Purslane Reviews
Reviews
We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
Awards
-
Featured
![Gemma]()
Gemma Sent on 05/19/2025Delicious, Thoughtful, and Seamlessly Executed – A Dream Catering Experience
Purslane was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. From the very beginning, they were attentive, professional, and incredibly accommodating to our needs. My husband and I are vegan, and they not only offered amazing plant-based options, but they also adjusted many of their standard menu items to suit our dietary preferences without sacrificing taste or presentation.
The food was truly exceptional—guests are still raving about all the passed hors d'oeuvres, chilled green pea soup, and roasted cauliflower. Their suggestion to offer family-style sides was a hit and made the meal feel intimate and generous. Everyone left full and happy, yet somehow still craving more.
The team’s professionalism and warmth were evident throughout the evening. They made our family and friends feel so cared for, and their commitment to sustainability and being a carbon-neutral caterer aligned beautifully with our personal values.
A special thank you to Elena, who was a huge help throughout the planning process. Her attention to detail and calm presence made everything feel seamless.
We wholeheartedly recommend Purslane to any couple looking for amazing food, ethical values, and a catering team that truly goes above and beyond. -
![Michelle]()
Michelle Sent on 11/03/2025Elevated cuisine = memorable wedding
Getting married at Purslane within Prospect Park Boathouse was an absolute dream come true. We celebrated our wedding there in August 2025, and the experience exceeded every expectation we had. Our guests couldn’t stop talking about what a magical, one-of-a-kind venue it was. Our guests are still talking about the food. Purslane’s cuisine was beautifully prepared, elevated, and delicious from start to finish. The seasonal menu and presentation reflected the same thoughtfulness we experienced during the planning process. The group tasting ahead of our wedding was such a fun evening, but the dishes on our wedding day were even better. There were ample options to choose from and seasonal flavors that rivaled any top NY restaurant. As foodies ourselves, this was very important to us and they delivered. Flawless across the board. The Purslane staff were exceptional. Professional, warm, and attentive to every guest. Many friends and family mentioned how cared for they felt, which meant so much to us. They of course treated us like royalty, but it made us so happy to hear our guests also felt and received that same level of service. -
![Emily]()
Emily Sent on 09/30/2025So wonderful
Working with the Purslane team was so wonderful. They were responsive, organized and very helpful! All the food provided had all our guests telling us how good it was even days after our wedding! -
![Ahmed]()
Ahmed Sent on 06/06/2025Best Decision We Made In Wedding Planning
We are so genuinely grateful to Purslane for helping to make our wedding the absolute best night of our lives. Purslane's exceptional level of competence, from the day of wedding coordination to the catering, allowed us to arrive at the Prospect Park Boathouse and have all of our anxieties instantly vanish.
Purslane's event producer, Elena, who worked with us from the beginning of our planning stages, helped guide us toward the right decisions. She was awesome. Her calm throughout this process, kind flexibility in accommodating our needs, and energy on the big day alleviated our stress and helped us see everything was going to be ok.
Our wedding coordinator, DJ, was amazing. His attention to detail, kindness, and execution was phenomenal. Every time something came up, he immediately jumped on it and put us at ease. We were so lucky to have had him as our coordinator. This was his first Purslane event, but it felt like he's been working the venue for years.
The entire Purslane staff - from the servers to bartenders to security to kitchen staff - delivered top-notch service, and our guests commented throughout the night about how nice everyone was.
Going with Purslane and the Boathouse was the best decision we made. -
![Amelia]()
Amelia Sent on 12/20/2024The best food and service!
Absolutely thrilled with our experience with Purslane! From start to finish, they went above and beyond to make our wedding day perfect. The Prospect Park Boathouse venue itself is nothing short of spectacular—a beautiful historic building in the heart of Brooklyn. The architecture alone made for the most stunning backdrop for our ceremony and reception.
Beyond the beauty of the space, the service was truly top notch. The team was incredibly attentive, professional, and made us feel like our event was their top priority. From the planning stages through to the last dance, they were organized, seamless, and took care of every detail, allowing us to relax and enjoy our day.
