but others might think they are too sweet. I’ve always thought that tiramisus have a hard biscuit layer in it. Center Table’s tiramisu was literally a cake because it was so soft and fluffy albeit still yummy.

For the desserts with fruits though, we were quite disappointed with Center Table’s offerings. Jocco didn’t finish his blueberry cheesecake because he found the cheese too overpowering. He said it was as if he was literally eating a block of cheese. Nakakaumay daw. I did thought their buko pandan salad was okay, but I still liked Ma Del’s buko pandan jello better. Wala na atang tatalo dun eh. The rest of the desserts—mango bar, mango mousse, fresh fruit pannacotta and mango crepe—also received a thumbs down from us because most of the fruits used were sour and probably out of season, which affected the overall taste of the desserts. Maybe if the fruits were sweeter, then our rating would probably change.

Chocolate Eclair and Creme Puff

Tiramisu

Mango Bar

Blueberry Cheesecake

Buko Pandan Salad

Creme Brulee

Fresh Fruit Pannacotta (strawberry, mango and kiwi)

Chocolate Mousse

Mango Mousse

Mango Crepe

VERDICT:  I had mixed feelings about our experience with Center Table. While I liked their styling, I wasn’t that satisfied with their food. There were more misses than hits during their food tasting. Plus, their quotation was over our budget because our AE told us they couldn’t slash off the whole 12% VAT for legal reasons. The most that they could give is a 6% discount. Sayang, taking off the 12% VAT can be a huge help for budgeted brides like me.

CENTER TABLE CATERING
60 Madrid Street corner Amsterdam, Merville Park, Parañaque City 
824-5179 / 821-3797 
info@centertablecatering.com 
 

Confessions of a Food Tasting Addict

Food tastings are and will always be my most favorite part of our wedding preps. It is always a delight to sample all those delectable dishes for free, take pictures of them, and blog about them like some sort of aspiring food critic. But I had to think of different ways on how to say "delicious" and "not so delicious" without sounding like a broken record. Haha!

Of course, the main point of all these food tastings is to find the perfect caterer that would fit our very limited budget. So the coming weeks are jampacked with food tastings with different caterers to see whether or not we would have the this-is-it feeling with one of them:

• July 29, Sunday - Center Table Catering
• July 29, Sunday - Patio de Tata  Roque
• August 3, Friday - NE Catering
• August 10, Friday - CVJ Catering
• August 10, Friday - Richgold Weddings
• August 17, Friday - Kusina ni Kambal

Ooooh, I'm so excited! Kebs na lang sa diet! Haha!