speciality restaurants - rank them!

[LHT28]

We have friends who could confirm each restaurant last week. We have been included in those reservations. As of today, our ability has opened up. BUT, I am finding, that I cannot make additional reservations. We were going to have ANOTHER group of friends join us when I was able to confirm, but not possible.

 

Can anyone offer suggestions for this concern. This is our first Oceania cruise, so would really appreciate some advise.

 

Thank you.

 

You only get 1 pre booked reservation no matter how it was booked.

When onboard go to the reservation desk for the restaurants & see if you can be added with your friends reservation

You may get lucky if not there is always the GDR

[Travelcat2]

Regarding Jacques, we adore this dining venue (our favorite) regardless of what type of French cooking it is. My DH and I do not generally care for typical French cuisine - whether it is in France or elsewhere (too much butter, cream, etc., for us). Whatever Jacques Pepin does, it works (IMHO):)

[potterhill]

And we love French food, but this restaurant leaves us cold. Yet to have a great dinner there.

[Travelcat2]

And we love French food, but this restaurant leaves us cold. Yet to have a great dinner there.

 

Have to chuckle about your post. Perhaps Jacques is the perfect French restaurant for those of us who do not care for French food:)

[JimandStan]

"A bistro is a small type of restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. French home-style cooking, and slow-cooked foods like cassoulet, a bean stew, are typical".

 

I would not consider Jacques a modest setting or serving simple dishes. I am not comparing Jacques to a starred Michelin restaurant.

BTW I do know French Cuisine very well.

 

Whatever your knowledge of French cuisine, your opinion seems to vary with that of Chef Pépin, who, as I indicated earlier has stated publicly many times that Jacques would be a Bistro.

 

This was the original Press Release, I would particularly draw your attention to paragraph 8:

 

World Renowned Master Chef Jacques Pepin to Open French Bistro Onboard

Oceania Cruises' New Marina

 

NEW YORK, July 22, 2009

World-renowned Master Chef Jacques Pepin will open Jacques - his first

ever restaurant at sea - onboard Oceania Cruises' new 1,258-guest

Marina, scheduled to launch in late 2010.

 

Pepin's namesake restaurant will draw inspiration from bistros in his

home town of Lyon and the fabled bistros of Paris. "The cornerstone of

any great dining experience is freshly prepared, simple dishes that

are as visually pleasing on the plate as they are on the palate,"

according to Pepin.

 

Guests entering the restaurant will be greeted by the aroma of freshly

roasted chicken, duck and lamb wafting from the grand rotisserie.

Custom Jacques Pepin signature china, antique flatware and Lalique

glassware adorn the tables while chandeliers fashioned from crystal

decanters add a whimsical shimmer to the room. An art collection

comprised of some of Pepin's favorite personal pieces and original

works Pepin created especially for Marina, grace the room and adds a

warm, personal touch.

 

"As we designed the culinary experience aboard Marina, a restaurant by

Jacques Pepin was at the top of our guests' wish lists," stated Bob

Binder, Oceania Cruises' president. "Jacques will present a

traditional French dining experience in a casually elegant fashion."

 

Jacques Pepin is the host of award-winning cooking shows, author of

more than 20 cookbooks and has served as personal chef to numerous

heads of state. As the Executive Culinary Director for Oceania

Cruises, Pepin has brought his legendary cuisine and unique artistry

to the gourmet restaurants onboard Marina's sister ships Regatta,

Insignia and Nautica.

 

"Jacques Pepin has been a member of our team since the line's

inception and we are honored that he is debuting his signature

restaurant aboard our magnificent new Marina," added Binder.

 

A Dining Experience to Be Savored

 

Dining in Jacques will be reminiscent of dining in a favorite bistro

that is run by a long-time friend. The service, while professional and

polished, is friendly and endearing and in the tradition of fine

French dining, a leisurely pace is de rigueur, thus ensuring a

relaxing dining experience.

 

Upon arrival at the table, guests are greeted with a bread basket of

"Les Trois Baguettes" with three different freshly baked French

baguettes along with Country Petit Pate with gherkins and traditional

Rillettes of salmon and foie de volaille.

 

Highlights of the menu include an appetizer of homemade Pumpkin Soup a

l'Anglaise served in a pumpkin shell, fresh Mussels Mariniere, freshly

roasted free range chicken, duck, lamb and other specialty cuts of

fine meat.

 

In addition, the chef's "specialites de la maison" are presented each

day, having been hand-selected from local markets in the ports that

Marina visits.

