The Best Speciality Dining At Sea

One of the best things about cruising is the food and included in your cruise fare you have lots of delicious restaurants and buffets to sample. However, almost every cruise line offers several ‘speciality’ restaurants, with varying cover charges which are then added to your onboard account. Are they worth it? At LoveitBookit, we think most of them are and here we showcase our personal favourites.

1) Wonderland – Royal Caribbean (Quantum Class)

The slogan for Wonderland is ‘imaginative cuisine’ and it’s just that. Loosely based on ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ you can expect whimsical decor and kooky touches, such as having to paint an easel with a paintbrush for your menu to appear when you book a table in the 62-seater restaurant.

It’s very much of Heston-esque ‘theatre dining’ with the menu broken down into ‘Sun, Ice, Fire, Water, Earth and Dreams.’You can expect food in a wide variety of flavours, textures, temperatures and taste dishes that are smoking, or that resemble a vegetable patch, complete with edible soil and drinks that look like magical elixirs whispering ‘drink me’. You probably wouldn’t want to dine their over multiple nights, but as a one-off experience, it’s definitely not to be missed.

Cover charge:  $45 per head. Food 8/10 ~ Innovation 10/10 ~ Experience 9/10  ~ Total: 27/30

2) Silk Road – Crystal Cruises (Crystal Symphony and Serenity)

With chefs trained and a menu created by sushi master himself, Nobuyuki Nobu Matsuhisa, you know that you are in for an unforgettable dining experience when you dine at Silk Road. With Crystal Cruises, one trip speciality dining is included in your cruise fare (and you are guaranteed at least one reservation to each of their specialty restaurants), however subsequent visits are charged at $30 per head.

Silk Road presents Nobu’s fantastic creations, dishes such as Lobster with Truffle-Yuzu Sauce, Grilled Wagyu Beef Rib-Eye with Wasabi Pepper Sauce, and his signature dessert, a Bento Box filled with Chocolate Souffle Cake with Shiso Syrup and Sesame Ice Cream. All this served in sumptuous surrounding, you can see why cruisers are happy to pay the cover charged again and again.

Cover charge: First visit included in your cruise fare, subsequent visits $30 per head. Food 10/10 ~ Innovation 7/10 ~ Experience 9/10 ~ Total 26/30

3) Qsine – Celebrity Cruises (Celebrity Eclipse, Silhouette, Reflection, Millennium, Infinity and Summit) 

Qsine is restaurant very much based on food you can share and when you get presented with an ipad which is the menu (you are asked to pick what you would like by tapping the relevant dish) it is very easy to over-order, as the dishes, although sharers, are very generous.

As you would expect from Celebrity, the decor is classic with a contemporary twist and lots of bright orange. The food, as mentioned before, is meant for sharing and there are very quirky touches, like being able to make your own guacamole from a platter of ingredients. There are lots of funky twists, like sushi lollipops and disco shrimp (served with a flashing light!). Again, it’s one of those places you wouldn’t want to dine at every night but you’d be a fool to miss out on one of the most amazing dining experiences at sea.

Cover charge: $40 per head. Food 8/10 ~ Innovation ~ 9/10 Experience ~ 8/10 ~ Total: 25/30

4) Remy – Disney Cruise Line (Disney Dream & Fantasy)

When you think of Disney Cruise Line you don’t automatically think of a french-inspired, adults-only dining experience but that is what Remy offers. The cover charge is quite high compared to some of the other speciality dining restaurants, at $75 per person (not including drinks) but it is well worth a visit.

The restaurant is very art-nouveau, with lavish place settings – Frette linens and Riedel glassware adorn the tables. However, this is still Disney, and the character Remy from Ratatouille appears tastefully in various places in the decor!

Food wise, the menu is created by Chef Arnaud Lallement from L’Assiette Champenoise—a Michelin 3-star restaurant just outside Reims, France—and Chef Scott Hunnel from award-winning Victoria & Albert’s at Walt Disney World Resort. Once you have booked you can choose from a choice of two 8 course menus and then meet with the sommelier to pick your wine before you eat. This is a meal not to be rushed, so if you are travelling with children make sure you allow yourself a good couple of hours to enjoy the experience, whilst the kids are having fun of their own at one of the activity clubs Disney is famous for.

Cover charge: $75 per head. Food 9/10 ~ Innovation 6/10 ~ Experience 8/10 ~ Total: 23/30

5) Ocean Blue – Norwegian Cruise Line (Breakaway Class)

Ocean Blue offers a dining experience created by Michelin-starred celebrity chef, Geoffrey Zakarian. Zakarian was involved in developing not only the menu, but choosing the silverware, tableware and had input into the restaurants decor. All this sets you up for a truly special meal, especially if you are a great lover of seafood.

With mouth-watering dishes like ‘Lightly roasted scallops with grapefruit and caramelised port belly’ and ‘Risotto of Jonah Crab’ what Ocean Blue lacks in terms of innovation compared to some of the other specialty offerings available – it absolutely makes up for in taste. It can be hard to get a table, so make sure you book in advance and if you’re not successful, try daily in case you are lucky enough to get a cancellation.

Cover charge: $35 per head. Food 8/10 ~ Innovation 7/10 ~ Experience 8/10 ~ Total 23/30

Have you eaten at any of these restaurants? Or do you favour a different one?