Fussy eater

[Yinster]

My partner likes plain and simple foods so we have been looking at the sample menus for the restaurants. But the dishes look too fancy. So looks like be asking to take out things in the dishes.

 

Will she be able to eat well on Virgin?

 

 

[CruisingWalter]

I'm not really sure what 'too fancy' means but there is plenty of food to eat across the ship. The Galley is pretty straightforward, Pink Agave is Mexican, Extra Virgin is Italian food, Gunbae is meat, shrimp, vegetables...  Certain things you'll be able to ask to have changed, other things are part of the meal. Really the only 'weird place' your partner may not want to eat at is Test Kitchen.

 

If you want to see what the food is really all about, I have a full food review here from our first sailing on Scarlet Lady. https://youtu.be/pBolzKvXjMU

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by CruisingWalter

[cantgetin]

Most places  on the ship can do things without the sauces or the toppings.  You just need to specify what you want.  We had no problem getting various items omitted.  Gunbae and Test Kitchen might be difficult, but other places were not.

[1025cruise]

Both my wife and I are "select eaters". We had no problem finding something to eat at each of the restaurants we went to. We always went in with the theory that if we didn't like what we got, we could always go get pizza.

[raphael360]

2 hours ago, Yinster said:

My partner likes plain and simple foods so we have been looking at the sample menus for the restaurants. But the dishes look too fancy. So looks like be asking to take out things in the dishes.

 

Will she be able to eat well on Virgin?

 

 

I can help you with this question. I have an onion allergy and I’m also on a no carb diet so eating is a challenge for me in any restaurant. I’ve taken six cruises on Virgin and can report that I’ve had good luck finding plain unseasoned food in several of the venues. It is a challenge as even the lamb chops, for example, are brined in an onion brine but the chef made a special order of unbrind lamb chops for me. 
 

I made friends with the chefs at several of the restaurants, and they went out of their way to take care of my dietary needs. 

Hope this helps. 

[Yinster]

4 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

I'm not really sure what 'too fancy' means

 

If you want to see what the food is really all about, I have a full food review here from our first sailing on Scarlet Lady. https://youtu.be/pBolzKvXjMU

 

Think cheese pasta, meat and potato, no topping pizza. No vegetables or fruit. 

 

The video was really helpful and loved the look of the afternoon tea

[Yinster]

2 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

Both my wife and I are "select eaters". We had no problem finding something to eat at each of the restaurants we went to. We always went in with the theory that if we didn't like what we got, we could always go get pizza.

That's a better phrase

 

Yeah I think that is her theory too. Pizza with cheese topping 

[jon81uk]

54 minutes ago, Yinster said:

Think cheese pasta, meat and potato, no topping pizza. No vegetables or fruit. 

 

The video was really helpful and loved the look of the afternoon tea

There isn’t actually that many vegetables served and many dishes are meat and potato. The issue might be what’s on the meat and potatoes! for example at Pink  Agave Mexican, there is a steak topped with cheese and a side dish of potatoes with chorizo. At Extra Virgin Italian there is a carbonara pasta dish, but it’s made with egg so not really just simple cheese pasta, but close. They also have a porcini flavoured steak dish and for a starter there is meatballs in tomato sauce.

[1025cruise]

At Pink Agave I got the steak without the cheese. I wish had asked for the potatoes to be a side versus an app.

[CruisingWalter]

5 hours ago, Yinster said:

The video was really helpful and loved the look of the afternoon tea

 

Afternoon Tea is AWESOME. It's worth the extra charge.

 

For what you described, Cheese pizza in the Pizza Place will be awesome, you have the burgers and tacos in the Galley. 

Fried Chicken Sandwich in Razzle Dazzle. 

While I don't really like the dinner all that much in The Wake, there are a bunch of side dishes that your partner could make a meal from plus a steak or something like that.

Hot Dogs and Sausages in the Social Club Diner.

The Meat wraps at The Dock are awesome as if they like shrimp, they might like the shrimp dish back there too. 

Lots of sandwich options at the Panini station in The Galley

Basic breakfast, sausage and bacon in Diner and Dash in The Galley. 

