QG off menu dining question

[exlondoner]

9 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

Never had any music in my 24 cruises/crossings in QG.

 

Pre-Covid there used to be small concerts in the Grill Lounge on QM2, but that's finished.

I thought a recent poster said that the piano had reappeared, which could be a good sign. 

[Victoria2]

1 minute ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

True.... and the good thing is that we stick to QV and QM2 and you to QA, and our food smells, spatterings and sputterings will be like ships that pass in the night.

 

I wonder if they can even do scrapple in QG... in six plus weeks I can find out.... or, demurring to my better instincts, save that for Sunday mornings at home. 

No. We will not be 'sticking' to QA.

We cruise with her as we have no other choice at the moment. A totally different reason for 'choosing' [I use the word ironically] one ship over another.

 

Luckily, having been dragged up proper like, by my parents, I don't splatter, splutter or smell and have even known to be quite presentable at table!

Heavens, I have even been known to be able to hold polite conversation. That's Our Annie for you!!!😁

[exlondoner]

4 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

 

Luckily, having been dragged up proper like, by my parents, I don't splatter, splutter or smell and have even known to be quite presentable at table!

Heavens, I have even been known to be able to hold polite conversation. That's Our Annie for you!!!😁

I can vouch for all of that. She can even drink without spilling.😀

[ExArkie]

17 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I thought a recent poster said that the piano had reappeared, which could be a good sign. 

We were on QM2 in December 2022 and the piano was in the Grills Lounge, but there was never anyone playing it or any other form of music in that space. Pre-COVID, there were often recitals in the Grills Lounge after the Grills dinner service. We have listened to a variety of performances there and, since the venue seating was arranged concert-style and not lounge-style, did not converse during the performance. 

[Windsurfboy]

Back to off menu, my experience  with Asian, Indian,  Chinese food ordered off menu  has been very positive. 

 

My experience with European food off menu, has been  so so , for example,  a very ordinary Osso Bucco , when I  wanted something simple the worst Macaroni  cheese I'd ever tasted.

[NE John]

3 hours ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Tableside preparation is part of the experience, yes.  But it never even occurred to me that one would want or need most Indian dishes prepared that way.  I adore Indian food and would never wish that, either.  CANBERRA in Pacific Restaurant would make you the most wonderful Indian feasts, as a treat, but would never dream of preparing it tableside.  And I don't want it spattered on my white d/j, either, thanks very much.  

 

I do miss French service... though... you never, ever had a full plate of food "plopped" down in front of you, with preordained number and variety of vegetables etc. on liners 15 years ago.  Even in Tourist Class.  They even do that in Princess Grill now. 

We ordered an Indian banquet in QG and it was served “French Style” with waiters spooning each dish from traditional Indian vessels onto our empty plates then leaving those vessels on the table. I do love that type of service. None of the Indian banquet was prepared tableside. 
As for the odor subject, I don’t recall any lingering odors on my clothes after the last two cruises in PG and QG. Maybe all the dessert flambés cleared the air…

In addition, as a native of Pennsylvania, pls report back with any luck in getting served scrapple! Make sure you put plenty of ketchup on it. 

[BigMac1953]

4 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I thought a recent poster said that the piano had reappeared, which could be a good sign. 

 

Never in the QG restaurant.

[exlondoner]

30 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

 

Never in the QG restaurant.

No, as implied, in the lounge.

[bnuckols]

I indulged a little too much at a cocktail tasting one afternoon on QM2 in 1918. Our neighboring table had a roasted suckling pig that night. I  very carefully avoided viewing the table-side dissection!

[D&N]

59 minutes ago, bnuckols said:

I indulged a little too much at a cocktail tasting one afternoon on QM2 in 1918. Our neighboring table had a roasted suckling pig that night. I  very carefully avoided viewing the table-side dissection!

That's impressive. What age is Stephen Payne?

[D&N]

We don't have any intention to be in QG, so the most we might see tableside is sole or desserts.

 

As an aside I think the looking up for sprinklers is all theatre to show that they are taking that into account. These people know exactly where every sensor and sprinkler is located, they don't move them from one night to another.

