Is there much variety at Chef's Table?

I saw a review on another site that mentioned an Asian (duck) menu. That doesn't really interest me since I go to a place like that more for Continental cuisine. And I can get duck at lots of places at home. What are the menus typically like? I did note somewhere that the menu changes every 3 days? Is that correct? :confused:

There was a recent thread regarding VO expanding the number of menus at Chef’s Table. Now 13 menus.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2018/06/17/viking-cruises-restaurants-cuisine-culinary-program-ambitious/708427002/

Be careful what I wish for. Can they do a good job with such frequent changes?

I will stand corrected if I’m wrong but at the time of booking your speciality restaurants x amount of days before sailing you don’t know what the menu is in the chefs table restaurant. I don’t like most fish so be aware that should your booking have a menu you don’t like you will either cancel or see if you can negotiate alternatives prior to the day.

You can view the menus on the TV in your stateroom, so you can book the ones you find interesting and skip the others

I will stand corrected if I’m wrong but at the time of booking your speciality restaurants x amount of days before sailing you don’t know what the menu is in the chefs table restaurant. I don’t like most fish so be aware that should your booking have a menu you don’t like you will either cancel or see if you can negotiate alternatives prior to the day.

You can definitely cancel if you don't like the menu once you find out what it is.

I will stand corrected if I’m wrong but at the time of booking your speciality restaurants x amount of days before sailing you don’t know what the menu is in the chefs table restaurant. I don’t like most fish so be aware that should your booking have a menu you don’t like you will either cancel or see if you can negotiate alternatives prior to the day.

We did not bother with the rush to book restaurants. Heck, I hardly know what I want tonight much less 3 months from now. We never had problems getting the day/time we wanted once onboard. Just ask at the desk at the entry (port side) to the World Cafe.😎

On our May Homelands cruise we went five times on a fourteen day cruise with a different menu each time.

Was there anything you didn't like about it? Thanks.

Just booked our specialties for October and each menu for the Chef’s Table was posted as we tried to make a specific reservation. We were even shown that we had already booked a given menu before we booked it again. Well one!

I will stand corrected if I’m wrong but at the time of booking your speciality restaurants x amount of days before sailing you don’t know what the menu is in the chefs table restaurant. I don’t like most fish so be aware that should your booking have a menu you don’t like you will either cancel or see if you can negotiate alternatives prior to the day.

Check out the menus and days each dinner is offered when you get on board. Can change reservations if there is an opening for the date and time you want. Personally, I found the Chef's Table not to my liking, even though the entree was beef which I usually like.

The food was just a little weird for me, for example, foam course. :p

Anyway, I'm sure that there are a lot of opinions which vary based on indivdiual tastes. Manfredi's and the Kitchen were great.

We’re onboard Viking Sea at the moment. Prebooked the Chefs Table before the cruise, and as others have said, could see the menu at the time of booking. We enjoyed the experience and are going again tonight- booked via the tv in the stateroom, could see the availability and menus for each remaining day of our cruise. Manfredis wasn’t great for us, but they may have been having a bad day, so we’ve booked again for the last night (once again, via the tv, no problem).

Check out the menus and days each dinner is offered when you get on board. Can change reservations if there is an opening for the date and time you want. Personally, I found the Chef's Table not to my liking, even though the entree was beef which I usually like.

 

The food was just a little weird for me, for example, foam course. :p

Anyway, I'm sure that there are a lot of opinions which vary based on indivdiual tastes. Manfredi's and the Kitchen were great.

Wife loved Chef's Table. Me, not so much. It's OK; a nice change and I don't eat that much of the dinner there. The only venue I really don't like is Mamsen's (any meal) which many here really like.

What's great about Viking Ocean is let's say your other convinces you to eat at Chef's Table or Mamsen's and there's nothing worth really wasting calories on, there's always the World Cafe where you can just walk in and get what you want afterwards.

I will stand corrected if I’m wrong but at the time of booking your speciality restaurants x amount of days before sailing you don’t know what the menu is in the chefs table restaurant. I don’t like most fish so be aware that should your booking have a menu you don’t like you will either cancel or see if you can negotiate alternatives prior to the day.

We’re on the Sea for the In the Wake of the Vikings that departs on Sept. 4. On the day I was able to book specialty dining, I was able to see each menu for each day BEFORE I made the reservation. So, for example, when I clicked on “Day 1”, the title of the menu came up, and by clicking on that, I could see all the menu items. If that one didn’t appeal, I could just click ahead to “Day 2” and look at that menu, and so forth. I think this may be new. When we sailed on the Sky in January, that wasn’t an option. It’s great, because you can actually select a menu you want in advance and book it ahead.

We’re on the Sea for the In the Wake of the Vikings that departs on Sept. 4. On the day I was able to book specialty dining, I was able to see each menu for each day BEFORE I made the reservation. So, for example, when I clicked on “Day 1”, the title of the menu came up, and by clicking on that, I could see all the menu items. If that one didn’t appeal, I could just click ahead to “Day 2” and look at that menu, and so forth. I think this may be new. When we sailed on the Sky in January, that wasn’t an option. It’s great, because you can actually select a menu you want in advance and book it ahead.

