Victoria & Alberts - I am so excited

[denise5374]

Booked my ADRs theis morning for a short adults only trip in December. I got Narcooses and Yachtman and for the third night I was think of Todd Englishs Bluezoo but for some reason it wasn't available so I picked Artist Point. Afterwards I was talking to DH and I told him that V&A was available and he said, "Why don't you book it? It may be the only time its just the 2 of us there". Don't have to tell me twice...went back in canceled Artist Point and booked V&A. I am beyond excited!!!!

DH and I love food and wine and I know it is expensive but I am soooo looking forward to this meal.. December 9 can't come soon enough!!!

Please share dining experiences with me.

 

[addiln]

I was thinking of booking this for our adults only trip in August since it was open at the time. I am kicking myself for not doing it now. Should've, could've, but I did not. Hopefully I get another crack at it in the next couple years. I will not pass it up next time.

 

[Monykalyn]

We did this on our 2004 trip. We got a babysitter for the night and made our last night of that trip "Date Night". V&A is an incredible experience!. Wondering if they still do the personalized menu? We were called ahead of time to obtain our choices (could still change mind at the actual dinner). We have a beautiful menu they gave us for that night. Also a rose for the lady. Of course we went dancing at Pleasure Island afterwards...all dressed up!
We've had other incredible trips since but that one is still a favorite.

 

[Disnut4925]

It's such a great experience, such a great meal! Each course is perfect, the cool coffee contraption makes the best coffee (looks like a science experiment!) and of course the service is excellent. Have a fantastic time!

 

[Disnut4925]

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

 

[Disnut4925]

This fish dish was the most amazing ever!! We went a few years ago so I apologize if it's out of date.

 

[denise5374]

That looks amazing!!!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We're hitting it in September. Can't wait. Couldn't get Chef's table but not caring.

 

[Upup4fun]

The best meal of my life happened at V&A. Get the wine parings!!

 

[WuvEeyore]

My SIL surprised us with a dinner at V&A for our honeymoon. Each course came with a wine pairing. It was unbelievably good. Personalized menus and a red rose. There was a harpist playing and when we stopped to listen and I told her I've always loved harp music, she came back to our table with a cd. Would love to do it again someday.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

We had our wedding dinner at the chefs table... Best meal of my life!
Cold "smoked" lamb I think... It was 5 years ago!

 

[suse66]

We ate there in 2010 and it was one of the most memorable meals of my life. We did the wine pairings as well which complemented the food beautifully. I know you will love it! Enjoy!

 

[DisCatGirl]

I have ADR in both the Queen Victoria Room and the main dining room. I am a strict vegetarian (no meat, chicken, seafood). Do you know - does the QVR cater to my needs? If not, I need to cancel it and just keep the dining room. Does the dining room? Help! Its my dream to eat there, but not if they can't do a vegetarian menu. Thoughts?

 

[kiford]

Its my dream to eat there, but not if they can't do a vegetarian menu.

Absolutely they can do a vegetarian menu. We've been in previous years where they had a specialized menu for me (allergic to all seafood) and that night's usual one for DH and then they gave us a vegetarian one which we could choose from to substitute any course we wanted. Now they may not do that now but if you tell them that you're vegetarian they will make one up for you. We've been seven times and it's never been a problem for them to customize for me. We're booked for early December in the QVR and I can't wait. We did QVR for the first time last year. Six times previous we've done the main dining room and I didn't think it could get better but it did.

 

[soniam]

You won't regret it. Just an absolutely fabulous meal that is completely worth the cost. Get at least one wine pairing.

 

[steg]

I have ADR in both the Queen Victoria Room and the main dining room. I am a strict vegetarian (no meat, chicken, seafood). Do you know - does the QVR cater to my needs? If not, I need to cancel it and just keep the dining room. Does the dining room? Help! Its my dream to eat there, but not if they can't do a vegetarian menu. Thoughts?

http://www.victoria-alberts.com/pdf/vegmenuf.pdf

The vegetarian menu looks so good, I've considered ordering it myself, even as a non-vegetarian.

