Why can't there be life in the Verandah restaurant on QM2

[deck chair]

Hi one and all!

I have sailed on QM2 over 40 times since 2006.  I have never found the Verandah Restaurant (Formerly Todd English) especially interesting.  IMHO is a boring lifeless place even if the food is very good.  It could be so much more, like the original Verandah Grill on the Queen Mary.

 

I have been watching YouTube videos of the EMPIRE SUPPER CLUB on the new Icon of the Seas and the SILVER NOTE on Silversea cruise line ships.  Both are specialty dining rooms offering subtle live music and a beautiful vibe: HIGH DEMAND GO  TO PLACES because they are full of life, good food and drink.  So, I ask myself, why can't Cunard Line do this on the Queen Mary 2?  Why can't Verandah also be a high demand go to place full of life instead of the boring place it is now.  By the way, it's been my experience that the Verandah is rarely fully booked.  No wonder!  It has the personality of an ash tray.  Cunard,  you can do better!

Deck Chair.

 

 

Edited March 28 by deck chair

[tv24]

Deck Chair:  I do agree with you.  We have dined at the Verandah a few times and also found it a dull space with few tables occupied.  The up charge is fairly high, so that certainly discourages some potential diners.  But compared to the activity in the gorgeous main Britannia dining room, or even the busy QG and PG dining rooms, the Verandah is way too quiet and boring.  We have sailed Silversea, and the Silver Note that you mention is one of our favorite spaces on board.  The food is good and the cabaret music is perfection.  When we dine in another restaurant on board, we often go to the Silver Note after dinner to sit at the bar and listen to the music.  Passengers go there to dance!  And there is no up charge for dining at the Silver Note.

[WantedOnVoyage]

"The smaller the house, the greater the effort"... the old show biz adage suits here. 

 

The service tries way too hard, it's frankly embarassing, over the top, insincere and some of the "added touches" are downright lame... like selecting your steak knife as if you're picking duelling pistols. Fine beef should not require a blade that looks like a fit for a Lee-Enfield rife. The maitre d' has been, in our experience, a non-entity who spends the whole evening peering intensely at a computer screen... how long does it take to find tables for the average eight people in a 45-seat restaurant on a given evening?  The "view" from your table is invariably the smoker's corner out on deck.  And it's way too brightly lit to impart an intimate or romantic atmosphere.  Finally... the menu is pedestrian, boring Aberdeen Steak House fayre and all that's missing is the fag ash in the velour upholstery and the Black Forest Gateau. 

 

It was at least better menu wise when they tried to recreate the proper Veranda Grill of the old QUEENs with a sophisticated French menu and there wasn't a steak fry or a "hot fudge sundae" within 100 yards.  

 

I'd gut it... convert the space to a new Grills Lounge with outside deck adjoining and repurpose the existing Grills Lounge.  

[Pushpit]

I can see the point being made here, the experience is somewhat stultifying even if that's not the intent. A small number of tables, high staffing, rather quiet, perhaps a bit intimidating.  The answer in this space is usually to get the right staff who know how to pitch themselves to any and all tables, to ensure they walk away enjoying the food, the company and the service. 

 

Perhaps Queen Anne is the opportunity here? With various different approaches perhaps Cunard will be able to cross-fertilise the best aspects over to Verandah. Also I would also like to see every day having some sort of special on the menu - it's all a bit standardised at the moment particularly at lunch.

[WantedOnVoyage]

Yet, the same concept... and alas same menu... works so much nicer on QE and QV.  We enjoyed a lovely luncheon and a dinner on QV in the Veranda last cruise.  And several years ago, they had a really delightful Sunday Brunch.  The staff is attentive but not in your face although the wine steward was a bit over the top, the atmosphere was just the right touch of friendly, professional, select without "oh look at at us."  On QM, the Veranda's best purpose is its notorious "short cut out on deck" during the day.  

