FairestOfThemAll37
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2013
- Messages
- 1,980
I posted requests for thoughts on Remy a few weeks back as I couldn't decide whether I wanted to dine there or not. I had been once before and had a lackluster experience. I got some great perspectives and decided to go for it so I figured I'd write a review of the experience for anybody who may be interested.
There was a bit of a mix-up and we thought our reservation was for the 2nd night of the cruise, but it turns out it was for the 1st. It was all fine as we were the only ones in there until a party of 6 came in as we were finishing.
Let me say they do not mess about with the shoes!!! Apparently that is their line in the sand. We thought we were going to Palo so didn't wear our closed toe shoes and they asked us to change or we could wear their loaner shoes. We opted to change and although I'm very curious how many pairs and sizes of loaner shoes they have, I did not ask. When we left the restaurant there were about 8 pairs of shoes behind the check-in desk so it seems they even flagged some going into Palo. To me it seems an odd thing to take a hard line on given that you don't see feet under the table and it's very old school, but they can set the rules. When I looked before leaving I saw a dress code that said "no flip-flops" but just now saw something that said "no sandals" so bring closed toe shoes!
We sat down and after the introductions our server poured us our drinks called "The Collette" which was made with Champagne, Grand Marnier, Vodka, brandy (I think), currants, and a dried Pineapple. It was delicious and we actually ended up ordering another one. They charged us a reasonable $14 for the additional cocktail.
They presented both sides of the menu along with information on the newly added Miyazaki beef upcharge, the caviar menu, and came by to show us the truffle and explain the truffle menu. We don't drink all that much so we weren't interested in the wine pairing. We opted to each do one menu with some minor changes as we both have a garlic sensitivity.
The caviar menu was reasonably priced and they include a glass of Krug. They offered 4 options for caviar ranging from $99 to $360. Most of the caviar I've had has been Israeli raised so I opted to try the French raised Osetra which went for $119. They source their caviar from Marky's (Miami) which is a solid distributor with quality product. You can choose French preparation which I honestly don't remember all the details but it has a lot of extras or American style which came with Blinis, sour cream with chive, and chopped egg. I chose The American style minus the chopped egg. The French raised Osetra was good, but not great. It had a very fishy finish. If you have never had caviar or you prefer a cleaner brine taste I would not recommend this one. However, it had a nice texture and the right "pop." Usually I prefer creme fraiche as it is a lighter flavor, but the extra sourness of the sour cream balanced out the fishy finish of this particular caviar. The blinis are very small in diameter, but a bit too thick for my tastes. They were more like a pancake than a true blini. Overall, I think the caviar at Remy is a good value and a great place for somebody to try it for the first time since the cost to entry is lower than most places.
The first course we sort of switched up since the tomato tart from the french side had vegetables that had already been marinated in garlic. We started out with the salt and sugar cured salmon wrapped in watercress and the bison rolled around horseradish cream. These were ok at best. The bison was really underwhelming and kind of bland. The salmon was very dense and very salty and was very one note, one texture. I would definitely not go out of my way to eat either of these again.
The second course was not much better, sadly. We ended up with the salmon again as a substitute for the tomato and I had the lobster from the American menu. The lobster had a wonderfully flavorful beet sauce, however, the lobster itself was inedible. Paradoxically, it tasted both overcooked and undercooked and no amount of chewing was going to break down this meat. I actually had to spit it out as it just wouldn't chew. When the staff inquired as to why it was completely uneaten I asked them to tell the chef that it was beyond tough and showed the server how it wouldn't even cut with a knife.
This is where they managed to turn things right around. The server came over with two plates of gnocchi topped with truffle in a white wine sauce as an apology for the lobster. I have never had gnocchi like this in my life. It was the lightest fluffiest gnocchi ever. It was if it was made from whipped potatoes. The truffle and the white whine sauce took it to epic proportions. Chef then came out to speak with us and explained that the lobster was stressed. We laughed because I'd never heard of such a thing. It could have been a muck up in the kitchen or stressed lobster could really be a thing, I don't care either way. the chef made us laugh with his impression of a lobster getting stressed from travel (he said he must have been in economy class) and the replacement dish was amazing. Even after the gnocchi, chef said the other lobsters were ok and offered to make a new one. I declined and opted just to go for the next course.
