A Bride's Story: Tasting at Taglyan Cultural Complex

It's Marineh again, from Harsanik.com. Shant & I recently did our tasting at Taglyan Cultural Complex in Los Angeles, and I have to share what a great experience it was. I had heard from multiple people that the food at Taglyan, exclusively catered by Divine Food & Catering, is one of the best so I was excited to actually try it out.

Here is a 5 step guide for all bride and groom-to-be's on how to have a successful and enjoyable tasting experience:
1) Schedule in Advance - The Taglyan team was very easy to work and accommodating when it came to scheduling our tasting.

2) Request for a Copy of The Menu For Review - Taglyan has a standard menu available in PDF format that they emailed out to me. Note that the chefs at Taglyan can make pretty much anything from any country, so just because an item is not on the menu it doesn't mean they don't have it! So don't worry when you first see the menu and don't see one of your favorite dishes listed. I promise you they can make it for you.

3) Choose Family Style, Plated, or Buffet Style - This was a big decision for Shant & I. We debated between the options and decided to go with family style appetizers, and buffet style for the entrees and sides. We both preferred family style for appetizers because we wanted food on the table when our guests walked into the hall. And we agreed on buffet style for the entrees because it allows people to have their food when they want, avoiding having food get cold because they stayed on the dance floor too long! (I bet many of you have experienced eating cold meat because you insisted on dancing a few extra songs!)

4) Choose Items To Taste - Before I had my tasting, I wasn't sure how many items a couple gets to taste at a tasting. So I asked Gary, one of the owners of Taglyan Cultural Complex, and he explained to me a bit of background about tastings.

Traditionally, tastings used to be an experience where the bride & groom-to-be would come to the hall after booking, and the chef would present different plates based on the chef's preference. So there was no choosing process.

However, in modern times, the bride & groom get to choose different items from the menu to taste. Generally, you should follow the rule: 3 appetizers, 3 side dishes, and 3 entrees.

5) Enjoy! - This is the fun part! And I have to say the team at Taglyan made it extremely fun for us! Once we were seated at one of the set-up tables, they first brought out the appetizers. The two most delicious items were the sarma and the boreg! The side dishes were fantastic - our favorite being the rice with the toasted pine nuts, almonds, and cranberries. And last they brought out the entrees. The beef & chicken kabob was delicious. They also had prime aged Fillet Mignon with red wine reduction that was amazing. I also had made a special request for "fesenjoon', which is a Persian dish made with chicken, pomegranate juice, and crushed walnuts. And I was surprised how great that turned out!

Overall our tasting experience at Taglyan was fabulous! The food, the service, and the atmosphere were all perfect. Even the chefs came out and talked to us and asked us what we liked and if there were any changes that we would like to make.

After the tasting, we decided our menu for the wedding. At that point, we were even more excited about our upcoming wedding and we were both so glad we had picked Taglyan Cultural Complex as our wedding venue!