Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome back to the Sober Cruise podcast. My name is Martin and as always I'm joined by Mark. Mark, how are you today? I'm well, Martin. How are you this morning? Very good, thank you very much. Well, I think my stomach is going to be starting rumbling soon because this week we're talking about food on board Virgin Voyages, which is i think is probably one the things that sets Virgin Voyages apart and one of the things we both love about the cruise, isn't it?
Speaker: It is indeed, yes. one of my favourite subjects, and and I think of all the cruise lines I've been on, I think Virgin would be pretty close to the top in terms of their food. Yes, I think Virgin Voyages food is definitely one of the definite one the the strong sort of points. I mean, on board, you're going be able to go to various types of restaurants. So you've got your, what would be, let's face it, these would be speciality restaurants on board, every one. You'd be paying extra to go. you know If you were going on Royal Caribbean or NCL, these are the paying restaurants, but these are all included restaurants. on virgin and then you've got other places to eat around the ship as well which we're going to go into um but today we're going talking mainly about the the six um main restaurants so if you've been on another cruise before you may be used to like a main dining kind of thing that you have to go at particular time that you've got a 5 30 or goes to dinner at 5 30 i thought i'll tell you it's to me i don't understand that one 5.30 dinner and then the ah the next one might be like an 8.15 dinner or something like that. um
Speaker: Whereas on Virgin, you make a restaurant reservation. The same as you would do you know if you were going out for a meal um in town. You'd make a restaurant reservation, wouldn't you? So it's a similar vibe. so Yes, so it's it's it's maybe we're thinking about you know how restaurants and cruise ships have changed over the years. you know When I started cruising about 25 years ago, It was just coming to the end of the idea that you you picked a dining time of say six o'clock or eight o'clock and you went to the same table every night and you sat with the same people every night, some of whom you may never have met before.
Speaker: And that was pretty much your only option. and And then about 25 years ago, NCL offered it, started this idea of freestyle dining where you could just rock up to the restaurant and whenever you wanted and get a table.
Speaker: And then a little bit after that, they then started offering this idea of specialty restaurants where on top of the main dining room, you had effectively a steakhouse or an Italian. and But what happened over the years was that this those specialty restaurants started out being really very cheap. that They were about 10 or $15 or both. But over the years, and they've become quite expensive. So now if you go to NCL, or Celebrity or one of those ones, you could easily be paying $60 or $70 on top of the normal to go to the specialty restaurant.
Speaker: And of course, the great thing about Virgin is that they've completely done away with that concept. They have no main dining room at all. And all the specialty restaurants are in effect free, you know, and so those are the ones that we're going to be talking about today.
Speaker: Yeah, there are things on them on each menu um which you you can pay extra for. So the little sort of treat yourself thing. So, for example, in the wake, um you know, there's four different types of steaks that you can get in the wake. But if you want to go for the tomahawk steak, which me and my friend did actually do once, it's absolutely huge, um then you pay extra for that.
Speaker: um But if you want to go into the wake and have... steak or four different steaks if you want to, those are all included. And they are really good quality because um Virgin worked with Michelin star chefs on land to create these menus. So, you know, it's not just dry pasta and, you know, steaks that have been sat there for a while. These are really top-level menus, aren't they?
Speaker: They are indeed. And of course, one of the other things that they do differently is that each restaurant has its own kitchen. And whereas on a lot of the other lines, there's a central kitchen and the food is effectively transferred to the restaurant. So by the time the food gets to you, it could have been going a few hundred meters from where it start where it was cooked.
Speaker: and So yeah, so it is you can't overstate the quality of the food on Virgin. is that the and You are getting restaurant quality food wherever you go. Yeah, this is the kind of food that you'd be paying, you know, if you were on land, if you were in the West End of London but ah before going to the theatre and you went to go and have the equivalent kind of meal, you would be paying, you know,
Speaker: What, £60 for a meal, probably? i was I would say so. So exactly the same as you would do on land if you're going out for dinner before a show or going out with some friends is you'd make a ah restaurant reservation. Now, you can do a walk-up and um see if there's any availability, but, you know, that depends on the evening, depends on the restaurant. But, you know, you make your reservations regularly. You can do that all on the Virgin Voyages app. It's really easy to do.
