Specialty Restaurants

[LindaS272]

Reindeer sausage is de rigueur on breakfast menus in Alaska. I’ve had it and liked it. 

[millybess]

6 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

Have you tried Reindeer? Actually quite good. I can recommend a restaurant in Stockholm.

Possibly, like me, she has a vision of Rudolph. 🦌 🙂

[SantaFe1]

10 minutes ago, millybess said:

Possibly, like me, she has a vision of Rudolph. 🦌 🙂

Or Bambi!  I do not eat deer!!

[carolinetodd]

I've been to the reindeer races in Kautokeino - reindeer are mean little SOBs and I'm happy to eat them.

[CurlerRob]

3 hours ago, lovetosew said:

• I imagine reindeer is similar to bison. both bit of a gamey flavor but a very low fat meat.  I have had bison burgers and found them very good.

 

3 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

Probably closer to venison. 

 

In my opinion, texturally close to beef striploin, but leaner. I taste an earthiness, but nothing gamey - not even close to venison or moose. The closest other game meat I've had would be elk (same critter family).

 

Really worth a try - just put the associations out of mind 🥩. The pic below is from Bergen. 🍺🥌

 

[SantaFe1]

Well, I don’ t eat red meat, so I’m out of my league here.  To each their own.  Enjoy!

Edited August 14 by SantaFe1

[CDNPolar]

Don't forget that the Chef's Table is a "Tasting Menu" and the concept of the tasting menu does not include choices or options.

 

I DO understand the different tastes and likes/dislikes of many people, however, the Chef is taking you on a journey and if you want to substitute some or all, then you are not going on the journey.

 

We LOVE the Chef's Table, and frequently go to tasting menus that can be anything from 5 to 7 or up to 11 small plates in one menu.  We never ask what is coming, and typically the tasting menus we go to don't have a menu or an advance notice of what is coming.   We just love the journey.

 

I have often thought that the Chef's Table is not the right venue for an Ocean ship and Viking may be wise to replace it at some point with something that is more static menu based.  Perhaps Asian cuisine...

[May B]

32 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

Don't forget that the Chef's Table is a "Tasting Menu" and the concept of the tasting menu does not include choices or options.

 

I DO understand the different tastes and likes/dislikes of many people, however, the Chef is taking you on a journey and if you want to substitute some or all, then you are not going on the journey.

 

We LOVE the Chef's Table, and frequently go to tasting menus that can be anything from 5 to 7 or up to 11 small plates in one menu.  We never ask what is coming, and typically the tasting menus we go to don't have a menu or an advance notice of what is coming.   We just love the journey.

 

I have often thought that the Chef's Table is not the right venue for an Ocean ship and Viking may be wise to replace it at some point with something that is more static menu based.  Perhaps Asian cuisine...

I was following somebody’s travels on social media, and she took her daughter (recent college graduate) to a tasting menu in, iirc, Copenhagen. They are two skinny chicks, very classy … and so was the food!

[Berlin Bear]

37 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

Don't forget that the Chef's Table is a "Tasting Menu" and the concept of the tasting menu does not include choices or options.

 

I DO understand the different tastes and likes/dislikes of many people, however, the Chef is taking you on a journey and if you want to substitute some or all, then you are not going on the journey.

 

We LOVE the Chef's Table, and frequently go to tasting menus that can be anything from 5 to 7 or up to 11 small plates in one menu.  We never ask what is coming, and typically the tasting menus we go to don't have a menu or an advance notice of what is coming.   We just love the journey.

 

I have often thought that the Chef's Table is not the right venue for an Ocean ship and Viking may be wise to replace it at some point with something that is more static menu based.  Perhaps Asian cuisine...

I agree. We also love tasting menus and we know plenty of people who also enjoy the concept. It’s sometimes very relaxing not to have to make a choice and it certainly broadens your horizons. One of the most interesting tasting menus we enjoyed was in Noma in Copenhagen - before it became famous. 
 

I personally would really miss the Chef’s Table if it disappeared from the Viking ships.

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

26 minutes ago, Berlin Bear said:

personally would really miss the Chef’s Table if it disappeared from the Viking ships.

Ditto!
there are one or two menus that we avoid but overall love the journey and the “new” experiences.   I am usually not very adventurous but I know the preparation will be right so have tried many things I would otherwise walk away from.

Dining at CT is always a highlight of any VO trip for us.

[Frenchberet]

2 hours ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

Ditto!
there are one or two menus that we avoid but overall love the journey and the “new” experiences.   I am usually not very adventurous but I know the preparation will be right so have tried many things I would otherwise walk away from.

Dining at CT is always a highlight of any VO trip for us.

Absolutely!  We are not “foodies” by any means but we love the Chef’s Table.  It is such a nice experience.  Our upcoming cruises are river and expedition where there’s no Chef’s Table.  We’ll miss it!

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

13 minutes ago, Frenchberet said:

Absolutely!  We are not “foodies” by any means but we love the Chef’s Table.  It is such a nice experience.  Our upcoming cruises are river and expedition where there’s no Chef’s Table.  We’ll miss it!

Again , ditto!

our next two trips are river and expedition and we too will miss CT (however, we do love the expedition version of WC… not the same “experience “ but still makes us 😀

[Frenchberet]

18 minutes ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

Again , ditto!

our next two trips are river and expedition and we too will miss CT (however, we do love the expedition version of WC… not the same “experience “ but still makes us 😀

Totally agree!  We sailed Octantis to Antarctica in 2023 and decided it was just about the perfect ship.  Loved the expanded WC and Grill.  We’re on Octantis again in 2025 to do “Into the Northwest Passage”.  

[Berlin Bear]

17 hours ago, carolinetodd said:

I've been to the reindeer races in Kautokeino - reindeer are mean little SOBs and I'm happy to eat them.

And I attended an international meeting in Kautokeino in the middle of winter some years ago and the Sami hosts served reindeer for all the courses, except dessert. Reindeer bone marrow soup, smoked reindeer meat and innards, and roast reindeer (with very few vegetables). It was all very tasty, but rather one-sided.

 

On the other hand, I once also had to eat in the canteen of a Chinese ministry….

[CCWineLover]

3 hours ago, Frenchberet said:

Absolutely!  We are not “foodies” by any means but we love the Chef’s Table.  It is such a nice experience.  Our upcoming cruises are river and expedition where there’s no Chef’s Table.  We’ll miss it!

Totally agree!  We also are not foodies, but are curious and willing to try anything.

Love the Chef's Table - I sure hope Viking doesn't decide to go big cruise style and just have still another basic theme restaurant.  Having the variety of menus makes the total difference.

People who complain about CT have many other options on Viking Ocean.  In fact we knew many who did like CT, but always went to the World Cafe afterwards to get filled up (not us, as CT is very filling for us).  Each to his own!  It's all about choices and options available.

[Baron Barracuda]

We were spoiled on our last sailing, 33 days to Polynesia, where we were able to dine at Manfredi's and CT seven times each.  Just booked a B2B of British Isles and Greenland, Iceland, Norway & Beyond for next May / June in a DV and realize availability will be tighter, especially on the first 15 day leg.  So did a little math.  I've read CT can accommodate 75 but they prefer to limit seatings to 60.  So 60 x 2 seatings per night x 15 days = 1800.  Passengers are permitted 1,234 pre-cruise bookings which leaves only about 566 available aboard ship vs 926 passengers.  Same holds true for Manfredi's.  So to avoid getting shut out recommend booking right after embarkation.  At least our second 29 day leg should have greater availability.