Infinity and Specialty Restaurants

[SNEEGLE]

I am looking for some advice on Specialty Restaurants on the Infinity since its my job to pick the best option for our party of six while cruising Alaska in June. Any suggestions on which restaurant to choose? Also do they use Riedel wine glasses? We will be have the premium drink package so will be ordering by the glass but I am still hoping for Riedel glasses. We are booked for AquaClass so Blu will me our normal restaurant.

Thanks for any help!

[Kellie Poodle]

I am looking for some advice on Specialty Restaurants on the Infinity since its my job to pick the best option for our party of six while cruising Alaska in June. Any suggestions on which restaurant to choose? Also do they use Riedel wine glasses? We will be have the premium drink package so will be ordering by the glass but I am still hoping for Riedel glasses. We are booked for AquaClass so Blu will me our normal restaurant.

Thanks for any help!

 

We cruised on Infinity in January and ate at the SS United States. I don't recall the Reidel glasses being there. We had the wine package, not the drinks package so we ordered a bottle of wine from our package.

 

The food and service were awesome.We each had two hot and two cold starters. We also had the sample dessert. I'm still savoring the rack of lamb with pistachio crust. YUM!

 

I wanted to try Qsine but it's more of a grazing menu than a dinner menu. It's very much about presentation and to my DH, presentation means: knife, fork, plate and food. He was not at all enthusiastic about going there, so we did not.

 

I did go to a cooking exhibit where the chefs showed off some of the offerings in Qsine. We also got a taste of some of them at the Elite event in the evening.

 

All I can advise you is that Qsine might not be for the "meat and potatoes" people in your group. It seemed to me to be quite an adventure. I'd love to go someday, but I'd have to find a dinner buddy for the evening.:)

 

Blu is on the upper level of the MDR.

 

The only other up-charge food place is the Bistro on Five and we low carb for medical reasons so there wasn't anything that enticed us.

[coldweathergirl]

We just got off the Infinity a couple of weeks ago and also dined in Blu. The food there was absolutely fabulous as was the service including that of the Maitre'D and the Sommelier. Blu doesn't use Reidel glasses. I remember because when we would have wine in Cellar Masters then go to take it into Blu she would switchout our glasses as she didn't want her Riedel glasses disappearing. We also had the beverage package. When we dined in Blu, we would just let the Sommelier chose a wine that would best compliment our dinner. His choices were fabulous and we were never without wine in our glass.

 

We ate at all of the dining venues and enjoyed them all. They are all so different. If you want something really different I would suggest Qsine as there are so many options on their menu and the food was quite exciting. If they are meat and potato people, they can just order the meat heavy dishes like the sliders, meatballs, fillet (incredible). One girl in our party is very picky when it comes to food items and she pretty much had an order of things for herself as she didn't want to try most of the dishes. I don't think their glasses were Riedel. They were the stemless type of wineglass.

 

The SS was very good as well but it is more formal. In my opinion, if you're eating in Blu all the time, you may not need to go to SS. We did it on the first night when they offered it to us for half price. I believe they use Riedel glasses there. We went back there another night for their Connoisseurs Dinner event which included wine pairings. I didn't care for the female Sommelier in SS. She only seemed interested in upselling glasses of wine rather than recommending ones covered by the package. When I indicated that I didn't want to go over the price allotted, she was actually really rude to me in the dining room and again the following day when I was at the AquaSpa cafe. When we went back to the Connoisseurs Dinner, it was on the basis that she would not serve us as she normally is at this event as well. The Cellar Master himself served us throughout the evening. He was wonderful and acknowledged that he was serving us that evening because of our request.

 

You may want to check out Cellar Masters. They have a wonderful assortment of wines that you can get by the glass and they are served in Riedel glasses (with exception of the wines from the dispensers I think, unless you specifically ask for one...these wines aren't included in the beverage package, you need to purchase a card) . The Sommelier who works there is so pleasant and knowledgeable. They also have great tapas for a very inexpensive price if you want something to nibble on with your wine besides the complimentary breadsticks. It was our meeting place pre dinner every night.

 

They also hold several wine tasting events including the Riedel comparison workshop. They didn't have the glasses to take home so they were only charging $15 pp to participate.

[FrankinPA]

We were on her last cruise before dry dock and the SS United States used Riedel glasses the numerous times we dined there. Not sure who the sommelier is now but ours (a lady) was wonderful. Very friendly and we also had the Wine and dine package.

[4774Papa]

We were on Infinity in December and the MDR was great. Also, liked the Crepes restaurant.