And of course, the food was outstanding! We received so many compliments from our guests about how delicious everything was. Every dish was beautifully presented, and we loved how they incorporated local, seasonal ingredients. Whether it was the passed hors d’oeuvres, the plated dinner, or the dessert table, everything was a hit. -
![Carmen]()
Carmen Sent on 11/23/2024Excellent!
Everything at Purslane was top-notch. Planning a wedding is quite stressful - there are so many moving parts and so many details to stress, so nothing is more crucial than clear communication, which is what we experienced with Elena from Purslane from beginning to end. We went through several different iterations of our catering plan and Elena was incredibly helpful and transparent throughout, helping us ultimately find a plan that we were delighted with. At our final site visit at the Prospect Park Boathouse, Elena helped us think through the pacing of our walks and many other practical details. Everything in terms of day-of execution was impeccable. Thank you Purslane for a dream wedding! -
![Joe]()
Joe A. Sent on 10/01/2024Would return to any Purslane-thrown party
Yes delicious food but even more than that good food ~selection~ and even more than THAT excellet, excellent committment as professionals to our outstanding event (vs. just completing the contract) -
![Noopur]()
Noopur Sent on 07/11/2024Tremendous!
We had an excellent experience working with Elena at Purslane. She was imaginative, enthusiastic, and highly organized. Purslane's professionalism far exceeded our expectations, the food (and array of choices) for a pescatarian couple was great, and the staff on the day was also wonderful. -
-
![Maggie]()
Maggie Sent on 07/09/2024Rave Reviews from Guests on Our Wedding Food!
My husband and I had Purslane cater our wedding a few weeks ago and we couldn't be happier with our decision! From the start, Purslane was wonderful to work with and very open to catering their menu to fit us and our wedding. We wanted a floating cocktail style event and Purslane was totally on board with this. In addition, my husband's family is from Jamaica so we were interested in having Jamaican food served. The chef was happy to do this for us and made Jamaican food for the first time for us at our tasting. My husband is much more of an expert on Jamaican food than I am, but he was very pleased with the results. What's even better is that all of his Jamaican family (and our other guests) absolutely loved the Jamaican food we served at the wedding. Purslane and the chef went all out, offering a Jamaican menu of jerked chicken, braised oxtail, plantains, rice, beans, fish ceviche, and chicharron. We were absolutely blown away by the passed apps and were told by so many guests how great they were! We absolutely loved the watermelon bites and tuna tacos. We also had passed tacos which were delicious and dessert bites. One guest told us that she followed the servers around to get as many of the churros as she could. Finally, we had a late night nacho bar which sadly I did not get to try (the whole "the bride and groom forget to eat" thing is sadly so true!) but I was told by someone that it was the best nachos they have ever had. We were repeatedly told by our guests how amazing all of the different foods we served were. In fact one friend said that she was so impressed by the passed apps during the cocktail hour that she made sure to eat as much as she could during our wedding and get seconds of everything. Purslane's coordinators were incredibly helpful and wonderful to work with and the staff who ran our wedding were friendly and very professional. We truly cannot thank Purslane enough for making our day such a special, and delicious, one! -
![Emily]()
Emily Sent on 08/07/2023Highly recommend!
