We were on Ventura to Portugal during half term holiday. This was the second time with P&O. The first time was on Iona last year to Norway. Due to the post Covid shortages, the Epicurean restaurant was closed on Iona. This time I was keen to try Epicurean because it was often mentioned as "Amazing". However it turned out to be quite disappointed.
Firstly about the reservation. We are a party of 7 so we went to the restaurant to make the reservation. However the lady at door told us it was fully booked for the whole cruise. I showed her that there are availability on the "My Holiday". She still insisted that it was fully booked, nothing (no matter of the table size) was available. If we book on "My Holiday", it might get cancelled. She even asked the restaurant manager came over to convince us. So we left and booked it online, a table of 5 and a table of 2. We did this on Iona and it worked out perfectly. After a few days, the booking reminder was delivered to our cabins. I went up to the restaurant to tell them that we are a party of 7. Another lady said it is no problem.
Secondly, about the food. I'm gonna laugh. One of the main course on the menu is literally Fish and Chips. It might be some fancy Cod or Haddock. I only can say it would be a British fine cuisine. Some of us ordered the "whole" lobster. It turned out very small, and without claws. I don't know if it the definition of "Whole" lobster. The lobsters were all over cooked, the meat is loose, like being frozen for a very long time. The other starters and main courses were just so so, nothing to highlight.
The only good thing was the service was good.
So in general, I feel it was completely waste of £30 per head. The beach house was much better.