Solis Restaurant

[Tallante]

3 hours ago, Jaq66 said:

I tried that and now it does not give any menus just fining venues. Technology glitches.

 

3 hours ago, Jaq66 said:

I tried that and now it does not give any menus just fining venues. Technology glitches.

It’s probably because Encore has no passengers onboard as it’s relocating around Africa,  no guests no need to publish daily menus,

[HotRoot]

Not sailing for a year but would love to see a Solis menu.  Cannot find it on line.  Could anyone post it?

[skybluewaters]

There are standard dishes and rotating specials.

This menu is typical.

 

[Yorkieaboard]

Hello there

 

We have just returned from 14 nights on Ovation, dining in Solis twice during our time on board.

Reflections? Reservation numbers were limited in order for the staff to fine tune their service in the new “environment “ which did impact the atmosphere as CV on both occasions the restaurant was about 60% full. The menu is rather “busy” which a number of fellow passengers found hard to navigate but in fact it’s relatively straightforward. The food was mixed, in my humble opinion with some courses being nicer than others.

In summary I would say go with an open mind on the menu and trust that in time things will adapt and excel. They have put some great team members in there with the mission to fine tune and polish - they will get there 😁

[johng75370]

We've got an upcoming Ovation booking, and here is what is posted in the Source app for today's Solis menu.  Solis_menu_day_3.pdf

[lincslady]

Wow!  I would want to study that menu and wine list for some time during the day before setting foot in Solis.  Otherwise  we would be there for hours just digesting the menu, never mind the food.

[skybluewaters]

10 minutes ago, lincslady said:

Wow!  I would want to study that menu and wine list for some time during the day before setting foot in Solis.  Otherwise  we would be there for hours just digesting the menu, never mind the food.

 

And don't forget to bring a dictionary (in several languages).

The menu seems unnecessarily obtuse. 

[HotRoot]

55 minutes ago, johng75370 said:

We've got an upcoming Ovation booking, and here is what is posted in the Source app for today's Solis menu.  Solis_menu_day_3.pdf

Thank you!  I am looking forward to dining there.  

[johng75370]

FWIW, here are some menus from other days showing how they rotate "daily" menu items in addition to the standard Solis offerings. 

solis_menu_day_2.pdf

solis_menu_day_4.pdf

solis_menu_day_5.pdf

solis_menu_day_7.pdf

 

[annapolitan369]

I'm glad that I reserved Solis on our August Quest cruise for the 3rd night of the cruise, rather than our usual pick of the first night for a specialty restaurant.  We will certainly need to spend some time the first 2 days to study the menu!  Does seem unduly complicated along with trying to be too "fancy".

 

[lincslady]

I agree.  A great dinner should be relaxing, which I fear this would not be, after trying to get through the menu.  I expect the food will be generally  delicious, but there really is too much choice for even the most sophisticated diner to cope with easily.  And it does all look a bit pretentious - there is no need to try to make a big impression on the sort of passengers you get on Seabourn and similar ships; they have already seen it all.  Put fewer items on the menu, and change it more often, perhaps.

[Kane]

Here's a tip contra to the complexity of Solis:  Take a look at the daily menu summary and pay special attention to Earth and Sea, which is the Patio in the evening.

 

It's informal and al fresco with basically only two entrees.  Note: if the entree appeals to your liking, be aware that it is EXCELLENTLY DONE.  The only downside is that you have to choose nights that agree with your taste in cuisine.

 

As stated, it is an informal setting but fun.  They jazz things up with a special foo-foo smoky starter.

 

[skybluewaters]

22 hours ago, lincslady said:

Put fewer items on the menu, and change it more often, perhaps.

 

And while they're at it, separate the appetizers from the side dishes and from the entrees more distinctly so you can tell which is which.  Currently they're all over the place.

 

I'm sure much time is wasted by the waiters explaining the menu.

Edited April 3 by skybluewaters

[Mauzac]

To be honest, the first night we went we were a bit confused with it, but the staff in there were so helpful so it only took a few minutes chat about different dishes to decide what to have.

 

After that, on other visits,  it was plain sailing!

[Jaq66]

Hi. Can anyone post day 1 and day 2 Solis menu. Going on the encore in 2 weeks and the source app is not showing any menus.

 

[LongIslandTravel]

Just returned from a 10 day Ovation cruise last week ending in Barcelona.  Ovation is a superb, beautifully designed ship and we ate at Solis twice.  (Requested another night and Eugene, the manager was able to fit us in on the final night.  Great guy.)  Fabulous on both occasions.  The Solis lounge, with Bruno on the piano, was sublime.  He's wonderful and the atmosphere in the lounge (and Solis) was great.  A beautiful venue.  Not sure where all the comments about menu complexity come from.  We had absolutely no problem with the menu, and any questions we had were easily answered.   We didn't study the menu prior or any of that.  Just went in like any other nice restaurant, ship or shore, looked at the menu and made decisions.  Also, there was not a person we spoke to on the cruise who had anything but positives to say about Solis.  Everyone loved it and many had experienced Thomas Keller prior.  No one was confused by the menu.  On the contrary, everyone was impressed by the attention to detail and the offerings.

