chinese wedding resturants ideas

[95EG6P]

hi beyond i just got engaged and looking for chinese restaurants that can hold up to 100 guest. i am wondering how much it is going to cost and any nice places. We are looking at the standard 10 course dinner that you always get at chinese weddings. Any recommendation or personal experiences are greatly appreciated so please share or u can PM me thank u beyonders
cheers:)

[ga16i]

um... 100 guest is 10 tables. The nicer places are Forbidden City, T-Pot, and Regency Palace. Budget roughly $500 a table for decent food. I really enjoyed the food at my own reception at T-Pot a few years back. It is cramped, and smaller compared to other venues, but pretty good place for 10 tables. Regency Palace can hold like 500 people and likely won't give you the time of day. I've attended a few there, and the food was decent. I do prefer T-Pot though. Same deal with Forbidden City. They're more setup for larger weddings.

$300 / table if you really want to save and go somewhere like Harbour City, Ho Won or something.

Any of the nicer places, do book roughly 1 year in advance if you want the standard Chinese summer reception on a Saturday. There's really not that many Saturdays in the summer to begin with, especially auspicious ones :D

And congrats btw!
Are you guys both Chinese?

edit:
Central Grand on 16th and Centre Street is a good 2nd tier option too. Chinese people like receptions to take place where you have to go upstairs. Ground level restaurants are fine, but not preferred. Places where you have to go downstairs to get to the restaurant is just plain uncouth.

Silver Dragon is okay if at least one of you is white. I can't think of a single Chinese person (non CBC) who likes that place haha.

[Jeff TYPE R]

Originally posted by ga16i
Silver Dragon is okay if at least one of you is white. I can't think of a single Chinese person (non CBC) who likes that place haha. Because most chanks are cheap assholes. I've never had the banquet food at T-Pot, but Silver Dragon was much better than Forbidden City and Regency. Much better. Shit was totally fresh and not soaked in Oil of MSG. I attended chinese weddings at all 3 of these restaurants in the summer of 2011 for reference.

[max_boost]

Silver Dragon food is pretty good. I quite enjoy it there. Service is by far the best of the big Chinese restaurants IMO!

[ga16i]

Originally posted by Jeff TYPE R
Because most chanks are cheap assholes. I've never had the banquet food at T-Pot, but Silver Dragon was much better than Forbidden City and Regency. Much better. Shit was totally fresh and not soaked in Oil of MSG. I attended chinese weddings at all 3 of these restaurants in the summer of 2011 for reference.

Are you CBC? ;)

[cdnsir]

Umm... I'm not too sure about that range.. $300 will be a regular 10 course dinner. For weddings, you'll have to include pretentious luxuries like Shark Fin and Roasted Piglet (i.e. the restaurant's chance to rip you off a bit more).

$500 is the floor for a place like You and Me. Mid-range will be Grand Central at $700. T-Pot will gauge the crap outta you for $800+ and they'll enforce a gratuity rule. All these places does have multiple menus so the it'll be +/- $200 depending if there's like abalone or any other food upgrades.

I did this back in March, prices should be more or less the same.

[yoda124]

Had my wedding at Harbour City last summer(15 tables).No complaints.They were great and the best value for a smaller wedding.Everyone liked the banquet food (crab balls are to die for).They always book fast for the summer so go down and talk to Terry.He's a good guy and super helpful.

[ga16i]

Originally posted by cdnsir
Umm... I'm not too sure about that range.. $300 will be a regular 10 course dinner. For weddings, you'll have to include pretentious luxuries like Shark Fin and Roasted Piglet (i.e. the restaurant's chance to rip you off a bit more).

$500 is the floor for a place like You and Me. Mid-range will be Grand Central at $700. T-Pot will gauge the crap outta you for $800+ plus they enforce a gratuity rule. All these places does have multiple menus so the it'll be +/- $200 depending if there's like abalone or not.

I did this back in March, prices should be more or less the same.

Holy crap, has it gone up that much now?!!! I don't doubt your prices.
My pricing was way back in 2009. $550 was about what I paid at T-Pot, and there was suckling pig, shark fin, abalone, twin lobsters, and other filler stuff.

