Iona The Keel and Cow

[glennbtn]

Hi All

 

Just looking at all the places to eat on Iona. Is The Keel and Cow a chargeable venue or its it included as I can't seem to find the info

 

Thanks

[amajaa]

Yes it is chargeable

[JeanieC,Aston]

It’s no up front chargeable but items are priced.

The 32oz Tomahawk for 2 is £34.

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by JeanieC,Aston

[Dobbers]

Loved the Keel & Cow. My hubby loved the sticky duck so much he asked for a double portion as a main and they obliged.

[davecttr]

I found a downside of the Keel and Cow was the wait for food. I ordered Beef and Ale pie and did not want a starter. Up to 40 minutes wait she said as it is cooked from scratch. it arrived after 30 minutes. Nope, don't like that delay so if I eat in the Keel and Cow it is something quick like a fish finger sarnie, or go to the buffet or Quays at a quiet time. BTW IMO the salad offerings on Iona are much better than the sad offerings on the older ships were.

[Selbourne]

I’m keen to try Keel & Cow when we are on Iona this summer, but it’s a shame that it’s in the atrium. We love the Glass House on most of the ships, but not on Britannia for this reason - too busy and noisy with people continually walking around you. Hopefully there are some quieter areas or nooks and crannies around the edges furthest from the atrium? 

[Neecy1]

We loved the Keel and Cow when we were on Iona in November. The Hampshire cheese was very nice. Very strong though. Cleared your sinuses! It was quiet when we went and we sat at a table that was at the far end of the atrium. Loved it. We'd definitely go again. 

[Fionboard]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I’m keen to try Keel & Cow when we are on Iona this summer, but it’s a shame that it’s in the atrium. We love the Glass House on most of the ships, but not on Britannia for this reason - too busy and noisy with people continually walking around you. Hopefully there are some quieter areas or nooks and crannies around the edges furthest from the atrium? 

Agree. One of the things I did not like about Iona was the bars and restaurants dotted around the atrium. Felt like an airport lounge.

[Guest ccpm]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I’m keen to try Keel & Cow when we are on Iona this summer, but it’s a shame that it’s in the atrium. We love the Glass House on most of the ships, but not on Britannia for this reason - too busy and noisy with people continually walking around you. Hopefully there are some quieter areas or nooks and crannies around the edges furthest from the atrium? 

No the outside edges are either overlooking the Atrium centre and the other edge overlooks the atrium's large windows. You will at times see the acrobats rehearsing here or the busker so noisy.com. It is also a thoroughfare for people with cabins on deck 8 or just moving round the ship. Deck 8 is almost always busy with the Quays and Ripples on this floor too. 

 

However I used it a lot for lunch and often even with a full ship there were few diners and I always asked for a centre table which was the most quiet.

[Selbourne]

23 minutes ago, ccpm said:

No the outside edges are either overlooking the Atrium centre and the other edge overlooks the atrium's large windows. You will at times see the acrobats rehearsing here or the busker so noisy.com. It is also a thoroughfare for people with cabins on deck 8 or just moving round the ship. Deck 8 is almost always busy with the Quays and Ripples on this floor too. 

 

However I used it a lot for lunch and often even with a full ship there were few diners and I always asked for a centre table which was the most quiet.

Interesting. I don’t like the sound of it being a general thoroughfare and seating area, rather than exclusively a restaurant. We prefer quieter places to eat. Might give it a try on a port day when most people are ashore!

[happy v]

3 hours ago, davecttr said:

I found a downside of the Keel and Cow was the wait for food. I ordered Beef and Ale pie and did not want a starter. Up to 40 minutes wait she said as it is cooked from scratch. it arrived after 30 minutes. Nope, don't like that delay so if I eat in the Keel and Cow it is something quick like a fish finger sarnie, or go to the buffet or Quays at a quiet time. BTW IMO the salad offerings on Iona are much better than the sad offerings on the older ships were.

Was the pie good?

[Neecy1]

4 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Interesting. I don’t like the sound of it being a general thoroughfare and seating area, rather than exclusively a restaurant. We prefer quieter places to eat. Might give it a try on a port day when most people are ashore!

Guess we might have been just lucky as it was a quieter night but we were sat here and it was fine. 

[davecttr]

4 hours ago, happy v said:

Was the pie good?

Average

[davecttr]

55 minutes ago, Neecy1 said:

Guess we might have been just lucky as it was a quieter night but we were sat here and it was fine. 

Thats where I usually sit, however that exit to the prom deck becomes a problem when passengers discover it and the toilets also at busy times

[Guest ccpm]

22 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Interesting. I don’t like the sound of it being a general thoroughfare and seating area, rather than exclusively a restaurant. We prefer quieter places to eat. Might give it a try on a port day when most people are ashore!