 

But the main issue on this thread further justifies my reasons for bringing a second black tux suit along with the navy and ivory ones. If one gets contaminated with any food odours it can be laundered at very reasonable prices on board, and I'll not need it back the next night anyway! 😀

[esrs]

8 hours ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

 

I wonder if they can even do scrapple in QG... in six plus weeks I can find out.... or, demurring to my better instincts, save that for Sunday mornings at home. 

Let me know how that comes out, it is something my husband always contemplates ordering in QG!

[bnuckols]

9 hours ago, bnuckols said:

I indulged a little too much at a cocktail tasting one afternoon on QM2 in 1918. Our neighboring table had a roasted suckling pig that night. I  very carefully avoided viewing the table-side dissection!

Make that 2018. Still having effects from all the rum, I guess.

[tv24]

Order something that they can light on fire.  They love to do that in QG.  Hopefully the smoke alarms will not go off.

[Victoria2]

9 hours ago, D&N said:

We don't have any intention to be in QG, so the most we might see tableside is sole or desserts.

 

As an aside I think the looking up for sprinklers is all theatre to show that they are taking that into account. These people know exactly where every sensor and sprinkler is located, they don't move them from one night to another.

 

But the main issue on this thread further justifies my reasons for bringing a second black tux suit along with the navy and ivory ones. If one gets contaminated with any food odours it can be laundered at very reasonable prices on board, and I'll not need it back the next night anyway! 😀

Not to worry anyone contemplating dining in QG.

 

Stinky clothes isn't a problem, honestly. If it was, do you really think Cunard could get away with restaurants on four ships full of diners, with complaints night after night, about clothes smelling and being unwearable?

 

Or put it another way, thread after CC thread on stinky clothes? I guess it would make a change from 'what to wear' issues.😕

 

Obviously it has happened, hence the debate but my husband's jackets have never been an issue when put back in the wardrobe and quite frankly, hung up overnight does the trick or a brisk tour of the deck after dinner would freshen clothes and anyone up.

[exlondoner]

5 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Not to worry anyone contemplating dining in QG.

 

Stinky clothes isn't a problem, honestly. If it was, do you really think Cunard could get away with restaurants on four ships full of diners, with complaints night after night, about clothes smelling and being unwearable?

 

Or put it another way, thread after CC thread on stinky clothes? I guess it would make a change from 'what to wear' issues.😕

 

Obviously it has happened, hence the debate but my husband's jackets have never been an issue when put back in the wardrobe and quite frankly, hung up overnight does the trick or a brisk tour of the deck after dinner would freshen clothes and anyone up.

Who remembers when people used to smoke in the restaurants? There were smoking areas, I think, but, nonetheless, it drifted, as it does, and people rarely escaped without themselves and their clothes smelling of smoke.

[BklynBoy8]

1. Never experienced a problem with smells or odors in our clothing or (hair) while sailing on especially the QM2 from dining in the BC or PG Dining Rooms.

 

From food preparations table side at a table nearby or even close proximity at our table.

 

Wouldn't even know this happens if it wasn't mentioned in this thread.

 

And I really don't think there is an over use of the liquor used at the Flambe Table for those dishes which is it used.

 

Will be sailing in about 200+ days and will be seeing if this occurrence does exist since our last two trip.  

[Windsurfboy]

Seperate  smoking area in restaurants only came later. It was normal to have a cigarette after your meal at any table. 

 

Sounds like the golden age of flying  that people keep harking back to, well dressed chimneys. 

 

So a bit of spice or garlic is nothing 

Edited August 13 by Windsurfboy

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, Windsurfboy said:

Seperate  smoking area in restaurants only came later. It was normal to have a cigarette after your meal at any table. 

 

Sounds like the golden age of flying  that people keep harking back to, well dressed chimneys. 

 

So a bit of spice or garlic is nothing 

I had a friend who won a holiday in Yugoslavia with Adria Airlines. Smoking was left of the aisle, non-smoking right. Other than that, they had a nice time.

