Food in mdr on formal nights?????

[marydallas]

Does anyone know if better food is served on formal nights????? Thinking of making reservations in either tuscan grill or qsine on a formal night but would hate to miss special menus. Does anyone have an opinion????? Please advise. Thank you so much. Mary

[Essiesmom]

Formal nights are usually when they serve lobster in the MDR. EM

[Compass Rose Monica]

They do a mean rack of lamb and prime rib. Not sure if they are served on the formal nights.

[Presto2]

Having been on P&O where they tend to have an enhanced menu on formal nights we were disappointed on the Silhouette when we ate in the main dining room as there didn't seem to be much difference. We have decided that when we go on the Silhouette next year we will make our formal nights more special and eat at either the Tuscan Grill or (our preferred choice) Muranos, which we thought was wonderful. :)

[anniegb]

Formal nights are usually when they serve lobster in the MDR. EM

 

 

I'll pass.

 

Annie

[anniegb]

They do a mean rack of lamb and prime rib. Not sure if they are served on the formal nights.

 

I'll pass on that too - don't they do anything exciting? Imagine dressing up to sit down to that :(

 

 

Annie

[PS90]

I'll pass on that too - don't they do anything exciting? Imagine dressing up to sit down to that :(

 

 

Annie

 

Ummm, if you don't consider rack of lamb or prime rib fancy enough, then what would you "dress up" for?

 

Personally, if they do them right, lamb and prime rib are two of the dishes I most look forward to. I also do not remember if they are served on formal nights or not, however.

[martin1970]

On our 11 night cruise, just back last week, the first formal night food was to be really honest rubbish... nothing special. We did give the 2nd formal night a go after much discussion. This was a little better, they did serve lobster tail but remember just because its lobster does'nt mean it will be good.

Sorry to be so blunt and no I am not a food snob, I do eat in very good restaurants in London a lot and no I did not expect the food to be up too that standard but I did expect it to be better than it was.

 

In answer to the question give the MDR a miss on formal night book speciality or do the buffet...lovely relaxed informal feel up there at night.

[cruisestitch]

Don't they usually do crepes Suzette or cherries jubliee on formal nights? Two of my favorites and it seems like I have seen one or the other on formal nights.

[dave9898]

Returned from 16 nights on Celebrity Eclipse last week. There didn't seem to be any difference in food served on formal nights from any other night. Tried the buffet restaurant but that was virtually deserted. If honest was a little disappointed that more was not made of formal nights. However must state I was delighted with quality of food in mdr

[snorklinbarb]

On our 11 night cruise, just back last week, the first formal night food was to be really honest rubbish... nothing special. We did give the 2nd formal night a go after much discussion. This was a little better, they did serve lobster tail but remember just because its lobster does'nt mean it will be good.

Sorry to be so blunt and no I am not a food snob, I do eat in very good restaurants in London a lot and no I did not expect the food to be up too that standard but I did expect it to be better than it was.

 

In answer to the question give the MDR a miss on formal night book speciality or do the buffet...lovely relaxed informal feel up there at night.

 

Getting ready to go on Silhouette which I assume was your ship?

 

Care to describe for us the "rubbish" that was served up on the first forma night? Did you send it back? If you still weren't satisfied, did you discuss it with one of the DR mgrs.?

 

Must have been really bad to warrant a big discussion to decide whether to even go the 2nd formal night. And then to recommend to all of us that we simply "give the MDR a miss on formal night" is pretty strong so would appreciate specifics and what dishes to avoid.

 

Any standout suggestions for the buffet in the evening? Always helpful to know what's good in advance. How was the sushi (if you tried it)?

[Dunmore2]

There are a few threads here, just search the word" menu", and you will see the menus offered on Formal nights. My husband prefers the first formal meal and I like the second better. The ambiance in the MDR is very nice too. It is good that people have the options of other venues. Then no restaurant is overcrowded.

[Ma Bell]

I'll pass on that too - don't they do anything exciting? Imagine dressing up to sit down to that :(

 

 

Annie

 

I can't imagine commenting on something I haven't experienced yet.

[martin1970]

Yes i can say that i had the lemon sole that was served on vegetable spaghetti, the sole was the most tiny piece wrapped around a fish mousse that wasn't mentioned on the menu... don't know why i didn't write the menus but the mousse was really tasteless and the veg spaghetti was just bland my partner had the pasta dish because this did sound one of the nicest dishes on the menu that night penne with beef strip and gorgonzola again it sounded good but the execution was bad the pasta was really really really over cooked the beef was tender but strangely plonked onto and not mixed in and the gorgonzola was this congealed mess on top that tasted like it had been microwaved and placed on top. I understand its all objective and thousands of people enjoy their meals every day on board but I was just really disappointed in the standard of food. I did tell our waiter each time we were not happy but they were rushed (not their fault) as we were in select dinning and did not build up a rap ore with waiters as we had different ones each time we ate in the dinning room.

