General perception about catering and my experience with La Fiesta!

Last year some very learned person had told me that food critics or food bloggers who cover wedding or any catering events are basically jobless, that person considered blogging for a catering event to be pretty ‘down-market’! Frankly speaking, that’s the mindset of most of the people in our city or in this part of the country. And exactly that’s the reason why a meal at any catering event is never appealing, at least to me! That finesse is always missing. Whenever I am at any wedding, I am always like when will I finish my meal and leave. Every dish tastes almost the same; almost every caterer cooks similar dishes in the same kind of oily gravy!

There is no place to review all these catering services, so basically, poor catering services are getting jobs done through referrals and mostly personal rapport. The food at these catering events can only get better when we take reviewing these services seriously, report the poor service providers and make people aware of them, whereas we should patronize the better ones who are trying to do things in best possible ways.

So, the day when that person had told me how one should avoid such blogging assignments at catering events, I decided I will definitely take up one such assignment in my life if someone gives me an opportunity. A few days ago my friend Sudipto (an IIHM, Bhubaneswar graduate) who owns a catering service called La Fiesta Catering Services extended his invitation to his catering event at the iconic and historical Sovabajar Rajbari. That’s one place I generally visit every Durga Puja, and I absolutely love the vibe, historical significance, mystical aura and the age-old architecture of the Rajbari. So I instantly agreed to visit the place and make some new memories!

The moment I stepped in, the place looked all decked up as if I have time traveled some 150 years back and the Rajbari is in its heyday! The arrangements looked stunning in the hour of dusk, and all these were accentuated by the neatly laid down counters by La Fiesta.

There were separate stations for beverages, phuchka, Dahi Vada, ice cream, paan, couple of live counters and then the separate buffet counters for Veg and Non-veg food. I already knew the fact that La Fiesta caters to various corporate events, office parties, weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, rice ceremonies, etc; so basically any gathering or event in and around Kolkata.

And I was actually pleasantly surprised to find some catering agency is thinking out-of-the-box and showing enough confidence to play and experiment with the menu and various cuisines keeping the cost per plate in mind.

Here I had to check and taste the food which was going out of their kitchen for all the esteemed guests at the Rajbari, it was an all-new experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The taste of food was definitely amazing and such events surely teach you a thing or two. The immense precision, care and culinary expertise that is required to feed hundreds or thousands of guests all at one go in a stipulated time frame is a humongous task and a challenge in itself! It’s an absolute pressure cooker situation that armchair critics can’t appreciate. La Fiesta thoroughly impressed me with their innovative thinking, smart work, imported equipments, inimitable passion, and culinary expertise.

Coming back to the food items, I absolutely loved the Murg Basil Kebabs, Gandharaj Fried Chicken, Dum ka Mutton, Grilled fish in lemon butter sauce, Murg Badami, etc, and yes, the yummy N2 ice cream in the end; and I felt La Fiesta is surely one of the best Catering services in Kolkata! I would also like to mention here that Dum ka Mutton was not a typical mutton curry or Kosha Mangsho preparation. It was kinda acquired taste according to me, where the mutton is slow cooked with all the spices and curd, yielding a subtle taste and garnished with fried onions in the end.

Also would like to mention about Grilled fish in lemon butter sauce, that happens to be the best dish of the night, and it is definitely a must-have dish on your menu if you are availing the services of La Fiesta Catering. The kebabs, especially the Gandharaj Fried Chicken was too delectable to resist and the sight of seeing this kebabs in the Tandoor was truly magical or rather a sheer culinary delight!

The mocktail counter served some refreshing drinks like Kiwi Daiquiri, Virgin Mojito, Blue Lagoon, etc. Apart from the dishes already mentioned I also tried Fish Ajwani Tikka, Dahi Kebabs, Paneer Shashlik, various salads and chaats (loved the charred grilled veg salad with balsamic vinegar). In the mains, (besides the dishes I have already mentioned above) I tried the masala kulcha, Veg Jhalfrezi, dal dumpukht, zafrani pulao, malai kofta, tandoori cauliflower and more, and I loved having that soft masala kulcha with the Dal dumpukht and Veg Jhalfrezi.

The meal ended on a sweet note with mango chutney, kesaria jalebi with rabdi, malpua, warm Makha Sandesh (in chocolate, mango and pineapple flavors). The Hazelnut N2 ice cream tasted super yum!

And it’s always a delight to watch the N2 ice cream being prepared; liquid Nitrogen that still retains the diatomic character of the nitrogen gas even after liquefaction is used for rapid freezing! Now in recent times, I haven’t seen any catering service juggling with molecular gastronomy! Lastly, I wrapped things up with a banarasi paan from that elaborate Paan counter.

I was really satisfied with the food, and definitely the service. Kebabs, mocktails, and starters kept circulating and every guest was catered to though there was a huge gathering that evening. The kebabs were circulated on mobile hot tawa that kept it hot when it reached the guests.

Definitely, the servers kept their cool and the entire event was managed seamlessly without any issues or hiccups. So you can surely try out La Fiesta Catering in your next event without worrying much, just give them your exact requirements and relax, your guests will be super happy, for sure!