Kaiseki just won't do

[pavementends]

I am recently returned from a trip on Moon. For what it's worth, this is only my second Silversea cruise.

 

Kaiseki dinner was uninspired and very disappointing, particularly since all the included restaurants were very good and enjoyable. The bright spot at Kaiseki was the steak, but the accompanying lobster was much over-salted. 

 

(Details: first course was strange although at least pretty. Subsequent courses seemed to be served on a bed of the same cabbage-carrot-onion stir fry. A course called "tempura" wasn't very good tempura. If I remember right the promised ice cream on the menu wasn't available??)

 

My advice is to give this restaurant a pass until some changes are made.

[dawntrdr]

My experience on the Dawn in January was the same - OK but not worth the upcharge and everything tasted more or less like soy sauce.  The portions were large.

Edited July 10, 2023 by dawntrdr

[calm down dear]

Agreed. Also on dawn, the sushi looks like it was hacked to death the day prior. Poor presentation and multi coloured tobiko on everything as well. 

[spryder]

Oh, very disappointing to hear!  Kaiseki's menu looked interesting.

[drron29]

Having watched the fellow on the Moon making my sushi and sashimi on the Moon it definitely wasn't hacked to death the day before.

Agree with the evening meal. not really a Japanese meal and not worth the upcharge. We didn't use Kaiseki for dinner.

 

However on our next 3 cruises we definitely will eat dinner there. The cruises are on the Muse and the evening meal is Teppanyaki. Just hoping they don't change that before our cruises.

[Catlover54]

DH and I actually enjoyed Kaiseki, both for dinner and lunch, on the Moon, but it was months ago. We thought it was worth the upcharge then, but perhaps it has gone downhill.  

The steak was definitely a highlight at the time. 

 

[bitob]

On our 2 cruises on the Moon we did not eat in Kaiseki or La Dame.  We were really happy with all the other options.  It wasn't the money -- we have a  huge OBC to spend.  I find traditional French food not to my liking (but give me bistro food any time) and I did not find the Kaiseki menu that inspiring.  We leave tomorrow for our third cruise on the Moon -- maybe we will give one of them a try.

[canderson]

57 minutes ago, drron29 said:

The cruises are on the Muse and the evening meal is Teppanyaki. Just hoping they don't change that before our cruises.

Wondering how they'll manage that experience given the layouts I've seen of the restaurant (?)  Or is it all prepped un-traditionally behind the scenes?

 

Guess I'd never thought to ask, but your statement about teppanyaki brought this immediately to mind...

 

Kaiseki isn't just a name of a shipboard restaurant, it's more properly an entire meal style of its own in Japan, much like teppanyaki that you mention is a style of Japanese both cooking and presentation.  Have I been wrong in my assumption that Kaiseki serves meals in the kaiseki style?  To oversimplify it, imagine a tasting menu at the French Laundry done Japanese style.

 

[SWFLAOK]

Did anyone try La Dame for dinner? On our last Silversea cruise we were on Silver Whisper so the only upgrade priced meal was La Dame. We enjoyed it, and booked a second night. We were thinking we would like Kaiseki since we really liked Pacific Rim on Regent Splendor. On our numerous previous cruises on Regent Voyager, we've always enjoyed Chartruese, so we enjoy both French and Asian food as an alternative meal, even if there's an upgrade charge.

[drron29]

On the Dawn and Moon there is a sushi bar so that you do see the preparation. There is an assistant out the back preparing the bowls that they have at lunch and I presume some of the rolls.

 

Kaiseki doesn't do kaiseki cuisine. To us the evening meal is not really any Japanese cuisine style.

 

On the Muse the teppanyaki is true teppanyaki with the preparation basically all done by the 2 behind the teppan. I even had the chef send the prawn heads flying towards me. When I was younger i could catch them with my chopsticks now just with the bowl. I then eat those heads.

[bitob]

We were disappointed in chartreuse on regent. We actually prefer Compass Rose over all the specialties on regent.
Imo Jacques on Oceania has the best French food at sea but it’s not enough for us to go back to Oceania 

Edited July 11, 2023 by bitob

[saminina]

Once for lunch.  Once for dinner.   As many gentlemen have said to me, "once was enough."

[pavementends]

1 hour ago, drron29 said:

Kaiseki doesn't do kaiseki cuisine. To us the evening meal is not really any Japanese cuisine style.