After the lobster incident, every time a new course came out we saw a chef hat peeking from around the corner and he would come over to ask what we thought. The American course dish was a pork belly stuffed pork loin with beets. If you like pork and pork flavor, this dish is not to be missed. The pork loin was cooked a beautifully pink medium and the pork belly stuffing gave the dish a delicious richness that was well balanced with the fresh earthy beets. The French dish was a halibut in a white wine sauce. This was amazing fish. It was cooked to perfection where the center of the fish is just on the cusp of translucent. The wine sauce was delicate and went perfectly with the fish.
Next was the beef course. The french side had a sirloin with oinion ash. The meat was rich and flavorful and the onion ash was a masterpiece. How charred onion and caraway can taste so good I will never know. The real star of the beef dishes though was the American tenderloin with mushrooms and mushroom sauce. This dish was very rich and salty, but the steak was perfection. Rare, tender, and melty. The mushrooms were fantastic and mushrooms and filet just go together so well.
The cheese cart is absolute bliss. They had a beautiful Mimolette, several soft, and several bleu cheeses. Chef came over and insisted we try the cheese from his village. It was something I never would have tried and I was so glad I did. It was mild and semi-soft, almost like Parmesan's cousin. The cheeses ranged from mild to strong and I think there is something for everybody. I was a bit disappointed in their brie, however, I felt it was lacking considering it is an iconic french cheese. The honeycomb served with the cheese course was a cut above.
With dessert I opted for the earl gray tea. The tea had great flavor, but the way they make it by pouring hot water over the tea leaves directly into the cup resulted in a much weaker cup of tea than I prefer. The American dessert was a dark chocolate lover's dream. Dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate coated dark chocolate mousse and a dark chocolate gelato. Rich, sweet, and bitter you couldn't ask for a better dark chocolate dessert. The French dessert was a Noisette and much sweeter. If you like hazelnut and prefer a sweeter dessert this is divine. It's what happens when a very skilled pastry chef makes their version of a Ferrero Rocher ball.
They hand you a lot of extras with the bill including chocolates, a bag of homemade lollis and a few other goodies. The first part of the meal had us wondering why they were more concerned with the shoes on our feet than the food coming out of the kitchen, but the latter portion of the meal we really felt was a culinary experience.
This is by no means a budget meal and not something I would want to do every cruise (regular 3 hour meals just aren't my thing), but I left the experience feeling like it was a good value.
There was a bit of a mix-up and we thought our reservation was for the 2nd night of the cruise, but it turns out it was for the 1st. It was all fine as we were the only ones in there until a party of 6 came in as we were finishing.
Let me say they do not mess about with the shoes!!! Apparently that is their line in the sand. We thought we were going to Palo so didn't wear our closed toe shoes and they asked us to change or we could wear their loaner shoes. We opted to change and although I'm very curious how many pairs and sizes of loaner shoes they have, I did not ask. When we left the restaurant there were about 8 pairs of shoes behind the check-in desk so it seems they even flagged some going into Palo. To me it seems an odd thing to take a hard line on given that you don't see feet under the table and it's very old school, but they can set the rules. When I looked before leaving I saw a dress code that said "no flip-flops" but just now saw something that said "no sandals" so bring closed toe shoes!
We sat down and after the introductions our server poured us our drinks called "The Collette" which was made with Champagne, Grand Marnier, Vodka, brandy (I think), currants, and a dried Pineapple. It was delicious and we actually ended up ordering another one. They charged us a reasonable $14 for the additional cocktail.
They presented both sides of the menu along with information on the newly added Miyazaki beef upcharge, the caviar menu, and came by to show us the truffle and explain the truffle menu. We don't drink all that much so we weren't interested in the wine pairing. We opted to each do one menu with some minor changes as we both have a garlic sensitivity.
The caviar menu was reasonably priced and they include a glass of Krug. They offered 4 options for caviar ranging from $99 to $360. Most of the caviar I've had has been Israeli raised so I opted to try the French raised Osetra which went for $119. They source their caviar from Marky's (Miami) which is a solid distributor with quality product. You can choose French preparation which I honestly don't remember all the details but it has a lot of extras or American style which came with Blinis, sour cream with chive, and chopped egg. I chose The American style minus the chopped egg. The French raised Osetra was good, but not great. It had a very fishy finish. If you have never had caviar or you prefer a cleaner brine taste I would not recommend this one. However, it had a nice texture and the right "pop." Usually I prefer creme fraiche as it is a lighter flavor, but the extra sourness of the sour cream balanced out the fishy finish of this particular caviar. The blinis are very small in diameter, but a bit too thick for my tastes. They were more like a pancake than a true blini. Overall, I think the caviar at Remy is a good value and a great place for somebody to try it for the first time since the cost to entry is lower than most places.
