Had anyone found any good new places lately - restaurants, food markets? What’s new around here? Talk to me!!!
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We recently discovered India Cafe on Post Rd. In White Plains. It is on a block we rarely travel by, a block towards downtown from WP Hospital. They have a take out location that has apparently been there for a few years and just recently opened a separate sit down spot a couple of doors away. The operators have been very nice, and the menu includes some dishes quite different from all the other restaurants we have tried. The menu is lacking descriptions of some of these dishes we are unfamiliar with, and they seem to use more spice than other local Indian restaurants, but we’ve been enjoying getting to know them better.
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Dieting, LOL! We typically don’t eat out much for the first few weeks after the holidays - too much overindulgence. This year we’re heading out for a Caribbean cruise in a few days, so even more need to eat lightly to “prepent.” We did manage to try Fortina in Yonkers a couple of weeks ago, though! Definitely looking forward to some more exploration once we’re back from vacation (and have dropped the pound we’ll inevitably gain!).
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Oh boy - talk about overindulging!! Have a wonderful trip and report back on the food.
Will do! Food on cruises can be uneven but we have figured out a strategy to avoid the banquet-hall type meals, so we generally eat pretty well. I’ll have a full report in a couple of weeks!
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What cruise did you go on? We were on one the same week on the new MSC Seaside out of Miami. Very disappointing food, would not recommend it, although the gelato and pizza were excellent (it’s an Italian line so I’d hope so).
Is there a cruise food discussion on this board?
Not yet - start one!
We were on Celebrity Silhouette. Most of our meals were quite good, but we ate in specialty restaurants almost exclusively. We had one meal in the main dining room that was very lackluster. I’m sorry to hear that Seaside was disappointing, though - we were considering it for our next cruise. Were you in the “Yacht Club?”
No, we were not in the Yacht Club, and I ended up regretting it. although I spoke to someone who WAS staying in there and he wasn’t really impressed with the food either. They did have a nicer lunch buffet in the YC with lamb chops (overcooked), huge shrimp and even lobster tails a couple of times. They apparently also had freshly prepared pasta a few times during the week, which we did not have in the normal dining room. If we were ever to sail on MSC again, it would only be in the Yacht Club. We ate at the Roy’s Asian Fusion speciality restaurant and it was OK. We were supposed to have gotten a second free speciality meal as a result of being “Black Card” members via status match but they changed the policy a few weeks before our cruise so we only got one and they refused to make an exception forus.
For those who are wondering what “Yacht Club” is, it’s MSC’s “ship within a ship” for people who book certain cabins. The area has its own pool, bars, buffet, dining room so you don’t have to deal with the riff-raff on the ship. The food is an upgrade over the normal stuff they have for everyone else.
We were on Silhouette last summer for a 12 nights British Isles cruise and had a great time (also had been on twice previously). We also really like the speciality restaurants, and I managed to negotiate a discount for a group of 10-12 of us from Cruise Critic on several evenings, which made it even better. I thought the MDR food was OK, certainly better than MSC. I really like Lawn Club Grille, but Qsine badly needs a menu revamping.
We sailed on Holland America Eurodam last March and thought that the free food was pretty good (both the lunch buffet and main dining room dinner), and will be on their Koningsdam ship for 2 weeks in Norway this summer.
I am so jealous of your Norway cruise - I am dying to do a fjords itinerary! Anyway, I agree with you about Qsine - we went one night and had a good meal, but you have to order carefully and the concept is really tired. We ate in Murano most nights and had nothing but excellent food and service, but since the menu is small it got a little repetitive. We have also sailed in Aqua Class and found Blu to be quite good, but lately the price of AQ has been really high, so it’s cheaper to sail in a regular room and buy a dining package for the full cruise to upgrade meals. We’ll definitely try the Yacht Club on MSC at some point!
We only did Qsine because there were a bunch of us and going with a large group is really the only way it’s enjoyable. The whole “wow, the menu is on an ipad” thing is very dated. We never got to Murano this time. I didn’t think it would be conducive to our large group and TBH I wasn’t all that thrilled with it in the past.
We did AQ one time on Summit and were very disappointed in Blu. They overcooked my duck breast multiple times and then told me they could not make it medium rare, even when the dish had the asterisk on the menu saying that food not fully cooked may be dangerous. Maybe it’s better on other ships.
We’re sailing 2 weeks on Celebrity’s new Edge ship next year. Really looking forward to that. Also on Celebrity Infinity for 2 weeks this fall for a Panama Canal cruise.
For Norway, I would have done Celebrity but they do not offer the 2 week itinerary that goes all the way north. I could have done Azamara (their high end line) but it would have cost me more than all of my cruises for the year! Holland America has a bad reputation because people think that the average age is 80, and it probably is on some sailings, but it wasn’t that bad on our one week Caribbean cruise with them last year and hopefully it won’t be on our Norway sailing. And we really enjoyed the food last year, so I am optimistic. And they still serve fois gras, unlike Celebrity who stopped serving it when California banned it a few years ago, before reversing their decision (but Celebrity has not reversed theirs).
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I still have yet to try that place. I saw their extensive menu, and was put off by the indo-chinese dishes they have. It’s a restaurant that wants to specialize in Kerala cuisine, however, they don’t focus on it. Will try it out though.
Let us know what you think. My husband has become unhappy with them. By the way our current favorite Indian is Raasa on Rte 119 in Elmsford(Hartsdale?). We’ve only been for dinner, where service and food were great, but a friend reported being disappointed in lunch buffet, slow to replenish — but that was some time ago and may no longer be a problem.
Raasa is just another name for the old restaurant Malabar Hill. They’re menu and food is okayish. Honestly, if you compare this place or literally any Indian place in Westchester, to an authentic place like the Ganesh Temple Canteen in Queens—there is a huge difference. Indian restaurant business owners are losing the grip of focus and quality.
There has been a series of different Indian restaurants at that location. Different menus and staff.
