Food on a Silversea Cruise

Just like with everything else we experienced on Silversea, we felt utterly spoilt by the food.

We loved the variety of included dining venues Silver Ray offered us with the mixture of cuisines. Mr B and I always looked forward to mealtimes onboard.

Atlantide

What can be described as Silver Ray’s ‘Main Dining’ room, Atlantide was open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Decorated in luxurious tones of red and with the tables adorned with the most beautiful crockery, we both really liked the design and layout of Atlantide.

Breakfast

Breakfast offerings really covered all bases at Atlantide. From cereals, yoghurts and fruits to Danish pastries, cold cuts, cheeses and a variety of breads.

Hot options varied. If you were craving something sweet you could order waffles, pancakes and French toast. I added crispy bacon to my French toast order, we found additional requests or amendments to never be an issue.

One of my all-time favourite breakfasts is the classic Eggs Royale so, of course, I had to enjoy this on more than one occasion. The eggs were perfectly poached with a generous amount of smoked salmon and just the correct amount of sharp hollandaise, it was delicious every time.

Of course, there were plenty of other hot options on offer which you could order in any combination you wish – English, Canadian or American bacon, sausage, corned beef hash, grilled tomato, baked beans, hash browns and eggs could be scrambled, poached, boiled or in an omelette.

Lunch

Atlantide was open every day for lunch, however, as we liked to vary our dining venues during the day i.e we chose not to visit the same venue twice in one day, we didn’t venture to Atlantide for lunch.

Dinner

We enjoyed several dinners at Atlantide and Mr B and I both agreed we had a faultless dining experience every time.

Some of our favourite starters which we enjoyed were, for me, Beef tartare (which I enjoyed so much I ordered on a second night) and the Seared Scallops, which were served on a carrot, pumpkin and vodka puree.

Mr B enjoyed the crab and chilled cucumber which was a lovely light and delicate starter. The Gruyere and shredded beef croquettes were delicious, packed with tender beef and strong cheese.

We both also enjoyed the Laced King Prawns. The succulent prawns were delicately wrapped in laced potato and served with a mango and jalapeno dressing. A soup we both thoroughly enjoyed was the Lobster Bisque, which was packed with delicious sweet lobster, with the bold bisque having hints of brandy and cream.

We enjoyed four dinners at Atlantide and I don’t even need to relook at a menu or a photo to remember what I had as each main course was utter perfection and absolutely delicious. I remember each one.

Whenever I see Beef Wellington on a menu I can never resist ordering it, it is one of my favourites. The wellington on Silver Ray was divine. The beef was perfectly pink, encased in a tasty mushroom duxelles and butter puff pastry served with a truffle jus, my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Another of my orders was a fillet steak which was again cooked perfectly (rare is my request). My knife cut through it like butter, I had mine with a mushroom sauce which was a perfect companion to the steak.

Just by chance I enjoyed the lobster tail on my first and last dinners in Atlantide. Yet again, perfect cooking of the lobster tail, the lobster meat was so sweet and tasty. I had mine with a butter sauce and I loved every single bite.

Mr B also enjoyed a few seafood dishes. A grilled filet of Turbot and a Dover Sole which was expertly deboned tableside. He also really enjoyed a veal chop which he declared as ‘absolutely delicious’!

A delicious dessert I enjoyed was Sea Salt Caramel Choux. The combination of caramelised puff pastry, vanilla cream, almonds and blonde chocolate was extremely tasty, especially for my sweet tooth.

Mr B highly enjoyed the Apple Tarte Tatin, a classic for a reason. Another dessert for me which I was delighted with was the floating Island. The meringue was as light as air and it sat upon a pool of silky smooth creme anglaise.

Now onto the ultimate dessert for me, the lemon meringue tart. So good I had it a total of three times! It was just everything that you want from this dessert, tart and zesty from the lemon, sweet from the meringue all encased in a thin and buttery pastry case. A perfect dessert.

La Terrazza

La Terrazza is open for breakfast and lunch and is a buffet service for both. Mr B and I are not fans of buffets, so we didn’t opt to dine at La Terrazza for either breakfast or lunch.

However, La Terrazza is open for dinner and is not a buffet. We enjoyed two dinners at La Terrazza and as a couple who enjoy Italian food we very much enjoyed both our dining experiences.

At the beginning of each dinner you are presented with a small selection of antipasto and fresh breads, the focaccia was my favourite.