[D&N]

We're not tempted by the QM2 Steakhouse at the Verandah menu.

Our meat consumption on our Mediterranean diet is probably far lower than most non vegetarians. We only eat fillet or Wagyu steaks (only twice so far) and would never have more than 5 oz each as part of a balanced plate. We eat seafood but my wife isn't that keen on vast quantities and the platter sounds far too big.

 

We rarely found that the Britannia menu didn't have something we wanted to taste and on the odd night that we felt all the options were a bit boring, we had the Britannia Club à la carte menu to fall back on. There wasn't a night I would have preferred the Verandah menu to Britannia Club.

 

To be honest we don't really sail to eat well. We cook almost everything from scratch here, or batch cook it and freeze it. Our food always tastes good but isn't presented as in a restaurant. Our four legged waiters are more likely to try and steal our food rather than serve it.

 

If we want a gourmet experience we'll go to one of the many top restaurants along this coastline.

 

So in conclusion, after that lengthy explanation, from our point of view Cunard would probably be wasting their time coming up with anything different as we're unlikely to be tempted.

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

We agree with so much here, particularly the distinction between a very pleasant Verandah on QE and a dull but pretentious Verandah on the QM2. Our Verandah dinner on the QM2 in December was included as part of the reservation package we’d booked on a previous sailing, and the maître d’ was surprisingly condescending about it.
 

That was irritating, particularly as the meal was not nearly so good as what we’ve had in steakhouses on land. Actually, it wasn’t as good as what we can do at home. As restaurant reviewers for our city’s paper for almost 8 years, we do have a pretty good standard for comparison, and Verandah on QE was very good, while the one on QM2 was, at best, pedestrian. The physical placement and lighting, etc on QM2 was also far below what we expected: dull and dim.

 

We probably won’t ever use the Verandah on QM2 again, which is a shame because, despite the pretentious knife presentations, QE shows how good it could be.

[exlondoner]

As far as the food in any of the Veranda’s goes, I never feel it is worth forsaking the QG for. We do use our diamond vouchers, but in the pop ups.

[Antonio82]

May I enquire - what are pop ups

[exlondoner]

Just now, Antonio82 said:

May I enquire - what are pop ups

Part of the Lido is converted into a proper restaurant every evening, such as La Piazza for Italian. They rotate throughout the cruise, and are all jolly nice. Diamonds get a voucher, otherwise it is $25, I think.

[Antonio82]

Thanks, I don't get around as I should. 

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, Antonio82 said:

Thanks, I don't get around as I should. 

No reason why you should, and I probably wouldn’t visit, were it not for the voucher. But, if you’ve got a bit of credit, it might be worth using it on one of them.

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

We’ve used two “pop ups” and both were superior to the QM2’s Verandah, though not to QE’s. We paid for both and think paying for a “pop up” dinner makes more sense than a free QM2 Verandah meal.

[NE John]

This topic certainly has given me “food” for thought to stick with PG (and pub lunch) dining going forward. Oh, and the occasional Cafe Carinthia bite here and there. 

[BklynBoy8]

41 minutes ago, NE John said:

This topic certainly has given me “food” for thought to stick with PG (and pub lunch) dining going forward. Oh, and the occasional Cafe Carinthia bite here and there. 

 

I do agree with you with the cuisine of the PG and Pub and BC when booked.

 

Also with Carinthia which we are introducing ourselves too!

 

But I don't see the debate with Verandah which we have been happy and satisfy with on past visits. Sometimes with reviews and comments I wonder if I have been on the same Ship.

 

[canoncruiser]

Alas no, the Verandah on QM2 IS NOT as on the old Queens; in the evening they were night clubs-but I confess I rather like the present, quiet and calm atmosphere. A late friend and I were on QM2 in 2004 after the Olympics; the Olives’ portions were huge-really too much! I’ve not found the service overbearing; there have been changes and ups and downs-which I put down to the rhythms of  modern seafaring labor availability. The food is consistent and I think, very good.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind some nice modulated dinner piano music. But that’s me-too many venues are too loud with folks having to talk over the entertainment.

