Plaid Boy & Girl Next Shore Got Married! Our Wedding Menu

When Plaid Boy and I started planning our wedding, one of our top priorities was to show our guests appreciation by serving really good food. So, with the help of the Raffles Hotel Makati banqueting team, we designed a bespoke sit-down menu that would satiate everyone's taste. 

In the end, we received a lot of compliments for our wedding menu - some of our guests even requested to meet Senior Chef de Cuisine Christine Zarandin to applaud her and her team's efforts. This truly melted our hearts because we felt that the food reflected our journey as a couple, as well as our passion for food.

DISCLAIMER: Photos were taken during our tasting. Unforch, I don't have photos of the actual plating on the wedding day (you might be able to check on Instagram by searching #RonWithHoney)

We had our menu tasting last year, when we both went home to do wedding errands. We gave Raffles a menu of what we wanted, and they gave us some options to consider as well. They set up their Sampiro function room for the occasion and showed us all the types of linen and tableware and we could use. To help us decide on the particulars, we invited our foodie friends K&B (who are also getting married) and my brunch buddy A to join us.

First course - SOUP

THE ONE THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT: Cauliflower purée with curry oil and coriander lavash.

The lightness this soup could've gone for was amiss and I thought it was a bit too strong on the curry oil, which seemed like such a bold flavour to start the meal with.

THE ONE WE SERVED: Pumpkin soup with foie gras mousse and raspberry compote

The soup was creamy enough but had a certain lightness to it and the fruit compote managed to cut through the richness of the foie. It was a bit too sweet for our liking, but when K suggested they added more pepper, it totally lifted the flavour profile.

Second course - APPETISERS

THE ONE THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT: Prawn and avocado salad
This is one of Raffles' bestsellers for events.It came with smoked salmon and mango salsa which made it seem like two different appetisers on one plate. The prawns I had were a bit overcooked, and though the chef sent us some better cooked prawns, it felt like too much of a risk.

THE OTHER ONE THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT: Mushroom risotto with mixed greens
I knew I wouldn't love this at first sight, simply because good risotto is meant to flow freely when served on a plate and not shaped like half timbale. This came to us at room temperature as well. Least favourite of the all courses we tried.

THE ONE WE SERVED: Bacon-wrapped scallops, wild mushroom risotto, beans & rosemary jus
Both Plaid Boy and I had this for our wedding meal. The two scallops were cooked perfectly but we requested the bacon to be cooked a bit more for added texture. And, see what I mean about good risotto flowing on a plate? HUGE difference. Served warm, too!

Third course - FISH

THE ONE THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT: Double-cut tuna with sweet pepper and mango salsa
I quite liked the flavour profile of this dish; the sauce had a familiar hint of Asian flavours and the mango salsa was punchy.

THE ONE WE SERVED: Seared tuna with wasabi mash
I loved this dish so much and requested to have it for our wedding meal. My tuna was seared perfectly and the pepper crust gave it such zest. Some of our guests said this particular dish was their favourite of the night.

Fourth course - SORBET

We had a choice between raspberry, mango, and lime. We chose the zingy lime as it was the most refreshing and palate-cleansing of all.

Fifth course - STEAK

THE ONE THAT MADE IT: Australian tenderloin with five peppercorn crust
The thing about serving steak at big weddings is that you can't really have it cooked to everyone's liking. Our guest peg was over 300, and it would have been too much of a risk to have it cooked to order. At the tasting, we were served different cooks on our meat. Mine was quite rare, which we thought some people would cringe about. We made an executive decision to serve it medium, and it still turned out nice and pink on the inside. We replaced the beans with asparagus, the potato chautillard with gratin, and asked for baby carrots.

Sixth course - DESSERT

(aka the round I lost)

THE ONE THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT: Flourless chocolate almond cake with caramelised orange sauce

I don't think anyone was actually moved by this dessert, but I liked that the layers reminded me of our invites.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Flourless gianduja cake
This was the real winner for me and I still think of it when I crave chocolate (often). It's astonishingly rich, indulgent, and dark. It felt like eating a jar of sophisticated Nutella/Crumpy - I had to stop myself from demolishing the whole thing. But I loved it. Very much.

THE ONE WE SERVED: Moist dark chocolate cake in white chocolate box

Raffles gave us a third option for dessert. Visually, it was pretty captivating and Plaid Boy liked the "wow factor" (It did look nice during final plating!) Honestly, I was still thinking about licking the remnants of the Gianduja cake off my plate when I realised he said we were going for this. In fairness, our guests said they enjoyed it, too. Feedback included "Cake so good, it makes women cry!"

At the reception, it was funny how guests asked if we got to eat at all. We only had time for two courses each (while everyone was having cocktails) but we weren't that fussed because 1) we were too elated from the ceremony, and 2) we trusted Raffles to deliver only the best.

The great feedback we received was quite a testament to the ability of the Raffles/Fairmont banqueting team as well - from our event managers to the catering team and our personal butler of the day (Chad). They really listened to what we wanted and catered (har har) to our needs and I can't thank them and recommend them highly enough. Definitely world class, top notch luxe service.

Oh and because he deserves credit, too... 4 out of the 6 courses were Plaid Boy's idea. Thank you, Groomzilla!

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