Viking dining

[srvpoo]

How does the food quality and selection on the ocean compare the  river??

[Peregrina651]

 The same or better depending on which river ships you have sailed -- and of course, more choices at every meal.

 

We raved about the food on our river cruises. When we finally talked my sister and her hubby into joining us on a cruise, the food was so bad that my sister could not understand why we raved about it. Fortunately, we were on France's Finest and on the second ship, the quality of the food was the polar opposite.  My sister turned to me and said, "Now I understand what you were talking about." 

[lackcreativity]

We had never taken a cruise of any type before our first Viking river cruise, and we were very impressed by the food, even though the selection was limited. Every evening, in the pre-dinner gathering, the Chef would come to the meeting and discuss the menu. Chef would suggest his favorite and my husband would order that. He was never disappointed!

 

That experience led us to book our first ocean cruise on the new Viking Ocean. The food was even better, mostly because there are more dining venues, and more choices in each one. Food disappointments on Viking Ocean have been few and far between over 50+ days  of sailing and practically perfect is all I ask of anyone! When I rank the reasons we continue to book Viking Oceans, staff comes first, but food is definitely in the top three. 

Edited August 25, 2022 by lackcreativity

[OneSixtyToOne]

3 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

We had never taken a cruise of any type before our first Viking river cruise, and we were very impressed by the food, even though the selection was limited. Every evening, in the pre-dinner gathering, the Chef would come to the meeting and discuss the menu. Chef would suggest his favorite and my husband would order that. He was never disappointed!

 

That experience led us to book our first ocean cruise on the new Viking Ocean. The food was even better, mostly because there are more dining venues, and more choices in each one. Food disappointments on Viking Ocean have been few and far between over 50+ days  of sailing and practically perfect is all I ask of anyone! When I rank the reasons we continue to book Viking Oceans, staff comes first, but food is definitely in the top three. 

Totally agree.

One side note, during our first river cruise we kept seeing signs in the towns about white asparagus and asked what the hubbub was about. We were told it was a local favorite and has a short season when available. On our next cruise I saw the signs again and asked the chef about it. The next night he announced a special appetizer, white asparagus. Amazing service.

[molymoo]

We have taken numerous river and ocean cruises with Viking and as long as someone else is doing the shopping, chopping, cooking, serving, and clean-up ... I'm a happy camper!  

 

[Peregrina651]

17 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

On our next cruise I saw the signs again and asked the chef about it.

 

Maybe we should start a thread to share our stories of amazing Viking service. Mine has to do with the QuietVoxes and a headset. Although, I've had some above and beyond stories in the dining rooms as well.

[CCWineLover]

19 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Totally agree.

One side note, during our first river cruise we kept seeing signs in the towns about white asparagus and asked what the hubbub was about. We were told it was a local favorite and has a short season when available. On our next cruise I saw the signs again and asked the chef about it. The next night he announced a special appetizer, white asparagus. Amazing service.

Well long time, Joe!  How are you and Bridget doing?   Glad to see you posting and back to cruising again.  We've done a few cruises since things opened up a year ago and have enjoyed it immensely and were simply lucky to still be safe and healthy.   (Bermuda, Rome to Barcelona, Panama Canal, Uk/Norway).

Funny - we took a river cruise in April/May and had the same experience with white asparagus.  Seems the Germans absolutely love them.  I agree, the service was fantastic on our Rhine River cruise.  And so were the white asparagus!

Kent

 

[oskidunker]

8 hours ago, molymoo said:

We have taken numerous river and ocean cruises with Viking and as long as someone else is doing the shopping, chopping, cooking, serving, and clean-up ... I'm a happy camper!  

 

If the food is not good I dont care who is cooking it. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

Well long time, Joe!  How are you and Bridget doing?   Glad to see you posting and back to cruising again.  We've done a few cruises since things opened up a year ago and have enjoyed it immensely and were simply lucky to still be safe and healthy.   (Bermuda, Rome to Barcelona, Panama Canal, Uk/Norway).

Funny - we took a river cruise in April/May and had the same experience with white asparagus.  Seems the Germans absolutely love them.  I agree, the service was fantastic on our Rhine River cruise.  And so were the white asparagus!

Kent

 

Nice to hear from you again. Glad you are well. Bridget and I are fine. We had 3 major trips canceled in 2020 (Japan, London, Paris) and we just booked our first cruise since. We’ll be on the Mediterranean Odyssey in April (Venice to Barcelona). You’ll recall that the 2019 trip changed ports and our Barcelona tours were cancelled. I promised her we would return someday and have the full Gaudi experience. 

