Viking Sea Jan 8th mini review.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I have some very elegant Baccarat crystal goblets that have always been carefully hand-washed. One chose to turn itself into a stemless glass :eek: That's when I switched to the Riedel pictured above. MY wine tastes even better, not worrying if the stem will separate again!

[TrulyBlonde]

I have some very elegant Baccarat crystal goblets that have always been carefully hand-washed. One chose to turn itself into a stemless glass :eek: That's when I switched to the Riedel pictured above. MY wine tastes even better, not worrying if the stem will separate again!

 

You make a good point...all of that hand washing after an elegant dinner party especially if you have enjoyed a bit more wine than usual and wake up to those the next morning..UGH ;-))

[Vineyard View]

We bought the stemless Reidels maybe 10 years ago when we first saw them. While we still have them, we still like a nice wine in a nice wine glass with a stem.

 

No right or wrong....just preference. I am happy to see that these are in fact the tumblers....I hope that VO allows the choice.

Edited January 16, 2017 by Vineyard View

[Lottie A]

We are going off topic a bit ....there is another thread on the type of tumblers used, but I can certainly say that the ones in The Chef's Table last week were not Riedel type glassware. They were of thickish glass and of a yellowish hue. We both commented that we would not want to drink wine from them and appreciated that the wine waiter swapped them for the Riedel stemmed glasses when he knew we had the Siver Beverage package.

 

Incidentally, if you drink more than 3 drinks a day and want better wine, this package is good value. We quite often invented our own cocktails and they were always included. The alcoholic coffees were great....I like Bailey's in my coffee and this was included, although Viking's own Gascon coffee with Armagnac was delicious. There are four red and four white wine choices and Prosecco is available too. The Valpolicella, which is a very full bodied type was my favourite, closely followed by the Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc.

Edited January 16, 2017 by Lottie A

[Spursgirl]

I agree with Lottie that the silver package is excellent value and that ALL the bar servers we encountered were totally delightful people. We will remember Princess' smile for quite some time.

 

Actually Viking should be proud of all their crew. They were cheerful, helpful and eager to please at all times. Considering this was our first Viking cruise and they didn't know us, we became friends in no time.

 

We will be back!

[Mrs Miggins]

Fortunately the Silver package is included in our New Year Star cruise. Would certainly aim to make full use and we may possibly have more than 3 extra drinks on New Years Eve.

 

Lotttie, let us know about May, it would be lovely to see you both.

 

Pam

[Vineyard View]

Thank you for your input on the Silver Spirits package. Did anyone happen to acquire the wine list of the specific wines on this package?

[Lottie A]

As promised I have five out the twelve Chef's Table menu's. I gather from the waiter that these are the most commonly used ones and he said that the Asian Panorama followed by A Gastronomic Journey Through Time and Les Routes des Indus are definitely the most popular with guests.

 

I will post them one at a time as I do not have a photo hosting site therefore could only post small pix and you wouldn't be able to read them!

 

To start with Asian Panorama.

 

Amuse Bouche

Chilled King Crab with coconut and curry foam.

Wine is Muscadet Domaine des Hautes Cottieres or Silver Package is Charpentier Brut Rose Champagne.

 

First Course

Lobster and Chicken Shu Mai with dumplings.

Wine is Brise Marine Rose or SP wine is Riseis Blanco an Italian Trebbiano

 

Granita

Lemongrass and Red Chilli

 

Main Course

Peking Duck with Mandarin Pancake.

Wine is Grain d'Azur Merlot or SP is Great Wall Cabernet Sauvignon China.

 

Dessert

Asian Trilogy of Spring Roll, Creme Brûlée and Cheesecake.

Wine is Domaine Uby or SP is Limoncello with Coteaux de l'Aubance.

[Lottie A]

A Gastronomic Journey Through Time.

 

Amuse Bouche

Roman Empire Delicacy

Wine is Les Meridiennes Vaucluse Blanc or SP is Simonnet-Febvre Chablis 1er Cru

 

First Course

Gallic Oxtail Consommé

Wine is Brise Marine Rose or SP is Domaine Bachey-Legos

 

Granita

Medieval Black and Blue - Vodka, Mint and Mixed Berries.

 

Main Course

Renaissance Style Lamb Loin, sweet potato mash, carrot medley

Wine is Basiano Tempranillo Spain or SP is Peter Franus Syrah Grenache, California.

 

Dessert

21st Century Nut Brownie

Wine is Domaine Uby or SP is a Maury Rouge France.

[Lottie A]

Routes des Indus

 

Amuse Bouche

Carrot and Cardomom Creme

Wine is Bris Marine Blanc or SP is Prager Riesling Austria.

 

First Course

Spicy Tuna Tartare

Wine is Basiano Rose or SP Hartenburg Sauvignon Blanc South Africa.

