Missing Jacques on Vista?

[Harters]

6 hours ago, rbtan said:

The US is a melting pot as they say. You expect all types of cuisine & various flavors.

Yes, indeed. It's what made pinotlovers original remark so funny. An American criticising British food for relying on immigrant flavours. I did, literally, laugh out loud when I read  it. 

[rbtan]

2 hours ago, Harters said:

Yes, indeed. It's what made pinotlovers original remark so funny. An American criticising British food for relying on immigrant flavours. I did, literally, laugh out loud when I read  it. 

It's a shame so many here in the US only need look out beyond their own backyard to see what other cultures have to offer. True Chinese food(not the dumbed down versions) There is NO such thing as Crab Rangoons in Asia or General Gao's Chicken, etc. My spouse is from Singapore & he really laughs at what Americans here think Chinese food is all about. Each region of China(and many countries) has their own ethnic variety. About 13 years ago we were on the QM2 . We splurged & did the queens Grill accommodations.You could venture off menu & Keith ordered Scotch Egg for the next day's lunch.Thinking was more British style he thought it would be what one expects. The next day 2 Scotch Eggs were delivered to the table. Both were nearly the size of Emu Eggs. We could only handle one. They were tasty, but WAY too much ground sausage wrapped the egg.

[Harters]

I understand that, rbtan. Food doesnt generally travel well and will usually be adapted to the majority tastes. I regularly go to a well respected Cantonese restaurant in our local Chinatown. It's good, I think. And has an almost exclusively Anglo customer base. Yet, if I go to the "back street" Hunanese place round the corner, the customer base is almost exclusively East Asian. Now, I'm not a believer that lots of minority ethnic customers is a guarantee of good food, but it's a starting point. And I suppose catering to majority tastes is what you expect a company like Oceania to do. Many folk on this forum praise the food in Red Ginger but our only meal there was under flavoured in comparison with what I'd expect in a good Chinese/Malaysian/Vietnamese at home. OK, but still disappointing. 

 

But, speaking of great seafood, I've had some wonderful meals in New England where quality seems to be more readily available than on my small, cold damp island, where we don't seem to prize the food that's swimming all around us. And, while I've eaten great BBQ in various southern states, I've never eaten better than OK BBQ in the north. 

 

And, yep, Scotch  eggs are snack/picnic food. 

[Woofa]

One thing to keep in mind, in my opinion, is also the level of food savvy of the customers.  In my opinion, over the course of its history O, a smaller niche line, has attracted a clientele of well traveled and well ate (not sure this is the right word, sorry)  people.  Many live in and around major cities and have access to a very high level of food.  They have spent a considerable amount of effort, time and money throughout their lives enjoying dining.  Most likely they are also older (as is the typical O clientele) and have found exactly what they like in their area and frequent those restaurants.  Of course many cook well also. As a result, they are knowledgeable, and picky when it comes to food.  A previous poster has opined that a relative of theirs judges a cruise food option on whether it is a restaurant they would return to and frequent on land.  Respectfully I don't find this reasonable.  Having lived in New York, The Philly area, and Miami I do not feel its reasonable that the GDR, or even a specialty restaurant is going to come close to what I found as my go to places for different cuisine in those areas.  Now that I live around Dallas (which does not compare food wise in my opinion) maybe we are closer.

Yes, we expected better than Applebees and yes, we felt the food across the board was good to very good. Perfect, no.  Would I go back if this was a land restaurant?  Well, depends on price of course but assuming it was a higher end restaurant, most likely not.  That does not mean we did not enjoy it.  

We read thousands of posts before we chose O and I felt the consensus was that no line that was not considerably more expensive (and not even clearly those) had consistently, significantly better food to the opinion of these boards.

As has been said before, go in with an open mind, a reasonable expectation and not buying the marketing and I believe most people will be happy.

 

[Waltershipman]

41 minutes ago, Woofa said:

One thing to keep in mind, in my opinion, is also the level of food savvy of the customers.  In my opinion, over the course of its history O, a smaller niche line, has attracted a clientele of well traveled and well ate (not sure this is the right word, sorry)  people.  Many live in and around major cities and have access to a very high level of food.  They have spent a considerable amount of effort, time and money throughout their lives enjoying dining.  Most likely they are also older (as is the typical O clientele) and have found exactly what they like in their area and frequent those restaurants.  Of course many cook well also. As a result, they are knowledgeable, and picky when it comes to food.  A previous poster has opined that a relative of theirs judges a cruise food option on whether it is a restaurant they would return to and frequent on land.  Respectfully I don't find this reasonable.  Having lived in New York, The Philly area, and Miami I do not feel its reasonable that the GDR, or even a specialty restaurant is going to come close to what I found as my go to places for different cuisine in those areas.  Now that I live around Dallas (which does not compare food wise in my opinion) maybe we are closer.

