Do you need fish as an option?

Sarah1916

We are getting down to the stage of trying to pick our wedding menu.

We went for our tasting last week and are stuck.

Originally we had thought of having beef or Turkey&ham as our options.
But now swinging towards beef or sea bass.

What are peoples opinions on this?
Is it necessary to have fish as one of the options?

Elemonator

Any big event I've been to has had steak or fish as the options but I don't think its a popular/mandatory thing.

lazygal

It's been 50-50 on whether there's been options at weddings we've been to. Is cost a factor? We had a choice on every course because it was the same price either way, beef or hake for mains.

Sarah1916

Thanks for your replies.
No cost is not a factor, we will have a choice of 2 mains. The decision is whether to have seabass or turkey& ham to go along side beef on the menu.

seamus

Typically the fish option is to cater for the fact that some people won't want beef. If you were having turkey & ham, then you wouldn't need a fish option.

It's Irish thing about ensuring there's some meat on the plate. Go with beef or a meat-free option and everyone is then catered for.

lazygal

I would go for beef.

Sarah1916

lazygal wrote: »

I would go for beef.

Thanks.

We are definitely having beef.
We just need to decide if the options on the day will be:

- Beef or sea bass
or
- Beef or turkey/ham

stargazer 68

I would go with the fish and I don't even eat fish!

Mrs OBumble

What would vegetarians eat otherwise?

Even fish is risky unless you know they're pessky and not full blown veggie.

Sarah1916

We will have a silent vegetarian option for the 2 vegetarians we know of coming.

clint_silver

Although its all opinionable, Id go for Sea bass all day here.

Most of us had the regular beef at a wedding, usually quite nice, but if I wanted another option it would be fish, not turkey and ham, which is just more meat and sea bass is a very common tasty fish which would appeal to most, like its not eel or skate, if someone wanted a fish, sea bass is a good option.

GingerLily

I think fish offers a good alternative to beef, more people would be happy with one of those two options in my experience then beef / turkey & ham.

I wouldn't be happy with beef or turkey & ham, they're both very heavy options, at formal events I tend to like to eat lighter meals !

PhoenixParker

Think about the subset of your guests who wouldn't like the beef.
Would they prefer the fish or the turkey?
That's the choice to make.

Timfy

No-one availed of the fish course, a delicious salmon dish, at my wedding reception.

That might of course be because I forgot to add it to the menu cards!!!

Faith

I'm with GingerLily - I bloody love beef, but it's a very heavy meal. I'd go for fish at a wedding if I could. Turkey and ham (bleugh) wouldn't even be a consideration, TBH.

Bacchus

It's not a rule but I'd always have a fish option. Some people just don't like beef and fish is lovely anyway

Unless your wedding is around Christmas, I'm not sure why you'd go for turkey and ham. It just seems an odd choice... that's just me though... it'd probably be quite nice, just not something I'd associate with a wedding meal.

eviltwin

Just out of interest why are vegetarian options always off menu so to speak? Is it more expensive to offer a vegetarian option as part of the main meal or is it the thought that people won't feel happy with their food unless they are given a meat?

SarahMollie

I would also be very disappointed if there was no fish option - I'm not a particularly fussy eater (as in, I eat red meat no problem), but just weddings are so excessive in so many ways, its nice to have a lighter option for main course. Theres nothing worse than a food coma when you're supposed to be up and dancing.

As meat options go, turkey and ham would probably be my nightmare - propensity to be extremely bland/dry would be high in my opinion. We don't even have that in my house at Christmas, but I accept I'm not the norm on that one!

autumnbelle

Oh yis have changed mind about my menu... i love turkey and ham seems most dont!!!

lazygal

eviltwin wrote: »

Just out of interest why are vegetarian options always off menu so to speak? Is it more expensive to offer a vegetarian option as part of the main meal or is it the thought that people won't feel happy with their food unless they are given a meat?

Ours wasn't. No one ordered it though!

SarahMollie

eviltwin wrote: »

Just out of interest why are vegetarian options always off menu so to speak? Is it more expensive to offer a vegetarian option as part of the main meal or is it the thought that people won't feel happy with their food unless they are given a meat?

I guess they don't want everyone thinking its another option? As far as I know, most invites will ask ppl to RSVP including dietary requirements so this is apparently when you have to put yourself down for a veggie option.

That said, its a big ridiculous as vegetarian meals should be cheaper for the venue to provide, so you'd think they'd encourage it.

Back to the OP's case, a wedding I was at abroad last year (it was in a private villa, not a hotel) only had one option which was fillet of beef. Three people then asked for a last minute veggie option, which wasnt there. The chef ended up having to come up with some weird chicken salad make up from left over chicken skewers from the finger food. Two of the people refused to eat the beef because while they're not vegitarian, they don't eat red meat. The other one doesnt eat meat in non english speaking countries. All had assumed there would be a fish option.

DaeryssaOne

SarahMollie wrote: »

The other one doesnt eat meat in non english speaking countries.

Sorry I'm just being nosey here but what on earth does that even mean?

SarahMollie

jobr wrote: »

Sorry I'm just being nosey here but what on earth does that even mean?

Ha, I know, like the cow's grasp of the English language is really important

She's just contrary. She'll eat meat in Ireland, UK, US etc, but nowhere else as she doesn't "trust" it.

Its bizarre nonsense, but my attitude is to leave her at it. If she never wants to eat a steak in Argentina then thats her loss!

Sarah1916

eviltwin wrote: »

Just out of interest why are vegetarian options always off menu so to speak? Is it more expensive to offer a vegetarian option as part of the main meal or is it the thought that people won't feel happy with their food unless they are given a meat?