We had an amazing experience with Purslane! Planning a wedding can be overwhelming, but Purslane was responsive, professional, and organized throughout our entire planning process. Kendra and the whole Purslane team did an incredible job helping us plan and prepare for our dream wedding. Also, the food was incredible! Our guests were complimenting the food even days after our wedding! Furthermore, their staff were amazing. Everyone was so friendly and accommodating, we were never in need of anything throughout the night. We would highly recommend Purslane for your wedding/event! -
![Christina]()
Christina Sent on 08/01/2023Great food and service
We had a wonderful experience with Purslane. We worked with Kendall on organizing our wedding, and she was super communicative, answered all our questions and was willing to accommodate special requests. All our guests mentioned how wonderful the food was and how beautiful the venue looked (Boathouse at Prospect Park). Staff on the day were really friendly and had to quickly pivot the cocktail hour inside when there was a very stray thunderstorm that blew through. We would highly recommend Purslane for the coordination and catering of any wedding. -
![Michelle]()
Michelle Sent on 09/28/2022Truly loved working with Purslane
My husband and I truly loved working with Purslane for our outside Hampton wedding. The food was delicious, from the hors d'oeuvres to the entrees to our trio of desserts. We had many people saying after our wedding that it was the best Branzino they've ever had. We also really loved the team. We loved how accommodating they were in creating our package and how smooth the on site team was the day of. One of my favorite parts of planning the wedding was our tasting with Purslane. Overall, can't recommend them enough. -
-
Dillon Sent on 08/30/2022
Dream Catering in a Dream Venue!
Purslane was the perfect catering company an vendor for our wedding at The Prospect Park Boathouse. They were quick to respond to all questions and created a private tasting session due to the schedule of my partner and I. We enjoyed every step of working with them. We had an idea to have a certain "event/catering activation" added to the day and they were willing to work with the vendor that we picked and figure out the logistics to make sure we had the two elements added and it was seamless. The day-of was seamless from the serving, to the bar setups and to the food that was incredible! We could not have gotten a more perfect catering company and venue to have our wedding! -
-
Jake Sent on 02/12/2020
Perfect catering experience and incredible venue
Working with Purslane, and especially with Machaela and Justin, was a highlight of our wedding planning, and we feel incredibly lucky to have had such excellent partners in producing our event. The staff, especially Machaela and Justin, are responsive, friendly, accommodating, and professional; the space is gorgeous and beautifully maintained and operated; the food and drink were bountiful and delicious, and the service rivaled any of New York’s fine restaurants. Best of all, the process of collaborating to make our wedding happen was easy and fun, and Machaela and Justin made us, the nervous engaged couple with a million things to manage, very confident that our day would not just go as planned, but would be a beautiful success. And indeed it was!
Of all the people we worked with. Machaela and Justin deserve special mention. They are excellent communicators, responsive to the million questions and people that wedding planning entails. They are proactive collaborators, laying out a clear process and schedule not just for the day, but for the process of working to plan it. They provided useful, detailed documentation at every step of the way, including a very helpful list of recommended vendors. Every meeting with them was fun and friendly, but also productive, punctual and a good use of time. And of course, the food and wine tastings were delicious.
Machaela and Justin were so helpful in giving us a sense of how the venue would perform in a situation we wouldn’t get to experience until the day itself. They guided us expertly, making shrewd suggestions we might not have considered (“Since you have an open bar, we recommend choosing a heavier vegetarian entree.”) My wife and I had a unique vision for our event, and these two not only assured us that it was possible, they worked with the park to accommodate myriad details, even down to the selection of lightbulbs. It’s no exaggeration to say that without their help, the event would not have had the specific atmosphere we imagined, nor would it have been the roaring success that it was.
All the confidence they inspired along the way paid off on the day, when Machaela, Justin, and their staff were a machine. The service was prompt, helpful, and invisible; the food was great, not losing too much in the translation from tasting to event; the wedding ran perfectly smoothly, with Purslane on top of the schedule, keeping the momentum of the night alive as they moved tables, served each course, operated the bars, and so on with perfect cadence.
We are so, so grateful to Purslane for making our wedding a true dream come to life. Our only regret is not responding sooner to their lovely post-wedding thank you note, and for taking so long to write this review! To you recently-engageds with so many decisions to make, let me help you with this one: your search is over; just hire Purslane.
