La Dame- $160 pp or $320 for dinner for 2!!!!

[A Tucson Guy]

1 minute ago, A Tucson Guy said:

It's time for a mutiny!! 

 

[spinnaker2]

A munity? A unity? A munity? A mutiny? A community?

not sure what you are calling for. 

[CJANDH]

32 minutes ago, spinnaker2 said:

A munity? A unity? A munity? A mutiny? A community?

not sure what you are calling for. 

Maybe a boycott? How do we let SS know we have a problem? Customer service just ignores emails.

[ronrick1943]

If SS is adding much better wines, maybe it’s worth it—but if you don’t drink they really should have to price points. One for the meal and one for the alcohol, don’t they think these though.

 

Last time we ate at La Dame it was just OK, nothing really outstanding, one would hope they do better at that price.

[Rothko1]

1 hour ago, CJANDH said:

Maybe a boycott? How do we let SS know we have a problem? Customer service just ignores emails.

 

I suppose they will know they have a problem if the La Dame restaurant doesn't fill up on the cruises after the price change.  If enough people keep paying the new price (even if they aren't CC posters), then Silversea will remain happy.

 

I'm sure they did an economic analysis before deciding the raise the prices.

[Mr Luxury]

7 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

If SS is adding much better wines, maybe it’s worth it—but if you don’t drink they really should have to price points. One for the meal and one for the alcohol, don’t they think these though.

 

Last time we ate at La Dame it was just OK, nothing really outstanding, one would hope they do better at that price.

They should get rid of it and open a Chinese.

It'll be packed.

[CJANDH]

15 minutes ago, Rothko1 said:

I'm sure they did an economic analysis before deciding the raise the prices.

I wouldn't bet on it. Like their decision on doubling the prices for their top suites, it looks like throwing things at the wall to see if they stick.

[Whinenowine]

20 hours ago, Rothko1 said:

If you don't want your Riedels, send them to me.  LOL

 

I use Riedel for almost everything, except for burgundy, I have beautiful Lenox glasses for those that I snagged before they discontinued the line.

I've got 3-4 dozen Riedel stems packed away in the basement, half of which are the Sommelier stems we registered for a few decades ago. I  was fascinated about fitting an entire bottle in the Bordeaux and red Burg stems.  But in 2013 I was introduced to Zalto and haven't picked up a Riedel stem since. Personal preference, of course...but the Zaltos are also so light--allows me to drink heavier pours!

[Whinenowine]

10 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

The glasses in the picture of La Dame are Reidel,they are from the wings range.

I now use Reidel Wings glasses for all vintage Champagne.

The difference to how the wine opens up is excellent.

A friend introduced the concept of champers out of a 'regular' wine glass about 15yrs ago.  I thought he was crazy but he made me try it and it was eye opening--esp for rose champagne's, which I drink out of reg burg glasses.  Since then I've tripled the % of champagne in my cellar. 

[Gourmet Gal]

7 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Whenever I see the words 'tasting' and 'menu' conjoined I run a mile.  Ditto the phrase 'fine dining.' This style of eating has virtually taken over the world's smart restaurants and that has been a colossal turn-off for me. These multi-course tasting menus can be prepared mostly in advance, the food sits for hours in those deadly sous vide things, they have aggressive portion control, they are artfully presented, often leave the diner starving by the end or bored to death because they take so long to serve. They have been created by accountants to produce high profit margins.  Michelin has encouraged them so there is now a thing called 'Michelin cuisine' which has replaced French cuisine, Italian cuisine and so on.  It all looks identical, from Tokyo to London to New York - a blob of this, a smear of that, a foam of this and half an asparagus stalk. There is a glimmer of hope that some restaurants are abandoning them and returning to carte style of dining.  So when I see Silversea offering tasting menus in their pretentious Dame restaurants I think they are a few years behind the curve.  The latest surcharge is a total joke though I'm sure there might be a few gullible people out there who enjoy fancy cutlery and glassware . . . 