[BigMac1953]

A number of years ago we were in Dublin visiting my wife's family.

 

We all went out for a meal and, as none of us smoked, asked for the no smoking area.

 

Everyone single person around us was smoking, so I spoke to the manager and pointed out that we had requested a no smoking area.

 

He replied "You've got it. This is the no smoking table".

[Pushpit]

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

Seperate  smoking area in restaurants only came later. It was normal to have a cigarette after your meal at any table. 

I'm old enough to remember people smoking between courses (and even at breakfast !!!!!!) on QE2, and there wasn't a no-smoking zone in Caronia. PG and Lido was smoke free towards the end, but Caronia allowed smoking well into the 21st century, and it was left to the maître d' to try and fix the seating to minimise complaints. I imagine the maître d' was typically a smoker. In the 1980s there weren't smoking areas, there was just a few non smoking spaces - the library, the lifts and the gym. Believe it or not, people sometimes would ignore that and smoke in the swimming pool, with the exception of the library since the librarian certainly wasn't a smoker. Cabins always had a tobacco riff to them even if several sailings of non smokers had gone through them, and in the evening the back of the Golden Lion seemed to have no wall, it was a blue mist which you could cut through.

 

In fact QM2, QV, QA, QE are the only Cunard ships which have never allowed smoking in the restaurants, and I'm almost surprised QA hasn't banned it altogether - I bet Carnival had a debate about that or restricting it to vapes only.

 

So a bit of  a food smell in a location serving food isn't something I can get worked up about.

Edited August 13 by Pushpit

[Jonem2001]

6 hours ago, Pushpit said:

I'm old enough to remember people smoking between courses (and even at breakfast !!!!!!) on QE2

Thank you for these fascinating recollections, @Pushpit - as someone whose cruising experience post-dates permitted interior smoking, and as a non-smoker, it seems genuinely unimaginable!

 

May I ask a perhaps obvious question - was smoking at breakfast rarer than other meals? Perhaps not the done thing? I can’t see the difference, myself, but that might just be my perspective.

 

On topic, I can see the desirability of being considerate of neighbours in ordering off menu from an odour perspective, but I can’t recall being personally affected in the Grills at any point. Perhaps the Maitre D’ plays a role in minimising discomfort by coordinating any flambé action to suit everyone… 

 

That said, I can’t imagine how Indian cuisine could be done appropriately table-side, as someone else mentioned, so I’d likely form an opinion of any fellow diners requesting it regardless of smell! I could well be wrong though.

[david63]

1 hour ago, Jonem2001 said:

was smoking at breakfast rarer than other meals? Perhaps not the done thing?

From my dark distant memory smoking at breakfast was, if anything, more prevalent than at other meals.

[Pushpit]

1 hour ago, Jonem2001 said:

Thank you for these fascinating recollections, @Pushpit - as someone whose cruising experience post-dates permitted interior smoking, and as a non-smoker, it seems genuinely unimaginable!

 

May I ask a perhaps obvious question - was smoking at breakfast rarer than other meals? Perhaps not the done thing? I can’t see the difference, myself, but that might just be my perspective.

 

It's just my reaction, I'm a never smoker so I'm more tolerant, I think, than an ex smoker, and as a clinician I'm supposed to support patients rather than stand in judgement. But smoking at breakfast has always been the most vile thing for me, not even the dawn air is sacrosanct. And yes, because people had just got up and were in the early stages of nicotine withdrawal, smokers did tend to light up at breakfast on QE2 and get through maybe 3 cigarettes to get their nico levels back up. You would see long-married couples who clearly had an unwritten contract - not a word to each other until the third fag.

 

Another piece of trivia for you: QA is the first Cunard ship to never allow smoking inside. Notably in the Golden Lion, where smoking was allowed in the other 3 ships until about 2012. Ditto the casino and G32/Yacht Club - this was 5 years after the UK indoor ban in 2007. 

[Jonem2001]

Goodness! That does feel rather later than I expected. And thank you for the trivia; I’ll file that one away!

 

I wonder what practices the next Cunard vessel will have ‘moved on’ from that we find commonplace now…