Ate at Wonderland tonight. Not impressed.

[aflyingbuttress]

We’re on the Anthem and we had dinner at Wonderland tonight. We were really looking forward to it because we love trying unique foods. But the experience was totally underwhelming. The food was just...not good. They spend a lot of time on presentation but very little on flavor. Everything was bland and under seasoned. And a lot of it was spicy and still somehow under seasoned. Hard to pull that off. 

 

We thought pretty much all the appetizers were below average in flavor. They were nothing I’d ever order again or even think about wanting to eat again. The main courses were better. The chicken was nice and tender and my daughter liked that and the bronzino was decent. The pork belly good. And the deserts were good. But again, nothing I’d ever seek out or write home about. 

 

It was just all rather unremarkable. Is this normal or did we just happen to go on a bad night? I guess food is subjective so perhaps no one can say. But I know good food and this wasn’t it. 

Edited January 28, 2019 by aflyingbuttress

[BEENSAILING]

Sorry to read you did not have a good experience. The chocolate world is one of the most wonderful deserts I have had.

Edited January 28, 2019 by BEENSAILING

[Merion_Mom]

 

chacun à son goût

[BEENSAILING]

Please translate. Thank you.

[Primm]

3 minutes ago, BEENSAILING said:

Please translate. Thank you.

"To each his own" basically.

[tennislvr8]

1 hour ago, aflyingbuttress said:

We’re on the Anthem and we had dinner at Wonderland tonight. We were really looking forward to it because we love trying unique foods. But the experience was totally underwhelming. The food was just...not good. They spend a lot of time on presentation but very little on flavor. Everything was bland and under seasoned. And a lot of it was spicy and still somehow under seasoned. Hard to pull that off. 

 

We thought pretty much all the appetizers were below average in flavor. They were nothing I’d ever order again or even think about wanting to eat again. The main courses were better. The chicken was nice and tender and my daughter liked that and the bronzino was decent. The pork belly good. And the deserts were good. But again, nothing I’d ever seek out or write home about. 

 

It was just all rather unremarkable. Is this normal or did we just happen to go on a bad night? I guess food is subjective so perhaps no one can say. But I know good food and this wasn’t it. 

We went on Harmony. I feel like it's more about the experience and the weird food versus the taste. There is no need for us to go again. Having said that, the shrimp kafifi was delicious. Ours is not a popular opinion but it's ours nonethekess, I also think costal kitchen is highly over rated. 

[Norwich Cruiser]

Similar experience we’ve dined there once quite enjoyed it but wouldn’t go again.

[cruiserking]

We love Wonderland, have been there 4 times and looking forward to our fifth dinner at Wonderland on board Anthem on February 15. 

 

Jonathan

Edited January 28, 2019 by cruiserking

[JAMESCC]

Wow opposite experience we had. It was so much fun, we did it our first night on Anthem and it was such a nice way to kick off our cruise. I was skeptical of whole thing before hand but loved it. The food was different we loved it. Like anything else its not for everyone I guess.

[parrotfeathers]

Perhaps you just aren't a Wonderland sort of person.  I thought it was very intriguing and, yes, the pork belly was very good.  But I was already so full I wish I had gotten something else.   But, I'm the kind of person who would never go on a cruise and get a hamburger.  Or drink a fountain drink.  So it does take all kinds of people and food to make a cruise a cruise.

 

[debgreg]

I loved it the food, the experience, everything , been twice, Ovation & Symphony .... if you don't like something they will bring you something else :) Not sure you will get that experience anywhere else

[aflyingbuttress]

39 minutes ago, parrotfeathers said:

Perhaps you just aren't a Wonderland sort of person.  I thought it was very intriguing and, yes, the pork belly was very good.  But I was already so full I wish I had gotten something else.   But, I'm the kind of person who would never go on a cruise and get a hamburger.  Or drink a fountain drink.  So it does take all kinds of people and food to make a cruise a cruise.

 

 

I am definitely a wonderland sort of person. It’s exactly the kind of thing I love. I at at Qsine on Celebrity a while back and that was great. I’m a pretty adventurous eater. 

[Rewind]

We had similar thoughts - appetizers were nothing great, the main courses were nice, and the deserts were an experience, but overall we have done it and don't need to do it again.

 

The thing we found odd - neither my wife nor I eat seafood (no allergies, but we don't care for it).  We mentioned this at the very beginning of our meal so we could avoid those options and our waiter seemed surprised.  He did explain this was a tasting menu and that there were quite a few seafood items, but we said we were fine just skipping those.  A couple minutes later the table next to us mentioned almost the exact thing, and then another table near us had two of four people also say they didn't eat seafood.