And of course there's always ice cream, that's good all day long. 🙂

 

[warmwinds]

Do they like plain fish?  I thought the branzino in Extra Virgin was wonderful, very simply prepared showcasing the freshness of the fish.  Came with sauteed fennel (which is just licorice flavored celery) and roasted potatoes.  My husband thought the meatballs were spicy, but he really liked the steak there.  The 2 pastas we got were both very strongly flavored, one was the gnocci with a heavy truffle flavor (which I don't like) and the squid ink pasta which I did like.  I'm sure you can ask for plain pasta with maybe just  butter and cheese?

 

I think someone mentioned onion-brined lamb chops in The Wake?  We didn't get that feeling at all, they just tasted like very good simple lamb chops.  If she likes "plain" fish we got the petit seafood platter and everything is plain until you add a sauce to it.

 

Everything in the Galley is just simple casual restaurant food.  But you don't want to eat all your meals there!

 

I would also suggest that they branch out and order outside the box....with the sauce or whatever on the side.  That way they can take a smidgen and who knows, they might like it, and if not it's not all over the food.

[Yinster]

7 hours ago, warmwinds said:

d also suggest that they branch out and order outside the box....with the sauce or whatever on the side.  That way they can take a smidgen and who knows, they might like it, and if not it's not all over the food.

Great minds. We do already with any new foods or restaurants. Try once and if you don't like them that's fine. But don't say you don't like it, if you haven't tried. That was installed in our relationship very early on. 

 

Never tried fish till we went out. Like sea bass, cod, haddock, standard fish in the UK but don't like sea food. 

 

On NCL we tried all their restaurants including speciality ones. Hoping to do the same here but it'd their holiday too so was looking to make sure my partner could eat too.

 

When we saw the sample menus it look pretty fancy so posted on here for this kind of advice and tips. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Yinster

[js-g]

20 hours ago, raphael360 said:

I can help you with this question. I have an onion allergy and I’m also on a no carb diet so eating is a challenge for me in any restaurant. I’ve taken six cruises on Virgin and can report that I’ve had good luck finding plain unseasoned food in several of the venues. It is a challenge as even the lamb chops, for example, are brined in an onion brine but the chef made a special order of unbrind lamb chops for me. 
 

I made friends with the chefs at several of the restaurants, and they went out of their way to take care of my dietary needs. 

Hope this helps. 

Can I ask how you found eating with your onion allergy. I’m also allergic to onion and garlic (the whole allium family) and going on my first Virgin cruise in November. I’ve always had very good experiences on other lines so hoping for the same here. Any restaurants, I need to avoid? Many thanks 

[Giraffes]

Food was what caused most of my anxiety trying a new cruise line. I am also considered a picky year-and say I have an onion allergy to avoid them. I went on VL earlier this year and while I mostly ate in the Galley, they accommodated EVERYTHING I asked for and were more than willing to make the accommodations. Not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing, but they would know exactly what I wanted every time I walked in. Their hospitality was terrific!

[aviators99]

On 9/20/2023 at 2:42 AM, Yinster said:

Great minds. We do already with any new foods or restaurants. Try once and if you don't like them that's fine. But don't say you don't like it, if you haven't tried. That was installed in our relationship very early on. 

 

Never tried fish till we went out. Like sea bass, cod, haddock, standard fish in the UK but don't like sea food. 

 

On NCL we tried all their restaurants including speciality ones. Hoping to do the same here but it'd their holiday too so was looking to make sure my partner could eat too.

 

When we saw the sample menus it look pretty fancy so posted on here for this kind of advice and tips. 

 

 

 

 

I'm like you guys.  I tell everyone I "eat like a 12 year old".  The Social Club will be your friend!  Wings, Hot Dogs, Pretzels with Cheese.  All excellent.  The pizza is also not bad at all.  I have eaten the same thing on all of my (6) VV cruises.  Gnocci at Extra Virgin, the bread at The Wake is amazing and the steak is very good...the twice-baked potatoes are great.  Steak with melted cheese at Pink Agave.  I told them I have an aversion to seafood at GunBae and they totally took care of me.  The steak there is quite good (not the upcharge Wagyu...we paid for it once and found the regular steak was better).

 

But @CruisingWalter's videos really helped me plan my meals beforehand.

Edited September 24, 2023 by aviators99

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, aviators99 said:

 The steak there is quite good (not the upcharge Wagyu...we paid for it once and found the regular steak was better).

 

But @CruisingWalter's videos really helped me plan my meals beforehand.

Totally agree--we got the wagyu once--definitely preferred the marinated beef that is part of the regular menu!

[CruisingWalter]

Thank you @aviators99 for the kind words!