[lackcreativity]

3 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Maybe we should start a thread to share our stories of amazing Viking service. Mine has to do with the QuietVoxes and a headset. Although, I've had some above and beyond stories in the dining rooms as well.

Maybe "we" should do that, Peregrina 😉 I could tell the one about the server who got the chef to make an off-menu dish from his homeland just for us! 

Edited August 26, 2022 by lackcreativity

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Maybe we should start a thread to share our stories of amazing Viking service. Mine has to do with the QuietVoxes and a headset. Although, I've had some above and beyond stories in the dining rooms as well.

 

Brilliant idea, since we have numerous examples, I started a new topic based on your suggestion.

[Peregrina651]

Thanks, Andy. I'm in no state to do tonight and won't get to post my QuietVox story until Sunday. Big birthday party tomorrow -- the birthday, not the party -- and I'm chief, cook and bottlewasher.

[ellenw]

We were on Viking Jupiter in July, and I loved the food! My first dinner was liver and onions, which was fabulous. And certainly not common to see on a menu. I'm guessing very few people were as excited as me to see it!

 

My sister sailed with us, and had been on Jupiter pre pandemic. She felt the food on this cruise was very good, but not quite as good as previously. Does anyone else feel that way? Just curious if it's the same supply chain and cost issues hitting everything. Please don't take this as a criticism of Viking.

[LindaS272]

I would say it sometimes depends on the chef, not just supply chain issues. It can also be the fact that there’s a lot of new staff/kitchen help. We noticed this on our TA in March/April on Viking Sea. My one picky example was that I had to chase down the kitchen manager two or three times when they kept serving unripe papaya at breakfast 😝🙀🤪.

[Let Me Travel!]

Hi - Just got back from a “butterfly” cruise this past Sunday…still jet lagged…we went on the Paris to Normandy River cruise first (beginning 8/3). The chef was new…the food was not up to normal River standards…the “Normandy Dinner” was really horrid… over cooked (hard as a rock) pork chops and undercooked chicken in Normandy sauce…not flambeaued Crepe Suzette…we’ve been on 3 River Cruises and typically the food is superb.  On this River Cruise the supplies seemed to run out early…by Tuesday there was no Diet Coke or bourbon… they Were re-supplied within 2 days.  
 

We then went on an ocean cruise (British Isles Explorer)…there seemed to be quite a few fish, Indian Curry and Asian choices in the World Cafe…we never were able to get reservations at the Chefs Table…Manfredi’s was spectacular …particularly the ribeye….The Restaurant served very good food, two nights they served lobster.  The Viking Burger at the Pool Grill really is as good as it’s reputation.  
 

I agree that the chef makes the difference, particularly on River Cruises…this time, the River Cruise food was less than we experienced in the past (but I still gained weight)…The Ocean Cruise food was generally good…but not as good as our past experience on the River Cruises. With the reservations (on-line) being done away with, only the top tiered staterooms are able to book the speciality dining…we DVs were limited to poor dining hours or no availability at all….that was disappointing after waiting to go on this cruise for almost 3 years…I would say that the Ocean Cruise experience was “just fine”… but so are the “regular” ocean  cruise lines…not sure if the Viking Ocean prices justify the “just fine” experience.

[ellenw]

While this doesn't  answer the original poster, I have to say that Manfredi's was my favorite meal of the cruise! We were able to get there twice. The rib steak was so good, I had it both times!

 

We did an Asian menu at Chef's Table. It was good, but nothing spectacular like I thought it would be. I think they should convert the Chef's Table dining room into an extension of Manfredi's.

[Islandbc]

Some of our favourite meals were at the Chef's Table dining room. We also enjoyed the wine pairing and ambience.  Looking forward to dining there again.

Manfredi's and the Restaurant were also very good.

Down to 114 days to embarking on the Neptune.  Seems amazing that when we booked the cruise MVJ was showing over 700 days!

[Mich3554]

On 8/29/2022 at 10:44 AM, ellenw said:

We were on Viking Jupiter in July, and I loved the food! My first dinner was liver and onions, which was fabulous. And certainly not common to see on a menu. I'm guessing very few people were as excited as me to see it!

 

My sister sailed with us, and had been on Jupiter pre pandemic. She felt the food on this cruise was very good, but not quite as good as previously. Does anyone else feel that way? Just curious if it's the same supply chain and cost issues hitting everything. Please don't take this as a criticism of Viking.