I’ve been lucky enough to dine in all sorts of “fine dining” restaurants as well as Michelin starred and many do not fall into the broad brush category you’re applying here.  There are some incredibly talented chefs out there and when they are able to surprise and delight the diner then they deserve the high pricing and if lucky, the Michelin star.  There are certainly duds out there but I’m not ready to write off the upscale dining expereince.  La Dame has never been in the surprising and delightful category, just nice and pleasant.  Doesn’t seem worth this new price structure unless they dramatically change the experience.

 

BTW, sous vide is nothing new and there is nothing wrong at all with the technique.  At the very least it allows the timeline of the meal to flow and there are many foods, especially proteins that benefit from the technique.  Try sous viide turkey and you’ll never roast it again!

[taxatty]

Maybe SS could start by simply providing a decent, properly-cooked hamburger--I agree with others here that it doesn't based upon my SS experiences--but now there would probably be a $25 upcharge.

[Rothko1]

28 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

I've got 3-4 dozen Riedel stems packed away in the basement, half of which are the Sommelier stems we registered for a few decades ago. I  was fascinated about fitting an entire bottle in the Bordeaux and red Burg stems.  But in 2013 I was introduced to Zalto and haven't picked up a Riedel stem since. Personal preference, of course...but the Zaltos are also so light--allows me to drink heavier pours!

 

Those sommeliers are delicate.  Just thinking about them wrongly, they will break.

 

I've heard the Tritans are good; but I've never tried them.

[Rothko1]

25 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

A friend introduced the concept of champers out of a 'regular' wine glass about 15yrs ago.  I thought he was crazy but he made me try it and it was eye opening--esp for rose champagne's, which I drink out of reg burg glasses.  Since then I've tripled the % of champagne in my cellar. 

 

Definitely.  Those tall thin flutes really don't let the wine open up.

[Camillus112]

21 minutes ago, Rothko1 said:

 

Definitely.  Those tall thin flutes really don't let the wine open up.

That's why we like to drink champagne out of my DH's grandmother's glasses.

[Tothesunset]

1 hour ago, Mr Luxury said:

They should get rid of it and open a Chinese.

It'll be packed.

Or maybe a McD's franchise. With soda pairing. 

[bitob]

1 minute ago, Tothesunset said:

Or maybe a McD's franchise. With soda pairing. 

Johnny rockets

[Tothesunset]

Just now, bitob said:

Johnny rockets

Does he? 

[canderson]

2 hours ago, taxatty said:

Maybe SS could start by simply providing a decent, properly-cooked hamburger--I agree with others here that it doesn't based upon my SS experiences--but now there would probably be a $25 upcharge.

That's something that Celebrity really understands.  The burgers in Luminae are particularly good.  Would often grab one upon embarkation. 

 

Usually good at the Lawn Club Grill on S class ships, too.

 

[Whinenowine]

43 minutes ago, canderson said:

That's something that Celebrity really understands.  The burgers in Luminae are particularly good.  Would often grab one upon embarkation. 

 

Usually good at the Lawn Club Grill on S class ships, too.

 

Too true...sometimes it's just the simpler things that count.

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

BTW, sous vide is nothing new and there is nothing wrong at all with the technique.  At the very least it allows the timeline of the meal to flow and there are many foods, especially proteins that benefit from the technique.  Try sous viide turkey and you’ll never roast it again!

 

I've been cooking halibut and salmon using sous vide for a while now. It is incredibly handy and the texture of the fish can't be beat. 

 

I get it flash frozen from Alaska, individually portioned, vacuum sealed in thick plastic bags. So I can take it directly from the freezer, put it in a sous vide bath at 126 degrees, and it's ready to eat in 40 minutes. There is no other technique that lets me go from frozen solid to delicious in that interval. It never dries out and it is amazingly tender.

 

4 hours ago, taxatty said:

Maybe SS could start by simply providing a decent, properly-cooked hamburger--I agree with others here that it doesn't based upon my SS experiences--but now there would probably be a $25 upcharge.

