Justin H.
5/5
We used John Howie Catering for our wedding and couldn't have been happier. Not only was the food and service amazing, but it ended up being the most reasonably priced option out of the local catering only companies we talked to.
Sarah worked with us starting at the first tasting through to our last tweaks, to ensure we had a menu to amaze our carnivores, vegetarians, and vegan guest. We even went to SeaStar to try a few things not typically on their catering menu, and they were able to take our special requests and provide them in our buffet, to the amazement of our guests.
Speaking of buffet, the buffet service works great. John Howie Catering knows what works well, and how to present it in that form. The salmon turned out just like it did out of the restaurant's kitchen, and the cap steak was tender and full of flavor.
It meant that we didn't have to take RSVPs with entree orders, other than dietary restrictions. And everyone got to try a bit of everything if they wanted. A couple people stuck to just one entree, but it was important to us that people could try a bit of everything!
The team blended in seamlessly during the wedding, taking care of everything. We really appreciated that they even brought displays for our doughnuts/cupcakes that were straight from the shops (Which charged a lot to rent their display gear). John Howie Catering took the boxes we had and put the deserts out beautifully for all our guests to devour 🙂
We didn't have to compromise on our meat options - they were able to do special plates for the vegetarians as well as plates for people with dietary restrictions that had certain ingredients excluded. They were even able to turn the vegetarian puff pastry vegan, which even our staunch meat eaters said may have been the best passed appetizer!
The appetizers had a good variety and pleased all. (Kalbi pork, pesto chicken, and vegan pastry cups). They were devoured and we were very thankful their team had brought us our own set for our certificate signing.
We had everyone raving about how good the food was. Perfectly cooked king salmon, tasty cap steak, surprising pastry cups... and our special substitution of their southwest mash instead of mashed potatoes made everyone talk for weeks and asking for the recipe.
Also to call out, when we had asked if the southwest mash cake which we had tried in the SeaStar could be added, they were flexible enough to add a version of it, it but also attentive to detail enough to know that the fried style wouldn't work in the buffet, adjusting it to work great in the service style.
The team also provided late night snacks for us; again being flexible to do sliders both with and without cheese. While a lot of folks were already stuffed, the folks who still had room loved them.
Another bonus of buffet style is, we were able to bring a few leftovers home with us!
We had a bit of everything (just two pieces of salmon left... ) which meant that the portions were well sized to not run out during the event! This was also great because bringing our late night snacks home, we didn't feel bad about having extra since we saw our family more that week and brought them out to people who hadn't had a chance to try them. (And I ate a ton myself, because they were delicious)
They did setup, cleanup, as well as rental coordination. We bought/folded our own napkins and they put them all out and returned them in the same box we brought them in. We hardly noticed anything other than great service and then we got our bags of leftovers and called it a night.
All in all, highly recommend for delicious food and quality thoughtful service.
