Extortionary, extremely anti-consumer, overpriced, and the food was average to poor.
We were forced to use Truffles for our wedding due to exclusivity contracts with the venue and we had such a frustrating time with their poor customer service, and extremely anti-consumer policies & pricing. Here's an itemized list of our issues:
- No free tasting of Buffet Menu or any other menu being offered (only complimentary canape tasting along with a 30-minute consultation, the Chef joins for about 20 minutes). Every other caterer we talked to had a complimentary tasting.
- To continue with the tasting, they wanted 300 $ plus plus tax, plus operations fee for 3 course meal for 2 people (no leftover food left with this tasting). Limited selection of the menu - old menu (2021 menu, meaning some items being tasted may not even be offered in 2022 making the entire thing pointless). For the tasting, it would be limited only to: one starter, two mains and one dessert ( no lamb or seasonal items, maybe on the sable fish). Dessert does not come with the normal menu, we would have had to pay extra for that so having it as part of the tasting is nonsensical.
- Being unclear in email communications about the tasting. At first we were told "The cost for this tasting would be $300 plus tax, operations fee, and chef labor" and when I inquired about extra costs, they noticed the error and amended it to only "Just the tax and operations fee" charges. Consequently, I would have been charged more had I not inquired more about those costs.
- Extortionary pricing for alcohols (400%-500% markup). This kind of pricing is way above industry standards and is anti-consumer.
- Extortionate amount for cake cutting - $5.5 per person. Other caterers charge around $1.50 per person.
- No gluten free or vegetarian options for main entree.
- Limitation on menu flexibility. When asked why the dietary restrictions for gluten free or vegetarian options are not accommodated in the entree section, the caterer replied with "For vegetarian options you would order the gnocchi or the tagliatelle as an accompaniment and this would be their 'main course'". Which automatically limits our choice for accompaniments. The caterer is unable to adjust the offering of courses
- You are locked into 3 salads, 3 accompaniments and 2 entrees (so you cannot swap two salads for a side for example)
- No pictures or photographs for any of the menu items. No indication of the portion sizing. The caterer replied with "We don't have pictures of our full Island Buffet; the buffet is a good size portion for each person. It is not meant for second portions" which was not helpful in this situation. Other caterers we talked to do not limit it to a singular portion per person.
- There is an inexplicable difference between pricing per person in Hatley Castle's Island Buffet menu of 78$ per person and the comparable Wedding Buffet sample menu at Truffles website of 48$ per person (https://trufflescatering.net/wedding-catering/menus/).
- No detailed catering price breakup estimate/quota given prior to the event. When asked for a breakup of prices over the phone to see what was different in the above mentioned menu selections, the caterer's representative was evasive and emotional. They eventually explained the higher charges per person with the cost of transportation, linens and cutlery. Meanwhile, from dealing with other caterers I know that transportation, some linens and cutlery would be complementary to whatever pricing is on their website per person. Charging extra on top of per person charge is unfriendly to the consumer and is radically more expensive than other caterers for no apparent reason.
After all of this, the food quality served was highly mediocre. The chicken and salmon was overcooked and dry, and the other served dishes were quite plain and under seasoned. Overall our experience with Truffles was terrible, and there was no redeeming factors in this experience. We would highly recommend against using them. read more