Photos by Sarah Kuszelewicz, flowers by Grace + Grit. -
-
![Aileen]()
Aileen Sent on 12/11/2019Low stress wedding caterer
We loved working with Purslane. We got married at The Boathouse at Prospect Park, where Purslane is the default caterer. We went with Purslane because we wanted a stress free wedding that the majority of things were included since we weren't hiring a wedding planner, and that's what Purslane delivered. The team was very communicative and even helped us get our timeline in order. If you are looking for a low stress wedding, definitely consider getting married at The Boathouse. Purslane handled all of the rentals - we just had to make decisions about food, linens, plateware, chairs, etc. The venue itself is incredible and speak for itself - you really don't need that many decorations because the Boathouse photographs beautifully without them. We had a hiccup with the final bill, but everything was eventually sorted out and they were responsive and easy to work with. -
-
![Heather]()
Heather Sent on 08/20/2019Stellar caterers for people who love food.
From start to finish, working with Purslane for our wedding was an absolute dream. My fiance was set on having a vegetarian reception, and I was concerned about finding a caterer who could make an all vegetarian feast that would please even the most ardent meat-lovers in our extended families. Boy, did they deliver!
Even better than the food (if that's possible!) was interacting with the company. Isabel was our event manager and she was amaaaaaazing. From the very first meeting I knew we were in extremely capable and organized hands. It was also great that they managed logistics for all our rentals and I didn't have to worry about how many napkins or plates, etc.
I would recommend them to anyone hosting an event of any size in the greater NYC area. Purslane truly took our wedding reception dinner from being a just great meal to being a legendary meal for all our family and friends. We consider ourselves to lucky to have found them, and are so happy they came on board for our wedding! -
![Lysee]()
Lysee Sent on 10/15/2018Incredible!
Michael and I loved the experience of working with the Purslane team. The food + service + experience was incredible. I would highly recommend Purslane for anyone looking for delicious, local, farm-to-table food! -
![Olivia]()
Olivia Sent on 10/29/2022Loved our experience with Purslane!
My husband and I had a wonderful experience working with Purslane! They were totally willing to work with us on customizations and made sure we were comfortable with all of our selections. On the day of our wedding their team was totally professional and helped our whole event run smoothly, even when there were some issues with the rentals. Even after our wedding they were advocates for us with the rental company, which allowed us to go off on our honeymoon with peace of mind. Thank you Purslane team! -
Jo-Ann Sent on 11/26/2021
Amazing food! Amazing people!
We had a great experience using Purslane as our caterer and event manager for our wedding at the Prospect Park Boathouse. The staff they provided for our event were professional, and the food they served our guests met a high culinary standard. My wife’s father works in the restaurant business and he was impressed by what Purslane was able to do for our 100 guests. My wife was also very impressed by their sustainability ethos. Everything went like clockwork and we didn’t have to worry about a thing! Procedurally, Purslane will host you at a tasting event prior to your wedding where you will sample their menu and decide on that basis what you will like to serve at your own event. One piece of advice: enjoy yourself at the tasting event. You may find yourself so busy at your own wedding that you have little time to eat, but Purslane’s food is so great, so make sure to eat heartily at the tasting! -
-
![Eric]()
Eric Sent on 10/12/2024Beautiful Venue but inflexible
Our wedding at Purslane at The Boathouse was an unforgettable experience, and I would absolutely choose it again. The venue itself is breathtaking—the architecture and beautiful tiles created a stunning backdrop for our ceremony and reception. Even with our rain plan, it made the day feel incredibly intimate and even magical. We loved the feeling of hosting a wedding in our "backyard," with the picturesque lake and park setting.
The day of servers were extremely kind and attentive, especially to our table and our VIP guests. They made sure we were well taken care of, always offering food and drinks without us needing to ask. Another standout aspect was having attendants to guide guests through the park, which ensured no one got lost on their way to the venue.
However, there are a few things future couples should be aware of.
At our first tasting, the staff didn’t know what they were serving us and had to check multiple times. Thankfully, they allowed us to have a second tasting, and this time there were menus, so it went much more smoothly.
One of the biggest challenges all future couples should be aware of is their strictness with parking and delivery passes. You only get four delivery and four parking passes for vendors, VIP guests, and yourself, and they do not budge on this—even for guests with disabilities. This was difficult to manage, especially for our elderly grandmother and for family members picking up or dropping off items.
