Le Cirque vs. De Librije

[monkey@cruise]

Hello,

We are going on Eurodam in April and want to try their specialty restaurant but have a problem deciding which one. How does Le Cirque compares to De Librije? Which one is better? Is it worth the money? Is there a dress code? Do you have to share table or can you have your own table? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

Suzie

[Alphen]

Hello,

We are going on Eurodam in April and want to try their specialty restaurant but have a problem deciding which one. How does Le Cirque compares to De Librije? Which one is better? Is it worth the money? Is there a dress code? Do you have to share table or can you have your own table? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

Suzie

 

Le Cirque and De Librije are both two occurring restaurant evenings in The Pinnacle restaurant. Le Cirque is based on a New York restaurant, De Librije is based on a 3 star Michelin restaurant in Holland. The first one being US style food, the latter one is typical European style haute cuisine and maybe not entirely what north Americans find to their liking. We think de Librije is more than excellent, de Librije’s chef Jonnie Boer is also one of the members of the Holland America culinary council.

 

You can order a table to your liking, so you do not have to share. Dress code is not formal, but still most people going there dress for the occasion.

 

To give you an example of some of the dishes in "de Librije" on board Holland America;

 

One of the main courses;

 

 

One of the choices for dessert is a "decontstructed apple Pie";

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

On the Eurodam, Le Cirque is offered one week and De Librije is offered the second week.

We have done Le Cirque every time it is offered. We love it.

I had looked at the menu for De Librije that was posted here last summer and ran it off for DH to look at. It looked really great. Then when we got on the Eurodam in October, they were in the process of changing the menu -- trying some new dished. We looked at the new menu and were not impressed. So we cancelled our reservation. DH is not a fussy eater but the menu did not appeal to him.

[TiogaCruiser]

What is on that main course, and what is that foamy white item?

[visagrunt]

If memory serves, that's truffle foam.

 

Die Librije is, without question, the best meal I have had at sea, both times I have had it--once on the Eurodam and once on the Rotterdam. The latter was particularly memorable as the Cellar Master was in the PG for the first part of the evening, ankd was the best Cellar Master it has ever been my pleasure to have on board.

 

Die Librije is as close to 3-star cuisine as you will get on board a ship. Obviously the limitations of the galley, the chefs, and the sourcing of ingredients are going to all play a part in making the on board experience a diminished reflection of the original, but the creativity of the original chef is still there.

 

Personally, I would go to both evenings, but if I was going to go to only one, it would be Die Librije without question. Nothing against An Evening at Le Cirque; it's a lovely dining experience. But Die Librije is on another level altogether.

[Alphen]

What is on that main course, and what is that foamy white item?

 

The main course on the photo here, Venison Loin and Beef Tenderloin bulgur wheat and smoked olive oil foam

Edited January 30, 2016 by Alphen

[INSIDERS CABIN]

Loved the creativity and flavors and wine pairings in de Librije. Truly a memorable dinner on Eurodam last year. We received a set of cards with pictures of our choices, plus a "surprise" tin in our cabin; are those still part of the experience? We have never tried Le Cirque, a menu thing with me, but have looked in when tables and room was set for the special evening! I really enjoy dining on board. After all, how do you know it's been a Michelin experience on land? You look at your bill!

[rkacruiser]

Personally, on the Eurodam, De Librije was a disappointing dinner, but certainly an unique dining experience. I found that I do not care for "deconstructed" cuisine. The photo posted showing the "deconstructed apple pie", which I ordered, makes my point. How can one tell that the assembly of ingredients presented is an "apple pie"?

 

Le Cirque, on the other hand, was an excellent dinner with very good food, presentation, and service.

 

I certainly respect the opinions of those who enjoy De Librije. But, I will not be competing with you for a Pinnacle Grill reservation on any ship that offers this dining experience.

Edited January 30, 2016 by rkacruiser

[fire eater]

Hullo, Suzie,

We always manage two or three (or more) Le Cirque dinners in our travels and enjoy those very much, but when we went to the De Librije dinner in the Baltic in 2014, it was divine!

 

From my diary:

'Tonight we went to 'A Taste of de Librije' in The Pinnacle restaurant. It was the best and most interesting food we have ever had on HAL. It was very modern, complete with 'oyster foam' and de-constructed food and the flavours were sublime and the servings were perfectly sized. So, so good!'

 

We wished that it were more frequent offering. Just amazing food.

Yes, definitely worth the extra charge.

We wore what we would normally wear on a 'formal/gala' night. Just dress to respect the talent and service of such an event.