We were on the Jupiter 10/19, 12/19 and Oct-Dec 2021.  I did not find any changes in the quality between 2019 and late 2021.  
The only glitch I found in 2021 was that I love the little dumplings served in WC during breakfast.  They were replaced with filled won tons (like you’d find in soup).  I later found out one of the ingredients was not included in the provisioning and Viking had to pivot.  The dumplings were back on the buffet a week later.  

[shadowlover]

Interestingly none of us in our group liked manifredis but we all loved the chef's table and ate there three times a few years ago.  We found the buffet at dinner to be better than the restaurant.  As far as comparison to other ocean cruises... I personally don't judge based on the food.  I don't think any other line I have been on comes close to viking as far as service and included amenities.

[ellenw]

Our posts about the different restaurants just confirms how subjective food is on a cruise. Isn't it great that there is something for everyone? Nice to have choices. 

[longterm]

On 8/30/2022 at 6:02 PM, ellenw said:

While this doesn't  answer the original poster, I have to say that Manfredi's was my favorite meal of the cruise! We were able to get there twice. The rib steak was so good, I had it both times!

 

We did an Asian menu at Chef's Table. It was good, but nothing spectacular like I thought it would be. I think they should convert the Chef's Table dining room into an extension of Manfredi's.

I agree with you about Chef's Table; we've tried it on each cruise, and been disappointed each time. While I wouldn't say it was 'bad,' I'd just say that meals in the other restaurants were always better for us.

My vote would be for Chef's Table to be converted to a specialty restaurant like Manfredi's, but with of course a different menu; my vote would be for seafood, or perhaps for  themes that change--but not the way Chef's Table is now. I'd rather have menu choices.

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, longterm said:

I agree with you about Chef's Table; we've tried it on each cruise, and been disappointed each time. While I wouldn't say it was 'bad,' I'd just say that meals in the other restaurants were always better for us.

My vote would be for Chef's Table to be converted to a specialty restaurant like Manfredi's, but with of course a different menu; my vote would be for seafood, or perhaps for  themes that change--but not the way Chef's Table is now. I'd rather have menu choices.

I have no trouble with the Chef’s Table concept but I do wish they would come up with different menus. It’s kind of like the entertainment with the Beatles and ABBA on every cruise ad nauseum. Seems like every Chef’s Table rotation we get is the same Asian series—not much variety.

[CCWineLover]

We so like the CHef's Table !!   As a person above said, food onboard is all personal opinion.  Thank goodness for so many varieties!  It isn't just the food at CT - it is the atmosphere.  To us, we like the Manfredi's food but the atmosphere is way to loud and noisy to even carry on a conversation - and quite hectic with waiters running around.  For us CT is so much more calm, with time to talk and hear your seatmates, have amazing discussions with the waiters, who aren't always in a hurry like Manfred's and the Restaurant.

That being said, I do believe the food quality at CT has deteriorated post-COVID.  I put this to the staffing issues with so many crew getting COVID from the passengers since the masks went away.  It doesn't seem the same as it used to be.  I am hopeful they will improve and also revamp the menu choices.   We so enjoy having the set menu (i.e. no ordering), but it is getting a bit tiring.  Last cruise, the Asian Panorama was quite good, but some other others lacked something.  Still the atmosphere is what we like.  I know others prefer Manfred's , so there is no "right answer" - it is personal taste!!  Let's just hope they keep both!  But improve them.

[lackcreativity]

4 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

I have no trouble with the Chef’s Table concept but I do wish they would come up with different menus. It’s kind of like the entertainment with the Beatles and ABBA on every cruise ad nauseum. Seems like every Chef’s Table rotation we get is the same Asian series—not much variety.

We also like Chef's Table very much when the menu is one we like. The Asian series seems to show up on our cruises quite often. Not sure if that is just coincidence, since we have only done four cruises after all. The Sweet and Salty menu is one of my favorite all time meals, and we have never had a chance to repeat it. There are several others that we have liked very much, some were satisfactory, and two were disappointing. We will continue to schedule at least one meal each cruise there as trying something new is part of the fun.

[ellenw]

19 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

We also like Chef's Table very much when the menu is one we like. The Asian series seems to show up on our cruises quite often. Not sure if that is just coincidence, since we have only done four cruises after all. The Sweet and Salty menu is one of my favorite all time meals, and we have never had a chance to repeat it. There are several others that we have liked very much, some were satisfactory, and two were disappointing. We will continue to schedule at least one meal each cruise there as trying something new is part of the fun.

I'll look forward to trying some other Chef's Table menus in future! See if they can change my opinion.