Rhodes Phoenix (4) - Rhodes

Sneak peak at the food which will be served at our wedding.

So not exactly this. But our families had decided to go and have a taste test of the food at our reception. Not really sure why this is necessary because 1/ we're not going to change the venue regardless, and 2/ the quality of food we get on the night when they cook in bulk would probably be different to this anyway. But nonetheless, an excuse to eat abalone and lobster and all that stuff can't be TOO bad :)

crab claw

Lobster was also on the table for the night. I think I must have gotton the 2 easiest pieces to eat. The super large chunks of lobster came out without a fight, leaving me with just fresh tasty and meaty lobster. Tasted sweet and full-on lobstery. The noodles weren't the best... but I guess that's why we're changing those to egg noodles LOL.

Lobster with e-fu noodles

Abalone with sea cucumber was next. I'm not a fan of abalone, neither is my partner. We had no qualms about this. However, the parents said that the abalone was too chewy and came with a 'sourness' (ie. that it was "off"). After informing the waitress who apologised and acted confused to no end, we had a fresh plate of abalone cooked for us. OK - so the 2nd batch of abalone appeared more tender and less chewy, but really, either batch was fine with me. Extra abalone though - woot? Sea cucumber was nice and jelly-like in both.

abalone with sea cucumber

We also steamed a grouper (instead of coral trout) for the evening. The fish was steamed pretty much to perfection. The fish was sweet and tasty. Again, no problems here.

steamed grouper

Now, in terms of scallop - we had an option between dried scallop and fresh scallop. Being not a fan of dried scallop, we have now decided on fresh ones. The fresh scallops were AWESOME. Large, tasty, YUM (and yes, I am biased).

Scallop with snow peas

Last but not least, we had crispy skinned chicken. Nothing too awesome here. Just regular crispy skinned chicken.

Crispy skinned chicken

So all up, what did we achieve with this meal? We locked in the banquet menu. We locked in the drinks menu. And... well... I guess they ought to be more careful with the abalone on the night... I hope? :P

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 31/40

Rhodes Phoenix
Rhodes Shopping Centre
Level 5, 1 Rider Boulevard
Rhodes, NSW 2138
Tel: (02) 9739 6628