French Chef's Table

[the_dylaness]

Greetings,

We recently enjoyed the French Chef's Table offering on Pursuit.

I really loved the white wine served after the sparkling wine that came with the starter... I meant to bring home the menu but misplaced it. Does anyone have a photo of a recent chef's table menu?

 

Thank you!

[AllisonJames]

Hi, we had the French Chef’s Table on Journey in August…wondering if the wines are the same from ship to ship…but I think I have the menu…will look and post here if I find it!

[the_dylaness]

That would be great, thank you!

[pickypicky]

This was the French Chef’s Table on Journey in July. No idea if the wine selections are the same. 

[Kailyn]

This is current (today) for Journey.

[the_dylaness]

Wow, the third menu option ("Arabic")... looks amazing. Thank you both! They don't seem to be the same wines I had but I am waiting to possibly hear back from Azamara about it.

[Kailyn]

33 minutes ago, the_dylaness said:

Wow, the third menu option ("Arabic")... looks amazing. Thank you both! They don't seem to be the same wines I had but I am waiting to possibly hear back from Azamara about it.

 

They all look so good! It was hard to choose but we are going with French.

[Twiga]

3 hours ago, the_dylaness said:

Wow, the third menu option ("Arabic")... looks amazing. Thank you both! They don't seem to be the same wines I had but I am waiting to possibly hear back from Azamara about it.

We signed up for all three (French, Italian and Arabic) dinners on our Athens to Dubai cruise in October 2023.  The Arabic dinner was cancelled as the minimum of 8 people didn't sign up (we were 4).  I was amazed that on this cruise even 4 more people didn't want to try the food of the countries we were visiting.  The French and Italian dinners were fantastic! 

[the_dylaness]

We were the ONLY people who signed up last month on Pursuit for the Rijstafel! So of course it was cancelled. I was very surprised.

[ECCruise]

1 hour ago, Twiga said:

We signed up for all three (French, Italian and Arabic) dinners on our Athens to Dubai cruise in October 2023.  The Arabic dinner was cancelled as the minimum of 8 people didn't sign up (we were 4).  I was amazed that on this cruise even 4 more people didn't want to try the food of the countries we were visiting.  The French and Italian dinners were fantastic! 

 

1 hour ago, the_dylaness said:

We were the ONLY people who signed up last month on Pursuit for the Rijstafel! So of course it was cancelled. I was very surprised.

I wonder if times have changed.   When we did the Arabic right before the shutdown, there was a waiting list.  Same with Rijstafel.  Full table (at least 16) in Windows.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Arabic was cancelled on my Journey cruise last October.  They haven't yet found a third menu with consistent appeal.  [They don't read this, but I keep suggesting Spanish...]

[uktog]

9 hours ago, the_dylaness said:

Wow, the third menu option ("Arabic")... looks amazing. Thank you both! They don't seem to be the same wines I had but I am waiting to possibly hear back from Azamara about it.

We had the Arabic menu pre pandemic, it was amazing.  We've tried to get it since but not been lucky, either its not offered or its offered and they get not enough take up so switch it to French.  Really great menu

[Roel94]

11 hours ago, the_dylaness said:

We were the ONLY people who signed up last month on Pursuit for the Rijstafel! So of course it was cancelled. I was very surprised.

That so weird..last one  was to many people and on starboard side of ship. Felt to many people. Also not enough spicy dishes or veggies and had to grab some off buffet.

[marinaro44]

14 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Arabic was cancelled on my Journey cruise last October.  They haven't yet found a third menu with consistent appeal.  [They don't read this, but I keep suggesting Spanish...]

Works on Windstar in Cuadro 44.

[Dr H]

We've done the French table 2 or 3 times. Food was excellent, as were the wines, but mavins that we are, I still prefer the Italian dinner. The food is fine in both, I think the wine pairing in Italian was better, but having lived in Italy for almost 8 years, I'm prejudiced. Our Arabic table was also cancelled on Dubai to Singapore, ANGER! As for the Rijsttafel, we've done it twice. One would think that with so many Indonesian staff, they could get it right. Awful x 2, and I love Rijsttafel. Save your money, go to Amsterdam, and get a proper Rijsttaffle there!

[Kitekat]

Now wondering what the chef's table might be on our South American cruise in a few weeks. As we have just spent a month and half in France and our village has several excellent restaurants, we are in no hurry to eat more French food. It must be so disappointing as the Arabic menu reads really well but a poor rijstafel sounds awful.