 

Turns out I had a discussion with one of the manager types about the food at Kaiseki. He was at pains to point out that it was not intended to be purely Japanese (this despite the fact that the menu I had was titled Omakase- another Japanese word).

 

My disappointment was not that it was not authentic Japanese, but rather that it was not an elevated Asian-influenced cuisine even interpreted broadly. Just not good enough, even had it not incurred an extra (although trivial in the scheme of things) charge.

 

And the final disappointment was that I missed a very enjoyable meal elsewhere on the ship.

 

I hasten to add that this is not one of these things-are-bad-and-have-taken-a-terrible-dive posts. I was quite happy eating elsewhere. This is one restaurant not measuring up to standard.

[Daveywavey70]

What a shame. We absolutely loved Kaiseki on our Muse Cruise June 19. Joseph was the chef and it still rates as one of the best meals we’ve ever enjoyed at sea. It wasn’t authentically Japanese but after all it was on an American/Italian owned ship sailing through Alaska. The produce was of the finest quality and couldn’t have been prepared any better. It’s sad to hear that things have slipped. I Certainly hope they manage to get the magic back. 

[drron29]

Don't worry DW Kaiseki on the muse is not the same as Kaiseki on the Dawn or Moon. You probably would be disappointed if having an evening meal in Kaiseki on those ships.

[markham]

One difference with Kaiseki on Dawn vs Muse is Dawn has no teppanyaki grill. This is due to its location which is different. Apparently no venting mechanism etc is in place. The dinner we had there was awful and not only Japanese in name only but hardly worth any up charge. If you know the real thing this ain’t it… I refused to pay for it.

 

i would have expected a revamped menu since that November cruise on Dawn. Silversea, please step up.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, markham said:

One difference with Kaiseki on Dawn vs Muse is Dawn has no teppanyaki grill. This is due to its location which is different. Apparently no venting mechanism etc is in place. The dinner we had there was awful and not only Japanese in name only but hardly worth any up charge. If you know the real thing this ain’t it… I refused to pay for it.

 

i would have expected a revamped menu since that November cruise on Dawn. Silversea, please step up.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Seabourn Sushi restaurant is a much better restaurant than Kaiseki.

No charge also.

[ggo85]

We did Kaiseki on Moon and were unimpressed.  As have many others on this forum, I’ve eaten extensively in Japan. This wasn’t anything remotely familiar to what I had in Japan.  It wasn’t even that great for free, let alone a $40pp up charge.  Was disappointed that there was no sashimi at dinner.  Didn’t like the mostly pre-fixe menu. Lunch wasn’t much better - very limited and uninspired menu. Server was so rude that I actually complained - something I almost never do. Didn’t even try it on Dawn our last cruise. It never looked crowded at dinner. 
 

We’re on Muse later this year.  Can we find the ship- specific menu anywhere?  If it looks appealing, might give it an other try.  

[canderson]

Well then.  Bummer for a first time SS cruiser like me, who understands what the word implies, to find out that Kaiseki isn't at all ... well ... actually kaiseki.  Done half decently, a true kaiseki meal would have been worth the upcharge.  They ain't cheap in Japan.

 

Actually feeling a bit peeved that they appropriated the name without delivering the associated product.  On par with calling a restaurant aboard La Creperie de Silversea and serving IHOP pancakes.

[commodoredave]

In March we were on the Moon and tried all the restaurants, including Kaiseki twice - once for lunch and once for dinner. Both were disappointing, especially dinner with the upcharge. In contrast, those of you who sailed on the old Crystal may recall how wonderful their sushi bar and Asian restaurant were. That set the bar for us and we have not found anything at sea any better since.

[Daveywavey70]

This video I did from our June 2019 Alaska on the Muse shows you what they were serving then. The Omakase doesn't seem to have changed much since then. The Tepenyaki was all part of the experience. 

 

[drron29]

Exactly as I remember dinner in Kaiseki on the Muse in January 2019 on the Muse.

[Neilio]

Currently on the Muse. We thought Kaiseki was excellent. We enjoyed with nice Saki. It was multiple courses. Some pics below. Happy and Safe Cruising
 

 

[drron29]

Yes Kaiseki om the Muse is IMHO much better than on the Moon and Dawn. Though on those 2 ships we do like going to lunch at Kaiseki.

Edited July 12, 2023 by drron29

[erikzen]

That looks like a fun meal, Neilio!