Terrace Cafe menu

[EJL2023]

1 hour ago, clo said:

I just looked at the Polo Grill menu and both of those dishes are listed.

Actually if you look at the Polo Grill menu specifically listed under Vista, the prime rib is not listed.  It is however still listed under the O ships and under Toscana Grill on Sirena,etc.  and it was indeed not available on Vista on our cruise this past May.  

[clo]

1 hour ago, EJL2023 said:

Actually if you look at the Polo Grill menu specifically listed under Vista, the prime rib is not listed.  It is however still listed under the O ships and under Toscana Grill on Sirena,etc.  and it was indeed not available on Vista on our cruise this past May.  

Sorry about that. I googled "oceania vista prime rib" and got this:

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Menus/81604521654/Polo-Grill-Main-Menu.pdf

 

I guess they changed their mind. I wonder if they decided it was worth the money to cook a whole rib roast if maybe not many people would order it. 

 

[Redtravel]

I miss prime rib at Polo. We were on Vista in January.  Got prime rib in GDR.  Food choices are very good. Best dinner was at Ember.  Ribeye steak was excellent.  Also liked the potato soup.  I enjoyed trying all the dining venues.  I usually skip buffets. However, Terrace Grill is. Really good especially at dinner. 

[Mareblu]

7 hours ago, iowananny said:

We were on Vista last month and really enjoyed Ember.  It was a nice change from some of the fancier food we'd been eating and was very enjoyable.  Please don't try it because of things some people who might not have ever been there say.

 

My husband and I were never a fan of Jacques.  My husband worked for a French company for 30 years thus many trips to France, I've probably been there at least 30 times and I hate to think of how many times my husband was there.  We never thought Jacques compared much to the real thing.  At one time there was a restaurant in Des Moines that was had much better French food in my opinion but it's gone now.  To me it seemed more like a 60s or 70s French restaurant which was meant to impress. But many people really enjoyed it and I respect their opinion.  I love mille-feuille and I tried it twice there and both times it was not good.  In fact it was bad.

 

We were very happy with the food on Vista.  One of the highlights of our food experience was the wine luncheon they served.  Yeah, it was expensive, $159 per person plus a $20 service fee but oh it was good.  We were able to taste wines we probably will never buy a bottle of but it sure was fun to taste and the food was really, really good.

 

The new Aquamar Kitchen was excellent and we aren't health food nuts.  It just had good food and we ate there several times and were always impressed..

 

 

 

 

I’m grateful for your post for many reasons, the main one being you’ve voiced exactly what I’ve been reluctant to express:  we have never, in 17 years of sailing Oceania, been great fans of the Jacques experience.  

I know so many on the Oceania threads are loyal to Jacques, and for that reason I’ve been hesitant to say we’ve generally, but with admittedly some exceptions, found the offerings too heavy and overly rich.  Authentic French cuisine, particularly regional fare, is not.  Whether classic or cuisine nouveau, French food is fresh, seasonally sourced, and simple.  Of course, exceptions abound, especially in dessert and bakery items. Even French recipes calling for lashings of butter and other dairy products can be easily digested, if authentically prepared.  
only my humble opinion.  
We won’t miss Jacques on Vista, because we wouldn’t have chosen it as one of our specialty dining experiences anyway.  I deeply respect, however, many CC members’ love of Jacques and all it offers.

[clo]

8 hours ago, davencl said:

I share your opinion of Jaques.  It's my least favorite restaurant.  Overprepared bland food.

Wow. They must have seriously changed the menu. My seared foie gras was wonderful. And the escargots were the best I've ever had.

 

 

[Mareblu]

The escargot was a dish we actually did enjoy.  As I said above, there were certainly some exceptions.  We found the foie gras overly heavy, so much so that it was a long time before we tried it elsewhere, and it’s a favourite dish.  The same dish in Cunard’s Queens Grill a year ago was exquisite:  aromatic and truly umami:  yet so light it was dancing.  You may try it and disagree, and I would accept that.

[Snaefell3]

11 hours ago, clo said:

I just looked at the Polo Grill menu and both of those dishes are listed.

