Wedding Banquet 2012

I went to a wedding banquet last Thursday.  I liked the food, but didn't like the arrangement.

 

Typical Hong Kong Wedding Banquet Run Down

 

Hosts usually start to receiving guests at around 4pm.  Guests can play games, such as mahjong till 8pm.  Hosts and guests usually take photos before dinner.  Then after a short ceremony and video presentation about the couple's love story, dinner starts.  Here's how I don't like the arrangement.

 

MC announced that dinner will start at 8.15pm (while the invitation card says 8pm).  Well I would say a 15-minute delay is acceptable.  Guess what, dinner didn't serve till 9.30pm.  Guests all gathered around the tables, waiters were standing there waiting for nothing as they've done all they could, but there were no signal from the host that dinner could start.  Everyone getting very impatient and very hungry.  After dinner, the hosts were still busy taking photos and even forgot to go shake hands and say goodbye to the guests until the restaurant master reminded them.

 

Fortunately the food was not as bad as the arrangement.  I would say it was quite a good dinner.  Good food, fresh ingredient, well presented and served.

 

Good Chinese food has three elements:  look good, smell good and taste good.  Here are a few good examples.  For wedding banquets, all dishes are given very beautiful and meaningful names.  Please excuse me as I'm really unable to translate these names.

 

Stir Fried Spiral Shell and Broccoli

榆意珊瑚翠螺片

Very colorful and beautiful

South African Abalony with Cabbage and Goose Web

原隻非鮑扣鵝掌

My favourite!  Each one of us has an abalony.  The goose webs are very soft and delicious.

 

Mushrooms, Bean Sprout and Dry Scallop in Melon

金錢瑤柱襯玉環

A very healthy dish, mostly vegetable, looks good and tastes good

 

Shark Fin Soup with Crab Meat

紅燒鮮蟹肉生翅

I don't mean to offend shark fans, but this dish was exceptionally well done.  The crab meat in the soup was like the size of my little finger.  The shark fins are thick and chewy.  It's expensive.  I can realise that top grade ingredients are used.

It's time for a break.  In a Cantonese wedding banquet, the bride and groom as well as the host family members will walk around the floor and toast to each table.

 

After the toast, it's time for the fish and chicken to show off.

 

Oh my goodness, this garoupa is really giant, fresh and yummy.  Do you notice the little bowls and dishes around the fish.  That was for the waiter to serve us.  We were not allowed to grab the food oursleves.  Instead we had to wait for the waiter to share for us.  They replace a fresh serving plate for each guest for each dish.  Well, good services, but not environmental!

 

Steam Giant Garoupa

清蒸大海星班

 

Cantonese banquest always fill guests stomach to their limit.  After the heavy 8-course dinner, there were rice and noodle, dessert duo style and fruits.  Come on, we simply couldn't eat any more.  After all, everyone had to take the oranges home.

 

Hasma Dessert with Lotus Seeds

蓮子百合燉雪蛤

Few people will host their wedding banquet with this dessert, because hasma is expensive.  That's why I say the dinner arrangement was bad, but the food was really good. 

 

Wedding Menu

菜譜

Here's the menu.  In a typical Cantonese wedding banquet, food is usually served in this sequence.  Depending on the budget of the host, the choice of food may vary.  I must say this banquet may cost around HK$6,000 per table.

Roasted Piglet * Prawns of Duo Style * Mushroom and Scallop * Spiral Shell and Broccoli

Shark Fin with Crab Meat * Abalony and Goose Web * Giant Garoupa * Crispy Chicken

Seafood Fried Rice * Dumplings and Noodle * Hasma Dessert * Pudding Dessert * Fruits

 

Wedding date:  November 29, 2012

Restaurant: Chao Dynasty, 132 Nathan Road, Kowloon

Standard gift:  HK$500

In the Hong Kong Cantonese culture, we usually give cash coupon as gift when attending wedding banquets.  Of course this is the most welcomed gift.  I spend $500 for this dinner, but well worth it.

Hong Kong Food Blog - Wedding Banquet

Message to Shark Fans

Please DO NOT post comments about your shark protection / protest message.  I will NOT publish them.  If you want to protect sharks, here are my suggested methods:

1. Advertise in mass media
2. Everyday protests, demonstrations…in front of all shops selling shark fins
3. Everyday protests, demonstrations in public areas such as streets, parks to educate the public not to eat shark fin
4. Letter, fax, email, telephone or personal visits to restaurant owners to insist them to remove shark fin from their menu
5. Write to the government to request shark fin eating to be illegal
6. Hire fleet of ships to go out to the sea to stop any shark catching activities.

Leaving comments in my blog is a matter of wasting my time to read and delete.  It is in no sense contributive in saving sharks.