[Xtrema]

Central Grand has horrible food the last 2 times I've been there, other than that they have plenty of room and parking, but it should not be in your top 3.

Never been to T-Pot or Forbidden City but based on their normal dinner quality, I won't put that up on top of the list either. The owner treat the kitchen staff pretty poor, no decent chef will work for them for long.

Silver Dragon is good and Regency is a good 2nd choice if you need space and a stage.

Unfortunately, that's about it. There isn't that many places where you can do 10 tables comfortably in town. And I'm pretty sure it will cost you more than $500 per table for weddings.

[ga16i]

Oh, and yes while there are multiple menus, being Asians there's room to haggle a bit. You can take a lesser menu and add the important upgrades that you want. Probably shouldn't try it unless you speak Chinese fluently though or risk getting the guai lo menu :thumbsup: chi saw hei been dou wah??!!!!

[cdnsir]

Originally posted by ga16i
Oh, and yes while there are multiple menus, being Asians there's room to haggle a bit. You can take a lesser menu and add the important upgrades that you want. Probably shouldn't try it unless you speak Chinese fluently though or risk getting the guai lo menu :thumbsup: chi saw hei been dou wah??!!!!

Yup cost has really gone up. But then even Pho went from $6 to now about $9, guess it makes sense. And double yes to haggle. Don't expect to knock like 20% off. But you can get a free food upgrade, save the tax, or no corkage.

On a related note, the bare ass $50/person gift money is no longer acceptable. I mean it was a couple of years back.. But now, you would want at least $60 to help the host to breakeven. $70 is a safer point to help cover the booze. Anything above is the real gift to the couple.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by cdnsir
On a related note, the bare ass $50/person gift money is no longer acceptable. I mean it was a couple of years back.. But now, you would want at least $60 to help the host to breakeven. $70 is a safer point to help cover the booze. Anything above is the real gift to the couple.

I think that was 2007/08 standard, now is closer to $100-$120 per person, $70 is barely a break even point but they can understand if you are poor, like a student or something or that you already got them a gift from the registry.

Unless they serve you crap, it's hard to get a wedding banquet for less than $700 per table (just for the meal, assuming wedding party brings all the drink and alcohol themselves) and that was almost 7 months ago.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by ga16i
Silver Dragon is okay if at least one of you is white. I can't think of a single Chinese person (non CBC) who likes that place haha.

I prefer the Chinese restaurants that CBCs go to.

Less people chewing with their mouths open and talking loudly on their cellphones.

[95EG6P]

[i]

And congrats btw!
Are you guys both Chinese?
. [/B]

i am chinese and my fiance is veitnamese
thanks for all the imputs guys it is really helpfull :)
and what is a CBC?
also for the chinese wedding resturants do you bring your own liqour or u have to bye it from them and do u decorated the place yourself or they do not allow it
thanks for all the imput :clap:

[ga16i]

Originally posted by sputnik


I prefer the Chinese restaurants that CBCs go to.

Less people chewing with their mouths open and talking loudly on their cellphones.

That's a pretty good point too. There is a difference between old skool authentic and modern and canadianized for Chinese restaurants.

Where the CBCs go tend to be more clean and have better service. Old skool authentic is notorious for terrible service, dirty ass washrooms, loud patrons and crap tons of MSG, but that's how it was done in the old country haha. I find T-Pot, and Forbidden City to be a pretty good balance, but leaning towards the old skool side. Regency is a good balance too towards the more modern CBC side. Places like Golden Inn and Ho Won are just plain too old skool for myself, but I'm sure there are some that are looking specifically for that kind of experience.

Really depends if OP wants to cater to the old cakes or if they want to just do things their own way. Lucky for them, the gold and cash comes in the morning before the reception, so the old people can't give based on level of banquet food. ;)

[ga16i]

Originally posted by 95EG6P


i am chinese and my fiance is veitnamese
thanks for all the imputs guys it is really helpfull :)
and what is a CBC?
also for the chinese wedding resturants do you bring your own liqour or u have to bye it from them and do u decorated the place yourself or they do not allow it
thanks for all the imput :clap:

A CBC is a Canadian Born Chinese, a non first generation immigrant. Most likely either their parents or grand parents were the ones who actually made the trip from China to Canada. Because all they've known is the Canadian way, their tastes are different from people who are used to the way things are done in China. Hence why places they frequent tend to be more civilized and clean, and perhaps less oily, greasy and MSG filled.