Speaker: Something to note for first time people is that only around one third of the availability actually goes onto the app before you set sail. So this is so you can sort of make some reservations. And then what will happen is the rest of that availability. saying two-thirds of the availability will become available once you get on board so you know if you don't get that reservation to go to extra virgin or to go to test kitchen or something when you get on board just jump onto the app they also have a dining team down at sailor services and they'll be able to help you um make restaurant reservations as well so
Speaker: if you even if you haven't been able to do it beforehand, the chances are you will be able to get into the restaurant you want to get into. So today we're going be talking about three of the six restaurants that you need need to make a reservation for.
Speaker: um So these ones are going to be Extra Virgin, which is the Italian restaurant, Pink Algarve, which is the Elevated Mexican, and Test Kitchen, which ah is a bit decisive for some people, isn't it?
Speaker: It is, yes. It's a very odd test kitchen. It's fantastic. It's a great experience, and but it's unlike so certainly unlike anything I've ever come across before. Yeah, think of Hesse and Blumenthal kind of thing where it's a bit kind of different um and it's not for everyone. as So we'll explain a little bit more about that later on. So let's start off in Italy, ah extra ah Extra Virgin. So what did you like about this restaurant?
Speaker: um So I quite like Italian food. and Now, the only problem with it, of course, is it's very carb heavy, but it is a very nice restaurant. It was very busy the night we went there and the quality of the food is very high.
Speaker: The one thing I would say to people to be a little bit careful of is that the portion sizes are very large. So you're not going to go hungry when you go to Extra Virgin. So most people start with a kind of a shared plate for a starter and then go on to a pasta and then on to main course and then on to a dessert.
Speaker: But it was really, really nice. What did you think that? Well, you get that charcuterie board as well, which I think is probably my favorite thing about it. I like charcuterie. So I like sort of sharing and you've got the focaccia bread and you've got all the different kind of hams and um and that kind of stuff. So it's really nice to sort of sit around a table and enjoy that. ah The meatballs. Did you try the meatballs? I did. Yeah, they were a lovely. Yeah. yeah we Very nice on there. Again, it is very carb heavy and is very, ah you know, like all Italian food, it's quite heavy. the yeah The pasta, you can have a full size pastry if you really want to, but you can ask for a half portion, a baby portion.
Speaker: And they will ah make a smaller version of it because I think the pasta is really good on board. But then you might think, actually, want have the steak as well ah because the steak in extra virgin is really good. We will be talking about steaks a lot across the next couple of podcast sites. um So you don't necessarily have to have everything. You don't necessarily, you know, for example, the the starters, they're quite shareable.
Speaker: It's quite easy to to to share at the starters. um And then, obviously, you've got the desserts at the end. Now, I thought the desserts, you can just have, you gelato. So it's not particularly filling compared to the carbs. You know, the ice cream just melts in between all the carbs in your stomach. um There are a couple of different sort cake options as well. But what I would say is met you know if you are going to the restaurant a bit later so say for example you've ended up with a nine o'clock um reservation or you know eight o'clock reservation don't think well a better go at four o'clock to go to the galley and go and have some food up there you won't need it go into that that restaurant pretty hungry because you're going come out very a lot heavier than when you went in i'd say yeah You are, yes. And of course, it's not just about pasta. On the main courses, they did have a lovely sea bass, if I remember, as well as the steak you've mentioned, and they had a nice scar chicken cacciatore, I think somebody had.
Speaker: so it's it's So even if you don't like pasta, there's still plenty to choose from.
Speaker: Yeah, the pasta is probably, because they make it fresh on board, And it is really good pan. You can tell it's fresh as opposed to sort of like having sort dry pasta. um And then there's other things as well. There's quite a lot of seafood, isn't there, on the yeah on that as you would expect from Italy. And also so it's quite nice if you're sat. We were sat next to the um the window, weren't we? So it's quite nice to sit there and then look out at sea, to seafood.
