Cunard Line Queen Mary 2

Venue Overview

This main dining dining room is huge, spanning over two levels of decks. There are entrances on deck 2 and 3, from stairway D. Like a classic British banquet hall, this restaurant has beautiful dark wood tables and chairs, white table cloths and real silverware. In the evening, the lights are set low, to the point of darkness. The portions are just the right size, enough to satisfy without being gluttonous.

The food is of a high standard for lunch and dinner, but it takes forever to complete a meal here. The service is slow, especially depending on the time you sit to eat. If you get in early, the service is faster. On a ship with a large population of old timers, eating early means really early.

The menu always has choices recommended by the Spa, for those of you counting calories. The choices are not devoid of taste however, like an artichoke salad or sausage stuffed chicken with a fig demi glaze.

Food from the regular menu is rich and satisfying. You can find a well prepared assortment of seafood, like a smoked salmon terrine, or a lobster and steak surf and turf. Risotto, pasta, grilled breast of duck or chicken, all with succulent and creative sides are on the menu regularly.

Breakfast

Breakfast is open seating and Cunard welcomes you to show up at your leisure. The menu does not change, offering hot and cold cereal, juices, fresh fruits, yogurt and compote. There are of course pastries, pancakes, waffles, and eggs prepared as you like them. A selection of breakfast meats can be added to any order as side dishes.

Lunch / Dinner

The lunch menu changes every day and we found it to be delicious, minus the cooked sushi; this an area the Brits should avoid. Appetizers were incredibly diverse, from a pineapple carpaccio to escargots and salads. For a main course, we enjoyed the bass and the braised oxtails.

Dinner was at times disappointing. The appetizers were often much better than the entrees. The menu changes every night thankfully. The best meal we had here was the Chateaubriand with bernaise sause, white asparagus, and peas. The meat was medium rare and tender, the sauce buttery and the white asparagus a nice change from ordinary. If this isn’t to your liking, we also recommend the mushroom and basil risotto. The rice was a perfect al dente, and the combination of mushrooms and basil made it taste fresh and interesting.

Dessert

There were many delicious options for this final course, like the cassis champagne mousse. The best though, was the vanilla lemon souffle. The souffle was the right kind of fluffy, topped with an exquisite limoncello sauce, making a light and delicious end to a solid meal.