Going Gourmet

This is a direct response to a review from Ms Hannah Fletcher. You've clearly ran into someone that previously worked with your good self at Going Gourmet and are now clearly outraged at what as supposedly occurred to this person at the height of the pandemic? Well instead of wasting my time negating that rubbish, and rubbish of the highest order it was, let me tell you what really happened during the pandemic. The full-timers, (chefs and administrative staff) we were stood down. Not one person was "fired". We received the Government payment through Glenn's company! Glenn didn't makes us work for it, as was his right, he actually gave us the opportunity to come in for a maintenance day or a gardening day at one of our venues, weekly, and he paid us for those 8 hours on top of the covid payment. He didn't have to do that, but he did! Remember when you couldn't buy flour, pasta, salt or dunny paper at the supermarkets? Glenn used his contacts to get it in for his staff! He didn't have to do that. But he did! During the lockdown when it wasn't clear when we would be open for business again. Glenn called in stood down staff and emptied the freezer and drystores of thousands of dollars worth of stock and gave away to staff and their families. He didn't have to do that. But he did! Is this the example of someone not appreciating his staff? No, I wouldn't think so.
I could go on, but having worked at this company for 5 years now and having known Glenn during that time. I can say that Ms Hannahs review is clearly sour grapes and a fabrication of the truth. Do your job and you get rewarded. Im proud as Punch to be Glenn's Chef! Thank you.

Big thanks to Glenn and the team at going gourmet. All that attended our function were blown away by the quantity and the quality of the food, it was exceptional, we were so impressed with Brendan and Ash as they were extremely well organised. We would have no hesitation in recommending or using your company again, Outstanding effort and thankyou.

Going Gourmet catered for my brother’s vegan wedding in 2019 when Erica was managing. The food and service was incredible hence why I contacted them recently to potentially cater for my wedding this year. Unfortunately, I have not had the same experience dealing with the new manager Glenn, and safe to say I will not be recommending Going Gourmet to friends and family.

At the beginning, Glenn was pleasant to interact with in regards to arranging a potential vegan/omnivore menu and was happy to brainstorm and customise a menu that suited us and our guests. I was set on Going Gourmet to cater for my seated wedding of 140 people. As many of people would know, this is a $10k + contract easy.

However when it came down to arranging a tasting, I had several queries and questions leading up to a tasting to understand the terms and what’s included. Despite sending thorough emails and reasonable questions, I was often met with short, brief emails that did not answer my concerns or questions at all. On top of that, I was treated as a ‘special’ case requesting for a vegan tasting and quoted almost 250% greater than what my brother was charged for his vegan tasting in 2019, noting the tasting was only considering preparing 60% of our selected menu. I understand after Covid that prices will be inflated to make up for lost time, however this was not the same standard of service my brother had experienced for his wedding. He was definitely not charged extra for the tasting because he had dietary requirements and made to feel like a ‘special’ case because of it - regardless of whether it is vegan dietary requirements, or halal, gluten free or kosher. This is also considering that they already have a fully dedicated vegan menu. It is something they obviously frequently cater for. We had tried to reason with opting for a group tasting rather than a private tasting because we were shocked by the price!

My last correspondence from Glenn was “Totally understand. Just jumping on a plane. What would you like to try at the tasting then? Obviously with low cost, i cant have a chef working the whole day on 20 different menu items. ”

This was the last straw. And completely left a sour taste in my mouth and I did not engage in any further correspondence. We have not even come to an agreement yet, and I’m already frustrated with this poor standard of service and dismissive responses, I definitely did not want to have this type of stress hanging over me on my wedding day!

It’s safe to say I have since found an amazing caterer that provides excellent customer service and client relationship, takes care in responding to emails and queries, and definitely does not treat me as a special case for having dietary requirements.

We booked Going Gourmet for our wedding catering in February, 2023. Firstly, the food provided was lovely and well presented.

My feedback comes in relation to the management on the day and communication after our wedding. Going Gourmet arrived 1.5 hours late to our wedding venue – they arrived at the time that canapes were meant to be served. The head chef called my husband on the day of his wedding approximately 15 min before the ceremony saying that he is stuck in traffic and will not arrive for another hour – the chef had no sense of urgency when speaking to my partner and provided no reason behind his lateness. Our wedding was located just outside of Ballarat, the catering company was travelling from Melbourne - that duration that they were late was equal to the entire drive of Melbourne - Lexton.

The one-and-a-half-hour late arrival was not only unprofessional but more importantly caused a delay in our food coming out which in turn also put pressure on our wait staff which we had to pay a significant amount more in additional hours for having to stay back due to everything being pushed out.

We emailed Going Gourmet after our wedding to explain our frustration and try and understand why this happened. They replied 1.5 weeks later stating that our venue was too far away and their staff did not wish to travel the distance. They also stated that they were not happy that our staff told them to ‘get moving’ when they arrived. In light of these statements, I would recommend not taking on regional jobs in the first place if you are unable to service them and I would also suggest having some resilience if suppliers tell you to hurry up after being 1.5 hours late to a wedding which put pressure on all of our other suppliers.

The email response from Going Gourmet was unapologetic and unprofessional. We have not since received a reply back from our last email asking to arrange a call with Glenn, the owner.

In light of these issues, it is difficult to recommend Going Gourmet catering company to others. While it is possible that they may have provided a great service on other occasions, their failure to take responsibility for their mistakes and the resulting delay was very disappointing.

Overall, it is important for businesses to be accountable and take responsibility for their actions. In this case, it is unfortunate that Going Gourmet has fallen short in this regard.