Speaker: Yes, it was lovely. It was very nice. And that? I tried the the pork cheek last time because I'd already had the steak a few times when I'd been. ah So that ah I tried the pork cheek, which I liked, but ah i I don't think I'd necessarily have it again. i think, unfortunately, the steak there is, as I say, unfortunately a bad kind of way, Well, you know, the first world kind of kind of problems kind of way is the steak is so good for me that um everything else is is just, like oh, what should I have the steak? And then you've got the pasta as well. So it's not even like you can say, well, I have the steak and I might maybe have a small version of the pork cheek because that's a lot if you're then going to have that pasta on the side. Which pasta did you try?
Speaker: I think I just went for the spaghetti. afi So I think if I remember, Martin, I went for the parpadella, if that's even how you how you pronounce it, but that was lovely. It came with sort of the nice ragu sauce. Yeah, that's that's a really nice one. I've had the gnocchi before, don't think you're a fan of gnocchi, are you? I'm not.
Speaker: I've not. I've also had the tortellini as well, and I think I've had the, I'll never pronounce it correctly, the casserole.
Speaker: Caccio and Pepe? That's how you pronounce it. I mean, it's all pasta, basically, isn't it? It's all pasta. But the parpadell one there with the ragu, with the bolognese sauce, is really good.
Speaker: Yeah. no And of course, it's not just for the meat eaters. There is fish for for anyone who's a pescatarian, and there is ah a nice sort of squash, roasted squash dish for anybody who's a vegetarian. and So there's there's plenty for everybody.
Speaker: ji You just reminded me, i actually, the first time I went to Extra Virgin, I had the squash. And what was it like? i It was really nice because I was trying to be a bit healthier on that cruise. I've given up that now.
Speaker: but was um i was trying to be a bit healthy and thought i've tried the different kind of things and it's it was really not it was very interesting way of doing because i knew everything else would be quite heavy and i knew the squash would be reasonably lighter compared to the other things and i think i probably had steak quite a few times as you did do you tend to do um so quite a trip quite a few times that day or quite a few times that trip I think that's true because I hadn't had any food out of a of of of the wake. But um I knew that I'd be having a lot of meat with the meatballs and with the antipasti to start with. I had the squash as a bit of an old alternative. And then, well, she got the pasta on the side. I think that time was the one I had, the with the ragu. So that was really nice as well. So that's the ah extra virgin.
Speaker: And then so with all of these, these are kind of elevated versions. So obviously, you know, if you think of Italian food, you know, Italian food can be anything from, um you know, just pizza pasta, like a pizza hut kind of thing, know, to, you know, much kind of like nicer food.
Speaker: restaurants are going to get in the west end and you think more of the higher level ones you know this isn't a cheap and cheerful pasta pizza pasta kind of place this is proper italian food and that's what i think a lot of people think that the mexican is just going to be oh it's just going to be like chipotle kind of like fast foodie kind of place and it's not really is it No, it's not. It's not really like your traditional Mexican. It's not kind of enchiladas and and ah burritos, that kind of thing. It really is very high quality food. One of the things I really liked about it was that that it kind of, it had the food split into small plates, medium plates and large plates.
Speaker: And um what we, what most people tend to do is that they have a kind of a selection of the small plates and the medium plates to share and then maybe choose one large plate per person. and But the food, again, was fantastic. I think the corn, they have a corn dish that went down really, really well. Everybody wanted more of that.
Speaker: Well, that was the one I told, because this is the when we went, it was the first time that everyone had been, and that i had been like four or five times before. And I said to everyone, because we were just ordering again for the small, for the starters, we had that the small and the medium plates.
Speaker: And i just said, whatever we were going order for the table with kind of like tapas kind style. I said, we're getting at least two or three of those corns because I could have one just to myself.
