Informal Dining

[JudyShaw5]

I have not yet cruised on the Queen Mary, but wonder if anyone can tell me about the quality of food in the area of "informal dining" in a self-serve area? Would it be similar to the dining room?

Thank you.

[PBrown]

informal dining: Don't do it!!!!!!!!!

 

We didn't think we were going to like the formality of QM2 but found out we were wrong. It's worth it.

 

Informal dining is in the Kings Court which if you ask me is a good place to avoid. It is the busiest buffet area I've ever been in. The traffic patterns seem to make chaos with the whole thing - though the food is good. But there are just too many other good places to eat on the ship.

 

But dining in the Britania and meeting fellow passengers is a real treat. The service is slow and leisurely but not obnoxiously slow. The waiters are very attentive and work their fannys off and the wine stewards chip in once they have their work done. The food is superior. Make special requests (fresh veggies, special appetizers, etc.) - no problem. They do what they can to accommodate. Don't like something? No problem, they will quickly bring something else.

[lannp]

I use King's Court for early morning coffee and coffee breaks. I prefer to take my meals in the Britannia dining room. I enjoy sharing a meal with other people and I like being served. Nobody waits on me at home.

If you don't wish to partake of the formal atmosphere then you could certainly use King's Court for dinner but breakfast and lunch in the dining room could be a possibility.

I found the food was alright but at times King's Court can be really hectic.

[nuekruizer]

The food is Kings Court is okay, but mundane. The dining room food is fantastic as is the room service food. Use Kings Court for snacking, hamburgers, etc for the kids. Take your main meals in the dining room!

[travel-to-go]

I have to agree with everyone else here.

Breakfast, you can get in and out, if you just want fresh fruit or yogurt or cereal or something. Otherwise it is stand in line for omelets (long lines, I have heard) and get industrial scrambled eggs and made-ahead by the boxcarload bacon from a steam table. In Brittania, you can have your eggs made to order, have however many meats you wish to order, have your piping hot coffee or tea brought to you instead of being jostled in a crowded and not well engineered cafeteria space and you can order my favorite, Eggs benedict.

 

Lunch, either would do, but again, the hustle and bustle, plus primarily steam table food, and fighting the crowds to get to it. You are primarily serving yourself with some stations (such as the carving station) being served by someone behind the line. But you are dealing with salads, fruits, cheeses and such that are out on common serving areas that everyone is grabbing from. Some do not consider that quite sanitary enough (It doesn't really bother me) but steam tables are steam tables. If it's fresh it may be great, if it has been there a while it may be overcooked mush. There is a sandwich type deli station, but again, it depends on when you (and everyone else) get there as to how long you will stand there waiting, and then you have to find a table! Dinner. 2 of the 4 areas of Kings Court are turned into sit-down dining, while one is buffet. One is also a reservations only area with demonstration cooking. There was an extra charge for this, but I do not know if there still is. The two sit down areas are reservations suggested. I understand plenty get turned away. I have never eaten at King's Court at dinner. The food is much too scrumptious and the service too excellent and the company too scintillating to miss in the Brittannia.

 

Karie,

"That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it! "

[pnhmrk]

You can order my favorite, Eggs benedict.

 

Why are Eggs Benedict so popular? At Christmas Paul had them every breakfast (apart from the last). Personally I prefer pancakes, waffles, cinnamon toast or a combination/all of them!

[patwell]

I agree...why skip the delight of eating in Britannia. Our service was supurb and none of the 4 of us found anything lacking in the quality of what we ordered...all was excellent. Then there's the atmosphere....Kings Court is a glorified cafeteria with fancy names for the sections. That said, we never ate dinner there altho when we walked thru it twice before our late seating, there were few people there. Maybe it draws the earlier dinner crowds.

