Sel de Mer - Your Favorite Dishes

[NCTribeFan]

Yes, yes, I know.  Food likes and dislikes are 100% subjective. 😉

 

I'll be on Eurodam 11/16.  My birthday is the next day (which should be our first Gala night in MDR), and the Sel de Mer pop-up is the following night, so I'm going to book for myself (I'm a solo cruiser) as a birthday treat.  I've had a look at the menu shown online and it all looks fabulous.

 

I do have a problem with mollusks.  It's not technically an allergy, but is a GI sensitivity, so, sadly, I have to steer clear of clams, mussels, scallops, oysters, etc.  Makes me very sad.

 

I'm thinking either the steak tartare or the fois gras to start.  Possibly the Dover sole or baked branzino for the main.  I've never had branzino.  I'll have steak either in Pinnacle Grill or Tamarind one night.  I'm not much of a potato fan, but truffle mash sounds good.  I'm also not much of a dessert person and often have the cheese plate in the MDR if I have anything at all.  The apple tart sounds good since I'm much more a fan of caramel than of chocolate.

 

So, what do YOU order?

[1ANGELCAT]

Escargot to start,Dover sole and Rudi’s soufflé is to die for ❤️

[Arrowinc]

I concur with Angelcat.  We have eaten at Sea de Mer about four times on three different ships, and I have always ordered the sole and the soufflé.  On three of those occasions, the sole was as fine a dish as I have ever eaten.  It was almost inedible on the other occasion, probably because we had a very late reservation. Nonetheless,. I will happily order it again.  

 

The soufflé has always been wonderful, but a time or two I have ordered the cheese plate.

 

I can't remember our starting dish.  Perhaps pate if offered?  

 

The beverage package is a neat accompaniment to this dinner, assuming that you are not a connoisseur of fine wine.  The package permits you to have different types of wines throughout the meal, concluding with a glass of port to accompany the cheese.

[AV8rix]

I love the steak tartare in both PG and Rudis.  HOWEVER.....for an appetizer it's BIG!  I'll bet it is close to a half pound.  So after that, it's hard for me to eat the full meal including sides and dessert.  But that's just my experience.  YMMV.

 

Disclaimer:  I haven't yet sailed since pre-COVID.  Won't be on a ship until Koningsdam later this month.  So my description of the steak tartare is as it was served before the shutdown.  Could be changed?

[Seasick Sailor]

Fruits de mer, lobster tail, Dover sole and one night the fish of the day, which I thought was branzino, or sea bass. 

[nimiq]

I had the branzino as well and was delicious. My BF HD the tartare and also said was vey good. 
 

It was a very nice experienced and might do it again once we get back to cruising in December. 
 

Sea Ya

Enjoy

Eric 

[AncientWanderer]

On our recent Alaska cruise, I had the foie gras, lamb, and Rudi's soufflé.  It was literally one of the best meals ever.  DH had the catch of the day fish, which was halibut.  He said it was really good.  Our server told us they brought the fish onboard in Juneau.  DH always orders the steak tartare, so it must be very good.   The escargot are favorites, too.  Different than those in MDR.

 

I had the dover sole four times in a row, so definitely enjoy that.  And btw, NCTribeFan, we've tried all the desserts.  Like you, I'm not a dessert person.  The soufflé is hands down my favorite.  Not too sweet, berries at the bottom of it.  It's really nice.

 

Edit to add I just saw Av8rix's comment about steak tartare pre-covid.  DH just had it in Alaska.  It's the same as before.

 

I know the OP mentioned the need to stay away from mollusks, but for others out there, the bouillabaisse in Sel de Mer is not the same as cioppino in PG.  The bouillabaisse has some kind of magical flavoring.  I love it, but really should stay away from mollusks and bivalves as well.  