I think most restaurants will allow you to bring your own liquor for a fee, and you can decorate yourself, although mostly the decoration is your last names being put next to the dragon and phoenix pieces. Chinese wedding receptions don't really have much decoration other than maybe party favours at the table. You might put a sign or picture at the entrance, but that's about it for the extent of decorations at the reception.

[BigDL]

If you can pay the restaurant in cash, they like to give you a discount if your paying for the whole thing in cash. I had several grand in my pocket at my sister's wedding to pay for the dinner.

Forbidden City was pretty good to deal with and they had space. I been to three weddings there and I couldn't complain one bit about the food during the wedding.

As many people said, the biggest issue with a large wedding is the lack of restaurants to hold the wedding which leads to limited dates if you don't book far in advance.

[Jeff TYPE R]

Originally posted by ga16i


That's a pretty good point too. There is a difference between old skool authentic and modern and canadianized for Chinese restaurants.

Where the CBCs go tend to be more clean and have better service. Old skool authentic is notorious for terrible service, dirty ass washrooms, loud patrons and crap tons of MSG, but that's how it was done in the old country haha. I find T-Pot, and Forbidden City to be a pretty good balance, but leaning towards the old skool side. Regency is a good balance too towards the more modern CBC side. Places like Golden Inn and Ho Won are just plain too old skool for myself, but I'm sure there are some that are looking specifically for that kind of experience.

Really depends if OP wants to cater to the old cakes or if they want to just do things their own way. Lucky for them, the gold and cash comes in the morning before the reception, so the old people can't give based on level of banquet food. ;)

You're misinformed on your own heritage. MSG was never a big part of "old skool authentic" Chinese food at all. It was invented by the Japs and was introduced to American Asian cuisine in the 60s, then only in the mid 90s did it become widespread in China (or as you call it, the old country.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/14/world/in-china-msg-is-no-headache-it-s-a-new-treat.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

Sorry.

[ga16i]

Originally posted by Jeff TYPE R


You're misinformed on your own heritage. MSG was never a big part of "old skool authentic" Chinese food at all. It was invented by the Japs and was introduced to American Asian cuisine in the 60s, then only in the mid 90s did it become widespread in China (or as you call it, the old country.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/14/world/in-china-msg-is-no-headache-it-s-a-new-treat.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

Sorry.

Ok, I guess that depends on what is defined as old skool authentic. I think that article talks more about mainland China as opposed to Canton, and Hong Kong specifically. MSG has been pretty wide spread at least since the 80's in Hong Kong. Although Chinatowns and Chinese restaurants had been around North America since at least the late 1800's, it didn't explode in a significant numbers until the 80's to the 90's when the looming 1997 Hong Kong hand over back to China was causing major concerns and large number of emigration out of Hong Kong. That first major group of Chinese to come to North America were mostly poor folk in search of gold and a better life. That second big wave before 1997 were primarily more well off Hong Kong businessmen who could afford to emigrate in style. That demographic's children is also largely where the stereotype that Asians are smart comes from. I'm not saying that more money == more intelligent, but these will be the parents who has a higher education and spend more time with the kids.

A large percentage of "Chinese" restaurants you see in Chinatown do tend to be run/owned by Cantonese who came with enough money to start a business, probably from Hong Kong especially if it serves dim sum (a very Cantonese type of dish) and/or the menus are printed in Traditional Chinese characters. That's why most of the "Chinese" restaurants are full of MSG. It's been popular in Hong Kong since the 80's, and the North American Chinese restaurants are run mainly by these people from Hong Kong. So I think it is fair to say that in its current recognizable form, the modern "Chinese" restaurant has been using crazy MSG since it first exploded in North America. Anymore old skool than that and we're talking about something closer to steam buns under a rickety roof or back when these various "restaurants" were operated as separate entities: tea house, wine house, seafood restaurant. The modern "Chinese" restaurant likely combines all three.