Another important thing to note is the timeline. You’re only allowed access to the Boathouse two hours before the event starts, and most days there are other events going on earlier in the day. For example, the morning of our wedding, there was a bird-watching event until 3 pm, and we couldn’t get inside until 2 hours before our 5 pm wedding. Our florist even had to start setting up outside in a truck to make it work, so if you want big floral arrangements, it may be a challenge. Also, if guests arrive early (like ours did, about 20 minutes before), they won’t be let inside, even if it’s raining. Another heads-up, rehearsals are only allowed during public hours, and we weren’t allowed inside, which made it harder for our VIPs to visualize the walk down the aisle, especially with a rain plan.
There were also a few minor issues during the event itself. The bar accidentally closed an hour early, which was frustrating because we had paid for the full time. This was fixed relatively quickly but many guests were turned away too soon.
Some of the food at our wedding was different from what we had at our tasting in July: For example, the brown butter gnocchi I fell in love with at the tasting was served with a completely different, thicker squash sauce on the wedding day, and the mussels were missing from the seared halibut. Neither of these were communicated ahead of time. I understand it’s farm to table and dependent on what is available, but it would’ve been nice to know about these changes ahead of time.
Additionally, in the beginning of the night, the custom cocktails had the wrong proportions of alcohol. Luckily my brother and sister in law were able to sort it out with the bartenders who were great about it.
We could also hear some back-of-house noises during our ceremony since we were inside due to rain, including a timer that went off twice during the officiant’s reading.
Lastly, if you’re planning to do the Hora, you will need to rent 2 chairs. The chairs at the Boathouse are folding chairs and not safe to lift in the air.
Despite these challenges, the beauty and ambiance of the venue truly made our wedding day magical. These are just some things to keep in mind while planning. All in all, we loved every moment of our wedding at Purslane at The Boathouse and would choose the venue all over again. -
![Jenny]()
Jenny Sent on 09/23/2021Challenging to work with and unprofessional
We got married at the Picnic House in Prospect Park, where Purslane is one of a handful of preferred vendors. We hired them for our July 2020 wedding because they gave us a good price and their food was better than other vendors. We ended up having to postpone twice, finally getting married on Sep. 11, 2021. We had very little communication with Purslane until the final 6 months leading up to the wedding. But those 6 months were full of miscommunication, multiple coordinator contacts, missed meetings and details, and overall a huge amount of undue stress and hand-holding.
During those months, we were bounced us from contact to contact, and each time we felt like we needed to re-explain our wedding from scratch because their team did not do a good job communicating about clients internally. At one point, one of the coordinators we spoke to didn't know where our wedding was, or what date it was on. At another point, a coordinator didn't show up for a call, but on an email thread later claimed she was. It's no surprise, then, that every time we spoke with them and they repeated back decisions we had discussed, something had fallen through the cracks. In short, Purslane require a ton of hand holding.
And in a really egregious show of poor communication, one of their event coordinators told us in August 2021 (a month before our wedding) that the amount of food we had ordered in our contract actually wasn't enough to feed all of our guests. This happened despite the fact that we had renewed our contract with them not once, but twice, meaning that several people on their team saw this error and simply ignored it. I will say that after all of this went down, they did try to make it right by offering a private tasting, but even that became complicated and had to be rescheduled because of weak communication.
Purslane will probably respond to this review and argue that this all happened under extenuating pandemic circumstances. We're sympathetic to that, and do not fault Purslane for their staff shortages or turnover. But we worked with many vendors for our wedding who made far less money and were also operating under these same conditions, and none of them were nearly as challenging to communicate with, or as insincere as Purslane.