 

Granita

Ginger and Tarragon with infused vodka and lemon foam.

 

Main Course

Beef Tenderloin with Four Warm Spices, Vitelotte Mousseline and Mushrooms.

Wine is Terra Molino Tempranillo or SP is Tignanello Antinori Italy (great wine!)

 

Dessert

Apple Tarte Tatin

Wine is Vin Santa Cristina dells Valdichiana or SP is Tokaji Szamorodni, Hungarian dessert wine.

[Lottie A]

Xiang

 

Amuse Bouche

Hot and Sour Soup

Wine is Muscadet France or SP is Chiaretto Monferrato Italy.

 

First Course

Deep fried Prawns, crispy garlic and chilli.

Wine is Bellavista Chardonnay or SP is Sancerre Les Grandmontagnes, France

 

Granita

Coconut with infused lemongrass and ginger.

 

Main Course

 

Wok fried Beef with peppercorn and lotus leaf rice.

Wine is Basiano Tempranillo Spain or SP is Cabernet Sauvignon, Hahn Winery California.

 

Dessert

Chilled Mango Creme with Pomelo and Sago.

Wine is Uby, France or SP is Tokaji Szamorodni Hungary.

[Lottie A]

Phew! Last one and this is the one we did last week. I enjoyed it very much but the portions are very small and I had cheese and biscuits from room service at 11pm! My friend does not like lamb so they willingly substituted steak and fries for her main course.

 

Erling's Scandinavian Bistro.

 

Amuse Bouche

Reindeer Consommé

Wine is Basiano Garnacha, Spain or SP is Chapel Peak Pinot Noir, New Zealand which was excellent.

 

First Course

Salmon Declinaison, poached loin, Aquavit infused gravadlax, lingonberry infused salmon tartare. Delicious all of them.

Wine is Les Meridiennes, Vaucluse Blanc France or SP is Bergen Aquavit. It's horrible....go for the wine instead!

 

Granita

Lapland Delight

Not sure what was in it but it was refreshing.

 

Main course

Lamb Far-i-Kal

Apparently the national dish of Norway. I thought it would be a fish dish! This comes with Norwegian cabbage and I have to say it was delicious but I could have eaten two portions as it was so small.

Wine is Brise Marine Red, France or SP is Vina Maquis Reserva Cabernet Franc from Chile. A fantastic wine.

 

Dessert

Cloudberry Consommé, Vanilla White Chocolate Pannacotta, Sesame seed ice cream. Very nice.

Wine is Moscati d'Asti Italy or SP is Tokaji Szamorodni Hungary.

 

I hope these menu's help give new Viking cruisers a "taste" of what is available at The Chef's Table.

 

I enjoyed the Chef's Table a lot but my friend didn't. However we were fortunate to be given extra Manfredi's dining opportunities. We went there three times and have to say it was by far our favourite dining venue on Viking Sea.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Lottie A

[photopro2]

Thank you very much for taking the trouble to type up and post all those menus Lottie.

We will be on the same itinerary as you were from Barcelona to Rome. Did you happen to note which days the menus changed?

 

 

Sent from my mobile using the CC forums app

[Lottie A]

Thank you very much for taking the trouble to type up and post all those menus Lottie.

We will be on the same itinerary as you were from Barcelona to Rome. Did you happen to note which days the menus changed?

 

They change every three days. Our Scandinavian Bistro was the first day of that rotation on last Saturday night Jan 14th. I don't think they run in any kind of order though, so that doesn't help with booking online prior to the cruise.

[Haworth]

Lottie

 

Many thanks for taking the time out to post these menus, can I ask once on board how easy was it to make bookings once on board

 

Thanks

[Lottie A]

Well we found it very easy and our cruise was full. We liked Manfredi's a lot and as we had a Deluxe Verandah we were allowed one booking there and one for The Chef's Table, which we booked as soon as bookings opened for our category of stateroom.

We chatted to the lovely Head Waiter Angel and he asked us if we wanted more bookings as he had some availability at 7:30pm or 8pm most nights. In fact we ended up going three times and very much enjoyed the food there. I suppose it depends on how many people book on each night and at what time. Lots of the American pax seemed to want to dine much earlier than the Europeans and Brits onboard.

[photopro2]

That is really useful info about Manfredi’s too!

We will try for an extra evening in there if possible.

Thank you :)

 

Sent from my mobile using the CC forums app

[Haworth]

Well we found it very easy and our cruise was full. We liked Manfredi's a lot and as we had a Deluxe Verandah we were allowed one booking there and one for The Chef's Table, which we booked as soon as bookings opened for our category of stateroom.

