Wedding Lunch At St Regis

I attended a wedding lunch at the St Regis Grand Ballroom yesterday. The table setting was exquisite. When the meal started, I noticed that the dishes were being served individually to each person. At other wedding meals, the dish would be in a big plate or bowl in the middle of the table, and the waiter / waitress would then scoop up individual portions for everyone at the table, leaving some leftovers on the main plate.

Then whoever who finished the first round could help themselves to the second round. This way is more convenient to the serving staff, but the problem is there will be people who tend to eat more and those who tend to eat less. Then those who love the dish would end up hogging the dish all to him /herself, without leaving any / enough for the rest. Or else no one wants a second helping and there are quite a lot of leftovers.

Hence I find the idea of individual dishes very good. Everyone gets the same dish and the same amount, no complaints about who gets more and who gets less. No leftovers (or not much) so wastage is minimised. And the gourmet fine dining setting of the individual dishes look really good!

Everything is individualised, including the sauces and condiments. Everyone has a dish for sauce, chilli, nuts and whatnots. Everyone has two glasses of water and one glass where we can choose the wine.

But I must say the faint lipstick mark left on my water glass before I started drinking was a bit unbecoming of a hotel of this standard. The least the dishwashers can do is to ensure there are no marks left!

The food was good. There were only six dishes. Seems that the couple personalised the menu and the guests thoroughly enjoyed the dishes!

The cup of tea

The dish of sauces and condiments

First dish - Eternal Combination Platter
(L to R : Thai Style Shredded Prawn with Spicy Mango Salsa, Roasted Pork Neck with Honey, Oven-Baked Salmon Skin in a glass)

Second dish - Braised Sea Treasures in Pumpkin Soup with Conpoy

Third dish - Steamed Fillet of Marble Goby with Stir-Fried Asparagus (on the right)
accompanied with Stir-fried King Prawn with Yellow Chives (on the left)

Fourth dish - Braised Sea Cucumber (right) with Mushroom and Spinach in Superior Sauce

There was a break after the fourth dish for speeches by the bridesmaid, the father of the bride and the couple themselves, while we toasted champagne, which was poured for us after the fourth dish. Then everyone toasted to the couple!

 

My bottle of champagne

Fifth dish - Crispy Roast Chicken with Fragrant Spices (left)
accompanied with Eternal Golden Fried Rice with Olives, Prawns and Diced Vegetables

Sixth dish (dessert) - Wedding Cake with Raspberry Coulis (left)
accompanied with Lemon Sorbet

By right, it was supposed to be a normal eight-course meal, but due to the good planning and by combining a few dishes together, the meal shrunk to six courses instead. Clever idea, then the whole reception would not drag on too long! Hence instead of the normal three hours, we finished everything in just two hours!