 

And speaking of crowds, the only time we found them there was embarkation day...by the time we got on, after a 2 1/2 hour mess, the food was running low and everyone was jostling around. Memo to self...next time eat before embarking!! other than that we always found a table for breakfast (early) and had 3 lunches there and enjoyed the variety. We never waited a moment at lunch and twice had coveted window seats. The food was good, not fantastic. Just avoid those nasty scrambed eggs...any relationship to an egg is purely accidental!!!

 

Lunch in Britannia our first day was wonderful and not the slow process so many have mentioned. It moved along in a good pace and the food was terrific.

 

Cheers, Penny

[travel-to-go]

Why are Eggs Benedict so popular? At Christmas Paul had them every breakfast (apart from the last). Personally I prefer pancakes, waffles, cinnamon toast or a combination/all of them!

 

Malcolm,

I am guessing you are a committed carboholic!

Those are all heavy carbohydrate items!

Personally, I love Hollandaise sauce, even more so if I do not have to be the one making it!

I have had Lobster Benedict, Crab Benedict, Salmon Benedict, and other Benedictine delights. All were dynamite! The taste combinations are just delish!

Of course, that's not to say one could not have a Belgian Waffle alongside. I think Holland and Belgium are already neighbors, no? <G>

 

Well, you stick to your short stack and cinnnamon toast at the "kid's table" Leaves more Benedict for me!

 

(P.S. If you ask nicely, I'll bet the maitre d' and the waiter could rustle you up some Cocoa Puffs and Chocolate milk to go along with that! Don't Spill it on your jumper!)

 

<VBEG>!

 

Karie,

who loves to tease Malcolm, as he takes it so well- like a true gentleman!

[patwell]

Karie...you are incorrigible!!! :p

 

Cheers, Penny...who is trying not to laugh too hard picturing Malcolm slurping cocoa puffs and chocolate milk!

[kevankiki]

Karie...you are incorrigible!!! :p

 

Cheers, Penny...who is trying not to laugh too hard picturing Malcolm slurping cocoa puffs and chocolate milk!

 

Hey, no need to slurp - I'm sure they would provide you with those Choco Straws to suck up the milk with, if you asked nicely enough :D

 

(sorry, couldn't resist)

[pnhmrk]

Hey, no need to slurp - I'm sure they would provide you with those Choco Straws to suck up the milk with, if you asked nicely enough :D

 

(sorry, couldn't resist)

 

Really?:confused: Using those straws would mean that you wouldn't get your nose in the milk when you licked the bowl clean:)

[kevankiki]

Really?:confused: Using those straws would mean that you wouldn't get your nose in the milk when you licked the bowl clean:)

 

Doesn't your tie fall in when you do that? :eek:

[pnhmrk]

Doesn't your tie fall in when you do that? :eek:

 

Do you have Cocoa Puffs and chocolate milk for dinner?:confused: When else would one wear a tie? (Besides if it's a formal night a bow tie would be too short:cool: )

[kevankiki]

Do you have Cocoa Puffs and chocolate milk for dinner?:confused:

 

Depends what else is on offer :D

 

Actually, in reality, I don't have them at all!

[Bramcruiser]

I would avoid the King's Court (the QM2 equivilant of a Lido deck) unless you have to. On our recent QM2 cruise (actually the same one that patwell was on) we ate all our breakfasts and dinners in the main dining room and found the food the best yet I have ever had on a cruise.

 

While the King's Court and its four divided areas are a nice idea and the food somewhat adequate I wouldn't say it was comparable. It served its purpose to grab something fast and we admittedly ate two lunches there but it was after returning from shore excursions late and we didn't want the formality of the dining room just to grab something to tide you over. But worse than the food situation was the crowds. The cut up doesn't allow for a nice orderly flow of people and I found myself frustrated. The King's Court is the only space on this mega-liner where I had crowd issues so its a testament to how well the rest of the ship is laid out.

 

Penny, the scrambled eggs in the dining room were fantastic. Better than such eggs I had at a restaurant or I can make at home.

 

David

Who's also chuckling eating his eggs benedict while Malcolm and Annette discuss the etiquette of Cocoa Puffs. I wanna go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs in the Britannia next time!