Yes, we expected better than Applebees and yes, we felt the food across the board was good to very good. Perfect, no.  Would I go back if this was a land restaurant?  Well, depends on price of course but assuming it was a higher end restaurant, most likely not.  That does not mean we did not enjoy it.  

We read thousands of posts before we chose O and I felt the consensus was that no line that was not considerably more expensive (and not even clearly those) had consistently, significantly better food to the opinion of these boards.

As has been said before, go in with an open mind, a reasonable expectation and not buying the marketing and I believe most people will be happy.

 

Loved your post and with that said i will say that on a cruise in October on the new Explora Journeys the food was across the board 5 plus star rivaling any restaurant any where and I too have traveled  and eaten well. I hope the O dining  on our upcoming Vista cruise will be excellent. Also to note that head of their culinary at EJ is Franck Garranger was former head of culinary SS and O

[Vallesan]

3 hours ago, Harters said:

Many folk on this forum praise the food in Red Ginger but our only meal there was under flavoured in comparison with what I'd expect in a good Chinese/Malaysian/Vietnamese at home. OK, but still disappointing. 

 

I agree with you Red Ginger isn’t an authentic Asian restaurant and would be a disappointment if that was what was expected. I go there and enjoy the food for ‘what it is’ not for how it measures up  to an authentic Asian restaurant!

[Harters]

7 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

I go there and enjoy the food for ‘what it is’

That's certainly how I'd be approaching it on a future cruise. 

[rbtan]

2 hours ago, Vallesan said:

I agree with you Red Ginger isn’t an authentic Asian restaurant and would be a disappointment if that was what was expected. I go there and enjoy the food for ‘what it is’ not for how it measures up  to an authentic Asian restaurant!

I'm Chinese & do note there really is not any regional Chinese food in Red Ginger. Overall the food is good, but not true to form. If Red Ginger offered true Chinese food,it would fail in a year. Most Americans would not stomach true Chinese. Except my husband, Keith. Then again he's eaten a live Lobster & I wouldn't even think of it.

[Harry Lake]

On 12/1/2023 at 12:12 PM, edgee said:

You are one of the most informed contributors to this board, so I really accept your point. Wondering what factors contribute to their "delight." Would be surprised to hear it is rave reviews from guests.

Considering that at the beginning anyway Oceania must have been pleased with their reaction to this brouhaha. Grain of salt???

[WESTEAST]

11 hours ago, Waltershipman said:

Loved your post and with that said i will say that on a cruise in October on the new Explora Journeys the food was across the board 5 plus star rivaling any restaurant any where and I too have traveled  and eaten well. I hope the O dining  on our upcoming Vista cruise will be excellent. Also to note that head of their culinary at EJ is Franck Garranger was former head of culinary SS and O

Do miss Franck's Mashed Potatoes on Oceania and curious if EJ offers this side dish?

[Waltershipman]

18 minutes ago, WESTEAST said:

Do miss Franck's Mashed Potatoes on Oceania and curious if EJ offers this side dish?

Yes they absolutely do in multiple dining venues and they certainly are excellent 

[MEFIowa]

Though on our recent B2B on Riviera in the Med, the waitresses for our 2 dining evenings in Red Ginger each made sure to say up front that Red Ginger is "Asian FUSION", not "authentic" Asian food. We told them, we'd eaten at Red Ginger on Riviera (12/2021) and Sirena (11/2022), so we knew what we were going to get.

[pinotlover]

17 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

Though on our recent B2B on Riviera in the Med, the waitresses for our 2 dining evenings in Red Ginger each made sure to say up front that Red Ginger is "Asian FUSION", not "authentic" Asian food. We told them, we'd eaten at Red Ginger on Riviera (12/2021) and Sirena (11/2022), so we knew what we were going to get.

All food, in all the restaurants, is highly Americanized, including Jacques. The food is toned down to meet most senior American tastes. The new Ember makes no claim as being anything but American. That’s why we search out great authentic local fresh cuisine for lunch on port calls. We can always eat Americanized food at home. Others prefer Americanized food all the time. Each to their own.

[Hambagahle]

2 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

All food, in all the restaurants, is highly Americanized, including Jacques. The food is toned down to meet most senior American tastes. The new Ember makes no claim as being anything but American. That’s why we search out great authentic local fresh cuisine for lunch on port calls. We can always eat Americanized food at home. Others prefer Americanized food all the time. Each to their own.

