Epicurean on Ventura, never again

[Froxfield]

5 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

The cost of using Epicurean (or the Beach House or Sindhu, etc.) is a supplement to what you have already paid to use the MDR not the whole cost, so to compare it to the whole cost of a meal in a pub or restaurant on land is not comparing like with like.

I have often wondered how much "cost", within the fare, is attributable to a single MDR dinner: I suspect surprisingly little, given bulk buying and preparation!  

[Froxfield]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I have to confess that I also find the Beechhouse food far tastier than Epicurean. However Celebrity Eclipses Tuscan Grill food was always delicious, and well worth the extra cost, especially as we always managed to get a discounted price.

Just goes to show how subjective food is. We were desperately unimpressed by Tuscan Grill on Celebrity! On the other hand Murano we found excellent.  Much more expensive than Epicurean, which we have also found excellent on Arvia and Iona. However, we enjoyed Beachhouse as well.

[Interestedcruisefan]

6 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I have to confess that I also find the Beechhouse food far tastier than Epicurean. However Celebrity Eclipses Tuscan Grill food was always delicious, and well worth the extra cost, especially as we always managed to get a discounted price.

Just shows how good Beach House is as well then

 

We are lucky to have all these great dining options available to cherry pick from

[davecttr]

I used to enjoy the Beach House but now it has a more spicy menu I will maybe visit once for a steak. 

[majortom10]

16 hours ago, keeven2 said:

The problem is I can go to the main dining room for free. There was not much difference in terms of food. Epicurean was just slightly better. That's why I felt like a waste of money and efforts.

I honestly think that you had to a high an expectation and also that you obviously had in your mind that you had to pay extra when you could have had a meal for free in MDR. All I can say is every visit I have had to Epicurean thought it was well worth the extra money for the good and service received.

[Interestedcruisefan]

9 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

I honestly think that you had to a high an expectation and also that you obviously had in your mind that you had to pay extra when you could have had a meal for free in MDR. All I can say is every visit I have had to Epicurean thought it was well worth the extra money for the good and service received.

Yep very rare to get complaints in there

[AndyMichelle]

19 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

I honestly think that you had to a high an expectation and also that you obviously had in your mind that you had to pay extra when you could have had a meal for free in MDR. All I can say is every visit I have had to Epicurean thought it was well worth the extra money for the good and service received.

We tried Epicurean on Britannia this year, it was absolute rubbish. 

All the food was drastically overcooked, looked nice but tasted horrible. 

Service was poor, we were 'forgotten'. 

Clientele was quite rowdy, so bad atmosphere. 

There was nothing in our experience that we should have paid extra for. 

All we expected was a bit better for a bit extra, we didn't get it. 

I accept that so many people have much better experiences, but we didn't. 

Andy 

[Palaceman]

We had a very poor experience in the Epicurian on Ventura in March this year. We booked it online before sailing to celebrate my birthday. Unfortunately, we had a very long wait (over an hour) after our starters and being served our main course. During this time the waiters were aware of the occasion and kept reassuring us that our main courses were on their way. When they finally arrived my steak was very overcooked (I asked for medium). At this point I asked to see the restaurant manager.  He immediately saw how over done the steak was and offered me a replacement. Due to the wait I declined the offer as all I wanted to do by this point was eat and get out. My wife was now very upset as she wanted the evening to be special for me. The desserts arrived very promptly together with extra chocolates. On leaving the restaurant the manager could not apologise enough and insisted we accepted a complimentary return to the Epicurian, which we did. 

On our return a few days later the service and food could not be faulted and we both enjoyed an extremely good meal and experience, which included a lobster, which neither of us ordered, with our main course.

Mistakes do happen and when they do it is best to bring them to the attention of those in charge rather than say nothing and complain later.  It is the way the complaint is handled that matters.

It was due to this that we booked another meal there later in the cruise, which again was very enjoyable. 

 

[Guest]

We found it very average on Iona. No atmosphere, table had no decoration or flowers or anything special. But for £30 it was ok. You get what you pay for 

 

I prefer Beach House/Glass House as you get a great steak for a really reasonable price. 

 

Some people refuse to pay £65+pp for the speciality on Celebrity. We went to Eden which was fantastic, and there is a huge difference in quality and service. Outstanding meal. 

 

[sweep2907]

Always loved Epicurean and had some great meals on Azura and Ventura. However on Britannia during TA last year, it was a poor meal indeed and put us off going week 2. Manager sorted it out with free glass of wine but I was left eating my main whilst my partners was sent back. Should've taken mine back too as was 10 minutes before her replacement came out. Funny how one bad experience puts you off the experience, despite having many good meals there. I will give it another chance on Azura next month.

[AndyMichelle]

7 hours ago, Palaceman said:

 

Mistakes do happen and when they do it is best to bring them to the attention of those in charge rather than say nothing and complain later.  It is the way the complaint is handled that matters.

 

 

We did complain at the time, the manager said sorry, but that was it.

We also complained to the hotel manager, we were just referred back to the unhelpful restaurant manager. 

[Presto2]

On 11/10/2023 at 10:48 AM, Glitterati said:

We found it very average on Iona. No atmosphere, table had no decoration or flowers or anything special. But for £30 it was ok. You get what you pay for 

 

I prefer Beach House/Glass House as you get a great steak for a really reasonable price. 

 

Some people refuse to pay £65+pp for the speciality on Celebrity. We went to Eden which was fantastic, and there is a huge difference in quality and service. Outstanding meal. 

 

We've had any good meals in the speciality restaurants on Celebrity, but also some rubbish ones and we paid a LOT more for them than on P&O. We've always found the restaurants on P&O good value in comparison.

Having said that, we've never had a 'bad one' on P&O but am sure we would say something different it we had.

I think out problem is that are English and don't like to complain so put up with it all on whatever cruise line we are on ................................

[yorkshirephil]

1 minute ago, Presto2 said:

We've had any good meals in the speciality restaurants on Celebrity, but also some rubbish ones and we paid a LOT more for them than on P&O. We've always found the restaurants on P&O good value in comparison.

Having said that, we've never had a 'bad one' on P&O but am sure we would say something different it we had.

I think out problem is that are English and don't like to complain so put up with it all on whatever cruise line we are on ................................

I found the pasta was worth every penne

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Presto2 said:

We've had any good meals in the speciality restaurants on Celebrity, but also some rubbish ones and we paid a LOT more for them than on P&O. We've always found the restaurants on P&O good value in comparison.

Having said that, we've never had a 'bad one' on P&O but am sure we would say something different it we had.

I think out problem is that are English and don't like to complain so put up with it all on whatever cruise line we are on ................................

The only bad one we had was the steak restaurant on the Beyond. The rest were very good. A bit pricey, and they’ve certainly gone up over the years. I like how P&O keep the price down and it’s reasonable for what you get. 
 

I am doing two Virgin sailings next year. Everyone I’ve spoken to has raved about the food. No MDR, just 6 speciality style that are all included. Looking forward to that!
 

Whilst I’m on this thread someone may be able to help- the steak at beach house is a £7 surcharge- is that on top of the £5 cover charge? If so I’d rather go to glass house!