Live from Iona - my hot takes on dining so far…

[bronzevernis]

So, we’re Day 2 on our Iona cruise to the Fjords. Here’s our hot takes on dining so far:

 

1. Epicurian - our dinner on Saturday night. 
 

- if you’re into seafood like us, the giant Indonesian tiger prawns were stellar. 
- the starters were trying too hard. The snow crab cocktail which contained grated apple and the accompanying  salty cucumber drink shot with lemon foam was a bit all fur coat and no knickers. Style over substance. My husband had the slow cooker in ox cheeks which were presented on a hollowed out bone, or a  “canoe” as the menu referred to it. My husband liked it to a Greggs steak bake on a piece of bone.  
-dessert - we had a lemon meringue tart with looked like a dinosaur - a trail of tiny dots of meringue over the tart “mound”. Tasted good. 
 

We’re going back again later this week to have the tiger prawns again. Sublime. 
 

2. Olive Grove - lunch yesterday

 

The hanging beef kofta didn’t look anything like what we’ve seen in review videos on YouTube. It was 2 short stubby beef patty-esque tubes on a metal skewer. Well seasoned though and tasted good. It came with a teaspoon of salsa/ salad and flatbread. It just didn’t look very attractive in its presentation. . 

Extra charge : £4.50

 

Baklava dessert - very generous in quantity and one portion quite easily feeds 2

 

Afogato - ok. Expresso was good but the icecream was a bit own supermarket brand in terms of quality. 

extra charge: £2

 

We’ll eat there again later this week to try the paella

 

3. The Quays - lunch on Saturday and today (Tues) and breakfast this morning 

 

Lunch

 

Fantastic! Fish and chips stellar - a lovely light and crispy batter and haddock cooked to perfection. 
 

Katsu curry - of a Wagamama standard in terms of taste. Mine came with noodles which was a bit of a surprise. 
 

Breakfast

 

Waffles, crispy bacon and maple syrup. Yum! Hubby liked it too. 
 

Free coffee on tap which is if decent quality. Skip the fancy Costa coffee and just go to the Quays. 
 

Staff working tirelessly to clear and wipe tables. Lots of seating inside and outside on prom deck. Ambience is good too. A hit with us 

 

We’ll be back for breakfast tomorrow. And most likely for lunch as well after we get back from the Loen Skylift. 
 

4. Sindhu 

 

The emperor’s new clothes. Alas. 
 

Incredibly overhyped. If you’ve been to any Dishoom you’ll be very underwhelmed with Sindhu. 
 

I think Sindhu is trying to be everything to everyone. It tries to “Indianise” British type meals rather than be truly creative with Goan cuisine. 
my starter was nothing like described on the menu. It was a glorified cold chicken salad. The chicken had a curry flavour. I wasn’t expecting a cold dish. Similarly the chickpea puri were stone cold. They tasted like cold crispy poppadum shells not like a puri. 
 

Husband had the beef fillet. He liked it. I had the slow cooked pork shoulder. Mine was very good.

 

We skipped on dessert as we were just pretty underwhelmed overall with Sindhu. We had a single scoop of sorbet in a pot at Ripples instead. 
 

We also cancelled our Friday reservation at Sindhu. 
 

The decor is lacklustre too, looking much like conference hotel decor. Menus were stained and tatty. 
 

A real disappointment. We just don’t get the hype. 

 

 

 

 

[bronzevernis]

Continued…

 

5. Chef’s Table - Celebration Night

 

SUPERB! 

We were very impressed with the quality of the food considering it was not additional charge dining. We both had the shellfish starters and mains. We had the fruit salad for dessert. And we’d never have known it was the Horizon buffet either. It had been beautifully and elegantly laid out. 
 

Definitely pre-book the Chef’s Table - totally worth it. 
 

6. Horizon - aka The Buffet

 

Bedlam. 

Hordes of people, it felt very chaotic and overwhelming. We had a quick look at the food on offer and very little looked appealing. If you want a roast dinner every day, the Horizon is where to get it. The buffet is clearly popular as it was absolutely rammed. 
 

it was nowhere as clean and tidy as the Quays. The buffet felt like a canteen. We didn’t have anything to eat there. 

 

[Gettingwarmer]

We felt entirely the opposite to this 

1. Really good. 
2. Good value. Lovely food. 
3. Never ate there for lunch. Breakfast omelettes were good.

4. Really good. Lobster dish was the best. 
5. Same food as MDR but in less good environment. Waited a long time for our wine. 

