Le Montage, Lilyfield

Ever since I received my 'golden ticket' invite inside a choc block, I've been looking forward to B&J's wedding for some time... cos the wedding had to be running on a chocolate theme, right? As an FYI/fun fact: unbeknownst to the bride and groom, 1st Oct is actually referenced in 'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory' story as the day on which the golden ticket bearers could enter into the chocolate factory - how appropriate for the wedding!

The wedding ceremony and reception was to be held at Le Montage, which I had previously been to for a night-time wedding reception and the location just screamed CLASS (or maybe it was because the other couple had put in a lot of time, effort and clearly ~moolah~ to creating an awesome wedding reception)!

Sign in Driveway

So on this sunny, but seriously windy, day, I actually set up early with T-bone and Ally to check out the nearby Orange Grove markets and used this chance to source breakfast and baked goods before attending to my ushering duties for the wedding ceremony.

Stairway (to ~heaven~)

The Sarah Grand Terrace

Due to the extremely windy weather, guests commented how cold it was on the terrace during the ceremony despite congregating together by the walls - luckily, as I was manning the terrace door, I was protected from the wind by standing inside the building.

Following the wedding ceremony, guests were ushered across to the Alexander Lounge room, in which the reception was to be held. Canapes and drinks were offered by waiters as people lined up to sign the guest book and Jenga pieces, and drop off any gifts:

Above and Top Right: Drinks
Bottom Right: Canapes

The Alexander Lounge

On arrival at the reception area, I could see that the wedding favours were blocks of (Koko Black?) chocolate blocks and they actually prepared two chocolate fountains (with milk and dark chocolate) for guests to consume from, accompanied by fresh fruit, marshmallows, and wafer sticks.... pure heaven!

Top Left and Above: Dessert with Choc Fountains
Bottom Left: Bread Bowl

Apparently, we had the unlimited drinks package but I thought it was weird how the default drinks on each table was a iced water jug (with lemon), white wine, red wine and sparkling water. If you wanted anything different (e.g. soft drink or orange juice), you had to ask the waiters for a jug. Usually, when there are unlimited drinks, these options would already be made available on the table by default, hence I thought this arrangement was rather peculiar. However, the waiters were very prompt at switching out bottles and jugs that were (near) empty.

Sparkling Water and Wines

Table Decor

Entrée

Veal Osso Bucco Casarecce - Fresh Pasta served with Ragu of Osso Bucco
bound in a Rich Tomato Sauce, Topped with Parmesan Cheese

Orecchiette Pasta tossed with Butternut Pumpkin and Seared Treviso
bound with Danish Feta, served with Burnt Butter Sauce

I was served the orecchiette pasta, which was my personal preference out of the two entrées, even though the pasta was slightly under-cooked and was rather oily. The casarecce pasta reminded me of a thick, curled pasta sheet strips that had been cooked past al dente in the sauce and I didn't really see any form of meat from the ragu.

Mains

Fresh Fish of the Day (Salmon) Oven Baked resting on a Warm Potato Salad
accompanied by Crisp Green Beans, finished with a fresh Salsa of Tomato,
Spanish Onion and Basil dressed with Olive oil and Balsamic Glaze

Slowly Braised Beef Cheeks in Red Currants and Black Cherries,
served in a silk smooth Potato Mash, accompanied by Seasonal Greens

Interestingly, they didn't state what the actual fish was for this dish on the menu - I guess they would just serve what was in season and/or available. The beef cheeks were a hit around the table - soft, melt-in-your-mouth beef with excess collagen layers in between. Seriously, how big are the cheek muscles of a cow because the meat served was huge!?

After finishing the main, I noticed that I was constantly reaching for my cup, as I was extremely thirsty - perhaps a sign of MSG usage in the first two courses (especially the beef cheeks)? The main wasn't exceptionally salty but my mouth felt exceptionally dry after consuming it, even after downing numerous cups of sparkling water and orange juice.

Dessert

Crème Brûlée - Vanilla Bean Brûlée served with Caramelised Sugar Top,
Fresh Cream, Strawberry and Nut Biscotti

Le Montage Tiramisu - Lady Finger Biscuits soaked in Espresso and Marsala,
layered with Mascapone and Chocolate, served with Vanilla Bean
Ice Cream and Mint Dust

I thought the tiramisu was a let-down. The tiramisu was a thin choc cup with a thin sponge at base, doused in coffee-flavoured syrup, and then filled with mascapone cream - there was way too much cream in the dessert and I would have liked more cake. Also, the mint dust was lost on me as it provided little flavour and I actually thought it was matcha powder (... or was it?) when I was eating the ice cream. As for the crème brûlée, the texture looked similar to silken tofu, rather than like a thick custard, when you cut through it with a spoon.

Upon consultation with other guests - the most memorable dishes of the day were the two pasta entrees and the beef cheeks (although probably highly unhealthy).

Water Fountain, Overlooking the Bay

Something that the other guests on my table commented about: the food pic captions are the actual menu description of the various courses - it's rather wordy and filled with unnecessary adjectives. I guess they do make the dishes sound good...