O has tossed us both a curve ball...  The Polo Grill menu changes by ship!

 

Marina: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Menus/81604521654/Polo-Grill-Main-Menu.pdf

Vista: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/sites/default/files/2023-04/polo-grill-dinner-sample.pdf

[SSFrance69]

6 hours ago, Snaefell3 said:

O has tossed us both a curve ball...  The Polo Grill menu changes by ship!

 

Marina: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Menus/81604521654/Polo-Grill-Main-Menu.pdf

Vista: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/sites/default/files/2023-04/polo-grill-dinner-sample.pdf

I also noticed that a dish I tried last year on Riviera is not on the Vista menu.
Pancetta Wrapped Filet of Veal with Bay Lobster Tail Oscar Style.
What a shame because I really quite enjoyed it. I'm sure I'll find something else.

[Harters]

13 hours ago, Mareblu said:

Whether classic or cuisine nouveau, French food is fresh, seasonally sourced, and simple.

Our view about Jacques (Marina in 2018) was that it was more the sort of menu a tourist expects to find in a touristy French restaurant, rather than the food you'd find in a good restaurant in a small French town. That's not to denigrate it as such, but I won't miss there being no Jacques on Vista and, instead, am really looking forward to trying  a new experience at Ember. 

[MEFIowa]

7 minutes ago, Harters said:

...it was more the sort of menu a tourist expects to find in a touristy French restaurant, rather than the food you'd find in a good restaurant in a small French town. ... am really looking forward to trying a new experience at Ember. 

Thank God for the usually wonderful TC and menu.

 

Though since O says this about Ember--

 

"PURE AMERICAN TRADITIONS Welcome to Ember, where savory American classics come to life with a modern twist."

 

--guess this is the sort of menu a tourist expects to find in a suburban American strip mall chain restaurant?

 

One may wonder, what do French, Greek, Italian, and Spanish tourists expect to eat when it comes to "savory American classics"?

[Harters]

11 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

guess this is the sort of menu a tourist expects to find in a suburban American strip mall chain restaurant?

Yes, very possibly. I usually like American chain restaurants - they can be a different "foreign" experience.

 

I'd hazard a guess that most British tourists to the States visit  Florida and New York City. And certainly family members who visit Florida rave about the chains for their value for money.

 

I'm not most British tourists though having spent holiday time in every East Coast state (except Delaware) and several more not directly on the coast. That's over the last four decades. The internet has made it much easier to find those great little restaurants that the locals love - in early trips, you really only knew about the places you could see from the hotel or had passed driving into town. 

 

I've no idea what fellow Europeans may think of as classic American food but my bet is that it won't be much different than fellow Britons. And that's probably conditioned by what we see on TV or film. Which, probably, won't generally take into account regional differences  - great seafood in New England; great BBQ in the Carolinas, for example. 

 

Here's the sort of "small town France" menu I had in mind. The Basilique is a favourite restaurant when I'm visiting the small town of Albert in Northern France.

http://ciavmqx.cluster027.hosting.ovh.net/menu/Menu.pdf

[Woofbite]

1 hour ago, MEFIowa said:

 

 

"PURE AMERICAN TRADITIONS Welcome to Ember, where savory American classics come to life with a modern twist."

 

--guess this is the sort of menu a tourist expects to find in a suburban American strip mall chain restaurant?

 

One may wonder, what do French, Greek, Italian, and Spanish tourists expect to eat when it comes to "savory American classics"?

 

We had friends from England who raved about the wonderful new breakfast place they found in the U.S.  Turned out it was IHOP!

 

 

[Harters]

I love IHOP. I wish we had a chain like that in the UK

 

My late parents in law used to visit Florida annually for many years. Then one year they went with one of his daughters and her family, who had been to the state before. One morning, she suggested breakfast at IHOP. FiL objected - he'd never been because he assumed it was a Chinese place. 

Edited February 19 by Harters

[ORV]

2 minutes ago, Harters said:

I love IHOP. I wish we had a chain like that in the UK

 

My late parents in law used to visit Florida annually for many years. Then one year he went with one of his daughters and her family, who had been to the state before. One morning, she suggested breakfast at IHOP. FiL objected - he'd never been because he assumed it was a Chinese place. 