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by Gettingwarmer

[bronzevernis]

7. Afternoon Tea at Epicurian

 

Disappointing. 
We would have like nice dainty sandwiches rather than mini brioche rolls with Parma ham or crab quiche. 
 

No clotted cream. It’s overwhipped cream. The jam was definitely not Tiptree jam. Just  basic supermarket quality. 
 

I didn’t eat the cake pop, instead donating it to the adjacent table. My husband ate his but said it was sickly sweet. I’m not a chocolate fan so didn’t eat the mini chocolate tart either. 
 

Overall, neither of us were particularly impressed with the quality and the selection on offer. 
 

We wouldn’t book Afternoon Tea again. 

[posford]

Do you have to wear formal gear for the Chefs table?

[purplesea]

Yes, formal wear is required.

[9265359]

On 9/4/2023 at 9:09 PM, bronzevernis said:

I think Sindhu is trying to be everything to everyone. It tries to “Indianise” British type meals rather than be truly creative with Goan cuisine. ...

 

We just don’t get the hype. 

 

Yep - roast meat that might have vaguely seen some spices.

[Interestedcruisefan]

Great quality reviews !!

[windra06]

We are just off the Britannia and had similar opinions of Sindhu and the buffet, it's sad to see it is the same on the larger ships.

 

Sindhu was bland, not a hint of chilli or spice. We were expecting the best meal of the cruise and it was actually the worst. We also thought perhaps they were trying to cater to the wider audience but went too far.

 

Horizon buffet also similar, not a lot of choice and very chaotic, we only ate there twice out of necessity.

 

[majortom10]

Trouble with all food is it is very subjective. We have eaten in Sindhu on Azura, Britannia, Iona and as recent as Arvia and have never had a bad meal and thought they were all excellent. Having said that they have gone downhill after Atul Kochhar left P&O.

[majortom10]

By the way the Signature dish of beef, lobster tail and lamb was excellent last week on Arvia andy wife's whole lobster looked delicious and she said it was. We were that full we never got as far as dessert and after 20% discount for pre booking and 10% Carribbean tier discount a cost of £14+ pp was IMO excellent value for money.

Edited September 23, 2023 by majortom10

[Cruising Nomads]

Interesting that Sindu offer 20% discount pre booking on Iona and Arvia and don't on Aurora.

[daveoc]

I am on Aurora now and got 20% off for our pre booked meal.

[elmsliebev]

3 hours ago, Cruising Nomads said:

Interesting that Sindu offer 20% discount pre booking on Iona and Arvia and don't on Aurora.

Azura give 20% discount for pre bookng too. 

[Cruising Nomads]

Is the discount automatically applied on board the ship as it is not mentioned in the Cruise Personaliser when booking?

[elmsliebev]

28 minutes ago, Cruising Nomads said:

Is the discount automatically applied on board the ship as it is not mentioned in the Cruise Personaliser when booking?

mine showed when pre-booking - Epicurean £30pp down to £24, then a 5% discount as we're lowest Peninsular club! 

I've read that for Sindhu you pay £10 deposit then the discount is applied when you eat. 

Edited September 24, 2023 by elmsliebev

[majortom10]

When we booked pre cruise recently for Arvia the discount was applied straight away for Epicurean and started at £30pp reduced to £24 and then 10% Peninsular tier making it £21-60pp which was automatically charged to credit card. Sindhu is lightly different because it is no longer a set price so you pay £10pp which is charged to your credit card and then when onboard whatever you choose from a la carte menu is reduced by 20% and then Peninsular Club discount and then charged to your onboard account.

[Cruising Nomads]

Thanks for the reply's. Its just that when you pre book the 20% discount is not mentioned and I wondered if they had discontinued this offer.

[ParisHilton]

I must admit I thought Dishoom was one of the most overhypped meals I've ever had. Haven't been to Sindhu though 🙂

[Red Ray]

We went to Sindhu twice on Arvia earlier this month - the menu had completely changed since we were on Arcadia in May, and I was disappointed that it didn't change at all during the 14 nights. Having said that it's still a must do experience, & the 2nd meal I had was as good as anything during the fortnight.

 

Incidentally, Dishoom certainly wasn't overhyped in Manchester - very enjoyable but very spicy!