We recently had our wedding and reception at the Montauk Club. The Club is full of charm and character and it looked beautiful!...the Club was very accommodating as well. However, yes, there is always a BUT!....while the food was good, the
whole buffet was ridiculous!....we had planned for a double entree and I had
made sure with the manager (Sanya) that my guests would get everything on the buffet- in other words, both meats which were loin of pork and rack of lamb--and Sanya assured me that was how the buffets worked at the Montauk Club: that
my guests would receive both meats....well, that is NOT what happened!....our
guests approached the buffet and were told "one or the other" and when the
guests asked for both, were told there was not enough food or that they would
run out! They also were given small portions and their plates looked skimpy and meager. When we told the floor captain this was NOT an either/or buffet but
that guests were to receive both meats, he said " I don't have enough food to
give both to everyone. Sanya did not communicate that with the kitchen".
We requested a meeting after the wedding to discuss this with Sanya, the manager at the Club. She included the chef and the floor captain at that meeting.
Both the chef and the floor captain said their buffets are ALWAYS either/or and never both meats served to the guests. Sanya looked quite surprised at that and said she had thought it was both. The chef said he prepared 3+ ribs of lamb per person. The floor captain said he was told to serve two ribs only per person.
(two ribs is like an appetizer) He also stated to us that they always give small
portions to make sure everyone is fed and then guests can return to the buffet
for more foods.
Unfortunately, many of our guests did not return to the buffet since the buzz
in the room was that there was barely enough food.
In a follow-up to this meeting, Sanya now says that the chef and the floor
captain are saying that it is NOT either/or and all guests ARE served both
meats- but at different servings. She now says the chef felt that pork and
lamb do not mix well on the plate so they just gave guests one or the other
meat and the guests were to come back for the other meat to complete
their meal. (unfortunately, they negelected to inform the guests or us of this)
It is all "double-speak" at this point. Each time they answer a question regarding
the food service, they come up with another reason, excuse, whatever.
We had made arrangements for our guests to go to the buffet, get their food which included two meats and go sit down.....not to get one meat first and
then have to come back for the other meat.....and where this idea of the pork and lamb not mixing well on a plate came from we surely don't know! That was never discussed during the planning, final meetings--never! And whoever heard of
telling guests, "no, you may not have that" when it comes to food??? or telling
guests, "we will run out of food if we give both".....obviously this has put a
"black mark" on the wedding for us and when people ask about the wedding at
the Montauk Club, we tell them it was beautiful but problems with the food service.
The skimpy plates and one or the other meats being served caused us great
embarrassment . So, brides, beware if you are planning to use the Montauk
Club----make them absolutely SHOW you the plate of food your guests would be served! There is obviously great miscommunication among the management and staff and when called on their short-comings you will just get "double-speak"
and wild excuses! (I really don't think they know what a proper buffet is!)