The bottom line is that Purslane ate up a lot of our mental and emotional energy in the final weeks leading up to our wedding, creating undue stress during an already-stressful time. But at the end of the day, nobody remembers the food at the wedding anyway. -
![CJ And]()
Cj And Sent on 11/20/2025Could have been better
We had our wedding on October 20, 2025. Our venue was the Montauk Club and although we liked the venue, we unfortunately would not recommend Purslane as the caterers. Purslane was not our first choice but it was the only catering choice given by the venue. We initially felt confident about going forward with Purslane because of the numerous reviews online about its food and service. Later in the planning, we developed more reassurance after the tasting. Unfortunately, the food on the day of our wedding did not taste the same as it did at our tasting, and the dessert was completely different. When this was brought to Purslane’s attention after the event, we weren’t even offered an apology for the dessert difference. But instead, we were told that we discussed the difference and agreed to such though no evidence was shown about this communication. It was very disappointing to hear and suspicious especially since our final event order was edited on the day of our wedding. Also, when finalizing the event order, the event producer mentioned that some requested notes would not be visible on the signed order but will be within catering notes that only they could see. So, download everything because once changes are made you can’t see past documentations. Lastly, our event producer was not as helpful as we had hoped. We were often given the impression that they were doing us a favor by fulfilling our requests and at some point it felt that they didn’t even want to talk with us anymore but rather with our wedding coordinator. I believe as a service provider you would want to talk to the individuals actually paying for the event. -
![Jesse]()
Jesse Sent on 11/22/2023They're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat
My wife and I wish we had gladder tidings to bring to this review. It brings us no joy to write this when we ought to be basking in newlywed bliss. Instead, we're exhausted from the stress and heartbreak that characterized our Purslane experience.
We fell in love with the Boathouse the moment we laid eyes on it. The only caveat was that the Boathouse has an exclusive caterer, which is—you guessed it. Though we wanted to explore other options, our hands were tied.
Things started off well enough. Our initial contact was a delightful person named Kendall, whose gentle manner turned into excitement as we described our vision for the Big Day. She loved the idea, told us it could easily be done, and gave us a solid quote. We scheduled our tasting for July.
Which is when all Hell first broke loose. Kendall, we were told, had been fired, and filling her place were Mathew (her immediate superior) and Elena, her replacement. First impressions were not great: both had an oleagenous, self-satisfied manner, and the latter even admitted to never trying the food. The fare was corporate event at best: subpar sliders and cold pasta dishes. Conspicuously absent was anything that we discussed with Kendall.
Panicked, we immediately sent emails to the new team, desperately trying to communicate what we needed for our event to succeed. In response, the new team ended up nearly doubling our quote (now nearly a mortgage down payment), claiming to not be able to execute the vision that Kendall quoted us on, and leaving us no choice but to change the menu.
Imagine that your wedding is two months away. You nailed down all your other vendors months ago, but you still don't have a contract for the actual food. Imagine as you watch the catering team you got shotgun-married to drag their feet, taking up to a week to respond—even on simple requests like, "can I get the link to my contract on Tripleseat?", received six days later—as you watch the price tag steadily inflate like a helium balloon. How's your pulse?
At that point, we kept telling ourselves we just needed the food to be good. Nothing else mattered. Finally, a month out, we had a do-over tasting, which admittedly was good (though we could have done without Mathew & Elena false obsequiousness). We breathed a light sigh of relief. If this was what the guests would experience, we'd be okay.
Cue a series of backcharges that Purslane would impose us without explanation. We were charged for linens which didn't reflect anything that we had put in the floor plan with our planner (which was available to Purslane for months, per their request). We were forced to pay more when it became clear that they had neglected to look at our planner's timeline (also readily available for months), and had to update the floor plans two days before to make things work with what we had. The night before our wedding, we were still embroiled in an email thread about the absurdity of it all.
And finally, the actual execution at our wedding was not what we expected. The ingredients were there, but none of the heart. We contacted the owner of Purslane to request that Mathew and Elena not be at our wedding because of how uncomfortable they had made things. They still were there, but did not show their faces.
Despite the incompetence of Purslane's management, the kitchen staff and servers were INCREDIBLE. We experienced nothing but expert service and outstanding energy from them. They deserve better. You deserve better too.
Are you interested?
Are you interested?