Yes do try the food is very good and lunch is very much quieter any day than dinner. You can use the app to book which I always did but made my way round to the seating by the podium asap as you may get called quickly or not at all. The staff see you there and you can usually get straight in. Its a fair wait for food as its all cooked to order so even longer if your booking goes unnoticed. 

[zap99]

22 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Interesting. I don’t like the sound of it being a general thoroughfare and seating area, rather than exclusively a restaurant. We prefer quieter places to eat. Might give it a try on a port day when most people are ashore!

When you have a look, you may be in for a pleasant surprise. Lots of nooks and crannies. 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, ccpm said:

Yes do try the food is very good and lunch is very much quieter any day than dinner. You can use the app to book which I always did but made my way round to the seating by the podium asap as you may get called quickly or not at all. The staff see you there and you can usually get straight in. Its a fair wait for food as its all cooked to order so even longer if your booking goes unnoticed. 

 

43 minutes ago, zap99 said:

When you have a look, you may be in for a pleasant surprise. Lots of nooks and crannies. 

Thanks both. We shall definitely give it a try for lunch if we can find a quiet area out of the main flow.

[Ardennais]

3 hours ago, ccpm said:

Yes do try the food is very good and lunch is very much quieter any day than dinner. You can use the app to book which I always did but made my way round to the seating by the podium asap as you may get called quickly or not at all. The staff see you there and you can usually get straight in. Its a fair wait for food as its all cooked to order so even longer if your booking goes unnoticed. 

We didn’t use the Keel and Cow last week but the menu did look nice. As regards to the ‘fair wait for food’, we found service vey slow in the Olive Grove and Epicurean too. It seems to be a common theme and might be here to stay, unfortunately. 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Ardennais said:

We didn’t use the Keel and Cow last week but the menu did look nice. As regards to the ‘fair wait for food’, we found service vey slow in the Olive Grove and Epicurean too. It seems to be a common theme and might be here to stay, unfortunately. 

I’m picking that up as well. Whilst we like the speciality restaurants, we don’t want to be in them all evening. I’m concerned to read that all these comments about slow service are still being made when the ships are supposedly back up to full staff complement (if that’s true). 

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Ardennais said:

We didn’t use the Keel and Cow last week but the menu did look nice. As regards to the ‘fair wait for food’, we found service vey slow in the Olive Grove and Epicurean too. It seems to be a common theme and might be here to stay, unfortunately. 

We have done one Olive grove dinner on our Iona cruise so far, and the service was far better than in October, and it has been full every night as we passed it on our way from dinner.  Similarly the MDR service has been much better than October.

Edited February 25, 2023 by terrierjohn

[Guest ccpm]

52 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I’m picking that up as well. Whilst we like the speciality restaurants, we don’t want to be in them all evening. I’m concerned to read that all these comments about slow service are still being made when the ships are supposedly back up to full staff complement (if that’s true). 

On Iona the first thing they start their welcome to the Epicurean spiel with goes along the lines of "...the Epicurean is a fine dining experience and usually lasts over 2.5 hours.." when I had heard it for 5 days running (out of 31 booked) I tactfully agreed with the waiter that I could dispense with that along with bread and amuse bouche which as I don't do desserts cut it down to just under 2 hours even when there were only 5 tables. As staffing remains an issue they show as fully booked even when the tables are only a quarter/half used. Iona Epicurean is large but was running on 6 staff plus 2 seniors in January. They did however have a major change over of staff with more very experienced staff joining on 2.1.2023 including Cherry a real favourite. However she explained that they had not yet got enough chefs but she thought that more chefs were coming on the next major staff turn round day so hopefully by the time you join it will have improved.

[Ardennais]

Good to know. I also noticed that there were many empty tables in both the Epicurean and Olive Grove and concluded that they had been left deliberately empty due to staff shortages. 

[Ardennais]

We also had the spiel and were expecting a leisurely experience. However, we asked for more bread as the main course was slow arriving and the bread never turned up, so really not such a fine dining experience! 

[Red Ray]

On Iona last year Keel & Cow was probably the most disappointing of all the eating venues we tried. The food was ok, but nothing special & we thought overpriced, plus the layout itself isn't particularly appealing.

 

Much preferred both The Quays & Olive Grove which were (mostly) included in the cruise cost. 

 

Sindhu is probably our favourite restaurant on P&O though we thought the one on Iona was a little below par. We loved the ship though & thoroughly enjoyed the cruise.

[terrierjohn]

On 2/25/2023 at 10:05 PM, Ardennais said:

Good to know. I also noticed that there were many empty tables in both the Epicurean and Olive Grove and concluded that they had been left deliberately empty due to staff shortages. 

Epicurean and Olive Grove twice on this cruise, and both were full, and even the Epicurean had a number of tables in use twice.