1- Overall Experience
Born to Cook provided mixed results…read morefor our wedding catering. While their service staff was exceptional, significant issues with communication, food quality, and contract clarity created unnecessary stress during what should have been a joyful time. We acknowledge that as clients, we weren't always easy to work with, feel our experience highlights important areas for improvement.
2- Our Role as Clients
We'll be honest - we weren't the easiest clients. My wife and I frequently changed our minds about food selections and guest numbers, which understandably became tiring for them. Wedding planning brings out indecisiveness in many couples, and we recognize that this added complexity to their job.
However, we believe good caterers should have systems in place to manage these common client behaviors, including clear change deadlines and structured communication processes.
3- Service Quality
The service during the wedding was absolutely flawless. The staff maintained exceptional professionalism throughout all three days, always being available to help and assist guests. They were friendly, attentive, and consistently standing by to ensure everything ran smoothly. This aspect truly deserves a 10 out of 10 rating.
4- Communication Issues
Communication started well with them being responsive and available for WhatsApp messages and Google Meet calls anytime we needed. They were accommodating with our menu changes, which we appreciated. However, the relationship deteriorated about two months before the event when they began using AI-rephrased replies that were aggressive and felt threatening.
While we understand our indecisiveness was challenging, the response was disproportionate. Despite paying everything on time, we received emails that told us we can either move on or not without being able to get any more clarifications, which created undue stress during an already overwhelming period.
Key Problems:
- Inconsistent contract terms (brochure stated x weeks payment deadline vs. contract requiring y business days, and lack of clear deadlines for final changes upfront) - We were notified later this is because personalisation requires changes, but inevitably it caused confusion and unnecessary pressure on our side.
- Administrative chaos rarely acknowledged - Given the changes of terms throughout the planning stage, it'd be much more helpful if we only need to refer to a few centralised documents instead of going back to refer to historical attachments in several long email threads.
- Disrespectful AI communication that threatened cancellation and even asked us not to send emails for clarifications to avoid unnecessary communications - Given the issues raised above, it's hard for us not to send any emails for clarifications, but we were told (by the AI-phrased email) not to email them.
5- Food Quality
The food was the most disappointing aspect of our experience. We acknowledge that we should have been more specific about our preferences earlier on, but even accounting for this, the execution fell short.
Major Issues:
- Paella: Hard, undercooked rice grains that tasted rushed and overly salty - significantly inferior to paella we'd enjoyed elsewhere in Barcelona and Spain
- BBQ: Limited meat variety despite brochure promises. On the day there were many steaks, chicken breast skewers, sausages, chorizos, and very nice vetearian food options. But for the meat, we expected to have some classic chicken wings and beef ribs that are common in many BBQ venues. We should have specified our preferences earlier, but the brochure suggested more variety would be standard
- Wedding Cake: Red velvet cake was disappointingly dry and overly sweet - our home-baked cakes and previous catering experiences were notably better
For Born to Cook:
- Establish clear, firm deadlines for menu changes upfront and communicate them consistently
-Centralise comms.
- Provide clear, consistent contract terms and brochures
- Eliminate AI customer service responses, especially threatening ones