The Granary Catering Co.

Black Hole provided our wedding buffet this past weekend; we chose them because we'd tried and loved their food at a prior event, and were very impressed by Kelvin's responsiveness and attention to detail in the initial conversations. Everything turned out fine by the end, and the food was undeniably good – our guests were very happy with the meal. Just some feedback about the process; halfway through planning, Kelvin left the company, and we were referred to a new team who threw us a few curveballs – slower and less thorough responses, and some miscommunication and confusion. We also had unwelcome insight into some internal politics, finding out that the chef walked out and one of the other staff suddenly needed to cook our tasting menu for the first time (even though that wasn't his role), learning that the team weren't updating each other about our needs and complaining that they needed to make last-minute trips to IKEA to buy plates, or check furniture availability just 7 days before the wedding... all of this didn't inspire much confidence, causing quite a lot of panic and worry in the process. Last of all, there was feedback from our bridal party that the on-site team were quite curt and unpleasant on the night. We understood that it's very stressful and tiring work, so we were very gentle and understanding throughout – also because we wanted to maintain a good vibe on our precious big day – but cumulatively, all of these factors unfortunately read as deeply unprofessional. Ultimately, the food was lovely. Their being halal-friendly and very clear about allergens etc. is a big plus... so I'm pretty sad to be leaving a less-than-great review. I do hope the team is just undergoing a season of transition, and that these issues are just a temporary teething period, because the quality of the food and array of menus are truly quite remarkable.

Black Hole provided our wedding buffet this past weekend; we chose them because we'd tried and loved their food at a prior event, and were very impressed by Kelvin's responsiveness and attention to detail in the initial conversations. Everything turned out fine by the end, and the food was undeniably good – our guests were very happy with the meal. Just some feedback about the process; halfway through planning, Kelvin left the company, and we were referred to a new team who threw us a few curveballs – slower and less thorough responses, and some miscommunication and confusion. We also had unwelcome insight into some internal politics, finding out that the chef walked out and one of the other staff suddenly needed to cook our tasting menu for the first time (even though that wasn't his role), learning that the team weren't updating each other about our needs and complaining that they needed to make last-minute trips to IKEA to buy plates, or check furniture availability just 7 days before the wedding... all of this didn't inspire much confidence, causing quite a lot of panic and worry in the process. Last of all, there was feedback from our bridal party that the on-site team were quite curt and unpleasant on the night. We understood that it's very stressful and tiring work, so we were very gentle and understanding throughout – also because we wanted to maintain a good vibe on our precious big day – but cumulatively, all of these factors unfortunately read as deeply unprofessional. Ultimately, the food was lovely. Their being halal-friendly and very clear about allergens etc. is a big plus... so I'm pretty sad to be leaving a less-than-great review. I do hope the team is just undergoing a season of transition, and that these issues are just a temporary teething period, because the quality of the food and array of menus are truly quite remarkable.