[kevankiki]

I wanna go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs in the Britannia next time!

Phew, glad you said Britannia, and not Mauretania there :D

[Bramcruiser]

Phew, glad you said Britannia, and not Mauretania there :D

 

Well only because I can't eat with the crew! :rolleyes:

[pnhmrk]

David, I was going to thank you for dragging this thread back onto topic and for leaving Annette kicking and screaming in her cereal bowl:p But then you go and say

 

Well only because I can't eat with the crew! :rolleyes:

 

You're implying that the crew are lower than steerage!(:D )

[Bramcruiser]

You're implying that the crew are lower than steerage!(:D )

 

Heck, no! They probably have it better than the Queen's Grill passengers! Free meals and the chance to live at sea!:D

 

So, back on track! Fish and Chips in the Golden Lion (at least on the QM2) anyone? Now, this I would recommend but probably not every single lunch though!

 

David

[kevankiki]

Well only because I can't eat with the crew! :rolleyes:

I think you missed the joke, when I said Mauretania I was referring to the fact that you're on my next cruise, and I'd be in there :o

 

(I assumed you meant Brittania on the QM2, since that's where this thread relates to)

[Bramcruiser]

I think you missed the joke, when I said Mauretania I was referring to the fact that you're on my next cruise, and I'd be in there :o

 

(I assumed you meant Brittania on the QM2, since that's where this thread relates to)

 

Hey, Annette. I realized you meant the Mauretania on the QE2 and yes, I was talking about the Brittania on the QM2.I admit I ended up jumping ships and morphing the Cocoa Puffs response into a QE2 mode.

 

So now that I insulted you - saying Mauretania was lower than the crew :eek: - can you ever forgive me? Please, pretty please! Next time Malcolm challenges me I'm keeping quiet.:)

 

Now do I even dare mention I'm doing Caronia on our August cruise. I feel so dirty now.:o :rolleyes:

 

David

Who started a roll call for the cruise in question over in the roll call section!

Who also feels someone should step in and get back to getting the thread on track (Help me please!)

[Bramcruiser]

double post. Sorry.

[patwell]

Well now David, let's see if this helps get you off the hook....besides, I thoroughly dislike cocoa puffs. Actually I don't like brown "things" for breakfast!!:eek:

 

So...Annette...if you want to investigate King's Court, go in on the off hours when it's quieter and stroll around to get a sense of the layout. It is confusing at first, but then it starts to make sense. I confess that on embarkation day, armed with CCer advice, I made one of our group sit and hold a table that we finally found while the rest of us hunted down food. Then the 3 of us couldn't find each other OR the table...it's that confusing at first! After that, on the occasions we ate breakfast or lunch there, we had no problems. Well....unless you count those "scrambled eggs"....those were NOT eggs. At least not the kind that came from chickens!!!:rolleyes:

 

So there...back on topic...hopefully for now. You're welcome David:p

Cheers, Penny

[OPSoccermom]

Just off QM2 yesterday....

 

Had breakfast in Britannia every day.

 

I had thought it would be for the Eggs Benedict, but found them to be just OK and after having the French Toast on Day 2, I had it every day thereafter.

 

I believe it is the best French Toast I have ever eaten. This wasn't just "kid's stuff" - it was made of thick raisin bread - custardy and crunchy on the outside. Yum!

 

Tracy

[kevankiki]

- can you ever forgive me? Please, pretty please!

 

David

Who started a roll call for the cruise in question over in the roll call section!

Who also feels someone should step in and get back to getting the thread on track (Help me please!)

David, I will forgive you on one condition. If you get bumped up twice, and end up in Queens Grill you have to invite me for a drink in the Queens Grill Lounge, okay? :D

 

Actually, I've been following the posts regarding the crossing, and it appears that the service in the Mauretania is better than anywhere else right now :eek:

 

Now I'm off to check out that roll call, I'll try and stay out of this thread now, I feel bad enough for jumping in to start with.