Need Help Deciding on Buffet Menu Options!

Chad-And-Gabrielle · April 2016

So we have been speaking with a couple different caterers and have soooo many different meal choices to choose from. We are doing passed hors d'oeuvres and then a buffet. Basically, I just want to know which dish you'd be most excited about eating!

EDIT
All these options [below] are pretty much from one caterer who I gave my menu (which came from another caterer) to and they could adapt it with more suggestions. On the original caterer's menu, they did have some vegetarian dishes that I just realized this caterer did not incorporate.
We originally had:
Creamy Spinach Artichoke and Carrot Risotto with side of ParmesanRoasted Tomato Basil Marinara Gnocchi
in addition to the two meat entrees. I think that would cover the vegetarians sufficiently!

So on the original menu, it had been decided to have:
Chicken Fried Chicken with Jalapeno Cream Gravy and Figgy Honey Mustard.
Pineapple Ginger Pork Shoulder
Creamy Spinach Artichoke and Carrot Risotto with side of ParmesanRoasted Tomato Basil Marinara Gnocchi
And assorted grilled veggies

What do you all think about this menu as final?
END EDIT

Pork:

Marinated Herb Crusted Pork Loin:
Marinated topped with a panko and herb crust. Sauced with a lemon caper sauce.

Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Grapes:
Crusted with Tuscan seasoning sliced and napped with an onion fig sauce. With roasted red cluster grapes lightly coated with olive and thyme.

Pork Milanese:
Sliced madellions lightly breaded with parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. With a lemon caper butter sauce.

Roasted Pork Loin-Maple:
Crushed herb, roasted pork loin with a Vermont maple pepper.

Roasted Pork Loin-with Sticky Mango Chili Glaze:
With a jasmine rice with coconut and craisins and macadamia nuts.

Pineapple Ginger Pork Shoulder

They also suggested a pulled pork slider.

Chicken:

Corn Crusted Chicken Avocado:

Chili and lime marinated chicken breast crusted in corn tortilla. Layered with sliced avocado and mozzarella cheese.

Grilled Chicken Breast with Avocado Mango Salsa:
Grilled chicken breast dusted with a smokey chipotle paprika seasoning pan seared, oven roasted and topped with a house made avocado mango salsa.

Artichoke Sun Dried Tomato Crusted:

Chicken Marinated chicken breast pan seared. Topped with artichoke, sun dried tomato crushed herb, goat cheese and olive oil infused panko. Served with a lemon caper reduction

Oven Roasted Chicken with Lime Scented Spring Vegetables:

Chicken marinated in Indian spices topped with grilled seasonal vegetables. Sauced with a honey ginger butter sauce.

Lemon Chicken:
Chicken breast lightly coated with seasoned flour and spiced with lemon, garlic, kalamata olives and parsley. Simmering in a house made chicken stock and served over Basmati rice

Thai Chicken with a Lemongrass Crust:

Chicken breast marinated in lemongrass, coconut milk and cilantro Grilled and served over a jasmine rice.

Sweet Thai Chicken:

Chicken Breast marinated in Garlic, sweet Thai chili, cilantro leaves, and lime juice. Grilled and served with jasmine rice.

Sesame Pineapple Chicken:

Chicken breast marinated in sesame, pineapple and ginger. Grilled and glazed with house made soy caramel.

Chicken Breast with Maple Glaze:

Chicken marinated in a chipotle spice blend, coated with house spiced pecans. Napped in a maple peppercorn sauce. Served over mashed sweet potatoes infused with chipotle, cinnamon, brown sugar and goat cheese.

Chicken Breast with Buffalo Mozzarella and Sun Dried Tomato Sauce:
Chicken Breast topped with a buffalo mozzarella medallion and a flavorful sun dried tomato broth sauce.

Chicken-Tuscan Marinated Chicken Breast:

Chicken Breast encrusted in tuscan herbs pan seared simmered in house made chicken stock, white wine and garlic slivers.