To be honest I don't think there would be that many people at our wedding that would choose the vegetarian option if it was on the menu.

We were given a list of 8 dishes of which we had to pick 2. there was a vegi option on this list but we If we were to include a 3rd option I think it was €7 extra a head.

We only have 2 or 3 vegetarians coming so I feel it is best to suit the majority and just have it off menu for them. I am sure they are used to asking for something off menu. Plus we asked for dietary requirements on our RSVP's so we should have a good idea of how many vegetarians we have.

Thanks for all the replies - I think I am sold on the beef and sea bass.

Bacchus

Regarding the vegetarian options... it's kind of an unwritten rule that there's an option there for the vegetarians. It's not put on the menu as it would mean more people would likely order it, so essentially you have 3 main meal options and this would increase the price. As it is as a hidden option, only those who REALLY don't want a meat/fish option (e.g. vegetarians) will ask for it and it can be easily accommodated by the kitchen. I'm sure you could put a vegetarian option as one of your two mains though and that would be cheaper (since no meat).

DaeryssaOne

Thanks for the response Sarah Mollie, it's pretty bizarre alright and I do pity anyone who misses out on an Argentinian steak as English wasn't the cow's first language!

For our own wedding we'll be having beef as the main course with fish and veggie options available as a 'silent option' so the menu will fully describe the beef dish while written underneath it will say "Fish and vegetarian option available on request".

Unfortunately we don't get to do a tasting before the wedding as the venue doesn't operate as a hotel but it's known for it's good food (the main reason we booked it) so fingers crossed it's all tasty!

I would definitely include seabass rather than turkey & ham - it sounds a little Christmassy and I'm sure the seabass will be really good too, it's a nice contrast to the beef.

pwurple

jobr wrote: »

SarahMollie wrote: »

The other one doesnt eat meat in non english speaking countries.

Sorry I'm just being nosey here but what on earth does that even mean?

I've heard this before and yes, it's absurd. Why do you need the cattle to speak english was my first impression. For some reason they think the farming methods in say.. France... are so different to Ireland as to render the meat inedible. Makes absolutely no logical sense, especially given the amount of livestock Ireland exports to these places. It's likely the beef on your plate abroad is Irish a lot of the time. 
People have gone to a whole other level of food crazy in the past decade. Between paleo and gluten and the diet where you only eat vegetables of a certain colour.

Bacchus

Sarah1916 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies - I think I am sold on the beef and sea bass.

I'd like seeing those options on the menu

Sarah1916

Bacchus wrote: »

I'd like seeing those options on the menu

From what I remember there was beef, chicken, lamb, turkey&ham, salmon, sae bass.

Cant remember the others to be honest.

noble00

you should be able to have your two mains and then if there is a vegetarian the server will just tell them what it is on the day, it doesnt have to be on the menu, its always done this way, any good hotel will have a vegetarian option on the day just in case.

SarahMollie

pwurple wrote: »

I've heard this before and yes, it's absurd. Why do you need the cattle to speak english was my first impression. For some reason they think the farming methods in say.. France... are so different to Ireland as to render the meat inedible. Makes absolutely no logical sense, especially given the amount of livestock Ireland exports to these places. It's likely the beef on your plate abroad is Irish a lot of the time. 
People have gone to a whole other level of food crazy in the past decade. Between paleo and gluten and the diet where you only eat vegetables of a certain colour.

Thats just it, shes a fussy eater, there are loads of things she won't eat. This is just one of her wierdnesses, it only happened to be one we hadnt encountered yet as none of us had been on holiday together before that wedding, so no one anticipated it. Most of us had a good giggle about it anyway

Anyway, sounds like you've chosen well OP, good luck with the wedding!

Electric Sheep

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

What would vegetarians eat otherwise?

Not fish, that is for sure.

PhoenixParker

eviltwin wrote: »

Just out of interest why are vegetarian options always off menu so to speak? Is it more expensive to offer a vegetarian option as part of the main meal or is it the thought that people won't feel happy with their food unless they are given a meat?

For me the hotel was willing to offer a silent vegetarian option at no extra cost so it would have felt like a waste to use up one of the two main meal choices on the vegetarian dish.

I have a few relatives who wouldn't eat much meat but knew they'd just ask about a veggie option anyway. It's not like the hotel we're going to check for vegetarian credentials.

We had bacon & cabbage, chicken, or a veggie ravioli.

StripedBoxers

Beef and fish definitely.

Second Toughest in_the Freshers

How much is the fish?

Citygirl1

Definitely, have the seabass - certainly, as a guest, that's what I would go for.

Having the beef and turkey/ham just gives two choices of meat, and people not wanting one may not want the other - also, both of these dishes are likely to be quite dry and possibly tasteless. A choice of meat and fish opens things up much more.

Personally I'd much prefer a second meat choice rather than a fish option. I don't mind fish but at a wedding I want a good big feed and plenty of soakage and fish just ain't for that. I love beef but that basically my choice at every wedding bar one that had lamb so I'd be very happy to see a turkey and ham option on the menu.

GingerLily

Yehuda Savory Chinchilla wrote: »

Personally I'd much prefer a second meat choice rather than a fish option. I don't mind fish but at a wedding I want a good big feed and plenty of soakage and fish just ain't for that. I love beef but that basically my choice at every wedding bar one that had lamb so I'd be very happy to see a turkey and ham option on the menu.

BUT the beef has you covered, so you don't need to eat the fish!!