Its All About The Food !

Well it is for me anyway ! Anyone who has read my blog before will know that I really love food, and dining out , especially on holiday , is very important to me and is an essential part of my holiday whether on a cruise or a land based holiday.

My overnight stay on Britannia was not really long enough to sample all the restaurants on board but it did give me chance to try some of the food and see all the dining  venues, and try Food Hero Marco Pierre White`s Gala Dinner Menu in the Meridien restaurant, one of the two main dining venues on board.

As you would expect, this is a large traditional room, but laid out well to make you feel you are actually in a smaller restaurant. On Britannia’s gala  evening`s Marco Pierre White will produce a menu for the main restaurant and I just had to try it!

It was excellent! I started with Poached Egg and Asparagus in a lovely, light hollandaise type sauce. Then soup ( which I passed on ) but others said it was delicious , followed by gorgeous Lobster ! Desert was Strawberries poached in Prosecco with a kind of Chantilly cream which was again lovely. All of my colleagues on our table had Marco`s menu and loved it, the waiters were smiling and efficient, apart from the biscuits not arriving with the cheese at the end of the meal. The wine was OK , not as free flowing as I would have liked, but we have to remember that this was a Travel Agent event to introduce us to the ship. Comments from other tables were not so complimentary about the food  ( not Marco`s menu ) or the service but, again, this was not a real cruise situation, no excuse for the food not to be up to standard but we do have to make some allowances I think.

If I was cruising on Britannia I would definitely try all the speciality restaurants! Olly Smith`s Glass House situated high up in the atrium on deck 7, is a lovely venue for more relaxed food and excellent wines throughout the day and evening.

I suspect The Queen had lunched in the Epicurean, the fine dining restaurant! It was there but not laid up for any kind of meal or indeed Eric Lanlard`s afternoon tea, which is at an extra charge and has to be booked in advance.

The Java Café is Britannia`s coffee shop and Eric Lanlard, and his fabulous cakes, have their own venue in the Market Café. Here you can also find a range  of wonderful cheeses handpicked by cheese expert Charlie Turnbull.

My favourite would definitely by Sindhu by Atul Kochhar, and if the food is as good as the restaurant looks I`d want eat there every night!

The Horizon is the buffet restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner and, to me a buffet restaurant is what it says on the tin, but this one did have some unusual touches. Fancy a glass of wine? just swipe your key card and there it is! Don`t like hand gel? Well this one  has proper sinks ! The staff were lovely too – all smiling in their brand new uniforms.

There is the Cookery Club too, plenty of lovely bars and entertainment venues and of course the pools and spas. I could go on and on, I loved her but what will the passengers think of Britannia?

Well yesterday I spoke to a client of mine who has just retuned from the maiden voyage, a true P&O customer who was worried Britannia would be too big but, as she said, if we don`t try her we won`t know. She loved her! Nothing but praise for just about every aspect of the ship but especially for the staff and crew who could not do enough for the passengers. Her view is that the ship will be a huge success for P&O and their loyal clients.

Oh and if you like a gin & tonic, as I do, head up to the Crow`s Nest – paradise!