Speaker: So I think we can all agree that it was the right idea to order a lot of corn for the table, wasn't it? It was indeed, yes. ah there And we ordered a lot and it all went. you know Yes, there was corn. More,
Speaker: yeah fromlin being It's is's such a simple thing. i mean, it is just literally, you know, sweet corn that's been grilled. And then there's a really nice kind of like mayo, um the sriracha mayo thing is what's on there. It's really nice. It's very simple, but just such a nice kind of thing. Not too heavy as well. Obviously, we know the night before you've been to Extra Virgin, then actually this could be a bit of a lighter kind of a way for you, can't it?
Speaker: It can, it can, but, it and, but you know, it's still very filling. I think like on the, on the main courses, they had like some fish and they had a pork dish that was really, really popular. And they had some duck as well, if I remember. And of course the, the obligatory steak, but, but in, in here, the steak is covered in cheese.
Speaker: Yes. And have to say, I find a bit much, I took most the cheese off, but a lot of people did think it was really, really nice. That was a, it was a nice combination. Yeah, this this the steak is really nice. A lot of people have the duck um and then also the pork, as I said, the pork, and they come with the tortillas to make your own little wraps um as well. So you can that is where you kind of like, you you what you think of Mexican food really, isn't it?
Speaker: you just behave that You do have like the tortillas, the wraps and things like that um as one of the the starters, one of the medium plates, isn't it? You've got like a ah chicken...
Speaker: wrap which is very you kind of have a little bit of that um and then well one of the other big stars I don't know what you're going to say go on ah here we go not everyone waits around for dessert do they sometimes you think oh I've had had too much I'm i'm not going to have a dessert but here that would be a bad decision would be a very bad decision. the the The worst decision that you can make on the cruise is not staying for dessert. And there is only one, well, there are there's more than one thing, but there's one thing that you should be ordering on the menu for dessert. And tell us what that is.
Speaker: It's the chocolate tacos. It's world flavor's chocolate tacos. think literally all they do at each day is just go, we need to make a million chocolate tacos because this is what everyone wants.
Speaker: They are so delicious. What did you feel when the first time you had them? Oh, they were they were fantastic because of course it's not chocolate tacos isn't the whole story. It's chocolate tacos with dulce de leche in the middle. ah And it was they were just lovely.
Speaker: They were just really, really nice. Perfect way to end the meal. They're very sweet. And they come out in two. um And I think a lot of people could... just about managed one they couldn't necessarily have the second one um because it it you know it is quite a uh a sweet uh thing it depends on if you like that kind of thing yeah but everyone absolutely loved them they are amazing they're great they look great as well so they're good for instagram um but yeah i think that's one the things make sure you save enough room and oh yeah if you're eating the corn at your starter that's not a huge amount of room in your stomach is it so i think yeah we're um
Speaker: They're certainly worth leaving space for. Excellent. Yes. Now, Shall we move on to you the controversial restaurants? This is the one that splits people in half. ah You know, people ah really like it or they're kind of k not sifted-y-fussed about it, and that's the Test Kitchen. Yeah.
Speaker: And this one is very different. You know, the the the waiters, waiting staff wear lab coats because we're we're in the lab. We're going be doing food experiments. Well, I say we. The chefs are doing food experiments.
Speaker: And it is a bit kind of different. So you don't actually necessarily get a menu as such. You get an ingredient. And there's three different menus that you potentially could be getting. So menu A, B, and C. Now, it depends on how long your cruise is. If you're on a 14-night cruise, then all three of those would be available. If you're on a shorter cruise, like ah you know an eight-night cruise that we're going on, for example, there's probably going to be two of those available.
Speaker: And they're changed halfway through the cruise. as to what the menu is. So it might be menu A for the first three or four nights and then menu B for the remaining nights and that. So you literally just get a menu that says, for example, mushrooms.
Speaker: And you don't really know what they've done with the mushrooms. When they come out with the mushroom dish, they will then explain. So you've you got various different courses. It's five courses, isn't there?