[DreamingOfSunnyDays]

Appreciate I might be a lone voice reading these musings, but I love the Verandah. The food is extremely high quality and one of my favourite steak restaurants at sea. It saddens me that it’s at sea!

 

I also love choosing a knife- it gives it a sense of occasion. 

[D&N]

Perhaps Cunard could introduce knife throwing classes as a daytime activity.

Then visitors to The Verandah could select their knife on the basis of it's balance and suitability for throwing.

[Jim_P]

I agree that the Verandah isn't the most exciting restaurant but I personally like the low key quality of it. Its nice to go to when you want a nice quiet meal away from the hustle and bustle of the MDR and the food is excellent. And I like they they dont go over the top trying to make it feel "special" to justify the charge. I think some of the specialty restaurants on cruise ships try a little too hard.. 

Edited March 29 by Jim_P

[tv24]

17 hours ago, exlondoner said:

As far as the food in any of the Veranda’s goes, I never feel it is worth forsaking the QG for. We do use our diamond vouchers, but in the pop ups.

We do the same thing with our vouchers.  We go to one of the pop ups, which can be quite good, for some variety and a break from the Grills.

[JT1101]

Count me as another Verandah fan. I LIKE the quieter atmosphere and the more traditional steakhouse fare. I have never found the service there to be substandard in any way. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

Of all the adjectives I've read above, pretentious and condescending hit home for me. On a short cruise, we decided to make our evening at the Verandah a formal night, although it wasn't an official formal night. When we arrived, the snooty maitre d' said, "Now, you do know that this is a formal dining experience, yes?" Hellloooo? Men in tuxes, women in gowns, did he really think we were looking for a McDonald's experience? 

 

Service was slow and disorganized. Long waits between courses. Mains arrived at the table one or two at a time over a span of at least 10 minutes. Two of us had meat that was so overcooked it was inedible. And then, after 3 hours and we still hadn't been given dessert menus, we decided we were done. The maitre d' came over and said that surely there must be something on the dessert menu we would like, as if we offended him by being tired of the whole experience. 

 

Perhaps staff from QE or QV could spend a few weeks on QM2 teaching that bunch how to run a restaurant. 

[exlondoner]

15 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Of all the adjectives I've read above, pretentious and condescending hit home for me. On a short cruise, we decided to make our evening at the Verandah a formal night, although it wasn't an official formal night. When we arrived, the snooty maitre d' said, "Now, you do know that this is a formal dining experience, yes?" Hellloooo? Men in tuxes, women in gowns, did he really think we were looking for a McDonald's experience? 

 

Service was slow and disorganized. Long waits between courses. Mains arrived at the table one or two at a time over a span of at least 10 minutes. Two of us had meat that was so overcooked it was inedible. And then, after 3 hours and we still hadn't been given dessert menus, we decided we were done. The maitre d' came over and said that surely there must be something on the dessert menu we would like, as if we offended him by being tired of the whole experience. 

 

Perhaps staff from QE or QV could spend a few weeks on QM2 teaching that bunch how to run a restaurant. 

I did once have lunch in the Verandah on one of the Vistas, using my voucher. It was much like your experience above. It is the only time on a Cunard ship I have ever felt unworthy and condescended to. Now we use our voucher in the pop ups, where the staff are always lovely.

[Victoria2]

57 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I did once have lunch in the Verandah on one of the Vistas, using my voucher. It was much like your experience above. It is the only time on a Cunard ship I have ever felt unworthy and condescended to. Now we use our voucher in the pop ups, where the staff are always lovely.

No staff condescension when we lunched there on QV, but we thought the experience very pretentious.

[tony s]

Best steak we ever had on a cruise last November on QE. However the pretense of the wait staff was something out of Faulty Towers.