We chatted to the lovely Head Waiter Angel and he asked us if we wanted more bookings as he had some availability at 7:30pm or 8pm most nights. In fact we ended up going three times and very much enjoyed the food there. I suppose it depends on how many people book on each night and at what time. Lots of the American pax seemed to want to dine much earlier than the Europeans and Brits onboard.

 

Thanks, how did that those times work out for evening shows etc?

[Lottie A]

Thanks, how did that those times work out for evening shows etc?

 

The shows started at 9:00-9:15pm, which we felt was a little early but given the fact that most people seemed to go to bed at 10pm, we could understand why the CD scheduled them at that time. We usually made the ones we chose to attend if we dined at 7:30 pm with a table for two. If you share a table the service obviously takes longer and you might not make it for the start of the shows.

 

I can't say that we were overly impressed with many of the shows....the one with a weird dream like theme, mixing Gilbert and Sullivan, light opera and rock music was very strange. We left the Flamenco show early....it was nothing resembling Flamenco. We thought the Girls onboard troupe show called something like Parisian Nights was fantastic....just a different class. Don't miss that one. There was a deck party with the Boys troupe doing The Beatles that was excellent too but it ended far too early and most people went to bed. A shame, because a lot of people were enjoying the dancing and it just fizzled out.

On the last night they brought onboard a group of bel canto singers but they weren't very good. I think entertainment is definitely Viking's weak spot. The onboard classic trio and the piano player were deadly dull but the guitarist was better and we enjoyed his sets in the beginning. However they were very repetitious, with the same tunes being played over and over.

[Dhsamso]

I posted on a thread that I should have let die on the Oceania forum and you answered politely. Thank you. I posted there again because your menus helped me decide which Chef's Table menu to try for (heard Chinese was not good but see there are 2 Asian oriented menus-still I am going to try to get DH to go for the Scandinavian for something a little different). I also liked the shout out to Manfredis since Italian is my very favorite so hope we like it too. On the maligned (or not?) Oceania, my favorite restaurant is the Italian so I am hopeful that Manfredis will be good too. Now I am posting here so you see one way or the other how great your menu postings were.

 

I really did understand why you and Spursgirl spoke about Azamara. I have favorites too but others like Azamara that I hope to convince DH to try some time (our biggest problem is lack of places we have not been yet-why we are excited about Viking Southern Med trip). Please keep posting on all your trips.

[Lottie A]

Thank you for your lovely post Dhsamso. I replied on the O thread too.

 

I know you will enjoy Viking....we were most impressed with the ship, our cabin, the food and the wonderful service from the crew. They are such lovely people and respond with fun if they know you have a good SOH.

 

Manfredi's was our favourite restaurant. Angel, the Head Waiter is lovely and always prepared to try and get you an extra booking, if at all possible. The veal, gnocchi and pasta was spectacular at Manfredi's and I have to say that the venison I had in the Restaurant (MDR) was the best I have ever tasted and it was cooked perfectly.

 

We will certainly be back on Viking....Oceania, not so much! :rolleyes:

[garycarla]

Thank you for your lovely post...

I know you will enjoy Viking.......

 

I tried to let this go. The poster was so sincere and kind.

 

BUT - I often read comments like the one bolded above. How does anyone KNOW somebody will like/enjoy/love something? We all have different tastes, likes, dislikes, desires, etc.

 

Sharing thoughts and opinions is great, but...

 

Not trying to mean at all.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I tried to let this go. The poster was so sincere and kind.

 

BUT - I often read comments like the one bolded above. How does anyone KNOW somebody will like/enjoy/love something? We all have different tastes, likes, dislikes, desires, etc.

 

Sharing thoughts and opinions is great, but...

 

Not trying to mean at all.

 

BUT - being pedantic? :rolleyes:

[Lottie A]

I tried to let this go. The poster was so sincere and kind.

 

BUT - I often read comments like the one bolded above. How does anyone KNOW somebody will like/enjoy/love something? We all have different tastes, likes, dislikes, desires, etc.

 

Sharing thoughts and opinions is great, but...

 

Not trying to mean at all.

 

You are quite correct garycarla. As I don't know Dhsamso in person, I can't KNOW whether he or she would like Viking. Therefore I should have said something like " I hope you will like Viking or I think you will like Viking or you may like Viking".

 

Not trying to be mean either, but perhaps you could try a little harder to "let things go"? :D

[garycarla]

You are quite correct garycarla. As I don't know Dhsamso in person, I can't KNOW whether he or she would like Viking. Therefore I should have said something like " I hope you will like Viking or I think you will like Viking or you may like Viking".

 

Not trying to be mean either, but perhaps you could try a little harder to "let things go"? :D

 

Yea.... I know. You are right. I really was not not speaking to the person making this post, but in general. (I even removed he posters name from the quote) Just a random discussion on may part.