Iona - the chefs table

[Dowmai2022]

Hi, 

 

I am booked to embark P&O Iona in 2 weeks and was told to make a reservation for The Chefs Table for Celebration night ASAP, due to it's popularity. My P&O account said the lines opened today to make reservations for restaurants but it does not give me the option to book anything other than The Limelight Club. I've googled it a few times and got conflicting advice. 

 

So does anyone know if you can pre-book The Chef's Table before the cruise? Or do you have to wait until you have embarked and then ask at reception? 

 

Thank you. 

[Somerset Cruiser]

You have to wait until you board, see you there 😉

[sistersontheseasuk]

You can't book until you're onboard, but I wouldn't be too panicked about getting a booking. On Iona Chef's Table is in the buffet, and I think they just extend the space used depending on how many bookings they get.

[TigerB]

Whilst on the subject of the Chef's Table, can someone answer a query about Iona, which may also apply to Arvia?

 

I am aware that, as with Iona, a section of the Horizon on Arvia will become the Chef's Table and a special menu curated by Marco Pierre White is offered along with Olly Smith's paired wines. Is that only for the celebration nights?

Our cruise planner (Arvia) makes reference to the same menu being served in the MDRs on celebration nights.

So, what's the difference? Is the Chef's Table just that specific menu with the wine pairings, whereas in the MDRs it is offered alongside the regular menu options, as we experienced on Britannia?

[sistersontheseasuk]

There are a couple of different options at Chef's table compared with the MDRs, for example the Beef Wellington is available at Chef's table but not in the MDRs.

 

By regular menu options do you mean the steak and salmon dishes that are available everyday? If so, they aren't offered in the MDR on celebration night on Iona. You just get the celebration menu.

 

These aren't great photos, but here's the Chef's Table menu from our August Iona cruise.

[TigerB]

25 minutes ago, sistersontheseasuk said:

 

By regular menu options do you mean the steak and salmon dishes that are available everyday? If so, they aren't offered in the MDR on celebration night on Iona. You just get the celebration menu.

 

Yes, that's what I meant; one side of the menu dedicated to the offerings of Marco Pierre White and the other side with the staples plus a couple of extras.

Thanks for the information.👍🙂

Edited November 27, 2022 by TigerB

[Ravensbourne1960]

I made reservations for the Chef's Table for two nights online before boarding our cruise in September - but cancelled the second one when I discovered what it was like!

[LesleyAnn60]

Just returned from Iona cruise, we preferred the 1st celebration night in the MDR. The 2nd one we booked the Chefs Table which is in the Beach House, basically an extension of the Horizon buffet restaurant where we had our breakfast. We went at 6pm and felt rushed to leave by 8pm as the next sitting was arriving. We felt the atmosphere in the MDR was a lot calmer. The seas were quite choppy for the 2nd celebration night, they did lose several stacks of plates. We did hope no one was hurt

[molecrochip]

Formal night sees a higher percentage of passengers go to the main dining room. On traditional ships, dining room capacity is designed to seat the entire guest capacity across two sittings.
 

On Iona/Arvia, with full freedom dining, this is an issue as dining room capacity is below expected demand. The Chefs Table was introduced to compensate for the lack of capacity.

 

It is a dedicated area in the Horizon buffet. It serves the Celebration night menu, waiter service. You are offered a wine pairing. - but not clear if that’s extra. The food is the same, from the same chefs, in the same main galley.

 

For me, this isn’t the premium booking as designed on other ships, but is free - and apparently really popular.

[TigerB]

9 hours ago, Ravensbourne1960 said:

I made reservations for the Chef's Table for two nights online before boarding our cruise in September - but cancelled the second one when I discovered what it was like!

Can you provide more detail about what you didn't like? Ta🙂

[Froxfield]

The MDR menu on Celebration nights last week DID include the regular staples such as grilled salmon and the 6oz surloin! We went to the Coral restaurant for the Celebration night on the first week of our cruise and it was our least successful dining experience of the whole cruise.  The menu was uninspired to say the least and the service too rushed: we were through the meal and out of the restaurant in under an hour!!!  As a result we booked the Chef's Table for the Black and White night. A much better menu than that available downstairs and more relaxed! And we got a visit from Olly Smith. But I don't want to encourage competition for the Chef's Table from the naysayers: leave it to those who like it!

[Froxfield]

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

It is a dedicated area in the Horizon buffet. It serves the Celebration night menu, waiter service. You are offered a wine pairing. - but not clear if that’s extra. The food is the same, from the same chefs, in the same main galley.

 

For reference, the food MAY come from the main galley but it is not the same.  Many of the dishes are actually different: in some cases not available in the MDR and in some served with variations. But, as I said earlier, I am happy if people choose to avoid and leave room for me!!!