 

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at your post. The burgers were just awful on our last cruise. Your post made me run for some omeprazole just thinking about it!

 

4 hours ago, Whinenowine said:

A friend introduced the concept of champers out of a 'regular' wine glass about 15yrs ago.

 

Absolutely!

Edited July 28, 2023 by jpalbny

[Gourmet Gal]

24 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

I've been cooking halibut and salmon using sous vide for a while now. It is incredibly handy and the texture of the fish can't be beat. 

 

I get it flash frozen from Alaska, individually portioned, vacuum sealed in thick plastic bags. So I can take it directly from the freezer, put it in a sous vide bath at 126 degrees, and it's ready to eat in 40 minutes. There is no other technique that lets me go from frozen solid to delicious in that interval. It never dries out and it is amazingly tender.

 

 

 

Absolutely!

The sous vide device is great for thawing anything frozen.  Duck breast is awesome cooked in the sous vide with a quick sear after.  We use it weekly for one thing or another.

[Aussieflyer]

10 hours ago, drron29 said:

No another Aussie who likes degustation menus. Odette was fantastic but as we get older way too much food so we preferred Whitegrass in Singapore.

Thanks drron - have put that on my list for next time. You were at Odette for lunch from memory; we had dinner so just waddled back to hotel and slept it off. 🤣

Edited July 28, 2023 by Aussieflyer

[Globalia]

Whatever one's view on the caliber of SS La Dame or Kiaseki on Nova, unquestionably the entire execution of the (a) Nova-related booking process for these two and (b) any clarity regarding a proper justification for newly enlarged pricing per visit has been a serious screw-up and the more honest SS personnel on the ground admit it all amidst embarrassed replies to Nova guests' understandably confused inquiries.
 

First, many guests well within the 120-day Nova restaurant booking window simply could not see these two restaurants at any time within their cruise period.

Second, there were no reasons stated as to why, it was all an inexplicable mystery until suddenly emails started appearing in the last few days telling guests that these two restaurants were available for booking. With that announcement there was only loose frothy hype re why the whole experience was going to be worthwhile at the large $s charged - there was no explicit justification for massive % price hikes per person to attend them whilst enjoying the 'all inclusive' SS ultra-luxury product.

Third, almost worse, there is an entirely avoidable 'technical glitch' where most guests, I suspect all at this time, can only book these restaurants if desired solely on the first 4-5 nights of their Nova cruise. Multiple Nova guests I know of and as reported here are experiencing this constraint. We are booked on a 31-day Nova cruise NYC-Lima and can only book these two restaurants in any way for our first five nights after which they simply disappear from the restaurant list. 

I do appreciate that, given the large charge premiums now applying, some Nova guests to be may care less re the above imperfections, and fair enough. But others rightly will.

SS has had years to launch plan the Nova. It's somewhat disappointing that this aspect has been poorly handled. 

 

[drron29]

5 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

Thanks drron - have put that on my list for next time. You were at Odette for lunch from memory; we had dinner so just waddled back to hotel and slept it off. 🤣

We were so full after our lunch at Odette we couldn't even waddle back to our hotel. The taxi driver wasn't amused with such a short trip!

[Grand Duchess]

17 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

My lord - that is almost a kilogram. How many people are you feeding with that size? 😁

 

I seem to be in the minority and enjoy a multi course degustation menu. One of the best was at Odette in Singapore - truly memorable.

 

16 hours ago, drron29 said:

No another Aussie who likes degustation menus. Odette was fantastic but as we get older way too much food so we preferred Whitegrass in Singapore.

Oh yes, Odette stands out as a special place. Went there in January kind of accidentally on my way to the National gallery. Got the last table, definitely not really dressed for the occasion, and was vowed by a brilliant tasting menu and excellent service. I plan to go again when in Singapore this year and have now added Whitegrass to my list, thank you for the tip!