 

To cap off the evening, a choice of nine classic French desserts and a

cheese tray with 12 AOC French cheeses that locally procured in the

regions they are produced serve as a fitting finale to an

unforgettable dining experience.

[tvmovielover]

On the supplies and the line cooks in whatever part of the world you are cruising in. I am fine with Bistro Food as opposed to Haute Cuisine-and know it a little better. Way in the past, I took some cooking classes with Jacques Pepin and he excels at teaching a style of cooking that emphasizes technique and the Bistro style more than Haute Cuisine. The techniques really do stay with you. I only wish the line cooks on my recent cruise had taken some of his classes. I ordered the pork chop with roasted apple and mustard sauce. The sauce was very good but did not make up for the horrible and fatty pork chop and cold dry apple. DH ordered the Duck A L'Orange which amounted to two pieces of duck on the plate with some brown sauce sloppily on or nearby and no discernible orange taste. We will be giving Jacques another try this summer and I really hope different line cooks and supplies will make it better.

 

I also rated Polo less good for perfectly cooked meat with no taste. The best protein I had on the French Polynesian cruise was the tuna (both in Toscana and the MDR) which was fresh and local. So can anybody tell me what the good fresh local fish (aside from herring) is in the Baltic?

[juli2020]

Whatever your knowledge of French cuisine, your opinion seems to vary with that of Chef Pépin, who, as I indicated earlier has stated publicly many times that Jacques would be a Bistro.

 

This was the original Press Release, I would particularly draw your attention to paragraph 8:

 

Jim,

My definition of an upscale restaurant is fine dining and good service. It is a matter of semantics. In my original post I said: I'd categorize Jacques as an upscale French restaurant with many classic items, such foie gras, lobster bisque, roasted lamb, crepes, etc. You were the one that bought up that Jacques was a bistro not an upscale restaurant.

There are plenty of bistros which I would not consider fine dining unless you are referring to Benoit in Paris as an example.

 

 

Quoting Oceania: From paragraph 8-The service, while professional and

polished, is friendly and endearing and in the tradition of fine

French dining, a leisurely pace is de rigueur, thus ensuring a

relaxing dining experience.

 

Enough said.....

[orchestrapal]

I also rated Polo less good for perfectly cooked meat with no taste. The best protein I had on the French Polynesian cruise was the tuna (both in Toscana and the MDR) which was fresh and local. So can anybody tell me what the good fresh local fish (aside from herring) is in the Baltic?

 

Cod and sprat are the main fish plus the wonderful herring you mentioned.

[1westover]

The smoked fish that is cured in the area is excellent. Smoked salmon/sturgeon, trout, eel. Anchovies also.

[sabrefan]

I sailed on the Riviera in March 2013 and I would rank the speciality restaurants as follows:

 

1. Jacques

2. Toscana

3. Red Ginger

4. Polo

 

Only minimal difference between 1 & 3. Polo fell short with a poor quality steak but service was still top notch. Going on Riviera again on 2/22/14 so it will be interesting to see how they rank on this upcoming cruise. The Terrace Cafe was great place to eat. A huge selection every night.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Palmetto Lady]

Tuscano

Polo

Jacques

Red Ginger

[pthjudy]

The Lobster Bisque is heaven (heavy on the cognac, please!) as is the Strip Steak -if you like your meat rare-, or the Porterhouse if you don't.

 

Personally, I find an undressed Steak and Onion Salad to be a wonderful accompaniment to the meal in lieu of a potato, particularly if Salt is a concern.

 

Whatever you do, PLEASE leave room for the delectable trilogy of homemade Marshmallows ;)

Light as air and DELECTABLE.

 

I didn't leave room for the marshmallows and tried like mad to get a second reservation so that I could actually eat them, not just admire them. I wasn't able to. I felt the same way with the LobsterThermidor in Jacques. Too many appetizers the first time but WAS able to swing a second reservation and made sure I had plenty of room for this very tasty entree!

[pthjudy]

Pthjudy, have you been over to the roll call for Mayan Mystique beginning Sunday? Please check it out, we will be having a very small meet and greet in Horizons. Would love it if you could join us!

 

(Roll call is spelled incorrectly as Mayan Mistique...but it's there!)

 

Drooling thinking about those scones with raspberry jam and clotted cream Pam.

 

Come on Sunday!

Terry

Just saw this today (3 days post cruise). I would have liked to do the meet & greet but not sure if I could have managed it. This was a family reunion of sorts until one of our 6 got very sick and eventually had to leave the ship in Guatemala. (Was supposed to be Honduras, but you know what happened to that port!). Just to mention that the ship's medical staff was top notch and the unit very well equipped. Oceania let us call the hospital in Guatemala every day until she was released. Thanks.