[Sonyar]

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

 

Formal night sees a higher percentage of passengers go to the main dining room. On traditional ships, dining room capacity is designed to seat the entire guest capacity across two sittings.
 

On Iona/Arvia, with full freedom dining, this is an issue as dining room capacity is below expected demand. The Chefs Table was introduced to compensate for the lack of capacity.

 

It is a dedicated area in the Horizon buffet. It serves the Celebration night menu, waiter service. You are offered a wine pairing. - but not clear if that’s extra. The food is the same, from the same chefs, in the same main galley.

 

For me, this isn’t the premium booking as designed on other ships, but is free - and apparently really popular.

So not the full menu for that evening? Looking at the photos in an above post I can't see any Vegan dishes?

[sandancer]

2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

 

Formal night sees a higher percentage of passengers go to the main dining room. On traditional ships, dining room capacity is designed to seat the entire guest capacity across two sittings.
 

On Iona/Arvia, with full freedom dining, this is an issue as dining room capacity is below expected demand. The Chefs Table was introduced to compensate for the lack of capacity.

 

It is a dedicated area in the Horizon buffet. It serves the Celebration night menu, waiter service. You are offered a wine pairing. - but not clear if that’s extra. The food is the same, from the same chefs, in the same main galley.

 

For me, this isn’t the premium booking as designed on other ships, but is free - and apparently really popular.

Free?  The Chefs Table is free?  Well that’s a first for us. I liked the menu shown above. We will definitely try it on our Arvia cruise if we can. 

[binman2]

Photos show one vegan main last one on the list

[Chrish2]

4 hours ago, molecrochip said:

You are offered a wine pairing. - but not clear if that’s extra.

 

👀

Anyone want to offer a clarification on the cost of the wine pairing ?

[TigerB]

5 minutes ago, Chrish2 said:

 

👀

Anyone want to offer a clarification on the cost of the wine pairing ?

The photo of the menu shows the prices by the glass and bottle below.

[Chrish2]

Just now, TigerB said:

The photo of the menu shows the prices by the glass and bottle below.

I noticed that however it could be more a case of "want some more? Here's the prices" so was hoping someone with first-hand experience could chip in.

[Somerset Cruiser]

55 minutes ago, Chrish2 said:

I noticed that however it could be more a case of "want some more? Here's the prices" so was hoping someone with first-hand experience could chip in.

The wine available in the Chef's Table is much the same as anywhere else on the ship, if you ask. Otherwise you are likely to only be offered the OS pairings. 

[Camberley]

19 hours ago, Ravensbourne1960 said:

I made reservations for the Chef's Table for two nights online before boarding our cruise in September - but cancelled the second one when I discovered what it was like!

Don’t blame you! We were unimpressed with it last time: bigged up into being something special - and to be fair it was a superb sounding menu - but apart from our decent starters it was disappointing. That Wellington was a real travesty: overdone beef, tasteless gravy, poorly cooked veg…..We’ve had better food from the hot section of the buffet. But it was nice that others enjoyed it.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Camberley

[Ravensbourne1960]

13 hours ago, TigerB said:

Can you provide more detail about what you didn't like? Ta🙂

I didn't see any point in dressing up in black tie just to sit in the buffet, with people wandering past wearing shorts and flipflops to get their hamburger and chips.

[Froxfield]

Perhaps black tie is a bit over the top for the venue but they do make a bit of an effort with table cloths etc. In point of fact we didn't see anyone wandering past in shots and flip flops to get hamburger and chips!

[terrierjohn]

8 hours ago, Ravensbourne1960 said:

I didn't see any point in dressing up in black tie just to sit in the buffet, with people wandering past wearing shorts and flipflops to get their hamburger and chips.

Why were people going through the horizon buffet to get hamburgers  when the hamburger station is in the Dome?

[jaydee6969]

41 minutes ago, Froxfield said:

Perhaps black tie is a bit over the top for the venue but they do make a bit of an effort with table cloths etc. In point of fact we didn't see anyone wandering past in shots and flip flops to get hamburger and chips!

 

Our party walked through in normal evening casual to get to the buffet, only to find how much space was set aside for the chef's table, with limited seating left for casual diners.  Plus the offering in the buffet seemed to be reduced.  Then another walk back through the set aside area to return to the Sky Dome, where we could sit reasonably close together.

 

Another minor whinge from me, was we returned at 10.00PM from our star gazing excursion in Tenerife and of course the buffet is shut between 9.30 and 11.00PM.

[jaydee6969]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Why were people going through the horizon buffet to get hamburgers  when the hamburger station is in the Dome?

 

Depends which lift you use.  We always used the aft lifts and were completely unaware of how much of the buffet was set aside for the chef's table.  After looking at the offering in the buffet, then followed the walk through the black tie area, with looks of daggers from some.