I disagree.  I am Swiss and live 45 minutes from Chamonix in France, 50 minutes from Evian-les-Bains.  The food I get there AND the local food here in the Suisse Romande (where we speak French) is close to what I remember Jacques being.  I know that my husband and I really enjoyed it.  The only "American" things we are looking forward (a lot!) to eating on board are Eggs Benedict and corned beef hash.  My husband likes hamburgers - I don't much.  We both love lobster and that is a real treat for us (not too many lobsters in our lakes here!!)

[pinotlover]

5 minutes ago, Hambagahle said:

I disagree.  I am Swiss and live 45 minutes from Chamonix in France, 50 minutes from Evian-les-Bains.  The food I get there AND the local food here in the Suisse Romande (where we speak French) is close to what I remember Jacques being.  I know that my husband and I really enjoyed it.  The only "American" things we are looking forward (a lot!) to eating on board are Eggs Benedict and corned beef hash.  My husband likes hamburgers - I don't much.  We both love lobster and that is a real treat for us (not too many lobsters in our lakes here!!)

Jacques is what I remember of French food back in the 1970s. Having been to France multiple times, for extended periods since the 90s, I ‘ve found that version/style of French food has mostly died out even in Lyon and Paris. Kind of like saying eating cracklings and hog jowl is American. Perhaps, but see how often you’ll actually find it still served. Days gone by.

[Hambagahle]

Maybe you should come to Switzerland to eat ??

[Harry Lake]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

The food is toned down to meet most senior American tastes.

"Toned down" isn't "Fusion." 

 

What Is Fusion Cooking and Cuisine? An ...

 

Delishably

https://delishably.com › food-industry › what-is-fusio...

 

Fusion cooking is essentially a mixing of food cultures and cuisines. It is about taking the best of two or more culinary disciplines and combining them to hope...

[Waltershipman]

20 minutes ago, Harry Lake said:

"Toned down" isn't "Fusion." 

 

What Is Fusion Cooking and Cuisine? An ...

 

Delishably

https://delishably.com › food-industry › what-is-fusio...

 

Fusion cooking is essentially a mixing of food cultures and cuisines. It is about taking the best of two or more culinary disciplines and combining them to hope...

Sakura on Explora Journeys is fusion at its finest

[Harters]

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Jacques is what I remember of French food back in the 1970s.

Absolutely. That's what I was trying to suggest in my post #25 (although you phrase it better). Snails, Fois Gras, Lobster Thermidor - all dishes from decades back that foreign tourists might expect in a French restaurant. 

 

Until the last few years, I visited northern France regularly, staying in small towns and villages. And, of course, eating in restaurants where foreigners would be comparatively few and far between. Catering for locals, even in the more upmarket places, you simply wouldnt generally find these old classics.

[Hambagahle]

I do not like snails.  (I do like the sauce!) However snails have re-appeared on menus in restaurants here.  Certainly there was a while when you never saw them listed.  Now they are all over the place.  I was in a smallish out-of-the-way place on Sunday for lunch and there were escargot on the menu.  (There was also foie gras which was wonderful by the look of it but I chose tataki of Thon for my starter...  Foie gras was yesterday at the Golf Club instead!)

[jonthomas]

Just off Marina, the best meals we had were on Jacques, dover sole, crepes, best baguettes. Will miss Jacques.

[MarkWiltonM]

We loved Ember on Vista. Casual, unpretentious, simple menu, everything tasty, good service. Even the rolls they serve are good (compared to the bread baskets everywhere else). We ate once at Jacques, on Riviera. Having been to Paris numerous times and many contemporary French restaurants in NYC, Jacques' decor and food seemed very dated, like a 1980s restaurant in a suburban mall trying to do "French." (No offense to you if you like it, just my opinion.)

Edited December 13, 2023 by MarkWiltonM

[Waltershipman]

23 minutes ago, MarkWiltonM said:

We loved Ember on Vista. Casual, unpretentious, simple menu, everything tasty, good service. Even the rolls they serve are good (compared to the bread baskets everywhere else). We ate once at Jacques, on Riviera. Having been to Paris numerous times and many contemporary French restaurants in NYC, Jacques' decor and food seemed very dated, like a 1980s restaurant in a suburban mall trying to do "French." (No offense to you if you like it, just my opinion.)

Try Fil Rouge on Explora Journeys 

[clo]

On 11/30/2023 at 7:50 PM, chloemonkey said:

Escargot

Those were the best I've ever had or fixed myself. Crazy good.

[rbtan]

On 12/13/2023 at 10:23 AM, Waltershipman said:

Try Fil Rouge on Explora Journeys 

Please explain what that is.