Speaker: It is, yeah. Yeah, five different courses. Now, there'll always be a meaty option and then they a vegetarian, vegan option on the side. And I would flip between some of them. So, for example, I don't need seafood. So if there was seafood on on the meaty side, I would flip over to the vegetarian or something. Or if I just kind of liked the sound of something slightly more, would move over.
Speaker: to that side so we tried two of the menus didn't we i've done all three the menus in the past we've tried two of the menus menu a and menu b which one did you prefer I think I preferred menu B. Now, they were both very good.
Speaker: Now, I didn't know that before we arrived that you could switch. I thought you had to either choose the meat option or the vegetarian option, but you can actually switch between just by course by course. Or, of course, the other thing you can do is you can have both, which was a very popular decision for the dessert course for quite a few people at our table had had both desserts. and It's an incredible place, really. It looks more like a science lab than a than a restaurant really. The tables, I remember, a kind of stainless steel, as you say. that The staff are all dressed in lab coats. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun. And and if you don't like a particular course, you know, it's not it's not the end of the world. There's another course coming soon.
Speaker: Exactly, yeah. No, it's not incredibly filling. I think i think there were a number of people ah left the table and went straight up to the galley to get some more food. So you're going for the experience as much as the food, really. Yeah, I i would say if you were at home,
Speaker: you would be, that would be filling enough. But because, you know, if you're doing this towards the end of your cruise and your stomach has now got used to eating, you know, a kilogram of a steak a day and and everything else, then you might be feeling hungry. But um I think there's there's a reasonable amount of food, but yeah...
Speaker: You do you see people go into the galley or or go into the social club and go and get like a little peep pop or something afterwards. So some of the things that you can have are you can have there's a corn.
Speaker: We're talking a lot about corn today, aren't we? Nearly as much as we talk about. Yeah. exactly um the The corn one was just just really nice. It was like a corn puree that they then shaped.
Speaker: ah So it looked like corn. It looked like an ear of corn. It was very nice. Yeah, it was very good. And it had a little bit of, um like a little sauce or something, as I remember, yeah on there. I had the tofu for the next round, which was nice. think, did you have the salmon? i did. The salmon was very nice, yeah. yeah yeah And then it was either shrimp or garlic next, but I had the be the beet cashews.
Speaker: which was very nice again as well. And then assume you had the lamb rack. i say it is Yeah. And the lamb was really nice. Again, it's not a huge amount of of lamb, but it it's more because ah what they do to it to make it kind of a bit kind of different.
Speaker: You know, if they took it out there and it was a massive slab of lamb and you didn't like it's obviously a lot of waste. But, know, this is meant, you know, it's, what's the word? Microsvincerella.
Speaker: Microbiology kind of cooking. o stus oh It's not meant to be massive, big plates. It's not a harvester. No. no stuff that's all you pay through it It does look a lot kind of nicer.
Speaker: And then I think we both had both desserts. think we did, yes. Mango afterwards as well. Yes, but we weren't the only ones having both desserts. think most of the people at the table were, certainly most of the men at the table were having both desserts.
Speaker: Yeah, and then on the on the other menu, there's like a mushroom kind of one. and One of the things that kind of puts people off is they see the ah the egg yolk caviar.
Speaker: oh Now, I had to... Yeah, so that was effectively a plate of cold peas with a not-cooked egg on top. And I just... i it looked lovely, but I just couldn't. I just couldn't eat it.
Speaker: And there was caviar in there as well. Yes, about a tiny bit caviar, yes. Yeah, I had the vegetarian version, so I had olive oil drops instead of caviar.
Speaker: Yeah. um um And and the the the bread you get with it is quite nice as well. And um i didn't mind too much the the egg, but I think it put a lot of people off.