The vegetarian menu is a 10 course, so it should be available in QVR and be paced with the other regular 10 course menu that other people dining with you in QVR are getting. If you end up in the Main Dining room for whatever reason and someone in your party decides on the 7 course, they will still be able to efficiently pace the two dinners with different numbers of courses so that no one feels left out when the other is eating.

If you are extra strict you could inquire whether or not any of the wines are vinted with Isinglass. I think that's mostly used in mass-produced wines but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

 

[steg]

Booked my ADRs theis morning for a short adults only trip in December. I got Narcooses and Yachtman and for the third night I was think of Todd Englishs Bluezoo but for some reason it wasn't available so I picked Artist Point. Afterwards I was talking to DH and I told him that V&A was available and he said, "Why don't you book it? It may be the only time its just the 2 of us there". Don't have to tell me twice...went back in canceled Artist Point and booked V&A. I am beyond excited!!!!

DH and I love food and wine and I know it is expensive but I am soooo looking forward to this meal.. December 9 can't come soon enough!!!

Please share dining experiences with me.

I've eaten here a few times in both the Queen Victoria Room and the main dining room. This morning I missed the Chef's table by 1 call....eff...

I can't believe I'm saying this but I like the main dining room more than the Queen Victoria Room ever since the new changes they've made starting last year during food and wine where they offered the 7 course AND the 10 Course that you can get in the Queen Victoria Room and the Chef's Table, in the main dining room.

This allows my wife and I to get one of each and be able to taste 17 Courses and 17 1/6th glasses of wine.

They also added the option of doing Premium (Sommeliers Reserve) wine pairings for an additional charge which I highly recommend (at that point might as well).

I confirmed with them this morning that this will be available during our January trip so it should be available during your December trip.

In all of our experiences the service has been impeccable, even with a large bill looming at the end of the meal we still felt that service was so good that they garnered the 25% tip they most definitely earned. I can't say which set of servers I liked best but it was a tie between Anita and Rado and Jack and Sally. Jack and Sally (husband and wife) were more fun but still managing to be professional, while Anita and Rado were more on the professional side.

Ask all the questions you want even for off the wall stuff, they'll know it. They're more than happy to accommodate some special requests as well like asking for something like milk with dessert.

Be sure to ask for a tour of the kitchen, they will happily accommodate.

If you want to try something really stinkin old you can ask the Sommelier about the after dinner drinks that they have. They will do 1oz pours of these if you ask them. I was able to try a vintage port from 1935 and a vintage Madeira from 1922. they were around $65-$75/ounce.

The best part is that when we first went and ate at the Queen Victoria Room, my wife was less than enthusiastic but by the end of it she said it was worth all 95414 pennies. Now we need to go back every trip and will budget it in however we can.

 

[karmic]

DH and I dined there last night- our 4th time- food and service incredible- recommend the Ausrtalian Kobe style beef and the Grand Marnier soufflé - pace yourself-you will get full fast.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

We haven't been in about a year, but the menus were still personalized then. The menus do change based on what's freshest at the time.
We've only eaten in the regular dining room. We believe V&A is the best dining value on property, though not always in our budget.
The service is amazing - especially for special dietary restrictions if you let them know in advance. We've got dairy allergy and my parents have other allergies and they've always been brilliantly handled.
The coffee is brewed in and served from a Cona vacuum coffee contraption - we always have 2 at our V&A table - one each caffeinated and decaf. If our teens are with us, then there are two tea contraptions added to the forest of science laboratory equipment on the table. It's so much fun and you wouldn't believe the coffee until you taste it. We actually own one now ourselves.
Definitely enjoy the experience in a leisurely manner - not only to properly savor the food, but to not get too tipsy on the wine pairings. The wine pairings are always perfect and sometimes surprising, but it's too much alcohol for me. we don't have wine every night at home, so I'm not a regular drinker. I've learned to ask for short pours so that I can experience the pairing but not have too much for me - DH, DMom and DDad don't seem to share this issue.

I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with V&A - you're going to have such an amazing evening and dining experience. The only caution is: once you enjoy V&A, you'll want repeat visits! Enjoy