Chicken Margarita:

Marinated chicken breast pan seared and oven roasted with fresh buffalo mozzarella sliced and napped with a tomato vodka cream sauce.

Thanks everyone!

And sorry if your haven't eaten breakfast and this just made you hungry :P

crowsgirl15 · April 2016

I'd destroy this one:

Chicken Margarita:
Marinated chicken breast pan seared and oven roasted with fresh buffalo mozzarella sliced and napped with a tomato vodka cream sauce.

bleve0821 · April 2016

The Artichoke Sun-Dried Tomato Crusted Chicken keeps catching my eye. If it were on a menu, I would probably order it.

ETA The Roasted Pork Loin Maple sounds decent, but I often find that pork dries out if it sits in chafing dishes too long

JaxInBlue · April 2016

I'd go with Roasted Pork Loin-Maple or Corn Crusted Chicken Avocado, based solely on what sounds good to me and that I'd enjoy eating.

But I also think Artichoke Sun Dried Tomato Crusted sounds really interesting. My concern with this one is that there's a lot in here that people can be very hot or cold on between the artichoke, goat cheese and capers. It sounds amazing to me, but I know a bunch of people who wouldn't go near it.

If you are looking for the dishes that might be the safest for a large group, I'd be inclined to pick from these:

Marinated Herb Crusted Pork Loin
Tuscan Chicken or Chicken Margarita

Is it too early for lunch now?

ShesSoCold · April 2016

How many of these are you going to pick? Are there any vegetarian, fish or red meat options?

Chad-And-Gabrielle · April 2016

@ShesSoCold : We are going to pick just one from each option. We do not have a vegetarian option right now besides a big display of assorted (~10 different) grilled (or lightly fried, panko breaded) summery vegetables and vegetarian passed hors d'oeuvres. We are not having fish, or red meat either.

@AtomicBlonde : Our caterer does not use chaffing dishes so I think there will be a constant flow of new meat. Although that would not stop it from being dried out when they heat it in the kitchen.

lnixon8 · April 2016

Skip the pork with onion fig sauce and roasted grapes. Very polarizing.

Casadena · April 2016

I think the pork with grapes and the first chicken dish would be the best!

madamerwin · April 2016

Oh my god, Corn Crusted Chicken Avocado sounds amazing! As long as avocados will be in season during your wedding, of course. Nothing worse than a shitty avocado.

OurWildKingdom · April 2016

Knottie1454204160 said:

@ShesSoCold : We are going to pick just one from each option. We do not have a vegetarian option right now besides a big display of assorted (~10 different) grilled (or lightly fried, panko breaded) summery vegetables and vegetarian passed hors d'oeuvres. We are not having fish, or red meat either.

@AtomicBlonde : Our caterer does not use chaffing dishes so I think there will be a constant flow of new meat. Although that would not stop it from being dried out when they heat it in the kitchen.

Speaking as a pescetarian (mostly vegetarian but will eat fish occasionally), while the vegetable dish sounds lovely, most vegetarians would appreciate something more substantial. One of the best vegetarian dishes I've ever eaten was a risotto with summer vegetables, and another was a Napoleon with summer vegetables layered with fresh mozzarella. Several people offered to trade their lunches on both occasions.

kvruns · April 2016

Marinated Herb Crusted Pork Loin and Tuscan Chicken are my picks personally and also to pick things that likely appeal to the masses

ShesSoCold · April 2016

I agree with @kvruns. Since there will only be one option for each, you need to pick ones that will appeal to more people.

levioosa · April 2016

Ditto appealing to the masses. I would eat almost all of those (well, chicken. I don't eat pork). My dad would be staunchly in the "funny sauce/spices? NOPE" category. I'd honestly be kind of bummed if there wasn't a meat option that wasn't pork. And you do need to offer something more substantial for the vegetarians. Can you imagine if you showed up for dinner and all you got was a side of vegetables? There's a ton of great vegetarian dishes that are substantial and pleasing. What about a pesto pasta dish or something? Or vegetarian lasagna?