 

We can't wait to get back for a curry...

[uktog]

My experience re the Rijstaffel differs to other posters.  Really excellent experience lots of food, spicy enough for all present (they’re never going to go extreme for a group of 24) and a great amount of veggie and non veggie. So I wouldn’t be put off by posts where they had less good experiences.  It’s great to have the opportunity to try these kind of menus onboard but then we are not purists and may not have the opportunities to experience them elsewhere so do it onboard. 

I hesitate to say this as I know one frequent cruiser thought it was awful but we also loved the Californian menu they sometimes offer.  We’ve done it twice. 

I hope they try the Arabian again and get numbers for it, id love to see them try a Greek one however it will be what it is and I prefer not to let set backs on trivial things like menus stir up extreme feelings like anger. 

[hamrag]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

....I hope they try the Arabian again and get numbers for it, id love to see them try a Greek one however it will be what it is and I prefer not to let set backs on trivial things like menus stir up extreme feelings like anger. 

Considering a Chefs Table on our upcoming Transatlantic, and this thread is whetting our appetite on a horrid rainy day here. Perhaps, with no destinations to have an early evening for early rise, more would sign up on this type of cruise?

[uktog]

15 minutes ago, hamrag said:

Considering a Chefs Table on our upcoming Transatlantic, and this thread is whetting our appetite on a horrid rainy day here. Perhaps, with no destinations to have an early evening for early rise, more would sign up on this type of cruise?

Hopefully for you yes - certainly I have done more Tables on repositioning trips like transatlantics than on shorter voyages.  They certainly look to offer more - it is also when I have done both Rijstaffels that I have enjoyed.

[aliaschief]

On 10/17/2023 at 6:04 AM, the_dylaness said:

Wow, the third menu option ("Arabic")... looks amazing. Thank you both! They don't seem to be the same wines I had but I am waiting to possibly hear back from Azamara about it.

We had the Arabic dinner on  Journey this summer and it was our favorite Chefs dinner and we have tried all the menu’s offered in last two years.

Edited October 20, 2023 by aliaschief

[Dynacruiser]

A couple of comments about Chef's tables:

 

During our last cruise, we walked to the reservations desk as soon as we boarded, and asked for a reservation at one of the Chef's table.  The Azamara person wrote down our information in a piece of paper, instead of entering the info into a computer.  The Azamara person appeared to have limited English-language skills, so we asked him to read back our reservation, and he had entered the wrong cabin number or could not read his own handwriting.

 

Then, it sounded like we weren't making a reservation for a Chef's table, it felt like we were just putting our name into a lottery to see if we were selected for a Chef's table.  

 

The Azamara person coudl not explain to us the procedure, and luckily a Supervisor heard and came over to help us and told us that they would try to assing us the Chef's table we had requested, but still sounded a bit vague.

 

Perhaps their computer system was not working and they didn't know how many reservations they had?  Or they had multiple people taking reservations in separate pieces of paper?

 

At the end, we received a call that there was a spot for us at the ARABIC DINNER.   I had been avoiding it for the longest time but decided to try it, and it was very enjoyable!  Perhaps better than the Italian or French dinners which we have done multiple times.

 

 

 

 

[the_dylaness]

It took a few reminders but they sent me the menu today! I am happy I can try to purchase this wine (Michel Redde Pouilly-Fume) for my home enjoyment.

[cruisemom42]

On 10/17/2023 at 4:09 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Arabic was cancelled on my Journey cruise last October.  They haven't yet found a third menu with consistent appeal.  [They don't read this, but I keep suggesting Spanish...]

 

A Catalan dinner would be AzAmazing...

 

[Roel94]

Try getting Miami to approve new menus!

I had Cuban when in Cuba,Arabic somewhere and they tried. Chinese . I had all three And food was good. 

[uktog]

Bear in mind Miamis focus is not serial cruisers, nor should it be. 

Their focus is on new cruisers or one/maybe two cruises a year guests. They are selling out their current versions and have waiting lists most cruises without changing the menus 
Yes new menus might be lovely but the development costs are not insignificant so I would expect that to be a low priority on their current agenda. Working on updates to speciality and evening pool grill menus will be higher up the lists. 

Edited October 28, 2023 by uktog