 

Happy sailing!

fe

[OlsSalt]

We found Liberjie was overly fussy and Le Cirque was too pedestrian. But we also experienced both when they were first being introduced. They may well have changed and been tweaked up in response to other passengers responses. However,, that being said I would also recommend doing either, just for the experience and variety alone. But we probably wouldn't do either of them again. Our favorite extra-charge dining remains lunch in the Pinnacle.

[monkey@cruise]

Hello All,

Thank you so much for your input. Just the info I'm looking for. Michelin dining? count us in! Where we live, you don't have an opportunity to have Michelin meals. Definitely will give it a try.

 

Thanks to Alphen for your pictures. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand word. I would never thought that an apple pie can be that 'deconstructed'. That smoked olive oil foam is interesting. I can see why some people don't like the food. Good to know that portions are not big as we are not big eaters. Rather have the chance to try different food instead.

 

Glad that the dress code is not formal as my husband hates wearing a jacket and/or tie. If he has to wear a jacket and/or tie, he rather skip it. Just hope they will let him in with a collared shirt. :) I don't mind dressing up a bit, maybe I should dress up to compensate for is dress-down? :)

 

Thanks again, everyone!

Suzie

[Krazy Kruizers]

The main course on the photo here, Venison Loin and Beef Tenderloin bulgur wheat and smoked olive oil foam

 

 

That was not on our October Eurodam cruise.

They changed the menu.

[Krazy Kruizers]

This was the menu on our October Eurodam (2015) cruise:

De Librije Menu ($69 per person)

Maine Lobster with Avocado

yellow beef steak tomato, micro greens

or

Oyster on the Beach

Foie gras, olloroso sherry & ginger

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

　

Lobster Bisque Foam

Alskaan King Crab, brioche croutons & Tarragon

or

Dark Beer Pork Belly

Madras Curry, Green Pea, Caviar, Goat Cheese

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

　

Bass with Speck Ham

Riesling, celery

or

Sweet Bread

Red beet. Raisins, pistachio, apple

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

　

Baked Cod with North Sea Shrimp

Baharat, aceto, chipolini, potato

or

Miso Glazed Duck Breast

Fruit puree, cauliflower, carrot passion, Hazelnut Oil

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deconstructed Apple Pie

Jonnie’s mom’s recipe

Or

Roasted White Chocolate

Lemon grass, blueberry & chervil

Edited January 31, 2016 by Krazy Kruizers

[Karennella]

Deconstructed whatever is the trend here too. I thought foam was dated by now. Our friend works in management all round the world but prefers Aussie steak and chips. I remember him, years ago, whinging that he cannot stand **** foam!

Too many flavours there for me. But to each his own.

[OlsSalt]

At least the beef cheeks fad seems to be passing too - that is what we had at Liberjie. if there was ever a disappointing piece of animal flesh besides sweetbreads, this has to be it, IMHO.

 

And the deconstructed apple pie still gets a laugh from my DH. The waiters told us they had to explain everything to the guests, because the menu descriptions were so obscure.

 

And the chef (who was an excellent Pinnacle chef -the best ever) was going crazy trying to get all this out. I like the novelty of it but that is the best thing I can say about the experience, and that is good enough to have tried once.

 

Our Dutch seat mates were amused we even wanted to try it. They just waved their hands and indicated this was just yuppie fluff to them - or foam - perhaps is the better way to describe it. :p

 

The recently posted menu does look a little less obtuse than the one we had. But dang, there is still that deconstructed apple pie. Groan, sweetbreads too.

 

I say, give us back our All-American apple pie and keep your fussy mitts off it. Or else we shall rename Dutch Apple Pie to Apple Crumble Pie and take all the credit for ourselves.

Edited January 31, 2016 by OlsSalt

[magandab]

Die Librije[/i] is, without question, the best meal I have had at sea, both times I have had it--once on the Eurodam and once on the Rotterdam. The latter was particularly memorable as the Cellar Master was in the PG for the first part of the evening, ankd was the best Cellar Master it has ever been my pleasure to have on board.

 

[i.

 

Our experience on the Rotterdam was the same. Do you remember who the cellar master was?

[teamflames]

We are booked on the Konngsdam this June and we reserved both these experiences, however have been informed they have removed Le Cirque from the trip. Annoying as we were looking forward to it, also irritating is that we still cannot reserve the new dining choice Sol de Mer nor any spa treatments.:confused:

Hope they get their act together. Also when they cancelled our reservation we could not have the option of crediting our onboard account, instead we had to accept a credit card refund which means we lose money on currency exchange (we are not American). Oh well, Im sure it will all come together.:cool:

[jillorpy]

Have had both several times and would recommend not. Libre with wines is exceptional.