I hired Glenn and his team to cater my mums surprise 60th Birthday Party and it was a success! Glenn and his team were so easy to work with and even managed to cater for 60+ people with only our small kitchen facilities available. The servers were lovely and accommodating. Guests raved about the food and I had a lot of people asking me for their contact info.
Couldn't have been happier! Thank you Going Gourmet

Highly recommend. Going Gourmet recently catered our wedding and they were excellent. Outstanding service, communication and most importantly food. We had long standing hospo staff / senior hospo operations people at our wedding and for them to comment so positively on the food was a testament to Going Gourmet and its team. Thank you so much

These guys make INCREDIBLE food, have awesome and friendly staff and run some of the best wedding venues around. Cannot recommend them highly enough now matter what you've got planned!

Glenn, Shae-lee and the Going Gourmet team were wonderful to work with! They catered our wedding this year.
They responded to emails very promptly and always provided us with lots of details and answers to any questions we had.
The food and service were amazing. We couldn't rate them highly enough and would recommend them to anyone.

I would like to say a huge thank you to chef Niamh for making our wedding day super special. All of the guests absolutely raved about the food and were so full by the end. Amazing service and beautiful staff. Andrea and Kathy really engaged with all the guests and made the experience extra special for everyone.

OUTSTANDING - is the first word that comes to mind when I think of the level of service, attention to detail, quality of food and organisational effort from the Going Gourmet team. My engagement party was two events on the same day, catering for family and close friends of my parents in the afternoon, to my fiancé and I dearest friends in the evening. The team cleared and set up the two events seamlessly one after the other. I had multiple guests days after my event asking me "who did your catering? ".
The food was simply suburb.everything was hand made, fresh and delicate. The desert table was outstanding, with the extra flair of golden popcorn that didn't go unnoticed. My fiancé nephews were too small to reach the height of the tables, yet Going Gourmet staff helped serve them food, and make sure they kids were fed. Equally the cleared plates, glassware, cleaned up - so that there was minimal mess.
The team was at my house for 10 hours - and through that entire duration they kept a smile on their faces, completely accommodating and didn't falter at all. Their stamina was UNBELIEVABLE.
We had multiple dietary requirements, nuts allergy celiac, kosher-style - and they met it all without a hitch.
Do yourself a favour and book them in for your next event. Also Glen was easy to work with - captured our brief, and answered any concern we had not matter what time of day.

Cannot thank the team enough for making our day so FANTASTIC!

We used Glenn and his crew for our sons wedding at Brogans Way. The catering was excellent, the staff were the best, and the food was superb. When guests send you messages the next day saying the food was excellent.you can't ask for a better review. Thanks Glenn, and Renee, a gem of a host. Highly recommend this crew.

I used Going Gourmet for my 40th birthday and was so impressed with the amazing food and service provided.

They were very responsive, helpful and accommodating all the way through.

On the night of the party the van arrived exactly on time. Both employees were professional and well presented.

The food was even better than expected, including the best calamari I've ever eaten (and I've eaten a LOT of calamari)! All the guests were impressed and I received many compliments.

When it was time to go, the kitchen/premises was completely cleaned.

Zero complaints here, and I will ne recommending Going Gourmet to friends.

Thanks for delivering great food for my daughter's bat mitzvah party. All of the food was outstanding and the two staff - chef and waiter - were friendly, professional and very helpful. I have used your services twice and will gladly come back for more.

I booked Glenn and his team from a freinds referral to provide the catering for a family funeral. The food was so fresh and delicious, and I had so many compliments on the desserts. They were especially popular and I know some were taken home to other family members who were unable to attend. The two ladies who came to set the food up up and serve were very professional and helpful and were so nice to deal with. It made a difficult afternoon all that much easier and it was perfect to leave the food service and clean up to them while allowing us time to talk to our guests. Would definitely recommend.

I highly recommend this amazing catering company for all your event needs. My loved ones enjoyed all the canapés cooked and served in my own home by a private chef. Very reasonably priced and cannot wait to book again in the near future!

We engaged Going Gourmet to cater a housewarming party on Saturday night. We were blown away! From the first contact with Glenn we were impressed by the menu and service options and the process of booking everything. On the night the chef, Niamh, and her colelague and waitstaff Renee, were exceptional! They were on time, they were super friendly and helpful, professional and respectful and it was pleasure having them in our home. The food was plentiful and really high quality and the presentation was excellent! All of our guests commented on how great the food and service was. Going Gourmet made our event, and will definitely be our go-to caterers for any future events. Highly recommend!

Wow…! As a Venue Manager, these guys were engaged to do a wedding and I can’t even begin to say how amazing they are! It was a big event and they were totally across Every aspect! The food is NEXT level and bought in fresh and cooked on site! -Unbelievable! And absolutely a taste sensation! As a Venue Manager, having to deal with Random caterers-these guys are THE BEST in the business! Totally professional and Haley and her staff were EXCEPTIONAL! I’m looking forward to working with you again today

The team at Going Gourmet done a wonderful job catering for our wedding. A number of our guests have commented on how much they loved the food. I would not hesitate to recommend Going Gourmet to friends and family looking for someone to cater for an upcoming event.

Going Gourmet catered our wedding at Tanglewood Estate. They were fantastic to deal with throughout and very helpful with any questions we had.

On the day, the food was delicious, plentiful and guests commented on the quality. They were very accomodating with dietary requirements and allergy's too.

We would absolutely recommend them to anyone!

Going gourmet catered our wedding with Costa being the main chef, We've been to many other weddings with dry overcooked food but Going Gourmet cooked our food to perfection and were a pleasure to work with,

their pricing is fair and we would certainly use them again in future events