Edited October 3, 2021 by AncientWanderer

[luvn2cruzzz]

Escargot, Dover sole and the little candies they give you in addition to dessert.  A wonderful space and lovely service always.  They used to have lobster thermador as a regular offering but on  our last cruise in late 2019, it was no longer on the menu.   It was a la carte then as well and is no longer--a set price now.    

[dfish]

Definitely Dover sole here.   We had the seafood tower for an appetizer and I ordered some green beans for a vegetable.   My sister loved the profiteroles.  I generally order the cheese plate unless there is something I just can't say no to.

[SilvertoGold]

Appetizers: Tuna Nicoise salad (almost a meal in itself), the 2 kinds of smoked salmon, cold lobster

 

Mains: Seafood platter, lamb, lobster, catch of the day, Dover sole

 

Dessert:  souffle (who has room for dessert?), the truffles waiting in your stateroom

[NCTribeFan]

You guys aren't making my choices any easier!  It all sounds fabulous. 😁

 

I do not have the drink package on this sailing.  It's a bare-bones (virtually free) casino offer.  I'll have drinks while gambling, so I'll probably purchase a wine package for my dinners.  I'm assuming I can get whatever I have from that package in any of the specialty venues.  If not, I may need to rethink whether I'll do that since I may end up in those venues 3 or 4 of the 8 nights.

 

I did go ahead and make a reservation.  I was going to pick 7:30 or 8 but decided to book for 7, since I expect to be quite full when finished and don't like feeling stuffed late in the evening.  And I expect the meal will not be rushed.

 

I wonder whether I should try to figure out what night to book Tamarind.  Our itinerary was altered (shortened from 10 to 8 days) and since we're the first sailing in the Caribbean, I imagine the menus may be different than what they're having in Europe and for the TA.  Would be nice if I could see the MDR menu for each night, especially since I have Club Orange.

 

For anyone who has had Club Orange, do the menus that are posted while you're on the ship show what the Club Orange option will be or do you not find out until you're seated and have your menu?

[kazu]

11 minutes ago, NCTribeFan said:

I'll have drinks while gambling, so I'll probably purchase a wine package for my dinners.  I'm assuming I can get whatever I have from that package in any of the specialty venues. 

 

You absolutely can have selections from your wine package in the specialty restaurants.

 

If you know you are going to be in a specialty restaurant the next night you can ask the waiter attending to your wine to send a bottle of x to the specialty restaurant so it is already there, but they can also fetch it for you.

[Overhead Fred]

If you have room for a side dish, I would recommend the ratatouille!

[lazey1]

Escargo, lobster or lamb and Rudi's souffle. Let the wine stewarts select my wine. Assuming that Sel De Mer will still have Wine Stewarts. Cappucino with the dessert.

 

[AncientWanderer]

2 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

You guys aren't making my choices any easier!  It all sounds fabulous. 😁

 

I do not have the drink package on this sailing.  It's a bare-bones (virtually free) casino offer.  I'll have drinks while gambling, so I'll probably purchase a wine package for my dinners.  I'm assuming I can get whatever I have from that package in any of the specialty venues.  If not, I may need to rethink whether I'll do that since I may end up in those venues 3 or 4 of the 8 nights.

 

I did go ahead and make a reservation.  I was going to pick 7:30 or 8 but decided to book for 7, since I expect to be quite full when finished and don't like feeling stuffed late in the evening.  And I expect the meal will not be rushed.

 

I wonder whether I should try to figure out what night to book Tamarind.  Our itinerary was altered (shortened from 10 to 8 days) and since we're the first sailing in the Caribbean, I imagine the menus may be different than what they're having in Europe and for the TA.  Would be nice if I could see the MDR menu for each night, especially since I have Club Orange.

 

For anyone who has had Club Orange, do the menus that are posted while you're on the ship show what the Club Orange option will be or do you not find out until you're seated and have your menu?

 

I’m sailing soon and it’s showing up on the Navigator app now.  You can see the rest of the menu is same as MDR, with the addition of lamb for CO.   Only one day is showing at this point in time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Sorry for the odd screenshots.  I took them off my phone.  Not the best.)

