Pleasure Cruise Food.

P & O Pacific Dawn

7 Day Island Hopper Cruise

If you’re researching the many different cruise lines that operate around the world for your big ocean adventure, you’ll see that food seems to be, among many other things, the biggest draw card and indeed the greatest attraction to passengers.  For a quick example the Radiance of the Sea of Royal Caribbean Cruises boasts twelve restaurants.  That’s what we have our eyes on at the moment for our next cruise.  And although the high end fine dining venues all require a nominal fee which is well worth the money, they also have amazing food that is included in your fare.  That means that if you want to, you can eat every meal of your cruise, and in between meals, for no extra cost.      

On the Pacific Dawn, included with your fare, you will enjoy the most fabulous selection of dishes for breakfast lunch and dinner at the Plantation Restaurant from 6 in the morning until 9 at night, with a small break after lunch from 3 to 4pm (good time for a nap).  The Plantation is two huge buffet lines that takes you through a culinary journey every meal. 

 

 

They offer a fabulous hot breakfast that includes all the old favourites and many brilliant dishes that make the start of your day special.  For example Texas beans and Swedish meat balls complimented my fluffy scrambled eggs and waffles perfectly.  An array of healthy cereals, hot oats and fresh cut tropical fruits were in abundance.  Of course there are cold fruit juices and hot coffee and tea on offer as well.  Everything you can think of for a good breakfast is there every morning.

The lunch and dinner at the Plantation is almost overwhelming with the variety of dishes.  I would often arrive at my table with a portion of six different dishes on my plate, and go back for more.  A selection of beautiful deserts is always available.  Roast meats and seafood dishes, curries, house baked baguettes and cold meats and salads galore.  We were on board for seven days and I believe I wouldn’t get bored with the food if we ate there for a month.  The quality and freshness is first rate and the execution of each dish is equally brilliant.

Also included in our fare was the a la carte Waterfront Restaurant.  The dining room is huge with high ceilings and art deco décor.  It’s really a beautiful place to have a meal with a big table of friends.  The menu is made up of two parts.  They have a fixed menu that doesn’t change for the whole cruise and a menu that changes every day.  We ate there twice because I wasn’t really impressed with the food the first time and wanted to give the place another chance to shine.  The Waterfront is available for breakfast and lunch most days without a booking but you have to book a table for dinner as it is very popular at night.

For me, the plan was to try the dinner menu only, as we had plenty of other places we had to try during the voyage.  The presentation of the food is fabulous.  I couldn’t fault it.  But everything I ate including the deserts was way over cooked.  The fish was dry and unappealing, the meat was overdone and the chocolate cake was almost stale.  The sticky toffee cake was hard as a brick and I couldn’t eat more than a mouthful.  I am so disappointed.  Although, looking around the other tables and asking friends what they thought, I had the impression that most of the food was precooked and reheated before serving.  Every dish looked exactly the same and probably tasted just as bad. 

Many tables were families eating together and most people were having a great time.  I saw children ordering from a menu, perhaps for the first time, and being delighted with their experience of the Waterfront restaurant.  I did see quite a few unfinished plates going back to the kitchens but no one was complaining.  Is it a case of seeing everything through rose coloured glasses just because they are on the holiday of a life time?  Well not me, I didn’t want to make a fuss and even if I did it wouldn’t have changed a thing.  So I decided that I would stay away from the Waterfront assembly line and enjoy the other fantastic eating venues on board the Pacific Dawn.

The culinary highlight on the Pacific Dawn is the Salt Grill restaurant which is one of celebrity chef Luke Mangan’s creations.  We made a booking as soon as we got on board and its reputation precedes it.  We were really looking forward to fine dining at sea for a small fee and leaving the memory of the Waterfront restaurant behind us.  We also had reservations for the La Luna restaurants Thai banquet and the Chinese banquet.  I’ll tell you all about those experiences in upcoming articles.  Thanks for reading.  See you next time. 

Bon Appetite.

Karl

McNevin's Gunyah Restaurant Update

Warwick Queensland.

Hello dear readers, I just needed to update you on our latest visit to the Gunyah, because many of you have dined there on my recommendation and enjoyed yourselves.  Well it looks like one of our favourite local places to eat is going through a transition, to put it lightly.

To begin with, the young rising star of the kitchen Chef Grant Calvert has left the building, and rumour has it that Grant has bought his own cafe / restaurant.  We'll try to catch up with Grant soon.  Just the other night Kelly and I decided to go to the Gunyah to celebrate Kelly's birthday and we were totally shocked at how poorly the food was cooked and how quiet and depressing the place was.

We're not sure why but the in house musician has left for greener pastures as well and reservations are at an all time low.  As far as our meal was concerned, it was a negative statement in three courses.  There was no passion or care in the execution and the quality was truly pathetic.

Because it was Kelly's birthday I couldn't make a fuss.  I paid the $109 reluctantly and couldn't bring myself to leave a tip.  When we got home I wrote an honest email to the General Manager of the McNevin company in Sydney and I was relieved to receive a great reply from Narelle McNevin the next working day.

The good people at McNevin's are aware of the problem and are working hard to come up with a solution soon.  My suggestion was to close the place until things can be worked out but that's not going to happen.  I believe a new menu will be launched soon and I hope I can convince Kelly to give it another try.  Maybe we will get an invitation for your benefit.  Who knows?

So, to all those local Food Trekkers who will miss the good honest food and cosy atmosphere of the Gunyah, keep an eye on our blog for further updates.  The Gunyah showed so much promise and we hoped it would become one of the special venues on the Darling Downs.  It's not too late for McNevin's to turn it around and reinvent the Gunyah and get back our confidence but in the meantime, if you do go to the Gunyah demand perfection and don't pay for overcooked, burned or mediocre dishes that are over priced.  It's the only way they'll learn.

We really want to champion our local food industry and not be too critical, but we know how hard you work for your money and you should be warned if a restaurant is not up to scratch.  So I feel bad about the Gunyah but I have high hopes for their recovery.

In the next couple of weeks, Kelly and I are going to dine at a bohemian French inspired restaurant in Warwick that only advertises by word of mouth and opens to the public only once a week to a full house.  It's called "joie de vivre - the joy of life" and we cant wait to tell you all about it.

We also continue our series on our Pacific Cruise Food Trek, so stay tuned to our blog and as usual, Bon Appetite.
Karl