[lincslady]

Good to read that report.  TK was a bit marmite - love it or dislike it. (I didn't care for it personally).  So glad to hear that it seems to be a success.  And presumably in good weather the outside area will be used, which would be lovely.

[BasandSyb]

Agree LongIsland Travel. We didn’t have any problems with the menu. We also love its variety. Earth and Ocean is so limited which is disappointing on a balmy evening.

[brittany12]

On thing about the otherwise good Solis menu and dining experience...much better than Keller. Which menu certainly does not take a day or two in advance to read and absorb. They include the premium wine list on the back page. I find this offensive. Not a written or verbal mention about the complimentary "fine wines" available there too unless one asks. Its availability in Solis almost has to be clawed out of the waiters, like they are under strict instructions to maximize profit. Make a buck, I always say, but do it ethically and transparently. No different, though, from the Keller days.

[LongIslandTravel]

43 minutes ago, brittany12 said:

On thing about the otherwise good Solis menu and dining experience...much better than Keller. Which menu certainly does not take a day or two in advance to read and absorb. They include the premium wine list on the back page. I find this offensive. Not a written or verbal mention about the complimentary "fine wines" available there too unless one asks. Its availability in Solis almost has to be clawed out of the waiters, like they are under strict instructions to maximize profit. Make a buck, I always say, but do it ethically and transparently. No different, though, from the Keller days.

We had absolutely no experience at all like that with the wine or the wait staff.  No one pushed premium wines or were circumspect with the complimentary wine offerings.  Were you on Ovation?  We had nothing resembling your experience at all.  And we certainly didn’t find having premium wines listed on the back page offensive….  Why would that even an issue?

[LongIslandTravel]

On another note, our dear, wonderful friends from Australia (who we met a number of years ago on Seabourn!) just got off a 20 night round trip Barcelona on Ovation (we missed them by 10 days because of schedule conflicts!!!) and dined at Solis multiple times.  They could not say enough about how much they enjoyed every meal.  
As far as we are concerned, having an option like Solis is something to celebrate and embrace and enjoy.  (And we did!) 

[brittany12]

Each of the dozen or more Seabourn cruises I have ever taken over a a ten year spread has prominently featured the premium wines first in the old alternative higher end restaurant which I believe was called Restaurant 2, then the same after Keller took it over and it is still happening in Solis.  We were just on the Sojourn. Once we even had some fellow sojourners from a foreign country tell us they saw the premium wine list prominently featured in the alternative restaurant , to the exclusion of the waiter even mentioning the regular fine wines" existed, and thought that the premium wines was all that was available in that venue so they paid godnmomney when they would've perfectly happy with the general selection..I find it  even more offensive now that  that it is part of the menu and not a separate paper listing sitting on the table. Do you think that is an accident? Does anyone  seriously doubt Seabourn would much rather have passengers buy premium wines than enjoy the free ones onboard? So a little diversionary tactic in Solis is not surprising.

[sfvoyage]

We just dined at the Solis a couple of nights ago on The Encore. Great service. Not a single word from any of the staff about premium wines. All of us ordered various house wines. None of us even noticed the complimentary wine list on the menu. 

 

By the way, none of the restaurants feature a complimentary wine list.  You can ask for a house wines list to be delivered to your suite.  Sometimes you will get it in a day or two, other times you may not, because the house wine selection changes from time to time due to loading at selected ports.  At a restaurant, you just confer with the staff about which wines are available. The only official wine list available at any venue is for premium wines.

 

Too bad for guests who see a premium wine list at Solis/TK Grill/Restaurant 2 and just assume that house wines are not available at that venue.  How peculiar and illogical. Seabourn is all inclusive; why would anybody assume that wines are not included at a particular dining venue?!  If they are new and unsure, they simply just have to ask. If they don't speak English or any of the languages that the crew speak, just use Google  Translate.  There is no conspiracy to defraud! 👎

Edited August 13 by sfvoyage

[lincslady]

No ,but certainly some of the wait staff/wine servers do draw one's attention to the premium list as if ordering from that is the done thing.

[skybluewaters]

10 hours ago, sfvoyage said:

Too bad for guests who see a premium wine list at Solis/TK Grill/Restaurant 2 and just assume that house wines are not available at that venue.  How peculiar and illogical. Seabourn is all inclusive; why would anybody assume that wines are not included at a particular dining venue?!

 

Exactly