The first course we sort of switched up since the tomato tart from the french side had vegetables that had already been marinated in garlic. We started out with the salt and sugar cured salmon wrapped in watercress and the bison rolled around horseradish cream. These were ok at best. The bison was really underwhelming and kind of bland. The salmon was very dense and very salty and was very one note, one texture. I would definitely not go out of my way to eat either of these again.
The second course was not much better, sadly. We ended up with the salmon again as a substitute for the tomato and I had the lobster from the American menu. The lobster had a wonderfully flavorful beet sauce, however, the lobster itself was inedible. Paradoxically, it tasted both overcooked and undercooked and no amount of chewing was going to break down this meat. I actually had to spit it out as it just wouldn't chew. When the staff inquired as to why it was completely uneaten I asked them to tell the chef that it was beyond tough and showed the server how it wouldn't even cut with a knife.
This is where they managed to turn things right around. The server came over with two plates of gnocchi topped with truffle in a white wine sauce as an apology for the lobster. I have never had gnocchi like this in my life. It was the lightest fluffiest gnocchi ever. It was if it was made from whipped potatoes. The truffle and the white whine sauce took it to epic proportions. Chef then came out to speak with us and explained that the lobster was stressed. We laughed because I'd never heard of such a thing. It could have been a muck up in the kitchen or stressed lobster could really be a thing, I don't care either way. the chef made us laugh with his impression of a lobster getting stressed from travel (he said he must have been in economy class) and the replacement dish was amazing. Even after the gnocchi, chef said the other lobsters were ok and offered to make a new one. I declined and opted just to go for the next course.
After the lobster incident, every time a new course came out we saw a chef hat peeking from around the corner and he would come over to ask what we thought. The American course dish was a pork belly stuffed pork loin with beets. If you like pork and pork flavor, this dish is not to be missed. The pork loin was cooked a beautifully pink medium and the pork belly stuffing gave the dish a delicious richness that was well balanced with the fresh earthy beets. The French dish was a halibut in a white wine sauce. This was amazing fish. It was cooked to perfection where the center of the fish is just on the cusp of translucent. The wine sauce was delicate and went perfectly with the fish.
Next was the beef course. The french side had a sirloin with oinion ash. The meat was rich and flavorful and the onion ash was a masterpiece. How charred onion and caraway can taste so good I will never know. The real star of the beef dishes though was the American tenderloin with mushrooms and mushroom sauce. This dish was very rich and salty, but the steak was perfection. Rare, tender, and melty. The mushrooms were fantastic and mushrooms and filet just go together so well.
The cheese cart is absolute bliss. They had a beautiful Mimolette, several soft, and several bleu cheeses. Chef came over and insisted we try the cheese from his village. It was something I never would have tried and I was so glad I did. It was mild and semi-soft, almost like Parmesan's cousin. The cheeses ranged from mild to strong and I think there is something for everybody. I was a bit disappointed in their brie, however, I felt it was lacking considering it is an iconic french cheese. The honeycomb served with the cheese course was a cut above.
With dessert I opted for the earl gray tea. The tea had great flavor, but the way they make it by pouring hot water over the tea leaves directly into the cup resulted in a much weaker cup of tea than I prefer. The American dessert was a dark chocolate lover's dream. Dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate coated dark chocolate mousse and a dark chocolate gelato. Rich, sweet, and bitter you couldn't ask for a better dark chocolate dessert. The French dessert was a Noisette and much sweeter. If you like hazelnut and prefer a sweeter dessert this is divine. It's what happens when a very skilled pastry chef makes their version of a Ferrero Rocher ball.
They hand you a lot of extras with the bill including chocolates, a bag of homemade lollis and a few other goodies. The first part of the meal had us wondering why they were more concerned with the shoes on our feet than the food coming out of the kitchen, but the latter portion of the meal we really felt was a culinary experience.
This is by no means a budget meal and not something I would want to do every cruise (regular 3 hour meals just aren't my thing), but I left the experience feeling like it was a good value.
