Thursday, March 01, 2012

Chinese Wedding Banquet at Ming Garden

Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

Ming Garden is one of the fine Chinese restaurants which opened its doors in recent years, and is supposedly one of the largest restaurants on the island up north.
Claiming its abode on the second floor of Penang Times Square, this restaurant serves authentic Chinese cuisine and caters to private functions such as wedding dinners, birthdays, and company dinners.

Taking a break from my travel food blogging, I am posting this to share on my own recent experience at this restaurant which I attended a wedding of a friend/ex-colleague.
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

Although the invitation stated that the dinner is to commence at 7.30pm, we were there early and enjoyed the pre-dinner cocktail served by the restaurant.
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
There is a choice of wine or orange juice, along with the local snacks (murukku)

The hall was tastefully decorated with a heart-shaped archway to create a romantic ambiance, in conjunction with the wedding.
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

The tables were covered with simple white tablecloths which were placed with the usual chopsticks, glasses, plates, bowls and also red paper napkins.
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

I was fascinated with the unique Oriental-themed lantern lights inside the restaurant.
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

The wedding favor, courtesy of the newly weds, which was distributed by the couple's family shortly before the dinner started.
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
It's a pair of customized coasters :)

The grand entrance of the bride and groom marked the commencement of the banquet dinner
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

A Chinese wedding dinner is usually composed of a full-blown 8-9 courses.
The appetizer: Ming Garden Five Combination Platter
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

Soup: Braised Shark's Fin soup with crab meat
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
(*I don't take this, but as this is a favorite delicacy among the Chinese, it is commonly found in most luxurious dining and definitely weddings)

Roasted Duck and Chicken Combination
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

Steamed East Star Grouper Fish with Soya Sauce
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
This is definitely the star of the day, as this is one of the rare times I've had grouper fish in a wedding dinner.
The flesh is refined smooth, and steaming the fish just brings out the natural freshness of the fish.

Pan-Fried King Prawn in Western Style
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
The western style is pretty much butter and Nestle flakes.

Braised Vegetables with beancurd skin
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

Fried Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

The dessert; Chilled Fruits Cocktail with Longan wrapped up the overall dinner banquet
Image Hosted by PicturePush - Photo Sharing

The food was not too bad, and typical of what one would expect of a Chinese wedding dinner.
It was no easy feat either, to serve approximately a crowd of 800+!

17 comments:

  1. yup .. we should stop eating shark fin .. save some sharks..
    actually crab meat n scallop soup is equally good...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think it's kind of sad that gross cruelty to an animal is the de facto symbol of celebration and affluence - *especially* when, by all accounts I've ever seen, the shark fin actually tastes of almost nothing :(

    Anyway though - it's a beautiful meal Christy - it looks like you had a lot of fun, and congratulations to the happy couple! The "wester style" dish cracks me up, lol :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. The coasters are so cute!! :) I've never been to a wedding...or a wedding banquet *sigh* I love the plate they use for the appetizer!

    But WOW! 800+ !!!! o.O

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have to echo the above anti shark fin comments!!
    Love the personalized coasters though - what a unique idea.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, wonderful! The food looks great. Thanks for sharing.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ha! I miss attending Chinese wedding's in Malaysia -- everything looks so delicious :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. That is one wedding banquet I would love to attend.
    Rita

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great feast! And, those red lanterns are lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Simple person, I echo your call, and I show my protest by not touching my bowl of shark's fin every time I go to a Chinese dinner, or wedding:p
    I am totally with you on the crab meat with scallop in soup, sounds yummy!!:D

    ReplyDelete
  10. Charles, I am totally with you on your statement!It's totally cruel and insensitive, and I just feel that it is gross as well!:(
    Hahahaha, the Western style is totally ridiculous, in my opinion:p

    ReplyDelete
  11. Von, yeah, cute coasters, there are two of them in it!:)
    Oh, and this is an extremely large crowd for a wedding!:p

    ReplyDelete
  12. The Yum List, I couldn't say more myself :D

    ReplyDelete
  13. Rosa, glad you enjoyed it!;)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Kiran, when are you coming back to Malaysia then?;)I am sure we missed you too:D

    ReplyDelete
  15. Rita, hehe, definitely :D

    ReplyDelete
  16. lisa, the red lanterns are just cute and totally had my attention most of the time;)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Bentwood and twig work are the two basic types of rustic-furniture construction that are prominently used by many companies, artists and craftspeople to make rustic furniture in a variety of styles with a fine and elegant touch of historical and contemporary influences. Phoenix Chinese Restaurant

    ReplyDelete