The Wedding Collection – National Museum of Australia

Our tasting started at 3pm and TimmyC and I had become experts at timing small portions of snacks before our late lunches. I was under the illusion that exchanging money in the city wouldn’t take too long and I would easily make it to the Museum for our appointment but I had not accounted for a frustratingly long wait behind a customer who hadn’t properly transfer funds between accounts (or something to that effect) which left me frustrated and very late to my tasting at the National Museum of Australia.

I was embarrassing late which was forgiven for I was the ‘bride-to-be’ but that didn’t ease my mind at all as I panted across the museum into the cafe to find TimmyC sitting outside on a balcony with perfect panoramic views of the lake facing the National Library. Anthony, the venue manager of Broadbean Catering was super nice and didn’t even seem annoyed when he went to inform the kitchen of my late arrival. We were offered beverages but we politely declined and stuck with chilled water. A simple set up but the views made up for it.Each dish came on its own which kept everything hot and we both were able to eat from the same plate giving our views at the same time.

Sneak peek of our meal at the National Museum.

Entrees~

Spicy beef salad with shaved cucumber and roasted peanuts, lime and ginger dressing. The beef salad had the perfect amount of chilli (for me), enough for taste and not to burn your mouth. The flavours underneath the meat were rather refreshing between the strips of cucumber and mixed salad greens. The peanuts gave it an extra crunch and nutty balance between the meat, cold salad and chilli flavour. TimmyC was very happy to have this as an entree at our wedding.Chargrilled King Prawns with avocado and mango salad drizzled with a lime aioli. Next up was the prawns. Anthony explained how the process of this dish was streamlined for maximum efficiency from the kitchen which produced the uniformity across all dishes that I was looking for. I was impressed that they had thought about this and planned this well whether if it was for one or one hundred and one people. The three prawns came out hot and hugging each other in an entanglement that I didn’t understand. Underneath was a beautiful salsa which had a bit of a bite consisting of fresh mangoes and avocado. The contrast between the hot and cold aspects worked well together and would be lovely for a wedding held during the non winter months.

Mains~

Confit duck leg with roasted potato and pears and verjuice glaze. The duck was crispy and looked perfectly glazed in the pear and verjuice jus, but when I looked for the distinct duck flavours in the meat and skin, I couldn’t find it. The pear glaze was sticky and delicious but it left the potatoes rather sweet which I thought would have leant itself better towards a dessert. Comparatively to the food we had been served so far, it was a bit disappointing.

Porcini mushroom risotto cakes, with peperonata and cress salad (v). Now everything sounds good on paper but Tim and I agreed that this vegetarian dish sounded particularly good. It was perfectly executed with a wickedly delicious crispy exterior encasing an amazing risotto that I think even the non-mushroom likers would happily eat. It was served with peperonata giving it an extra bit of sweetness with every bite.Beautiful risotto with a crispy coating.Desserts~ The desserts were arriving as I was still eating my main portion but I didn’t mind. I continued bites of my risotto cakes between tastings of dessert which would probably disgust most people who can’t flick back and forth. TimmyC was excited as he has probably spent most of his life waiting for dessert as I finish eating so this was the best of both worlds. I couldn’t help but wonder if the dishes would have come so fast (not too rushed though) if I had arrived on time.

Rosewater panna cotta with minted strawberries and Persian fairy floss. A part of me was excited to remember that we had chosen a panna cotta and a part of me hesitated as I remembered back to the National Portrait gallery. We were told that the Persian fairy floss could come in alternate colours if we chose this as a dessert which would look cute. The panna cotta itself had a lovely soft texture (phew) and it wasn’t particularly sweet but it wasn’t necessary as the minted strawberries gave it just enough. I must admit, I didn’t know how the strawberries would turn out, too much mint would have made for an unpleasant experience but they manage to balance the flavours wonderfully that TimmyC was happily eating more than his share of the dessert.White chocolate pudding with berry compote and macadamia brittle. The flavours of white chocolate weren’t particularly overwhelming. The first thing I tasted was a heavily egg yolk flavour which I don’t usually like but it was some what masked by the vanilla thick custard. More of a winter warmer comparitively to the panna cotta. It was okay, it was still better than a lot of other desserts that we had tried from other venues.Between the two tastings (click here to see my other tasting), I have been very impressed with Broadbean catering. Amazing food, fabulous selection, fast streamlined kitchen practices that could have a room of approximately 130 people served within 10-13 minutes and reputable recommendations. This venue has rated highly on my potential wedding list and I hope the remaining venue can compete with this.

 

Potential wedding venue: National Museum of Australia

Caterer: Broadbean catering

Time of tasting: 3pm

Price of tasting: $40.00 per dish that we chose, although this would be taken off our final invoice if we chose to have our wedding here. Of course we chose three courses for two people so our total was $120.00 pp.

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