poodledoodleooo · April 2016

I was super excited to participate in this, but my I'm having serious pregnancy aversions to chicken (meaning, normally I love it, but now it's like eating vom) and I never like pork. I ditto trying to have more substantial vegetarian options if you can.

artbyallie · April 2016

The herb crusted pork loin or pork milanese sounds best to me. A lot of the chicken dishes, though, strike me as having divisive ingredients and lacking mass appeal. Because while I would love the sesame pineapple chicken, my H hates pineapple. I hate spicy food and olives. And so on. And I like to think we're not particularly picky people. With only two choices, I think I would strike anything remotely ethnic/unfamiliar (Thai and Indian for sure, those tend to be love it or hate it cuisines).

JaxInBlue · April 2016

Agree with PPs. If you've only got the two options, at least one needs to be familiar to the masses. If you want one protein to be more adventurous, I'd probably be inclined to do a more distinctly flavored pork - maybe the chili or pineapple - but stick with a "regular" chicken like the Tuscan.

And definitely up your vegetarian options. I love the idea of a veggie lasagna or napoleon.

Chad-And-Gabrielle · April 2016

@JaxInBlue and @levioosa : All these options are pretty much from one caterer who I gave my menu from another caterer to to adapt to. On the original caterer's menu, they did have some other vegetarian dishes that I just realized this caterer did not incorporate.
We originally had:

Creamy Spinach Artichoke and Carrot Risotto with side of Parmesan

Roasted Tomato Basil Marinara Gnocchi
in addition to the two meat entrees. I think that would cover the vegetarians sufficiently!

So on the original menu, it had been decided to have:

Chicken Fried Chicken with Jalapeno Cream Gravy and Figgy Honey Mustard.

Pineapple Ginger Pork Shoulder

Creamy Spinach Artichoke and Carrot Risotto with side of Parmesan

Roasted Tomato Basil Marinara Gnocchi
And assorted grilled veggies

What do you all think about this menu as final?

MesmrEwe · April 2016

The Maple Roasted Pork Tenderloin - Having food allergies/sensitivities the closer to the base ingredient for at least one protein option the better!!! (and you may not know what allergies/intolerances people have!)...

... and the Artichoke Sun Dried Tomato Crusted - sounds heavenly!

madamerwin · April 2016

Knottie1454204160 said:

So on the original menu, it had been decided to have:
Chicken Fried Chicken with Jalapeno Cream Gravy and Figgy Honey Mustard.
Pineapple Ginger Pork Shoulder
Creamy Spinach Artichoke and Carrot Risotto with side of Parmesan
Roasted Tomato Basil Marinara Gnocchi
And assorted grilled veggies

What do you all think about this menu as final?

Personally, I think this all sounds delicious! My only feedback: a lot of people have a low-tolerance to spice, and both jalapeno and ginger can be too "spicy" for some people. Do you know how spicy the jalapeno gravy is?

Chad-And-Gabrielle · April 2016

@madamerwin No we have not yet tasted it. But from my experience, Jalapeno cream gravy is never really that spicy. When we go to the tasting, if we find that it is very spicy, we will probably have them cut that back to just regular cream gravy.

Thank you all for your suggestions!!! You have all been soo helpful!

madamerwin · April 2016

Knottie1454204160 said:

@madamerwin No we have not yet tasted it. But from my experience, Jalapeno cream gravy is never really that spicy. When we go to the tasting, if we find that it is very spicy, we will probably have them cut that back to just regular cream gravy.

Thank you all for your suggestions!!! You have all been soo helpful!

That's definitely good that you can taste it before you decide! H and I have a very, very high tolerance for spicy foods... There are things, like Trader Joe's pepper jelly, that to me tastes completely unspicy. But to the bolded, our friend ate some and it was too spicy for her, even though it had a barely detectable level of heat. Maybe my taste buds work right anymore because of how much spicy food we eat, but it seems like a lot of people have zero tolerance for hot/spicy foods.

If it turns out that the gravy IS spicy (even a little bit, since tolerance levels vary), I would just see if your caterer would be willing to make a different gravy, or have the gravy served on the side.