Edited October 3, 2021 by AncientWanderer

[Sharon in AZ]

My recent meal (sorry for the repeat pictures from a different thread). 
 

The complimentary pre-appetizer plate. I forgot to take a picture before we started eating. I think the empty space was anchovies, maybe. 

Tartare:

 

Torchon:

Cheese soufflé:

 

Fries and mashed potatoes with DH’s Branzino in the back:

 

Seafood trio for DH (not his favorite):

 

DH’s Branzino:

 

Unfortunately I was too tired and full for dessert. Everything was wonderful!

 

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by Sharon in AZ

[rkacruiser]

The pre-appetizer plate is always so tempting to me along with the bread basket served that I have to be careful not to get too "filled up" too soon.

 

Dover Sole, Rack of Lamb, and Escargots are my favorites in this dining venue.  I am usually so saturated with "muchness" that a light dessert of sorbets often is the ending course.  And, then, that plate of candies appear!  

[PSR]

9 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

The escargot are favorites, too.  Different than those in MDR.

 

How are the escargot different? If I remember, the ones in the MDR are traditional, in the special plates with butter. Yum!

[AncientWanderer]

1 minute ago, PSR said:

 

How are the escargot different? If I remember, the ones in the MDR are traditional, in the special plates with butter. Yum!

 

They're not as cheesy in Sel de Mer.   They are maybe more wine/buttery?  Both delicious.  If I had to pick one, I'd probably go MDR.  But that might just be a sentimental favorite.  The ones in Sel de Mer are also in the special plates.  Looking back, I think they used to serve them with shells and you had to dig them out.  They were just in the dishes recently in Alaska.  No shells.

[PSR]

5 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

They're not as cheesy in Sel de Mer.   They are maybe more wine/buttery?  Both delicious.  If I had to pick one, I'd probably go MDR.  But that might just be a sentimental favorite.  The ones in Sel de Mer are also in the special plates.  Looking back, I think they used to serve them with shells and you had to dig them out.  They were just in the dishes recently in Alaska.  No shells.

 

Thanks for the quick reply! I wanted to have escargots on our Alaska cruise in August, but forgot they were only on the first Gala night and had already made a specialty dinner rez (not Sel de Mer). Hard to find locally, so may have to wait awhile....🤔

[AncientWanderer]

9 minutes ago, PSR said:

 

Thanks for the quick reply! I wanted to have escargots on our Alaska cruise in August, but forgot they were only on the first Gala night and had already made a specialty dinner rez (not Sel de Mer). Hard to find locally, so may have to wait awhile....🤔

 

Hopefully not too long!     😊

[rkacruiser]

Escargots in Sel de Mer were presented in a shell with the appropriate tool to hold the shell to dig the critters out of their shell.  The MDR's presentation was with the critters in the holes of the serving dish with amble sauce available.  The buttery sauces were different.  Both were delicious!

[leerathje]

We did the Sel De Mer popup on the Oosterdam.  DH had the Seafood tower,  I had the bouillabaisse, DH had the lobster and I had the Dover Sole.  We both had the soufflé.

 

The bouillabaisse was the best I have ever had, and DH said the lobster was done to perfection.  and I can say the soufflé was out of this world delicious!

 

L.

 

 

[NCTribeFan]

Wish I could have the bouillabaisse.  Both the tartare and the foie gras look like rather large portions.  The branzino looks like a very large piece of fish!  The souffle does look wonderful in both pics. 

 

Just checked my Navigator app (yet again) and Club Orange is not there.  Logged out, logged in, no change.  But who knows.  It could change by this afternoon.  Or never. 😄

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, leerathje said:

bouillabaisse

 

I recall that this was on the regular PG menu.  It was delicious!  Have not tried it at Sel de Mer.  The Dover Sole keeps "calling my name".