[1westover]

Hope all are feeling well now and glad to hear Oceania was on top of it!:)

[Mura]

I have not needed the medical staff on Oceania's ships for anything really serious (other than my blown meniscus in 2005, but that didn't prevent me from continuing the cruise) -- but for our relatively minor (if expensive) problems, we thought they were top notch.

 

Far better than Viking in 2003 who couldn't refer us to a doctor for bronchitis in Basel. We found the hospital on our own.

 

Mura

 

P.S. I refreshed the page and saw I'd posted here and said WHAT???? Now I see the thread has migrated beyond the restaurants! Not unusual ...

Edited February 15, 2014 by Mura

[Terryd444]

PthJudy

So sorry to hear of your family members illness. That must have been upsetting when we had to skip Roatan! Glad to hear all worked out, sounds like Oceania did a great job handling this unexpected event. We only had ten at the M & G but it was so friendly and we kept running into each other through the rest of the cruise. It was like running into old friends each time!

 

I'll try and get the thread back on track Mura, since we just got off the ship three days ago. Took us two more days to get home thanks to the East Coast Blizzard, will just say this was one time I was glad we had booked our air through Oceania. They scrambled to get us a way home. After three different sets of reservations we finally got a direct flight home to Richmond from Miami. Whew, what a mess....

 

Restaurants, this time around...

1. Jacques - I had the mussels, so many of them! it was a meal all by itself, i could not finish them. they were small tender and succulent. then - lamb en croute which was so tender and perfectly cooked. for dessert, crêpes Suzette, which sadly were not flambéd but I gave them a buy since I understand a ship is scared of fire....they were a special that night.

2. Toscana - I had the Caprese salad, delicious mozzarella but the tomatoes were not the best, no balsamic/oil on them, so improvised and poured my rosemary infused oil that was supposed to be on the bread over the mozzarella, that made it near perfect. Then had an appetizer sized lobster rissoto that I would order again in a heartbeat - it was perfection. After that came the Dover Sole. Oh my goodness, just order it! For dessert I had Tiramisu and decaf coffee. Just a note on the decaf...it is the best decaf coffee I ever had anywhere and the same deliciousness in all the restaurants.

3. Red Ginger - the duck and watermelon salad to start, not to be missed. I also tried the vegetable green curry - it was very good, the flavor of the sauce was so yummy, I was a bit put off by the sweet potatoes in it, but loved the aubergine and mushrooms along with the soy. Dessert was the three sorbets, coconut, mango and pineapple.

3. Polo - Tied for third place this time. I was so full from tea....I skipped appetizers and salad and opted in for the main event which for me was the Maine Lobster. As usual it was totally delicious. Tender and flavorful with the butter all over it, what could be better? Key lime pie for dessert.

 

It was all good. No restaurant disappointments this time around. We had good service in them all. Only off putting event was the drunken couple at our table in Polo who kept asking each of us how many times we had sailed on Oceania. Thank goodness they left early! Other than that we had the most delightful dining companions on this cruise.

 

I know Horizons isn't technically a restaurant but I still love Afternoon Tea there best of anything at all. If Oceania had to ditch the specialty restaurants I could still live with Waves, the Terrace and my afternoon tea!

 

Cheers everyone

Terry

[alpak]

1. Polo Grill

2. Jacques

3. Toscana

4. Red Ginger

 

The food at Red Ginger was presented in a lovely way, but it just didn't taste "asian". They do not use enough exotic spices.

[Reggiefan]

I will play the game, but regarding quality and service, this is something of meaningless task given the rotation of restaurant personnel, the number of ships, and the fact I have dined at each restaurant only once.

 

However, based on one cruise on Marina in late 2011, here goes:

 

1. Red Ginger--Excellent. Best sea bass I have ever tasted. A plus.

2. Toscana--Very good. A.

3. Jacques--Good. B.

4. Polo--Mediocre food and service. Given expectations, D.

 

Admittedly, food is a subjective subject--I like Italian and enjoyed the Asain food that I tasted on Red Ginger--but we are talking about restaurants on several cruise ships. I don't think we can expect one particular specialty restaurant on multiple cruise ships to be consistently superb on all ships cruise after cruise in the way that we would expect the better restaurants to be consistently superb. But overall I enjoyed very much the quality of food and the dining options on the Marina.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Reggiefan