Chad-And-Gabrielle · April 2016

madamerwin said:

Knottie1454204160 said:

@madamerwin No we have not yet tasted it. But from my experience, Jalapeno cream gravy is never really that spicy. When we go to the tasting, if we find that it is very spicy, we will probably have them cut that back to just regular cream gravy.

Thank you all for your suggestions!!! You have all been soo helpful!

That's definitely good that you can taste it before you decide! H and I have a very, very high tolerance for spicy foods... There are things, like Trader Joe's pepper jelly, that to me tastes completely unspicy. But to the bolded, our friend ate some and it was too spicy for her, even though it had a barely detectable level of heat. Maybe my taste buds work right anymore because of how much spicy food we eat, but it seems like a lot of people have zero tolerance for hot/spicy foods.

If it turns out that the gravy IS spicy (even a little bit, since tolerance levels vary), I would just see if your caterer would be willing to make a different gravy, or have the gravy served on the side.

Thats a great idea about them having two different gravys! I will put in that request!

MesmrEwe · April 2016

madamerwin said:

Knottie1454204160 said:

So on the original menu, it had been decided to have:
Chicken Fried Chicken with Jalapeno Cream Gravy and Figgy Honey Mustard.
Pineapple Ginger Pork Shoulder
Creamy Spinach Artichoke and Carrot Risotto with side of Parmesan
Roasted Tomato Basil Marinara Gnocchi
And assorted grilled veggies

What do you all think about this menu as final?

Personally, I think this all sounds delicious! My only feedback: a lot of people have a low-tolerance to spice, and both jalapeno and ginger can be too "spicy" for some people. Do you know how spicy the jalapeno gravy is?

This! Pepper is one of my intolerances and I can tell you almost immediately if it's in the seasoning they used to regularly season something or in the dressing for that matter. It sucks - making tacos requires reducing the seasoning packet by half or more! Ginger is actually one of my food allergies... But keeping it simple, the important thing is for your caterers to be able to answer the "what's in it" questions!!!

drglitter · April 2016

I think it sounds great! I agree that if the jalapeno gravy is at all spicy, I'd see if you could switch it out for those of us with less tolerant palates.

ILoveBeachMusic · April 2016

That risotto sounds wonderful! I would choose that over the other two and I'm not vegetarian. I agree about the jalapeño gravy - watch the spiciness. I love ginger, not so much pineapple with meat but that is a personal preference.

ei34 · April 2016

Chicken and pork are pretty similar - was there not a red meat option? The chicken you've selected does sound good.
And as someone who doesn't eat seafood and rarely eats meat (though when I do, it's steak, hence my red meat inquiry

), the vegetarian option sounds absolutely phenomenal. What strikes me is that it's not something vegans would eat, but my mouth is watering thinking about it.

kvruns · April 2016

Knottie1454204160 said:

So on the original menu, it had been decided to have:
Chicken Fried Chicken with Jalapeno Cream Gravy and Figgy Honey Mustard.
Pineapple Ginger Pork Shoulder
Creamy Spinach Artichoke and Carrot Risotto with side of Parmesan
Roasted Tomato Basil Marinara Gnocchi
And assorted grilled veggies

What do you all think about this menu as final?

I think the pineapple ginger pork could be a little more polarizing than the pork options on your other menu such as the herb crusted pork.

Jalapeno gravy sounds amazing to me

lnixon8 · April 2016

Wanted to add for lurkers, some caterers (like mine) actually LOWERED the price per person if you add a pasta dish. For entrees I had a crab and chicken dish(maryland bride), prime rib as well as pasta with marinara and buffalo mozzarella. Good for vegetarians and since I had a buffet people could get a little of everything (in the caterers mind a cheap way to fill their plates).

hyechica81 · April 2016

i would nix the gravy for the chicken and offer it on the side like the guest could spoon some on it not everyone like spice. my brother did a veggie stack for his wedding and it was plated over polenta the ones who had it said it was amazing

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