Aside from room service (check out the menu in my cabin tour post), we sampled every food venue on board. While we found the service in our first couple visits to The Restaurant to be lacking, it greatly improved when we had the pleasure of not only sharing a table with two lovely sisters but also having the great wait staff team of Daniel and his assistant Naomi. It impressed me as well that when we were thanking and praising Daniel at the end of that first meal for his team's wonderful service, Daniel made a point of calling over Naomi so she could hear the praise from us directly. We asked for all future reservations to include being seated at one of their tables and made sure to share our praise with management and on the surveys left in our cabin.
Another praise I'd like to share is from an afternoon in the World Cafe. Dad and I took separate excursions which meant I returned back onboard about 30-45 minutes before he did. I headed to the World Cafe in search of lunch and a few of the crew stopped me to ask why Dad was not with me. I explained and thanked them for their concern. As I'm sitting at a table enjoying my procured lunch, several crew came and found me to let me know that Dad was now back on board. Dad told me later that they too came up to assure him that I was safely back as he stood in line at the grill station.
This post features a variety of the dishes we tried during the week in Mamsen's, World Cafe, and The Restaurant.
First night's menu in The Restaurant:
Tiger Prawns - poached and chilled, cocktail sauce from the Classics: Always Available menu. Would have liked more than a drop of cocktail sauce but the taste was good.
Chicken Consommé with shredded chicken, fresh coriander, red onion, and lime wedge. Dad's starter from the Classics menu. He said the taste was good but he would have liked more chicken. Keep in mind that this is coming from a guy who thinks every meal could use more meat.
Angus New York Strip Steak 8 oz - grilled to order, french fries, beurre maitre d'hotel. While I don't usually get dishes like steak or seafood unless I'm out to eat or on a cruise, I found myself having to choose this or the chicken dish from the Classics menu quite frequently. I did add the compound butter slice from that little bowl which took some effort to spread around the steak. The steak was not delivered hot enough to melt the butter as intended. I wished there was some sort of liquid or cream based sauce to go with the steak as well.
From the regular side of the menu, Dad ordered the Beef Tenderloin with horseradish mashed potatoes, roasted red cabbage, and red wine sauce. This one was definitely a winner.
We slept in on day two and found a late breakfast at Mamsen's. We were the only ones there until another couple came in just before we finished our meal.
Dad enjoyed the famous Belgian waffle but I wasn't hungry enough to get one of my own. Vowed to try it later in the cruise and just never took the time to eat much breakfast. Today I made up a plate of made to order scrambled eggs, a cinnamon roll, and some sausage.
Lunch after an excursion from the grill station at the World Cafe - hamburger and hot dog. The hot dogs had an unusual taste to them and it was often hit or miss as to whether the burgers were going to be fully cooked. One evening we were dining with our pre-cruise extension friends in the World Cafe and Dad ordered a steak from the grill station. It was severely undercooked and he took it back to the station to report it. They offered to cook him another ribeye steak but Dad opted instead for a filet mignon. By the time he was back at the table with the filet mignon, three crew members including a manager stopped by the table to ask what was wrong and offer to get him another steak made. It was nice to see how much of an effort the Viking crew did to make things right even without raising a fuss.
The "Viking Burger" with onion rings from the grill station:
Our dinner in The Restaurant where the host asked if we'd mind sharing a table. The venue did not seem too full so I'm guessing it was more about filling a four top table. It ended up being a lovely dinner with wonderful company.
Lobster Ravioli with steamed carrots and basil infused foam from the Starters menu. While I usually cringe at main entrees that have ravioli because they'll give you one or two total, I was pleasantly surprised by this starter. It was one single ravioli but that entire center was filled with a huge lump of solid lobster meat. It was like someone had made a lobster version of a proper crab cake and closed it inside a ravioli.
And look who had himself vegetable soup? Roasted Carrot Soup with pistachio and mild spices blend. This may be the one and only occurrence of Dad raving about a dish that was solely vegetables.
After a repeat of the steaks, we went different ways with dessert. My Mille-Feuille of puff pastry layers and light vanilla cream from the unique menu:
And Dad's Iced Vanilla Parfait with warm chocolate sauce and toasted meringue from the Classics menu. He raved about this dessert and encouraged everyone that we dined with after this evening to order it as well.
Tired of a huge sit down meal, we opted for dinner at the World Cafe one evening. I made a plate of the filet mignon and lobster tail from the grill plus a few of the shrimp cocktail from the sushi section. No that's not a chocolate frosted brownie on my plate, that was the nearly bite sized filet mignon I was served. I think I'll save my future steak indulgences for specialty dining on the other lines.
A couple nights before the end of the cruise, all of us on the pre-cruise extension opted to dine together and made a group reservation for The Restaurant. I was impressed to see how well the Viking crew handled a table intended for 13 (several two top pushed together in a line). Though I'm guessing the wine works a lot better when it is drunk and not knocked over onto your fellow group member. Gives new meaning to not being able to hold your liquor! And in this case, things really do come out in the wash. And of course, a fresh glass of wine was readily available to replace it.
The snow crab leg starter. Dad and I both ordered this as nothing else appealed to him. When the plates arrived, he handed me his snow crab legs and I handed over my corn on the cob.
The Beer Marinated Chicken from the Classics menu - roasted tomatoes, Diane sauce, and your choice of side dish. This dish was a bone in breast and leg piece and was quite tasty. The side dish options are Steamed Vegetables; Charred Maple Syrup Brussels Sprouts; Mashed Potato; Creamed Spinach; and Rice Pilaf.
For dessert, Dad and I both went for the Iced Vanilla Parfait from the Classics menu but what came was something moderately different topped with what appears to be candied chopped walnuts. If anyone recognizes what this dessert was really called, please comment below.
Our last dinner of the cruise had us back in The Restaurant. I ordered the Chunky Langoustine Bisque with sour cream from the main menu and a caesar salad from the Classics menu as none of the main courses interested me. I appreciated how the waiter always asked if the person ordering caesar salad wanted it with or without anchovies.
And for our final dessert, we once again ordered the Iced Vanilla Parfait and this time what showed up was back to what Dad enjoyed the first time.
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