How does this stations dinner menu sound?
ByStationary appetizers:
Chips and salsa
Spinach dip in a sourdough bread bowl with bread chunks for dipping
Passed appetizers:
Coconut shrimp
Potstickers
Eggrolls
Cranberry orange muffins with ham slices (served cold) (would buttermilk biscuits be better?)
Mini calzones
Pakodas (Indian veggie fritter)
Taco cups (seasoned taco meat with chopped onions and grated cheddar inside bite size tortilla cup)
Thai station:
Garlic chicken
Jasmine rice
Steakhouse station:
Steak
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Mexican station:
Beef and veggie fajitas
Spanish rice
Refried beans
Kids’ station:
Chicken strips
Mac & cheese
Dessert:
Cake
Beverages:
Margarita station (virgin and alcoholic) also serves daiquiris & coladas (also virgin and alcoholic)
Espresso/hot cocoa station
Beer, sodas
Lila, the menu is not set in stone. We’re just looking for feedback at the moment. We are definitely having it catered since I have worked at dinners in the past and I would never consider cooking my own food or having friends/relatives cook for my own wedding.
We are having 2 vegetarians (the rest will eat just about anything) and actually yes there are foods there that vegetarians do and will eat. The chips and salsa, spinach dip, veggie fritter, eggrolls and potstickers (both made without meat), mashed potatoes, veggie fajitas, rice, refried beans. How is that starving them and not having any options?
Also, we are having Italian food the night before for the rehearsal so don’t really want to have the same food two nights in a row.
9 Comments
January 8th, 2010 at 11:01 am
sounds very appealing
January 8th, 2010 at 11:31 am
i like it. it is a lot of choices, but it’s simple, not overly fancy stuff. I’d rather eat rice and whatnot than truffle crusted caviar crumpets or something like that.
January 8th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
mmm can I come?!
sounds good!
January 8th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Hey, there. That all sounds really good, but I think you could save a lot of money and hassle by reducing your appetizers to about 4. That way, everyone will get to try each type and they won’t be missing anything.
Are you doing the food yourself or are you hiring caterers? If you are doing it yourself, then reducing the amount of food choices would save alot.
Also, you don’t have any vegetarian options listed. Are you SURE you don’t have vegetarians coming? you should probably include a vegetarian option, like pasta.
Good luck!
January 8th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
I think the only thing I would change would be the mashed potatoes and gravy. It goes better with chicken so I would do baked potatoes and have butter and sourcream out. Maybe have a veggie at the Thai station and Steakhouse station to make it complete like the Mexican one. Vegans then could have a baked potato topped with veggies and get full from that alone.
Your menu looks great. I was also thinking gravy can get messy.
January 8th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Sounds yummy to me. There are plenty of vegetarian choices there so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Most people eat gravy on their mashed potatoes and it isn’t messy at all. Not to mention, places like Applebee’s frequently pair mashed potatoes with steaks so does that mean they’re doing it all wrong? If people thought otherwise, the place would be out of business since that is what people generally order there.
I’m assuming that the garlic chicken comes with veggies as they do at most Thai restaurants. But you could probably offer the veggies alone without the chicken if someone didn’t want that. It would not be that difficult. Maybe add another veggie to the steak station. Otherwise it sounds great as is.
January 8th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Here are my thoughts.
Im not nuts about the chips and salsa and spinach dip because those things tend to get messy and are very difficult to actually dip from a communal bowl. Just skip those and do the passed apps, theres already plenty there.
For the mains, you have two kinds of rice and two kinds of steak, which seems like a waste of money to me. I know they are cooked differently, but in the end its still steak and rice. I would go for something different on each of those so you make more of an impact.
January 8th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
It’s great that you have considered your vegetarian guests, just be sure that no one has any food allergies, as you may need to accomodate them.
January 8th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
If the intent is that the stations act as a buffet (in that people fill their plates and go sit down to eat) it’s mostly good. Yes, biscuits with the sliced ham would be better.
I’d add something with a bit more vegetables, just to add to the healthful aspect of the meal. Perhaps a fresh veggie tray with dips? A station with tossed salad and a few dressings?
My biggest concern with the menu is that many of these foods are quite drippy and can be messy to eat. People risk glooping up their dress-up clothes.
If the intent is that people wander around getting food and eating at stand-up tables, my ‘messy’ concern is magnified.
I’m not concerned that people will go hungry. You have enough food and plenty of yummy choices.