Speaker: A lot of people thinking of Edwina Curry when the egg came out. Yes. Yeah. And the other thing to mention about the test kitchen is that it's a very real relaxed serving. So it's not a place to go to if you're in a hurry. I think if of all the meals that we had, it took the longest. I think it took two and a half, maybe three hours. Yeah, yeah I think two hours is probably, you know, if you're going at a reasonable kind of pace and that. But yeah, allow two, two and a half hours. skin It is going to be a long kind of experience. You can take it out. now Some of the dishes are served under a bell jar. So they lift it off and it's got the smoke underneath it. So there's a bit theatre to the whole thing.
Speaker: When your dishes arrive, your servers will come out and they'll serve the the whole table. at the same time and they'll explain what it is and what they've done to it uh what what's in it etc so you get like a full breakdown uh of what the um but what the what's actually included in the food and um um what it is and what they've done but it is a really um cool uh place to go to menu c doesn't really come out a huge amount because it's more on sort of the longer uh cruises wasn't a fan of anything on there very strange and that so um you can ask beforehand you know go down and go and see what the menu is and you can go and ask um what if you've got a reservation for say night five you can go down and say which menu is it on night five I'm sure there's people who do like menu. You see, it wasn't for me. It was, the main was chicken on top of chicken, on top of chicken in like, harsh, very strange. Some of the, some of the things were very odd.
Speaker: So, um yeah, some people will love it. Some people hate it. yeah And um I, you know, you like the menu A and B, but menus to the, yeah, And just one other little thing to say with the test kitchen before we move on, which might be interesting to some of our sober cruisers, is it's also the venue for what are called the Friends of Bill W meetings. It's 8 o'clock in the morning, isn't it?
Speaker: It was eight o'clock every morning. Yeah. Yeah. So it's basically an AA meeting at sea. It's self-run. So you don't need to, you know, they're set up a room. e is away from everything else. You know, you're not, ah a you know, you're not doing it in the middle of the dining restaurant. but what What most people would do is they'll go to the galley first, get some coffee from there and then head down to the meeting. Now the meeting was at eight o'clock every morning, which at at the start of the vacation, people were saying, oh, that's very early.
Speaker: But actually by the end, people were kind of saying, well, this is a really lovely way to start the day. Just going down, having a cup of coffee, having a bit of a chat with other people on board who are who are kind of in a similar situation, who are maybe cruising sober, maybe some for the first time, some for the 21st time. ah And it was just a lovely way to kickstart the day.
Speaker: Yeah, nice way in half your coffee. And it's a nice venue, to be fair, as well, isn't it? It is. na Yeah. That all happens down there. um So we've covered three of the restaurants and also how to make your restaurant reservations. On the next episode, we'll be talking about The Wake, which we is a a brunch and also dinner place. Razzle Dazzle, which is also a brunch and dinner place. And then also Gumby as well, which is... um Again, one of those kind of places that it's a lot of fun, but I sometimes think not everyone likes it because it can be a bit loud and things that, but it's a really it's a social restaurant, isn't it?
Speaker: It is, yeah. It was great fun. It was great fun. So they've served eight people per table, and food served in the middle for everybody. and it was ah Yeah, I really enjoyed that. We went twice in our last cruise, so it good.
Speaker: The chicken and the big one, we'll talk about on there on the next, ah but particularly, and then on a ah podcast after that, we'll also be talking about other places you can go around the ship. So you've got the galley, and then you've also got all those other little kind of places to eat, as well as the things like the social club. so you're not going to starve on the Virgin Voyages cruise, are you You're not, no. So there's always places to get pizza and ice cream and burgers. and But again, i can't say this enough, the quality of the food is just so good. Very, very good, yes. So um if you'd like to find out more about sailing with us, please go to thesobercruise.co.uk. From there, you can find out all about the cruise that we'll be doing with Virgin Voyages and other cruises we'll be doing as well plus also you can book in a call as well so if you want to chat a little bit about what is a sober cruise what happens on board what's the kind of group like then you can book in a call and have a little chat with us uh to find out a little bit more but um thank you for joining us today mark and ah hopefully that you're too your stomach's not rumbly too much after all this talk of food um and we shall see you on the next podcast okay thanks martin see you next time