Glad you had a good experience. I do know that it's a breakfast place, and the full name is International House Of Pancakes. I ate there once and had to send the eggs back twice. At that point I was starting to wonder what they would do to my food, we got up and left, have never been back. But you have to wonder, just how hard is it to prepare eggs over medium in a place that specializes in breakfast food?

[AMHuntFerry]

5 hours ago, SSFrance69 said:

I also noticed that a dish I tried last year on Riviera is not on the Vista menu.
Pancetta Wrapped Filet of Veal with Bay Lobster Tail Oscar Style.
What a shame because I really quite enjoyed it. I'm sure I'll find something else.

I wonder if it is possible to order off-menu since it's an O-recipe (I've done this on land when a restaurant's menu changes and one of my favorites disappears). It might be worth asking a day or more in advance, and if they have the ingredients you may be pleasantly surprised.

Edited February 19 by AMHuntFerry

[clo]

26 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

I wonder if it is possible to order off-menu since it's an O-recipe (I've done this on land when a restaurant's menu changes and one of my favorites disappears). It might be worth asking a day or more in advance, and if they have the ingredients you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

26 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

I wonder if it is possible to order off-menu since it's an O-recipe (I've done this on land when a restaurant's menu changes and one of my favorites disappears). It might be worth asking a day or more in advance, and if they have the ingredients you may be pleasantly surprised.

I'd guess the filet of veal could be the deal breaker...unless it's going to be on another menu. It sounds downright luscious.

[AMHuntFerry]

14 minutes ago, clo said:

 

I'd guess the filet of veal could be the deal breaker...unless it's going to be on another menu. It sounds downright luscious.

The veal used in the Toscana menu may be adaptable depending on the cut.

[SSFrance69]

1 hour ago, AMHuntFerry said:

I wonder if it is possible to order off-menu since it's an O-recipe (I've done this on land when a restaurant's menu changes and one of my favorites disappears). It might be worth asking a day or more in advance, and if they have the ingredients you may be pleasantly surprised.

Worth a try!

[SSFrance69]

40 minutes ago, clo said:

 

I'd guess the filet of veal could be the deal breaker...unless it's going to be on another menu. It sounds downright luscious.

Downright luscious is a perfect way to describe it. Here it is in all its luscious glory... 

[clo]

9 minutes ago, SSFrance69 said:

Downright luscious is a perfect way to describe it. Here it is in all its luscious glory... 

Where's that drool emoji? That's insane.

[EJL2023]

2 minutes ago, clo said:

Where's that drool emoji? That's insane.

Here ya go. 🤤 you’re welcome. 

[clo]

On 2/18/2024 at 12:22 PM, davencl said:

I share your opinion of Jaques.  It's my least favorite restaurant.  Overprepared bland food.

Curious what "overprepared" means when it comes to food.

[davencl]

11 minutes ago, clo said:

Curious what "overprepared" means when it comes to food.

I'm not sure of the proper term but seems too many steps.  Or perhaps I like simple and the ability to taste the underlying food.  I have great respect for chefs that can make good tasting food regardless of the base but I like simple.

[clo]

2 hours ago, davencl said:

I'm not sure of the proper term but seems too many steps.  Or perhaps I like simple and the ability to taste the underlying food.  I have great respect for chefs that can make good tasting food regardless of the base but I like simple.

Good explanation.

[Harters]

9 hours ago, davencl said:

I have great respect for chefs that can make good tasting food regardless of the base but I like simple.

Absolutely. There's a "tries too hard" style of restaurant cooking that over complicates the dish, often putting on an extraneous ingredient that you'd either prefer not to eat or one that just detracts from the "main event".  I have in mind a place we went to last October. Perfectly cooked chicken breast, with a rarebit topping; spinach, courgette and dauphinoise potato on the plate. And, also, the weird decision to add an Indian spiced bhaji. Now, it was a very nice bhaji but it was just wrong here, with the Asian spices almost overwhelming what was otherwise a very North European dish. .