The buffet did offer a good choice and when we sailed Cunard we never ate in the buffet at night but on celebrity we did and actually thought it was a good choice, the sushi from 5.30 pm was really great and i did eat my fair share of that. Its all personal choice but i didn't feel the dressing up on formal night was worth the effort for the food offered.

[Presto2]

Getting ready to go on Silhouette which I assume was your ship?

 

Care to describe for us the "rubbish" that was served up on the first forma night? Did you send it back? If you still weren't satisfied' date=' did you discuss it with one of the DR mgrs.?

 

Must have been really bad to warrant a big discussion to decide whether to even go the 2nd formal night. And then to recommend to all of us that we simply "give the MDR a miss on formal night" is pretty strong so would appreciate specifics and what dishes to avoid.

 

Any standout suggestions for the buffet in the evening? Always helpful to know what's good in advance. How was the sushi (if you tried it)?[/quote']

 

We were on the Silhouette too 10th August for 12 nights and we were really disappointed with the food in the main dining room (and on formal nights inparticular). We were expecting something special for the formal night and it was nothing any different than other nights (and that didn't comare favourably to P&O the previous year on Oceana to start with).

 

We also tried the buffet one evening and wouldn't try it again - not impressed and nowhere near as good as during the day time.....

 

If you want a really special evening on the formal night then I would definitely book with a speciality restaurant. If you don't want to pay too much then why not try dining in your room (if you have a balcony) - if it is a hot climate and you want a bit of romance :):)

 

Each to his own I suppose but we have made our choice and will save accordingly to ensure that we get some special dining evenings next holiday. :D

[yayvacation!]

Hi Annie!

 

I don't find the formal nights to be anything better food-wise then normal nights. The first formal night we ate at the Captains table, DH had the BBQ salmon, it was pretty terrible. The Captains both ate the salmon off the regular menu, it was tastier than the BBQ dish. I had something steak related, it was good, but nothing out of the way spectacular.

 

Second formal night I don't remember either one of us being super excited about anything.

 

I would stay as far away from the lobster as humanely possible in all venues. It is frozen and when cooked becomes extremely rubbery. I also live in New England and have the excellent luck of being able to eat fresh lobster all the time, nothing stands up to that! :)

[anniegb]

On our 11 night cruise, just back last week, the first formal night food was to be really honest rubbish... nothing special. We did give the 2nd formal night a go after much discussion. This was a little better, they did serve lobster tail but remember just because its lobster does'nt mean it will be good.

Sorry to be so blunt and no I am not a food snob, I do eat in very good restaurants in London a lot and no I did not expect the food to be up too that standard but I did expect it to be better than it was.

 

In answer to the question give the MDR a miss on formal night book speciality or do the buffet...lovely relaxed informal feel up there at night.

 

I am not a very experienced cruiser compared to many. However I have found the quality of the food in any MDR disappointing compared to my Scottish standards where we have very high quality ingredients. I don't expect when serving 2000+ meals the standard to be very high but tepid food, predictable menus - no. I have read of many criticisms of the lobster recently - simple drop it :)

 

To answer another poster rack of lamb or rib beef is no big deal. I don't dress up to eat that at home and don't see I should dress up to eat it on a ship.

 

Thanks martin1970 - I think I will go the buffet and save on the packing as well. :)

 

Annie

[anniegb]

I find it interesting that British cruisers posting find the food disappointing - different standards or I'll admit in Scotland we have superb local produce - ok I am spoiled. :)

 

For the poster from NE - he says skip the lobster - good enough for me; if they don't know about lobster who does?

 

Thanks everyone and happy cruising.

 

Annie

[martin1970]

I am not a very experienced cruiser compared to many. However I have found the quality of the food in any MDR disappointing compared to my Scottish standards where we have very high quality ingredients. I don't expect when serving 2000+ meals the standard to be very high but tepid food, predictable menus - no. I have read of many criticisms of the lobster recently - simple drop it :)

 

To answer another poster rack of lamb or rib beef is no big deal. I don't dress up to eat that at home and don't see I should dress up to eat it on a ship.

 

Thanks martin1970 - I think I will go the buffet and save on the packing as well. :)

 

Annie

 

 

 

Enjoy your cruise Annie I am sure you will love it as Celebrity is a great cruise line. Glad you might opt for the buffet on formal night it really is a great option.

[anniegb]

Enjoy your cruise Annie I am sure you will love it as Celebrity is a great cruise line. Glad you might opt for the buffet on formal night it really is a great option.

 

Thanks Martin - reading various threads and reading the menus someone posted, which of course I can't find now, I admit as we say up here - me had me doubts !

 

I have just saved a whole lot of packing too - love it:)

 

I loved Azamara and although Celebrity has larger vessels - expect to love it too :)

 

Annie

[FrankinPA]

 

I loved Azamara and although Celebrity has larger vessels - expect to love it too :)

 

Annie

 

Hi Annie,

 

I have never been on Azamara. What was the food quality, in your view, and was there anything worth getting all dressed up to eat? Like you, I grew up eating all the fruits and vegetables and beef I could possibly want. It was on our family farm. A great life- just no money..

Larry