The Food on Virgin Voyages: The Hype Is Real (Part 1)
Before embarking on Virgin Voyages, we had heard through YouTube reviews that the food on the Virgin ships is a highlight. We have enjoyed many delicious meals on cruise ships, some complimentary and some at an extra cost, so we weren’t actually sure what this meant. We just knew that we were excited to try it out.
Well, the hype is real. The food was excellent and not just because it was all complimentary but because it really was varied and delicious. The way that they have it set up is that there are 6 restaurants that require reservations. You can make reservations on their app 45 days prior to sailing. We booked late so we needed to call Sailor Services to get our reservations. Also, once on board more reservations become available, which is one reason that the earlier you get on the ship the better. We tried 5 of the 6 restaurants and really enjoyed them all. The one restaurant that we did not try, The Test Kitchen, has gotten a lot feedback saying that it is too weird to enjoy as a full meal, especially when there are too many other excellent options.
The first night we went to Gumbae, which is the Korean BBQ restaurant. Similar to a Hibachi restaurant, we were seated at a table with 2 other couples. This was a fun way to experience Korean BBQ and to meet some new people. Aside from the savory bites that were cooked in front of us and passed around, every table played a drinking game. The prize for winning was getting to keep the bottle and be able to share your winnings with your table. For the record, I won.
The second day we went to The Wake for brunch and Pink Agave, the Mexican restaurant, for dinner. The Wake had typical upscale breakfast fare. I had eggs Benedict with a piece of crispy pork belly on it. Chris had the Steak and eggs. Both were a great way to start the day. Pink Agave was excellent and probably our favorite restaurant. We pretty much ordered everything on the menu and it was all delicious. We even ordered seconds of the enchiladas.
The Entrance to Pink Agave
On day 3, we went The Wake, the steak house, for dinner but we made a mistake, which was that we had been eating so much all day long that we weren’t hungry enough to enjoy the full Wake experience. It was really, very good though. I had a really good clam chowder and Chris had the tuna appetizer. For the main course, I had the shrimp and grits and a NY strip and Chris had the filet. Every bite was great but I couldn’t eat enough of it. Next time, I will make sure to be more hungry.
On the last day, we went to Razzle Dazzle for lunch and Extra Virgin for dinner. Razzle Dazzle is mainly a vegetarian place, although they did have some excellent bacon. I am glad to see that there is a really good vegetarian option for my friends that don’t eat meat. All of the restaurants have vegetarian items on the menu but this one is designed to cater to vegetarians. I had the Avocado toast and Chris had the chicken sandwich. I had rainbow churros for dessert. This wasn’t our favorite spot but it was still really good. Extra Virgin was an excellent Italian restaurant and we loved all of the options. The food was on par, if not better than, what we can get at the specialty restaurants on RC, and the dessert was really fun as it was a gelato cart that rolled by.
The restaurants on board are just part of what we really loved about the food on the Scarlet Lady. I have so much more to share with you about the food but that will have to come in another article.