 

I know Wonderland is a different concept with a set menu, but if customers are fine just skipping items, I don't see why this would be such a surprising idea.

[Joseph2017China]

I know a person that basically states the same thing about all food, that it is bland.  Unless it has a lot of salt and pepper on it, they just don't like it. 

 

Sometimes food is suppose to be bland. 

 

I thought Wonderland was good and although some things were strange, that was the purpose of the place.  It is not mainstream food.

[The Fun Researcher]

Bummer that your experience wasn't great.  It's a one off experience.  Especially when it comes to the level of spice and/or flavor, it can really depend on how or who prepared the food.  It's too bad that the flavor didn't follow the cool presentation that Wonderland offers.

 

Dan

[aflyingbuttress]

2 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

I know a person that basically states the same thing about all food, that it is bland.  Unless it has a lot of salt and pepper on it, they just don't like it. 

 

Sometimes food is suppose to be bland. 

 

I thought Wonderland was good and although some things were strange, that was the purpose of the place.  It is not mainstream food.

 

I hardly ever add salt and pepper to my food. All food should be properly seasoned. It’s not supposed to be bland. 

 

Again, I’ve no problem with food that is strange and not mainstream. I’ve eaten some weird stuff in my life. I’ve eaten crickets, for example. So it’s not my tolerance level put pretty much anything in front of me and I’ll try it with an open mind. 

 

That said, I am glad you enjoyed it. 

[RFerrington]

We did Wonderland on Harmony with a group of 8 people.  By the end of the meal, there were only 2 left.  Everyone hated it.  Our Genie told us before the meal that people either love it or hate it.  We were in the latter.  I thought the presentation and service were excellent but the food was dreadful.  Glad we tried it once but never again.

[Oceansaway17]

I felt the same way on Celebrity for Qzine.  Very odd presentation.  For instance I order 3 meals.

I did not expect to have 3 very large meatballs with no pasta.  Too much meat.

 

I felt the seasonings and taste were not worth the interesting presentations.

But I did like the "field of Strawberries" presented in a bed of grass.  oh well.

[Colorado Babe]

I wonder if the experience is different from ship to ship. I know we did it on the anthem a few years back and really enjoyed it. I want to say, we also did it on the Harmony.  It wasn't the same.  I hated the set-up (very open) and it was not intimate like it was on the Anthem. 

[John&LaLa]

17 hours ago, tennislvr8 said:

We went on Harmony. I feel like it's more about the experience and the weird food versus the taste. There is no need for us to go again. Having said that, the shrimp kafifi was delicious. Ours is not a popular opinion but it's ours nonethekess, I also think costal kitchen is highly over rated. 

 

I'd agree with you on both counts.  I only like CK fir breakfast and lunch.  Filet night is good, and maybe lamb chobs night.

[John&LaLa]

6 hours ago, RFerrington said:

We did Wonderland on Harmony with a group of 8 people.  By the end of the meal, there were only 2 left.  Everyone hated it.  Our Genie told us before the meal that people either love it or hate it.  We were in the latter.  I thought the presentation and service were excellent but the food was dreadful.  Glad we tried it once but never again.

 

The HD on Oasis said he hoped Oasis did not get one during refurb.  Says they dont get enough repeat business.

[Allura_317]

18 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

The HD on Oasis said he hoped Oasis did not get one during refurb.  Says they dont get enough repeat business.

That makes sense, I think people go for the experience.  Once they have already done it, the feel like they already know the experience so they won't go again, especially as they can't control if they get different food as the original time.  I went on Harmony and loved it, but would rather try something new next time than go again.

[PCWalton1]

Did Wonderland on Ovation. Great experience as far as presentation but nothing really remarkable about the flavors. It was fun to try once but doubt we will ever go back again.  

[BEENSAILING]

34 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I'd agree with you on both counts.  I only like CK fir breakfast and lunch.  Filet night is good, and maybe lamb chobs night.

We have enjoyed our Coastal Kitchen dinners in Anthem and Symphony. Bfast, too. Too much eating if we have  bfast, lunch and dinner in CK. We did have lunch in CK on boarding day on Symphony a few weeks ago as we had not eaten breakfast at our hotel. I am happy with Kummelweck at lunch.

[RFerrington]

58 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

The HD on Oasis said he hoped Oasis did not get one during refurb.  Says they dont get enough repeat business.

No surprise to hear that.  I hope they put in a Hooked instead

Edited January 28, 2019 by RFerrington