This new feature sounds like a win for both sides. The passengers can make more informed choices, and Viking does not have to deal with so many alterations of reservations during the cruise.

As a Veranda cabin cruiser with no opportunity to pre-book dinner reservations, I can foresee that certain "more popular" menus may be all booked up before we have a chance to make a reservation. Fortunately, we really enjoyed the Chef's Table, so I'm sure we will still be able to find something of interest once we are on board.

We did the Viking Homelands cruise in May and The Chefs Table menus changed every 2 days. The Chefs Table - we both enjoyed it and managed to visit 5 times (one was a repeat menu). The menus were available on your cabin TV or The Restaurant had the menus and schedule available. The new system of knowing the menu when you book sounds great.There were items on the menus we weren't sure about but with the smaller portions it was a great way to try new things. Heck, I even liked the tuna . If there is something on the menu you don't like, or can't eat, let them know in advance and they will substitute. Or, cancel and reschedule for another day. I really liked the idea of a wine pairing menu. I did not care for Manfredis though many others loved it. I found the servings too large but later I discovered I could have asked for "half servings".

A few examples are here.

IMO the Chef's Table is more about presentation than the food itself.

However it's an entertaining experience for the first time cruise.

Next time we would probably skip it in favor of the Manfredi's or the buffet.

We prefer Chef's Table over Manfredi's. We went to Chef's Table 3 times and Manfredi's only once. It sure proves that food is extremely subjective.

A few examples are here.

IMO the Chef's Table is more about presentation than the food itself.

However it's an entertaining experience for the first time cruise.

Next time we would probably skip it in favor of the Manfredi's or the buffet.

I totally agree. Glad I did it once but, not my kind of food. The wine pairings were interesting but not enough to cover for the food. Manfredi'is more to my liking. We traveled in a party if 3 and all agreed we'd had enough Chefs Table. A great venue for a future steak and seafood bistro.

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IMO the Chef's Table is more about presentation than the food itself.

However it's an entertaining experience for the first time cruise.

Next time we would probably skip it in favor of the Manfredi's or the buffet.

Our first visit to Chef's Table earlier this year was just so-so. It wasn't bad, but it could have been much better, both in terms of food and service. Occasionally we dine at local restaurants which have a similar concept as Chef's Table, and (for us) VO just didn't quite hit the mark on this style of dining.

Our CT reservation was later in our cruise, and there appeared to be ample available seating. An entire section wasn't even occupied, so for those hoping to snag a reservation onboard, perhaps there may be an open spot.

This new feature sounds like a win for both sides. The passengers can make more informed choices, and Viking does not have to deal with so many alterations of reservations during the cruise.

 

As a Veranda cabin cruiser with no opportunity to pre-book dinner reservations, I can foresee that certain "more popular" menus may be all booked up before we have a chance to make a reservation. Fortunately, we really enjoyed the Chef's Table, so I'm sure we will still be able to find something of interest once we are on board.

Be sure and download the Viking app before you leave for your cruise. Once onboard, connect to the ships WiFi and you can make see main dining room and chef’s table menus and make reservations. Much much quicker and easier than standing in line. Just be sure and check the menus again a few days ahead of going as we discovered these sometime changed- we almost missed lobster in The Restaurant!

Be sure and download the Viking app before you leave for your cruise. Once onboard, connect to the ships WiFi and you can make see main dining room and chef’s table menus and make reservations. Much much quicker and easier than standing in line. Just be sure and check the menus again a few days ahead of going as we discovered these sometime changed- we almost missed lobster in The Restaurant!

Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten about the ap.

Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten about the ap.

Just paying it forward! I didn’t know about it until a roll call member saw me standing in the loooooong line at the reservation desk and told me about it. A few minutes later we were sitting having a drink at the bar and making our reservations.

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Be sure and download the Viking app before you leave for your cruise. Once onboard, connect to the ships WiFi and you can make see main dining room and chef’s table menus and make reservations. Much much quicker and easier than standing in line. Just be sure and check the menus again a few days ahead of going as we discovered these sometime changed- we almost missed lobster in The Restaurant!

Were you able to see The Restaurant menu ahead of boarding, or are you referring to seeing the lobster once you were on board Clay? Thank you

Were you able to see The Restaurant menu ahead of boarding, or are you referring to seeing the lobster once you were on board Clay? Thank you

We couldn’t see the menus before boarding. But once onboard we could see menus for all restaurants BUT at some point during our 14 day cruise we noticed that the Restaurant was serving lobster on a night we had made CT reservations. Since Hubby is a lobster fan we know that they weren’t on the menu initially. Hence my suggestion to keep an eye on the menus throughout the voyage as they might change.

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Thanks Clay! My DH wouldn’t want to miss out on lobster night either! Appreciate the tip!