Food tasting = yummy, free food!

Thursday, November 19, 2009 | by Newlywed | Labels: , |

Last night, we had a food tasting at our reception venue to help us decide on our menu. We already had an idea of what we wanted, but since the Rococo Room offered us a complimentary food tasting, why not? I mean, who can pass up free food?

As soon as we started planning our wedding, we knew we wanted quality food. So I'm really excited about our choice of venue because of its reputation for great food. It's a zagat-rated restaurat in Old Town Pasadena and the service is first rate. Oh, if you already don't know, you'll see from this post that I love taking pictures of food. Nothing piques my senses like photos of food. It's kinda like food porn, I guess.

Anyhooo...the first items we tried were the appetizers -- bruschetta, spanokopita, mediterranean stacks and beef tostadas.


The bruschetta (right) were delicious -- a taste of fresh tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and garlic. A nice tasty snack for a warm summer afternoon. The spanakopitas (middle) were crispy and surprisingly filling for such a small appetizer. The mediterranean stacks were just OK. Can't really get excited over cucumber, tomato and feta cheese. Although the feta cheese was pretty good. I don't even like feta too much, but this cheese was mild, not too salty or bitter.

The beef tostadas brought an odd mix to the mediterranean flavors. Being probably half a bite-size portion, this was quickly nixed from the list.


beef tostadas

We unanimously decided on 2 appetizers, the spanakopita and the bruschetta.

We also decided on a caesar salad, much better than the overpowering flavors in the Greek salad. I usually like strong flavors, but the Greek salad was soaked in balsamic vinegar -- although the Greek salad was much prettier on the plate. But taste always triumphs over presentation, at least to true foodies!


Caesar Salad


 
Greek Salad

Because of previous visits to the restaurant, we already had an idea of what we wanted for the entrees. The boneless, chicken roast is delicious and hearty, and the salmon is fresh, moist and is dressed with a nice hollandaise sauce.


The marsala sauce on this chicken is killer and the meat is tender! Always my pick when I eat here!



The salmon is D-lish!

We were allowed one other dish for the food tasting, so we decided to try their grilled rib-eye steak. We knew this might dangerous since the steak was a bit expensive, and if we loved it, we might be tempted to go over our budget. But why not? Who can pass up a free steak?



Grilled Rib-eye Steak

I thought the steak was good. I didn't think it was dry and it was tasty. But the three people in our group voted nay on it. It was just OK, they said and they liked the chicken and the salmon better. That was totally fine with me since 1) those were my top two picks anyway and 2) it keeps us within budget!

Now, for dessert! We tried the chocolate mousse cake and the tiramisu cake. I tried the chocolate mousse cake before and have since have had at least one great dream where I'm reliving the heavenly moment.


Chocolate Mousse Cake
Drool.....

 
tiramisu

Unfortunately, we can only pick one cake. Being the chocolate lover I am, I leaned heavily toward the chocolate mousse cake. But my future sis-in-law pointed out that the CMC isn't really a cake. It's more like a chunk of decadent chocolate filled with even more decadent mousse. The tiramisu has more of a cake texture.

Hmmm, personally, I think taste triumphs over texture. Besides, are people really going to have a fit because their cake doesn't have the fluffy texture of an average cake? CMC wins!

After our tasting, I realized our guests are going to go home with a tasty, filling lunch! Our waiter explained that the portions in our tasting were about half of what the actual portions on the day of our wedding will be. No stingy pieces of meat here!

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