We both love fresh pasta so whilst dining at La Terrazza we mostly ordered three courses of pasta, but asked to have small portions. This gave us an opportunity to try the different dishes and felt like we made ourselves a pasta tasting menu!

Some of our favourites which we enjoyed were the fresh pappardelle with duck ragu.

A homemade Ligurian pansotti pasta, traditional walnut sauce, butter and parmigiano Reggiano. I loved these ravioli-like parcels and the rich, nutty sauce.

We both enjoyed the Green lasagne which was filled with sausage, arugula and walnut pesto. Mr B also loved the simple, but delicious fresh tagliolini with garlic, olive oil, chilli and bottarga.

By the time we got to dessert we were always both too full to order anything too substantial, so we both enjoyed an Affogato, the perfect way to enjoy an espresso, with a scoop of homemade gelato.

Kaiseki

Silver Ray’s Japanese-inspired restaurant has a supplement when dining in the evening, however, lunch is included for all guests at no extra charge.

We absolutely adored going for lunch and pretty much went every other day. We would often start with the steamed bao bun, which was filled with shredded beef brisket and came with a lovely teriyaki dipping sauce.

Or we would enjoy one of the ramen bowls, there was a choice of two, Tonkotsu ramen which contained Umami pork broth, shio tare, bok choy, egg noodles, pork shoulder and a soft boiled egg. The other was Miso ramen, which contained Miso vegetable broth with kumbu, soba noodles, shiitake mushrooms, mirin with spring onion and a soft boiled egg.

We loved them both, they had a great depth of flavour.

There was a generous choice of sushi and sashimi. We first opted for the Silversea assorted sushi and sashimi platter as a way to discover which were our favourites.

After that we would order a variety of our favourites on a platter to share. It was such a wonderful lunch, not too heavy and always washed down with a few glasses of Champagne!

Silver Note

This venue onboard is very unique, Silversea’s take on a jazz club. Mr B and I both agreed this was a standout dining experience for the both of us. That is for a combination of reasons. Firstly, the food itself was incredibly delicious, we loved the small plate concept, the modern take on the plates and the presentation. Secondly, the incredible entertainment, both the singer and the pianist, were extremely talented. It was simply mesmerising to watch and listen to.

The menu offers a generous choice of small plates and guests are free to choose any combination and quantity they wish. We tried many of them and loved the variety and choice the menu gave.

Some of our favourite dishes were the Tuna ‘in a can’ which was a Tuna ceviche with chilli, lime, picked cucumbers and grapefruit jelly. The dish was wonderfully fresh and flavourful.

The ‘Sweet onion petals’, which was Scallop medallions with hazelnut crumb, caviar and champagne foam. The sweet succulent scallops were cooked perfectly.

Another seafood plate I enjoyed was the ‘Crab bites’. It was light and fresh, marinated crab meat with a crunchy squid ink biscuit and pickled radish.

Of course, we could not resist ordering the caviar dish! It was Caviar Rosette which consisted of Caviar, crispy potato and sour cream.

We both had two favourite meat dishes, the Confit Duck Rillettes with pickled mustard seeds and sherry jus, and the Beef Tenderloin tournedos with charred corn risotto and mascarpone. Both meat dishes were very tender and full of flavour whilst letting the meat be the star of the small, but tasty, dish.

There were three desserts to choose from and during our two visits we sampled all three! My favourite was the rich and chocolatey ‘Black Swan’, which consisted of chocolate choux pastry, chocolate crumble, lime coconut cream, cardamom milk jam and chocolate mousse.

I also enjoyed the ‘Like an Opera’ which was made up of almond sponge, coffee foam, coffee syrup and chocolate cream. The sharp coffee really cut through the richness and it had a nice balance of flavours. Mr B’s favourite was the fruity Pavlova which was meringue, passion fruit-mango compote, vanilla cream and passion fruit whipped cream.

We were lucky enough to dine at Silver Note twice. I most definitely recommend making a reservation on ‘My Silversea’ as soon as you are able. Both nights after we had finished eating we stayed at our table the entire night. We drank wonderful cocktails from the Silver Note menu and listened to the incredible entertainment. We loved the ambiance and romance of this venue.

The Marquee

My favourite dining venue as a whole on Silver Ray was The Marquee. Firstly, for its absolute beauty, we loved dining here and the layout of the booths, how it let the sun in and made us feel like we were truly dining outdoors.

Breakfast

It soon became our favourite venue to enjoy breakfast. The breakfast menu is billed as a healthy menu with vegan and plant-based options. This was not really the reason Mr B and I returned again and again for breakfast, the reason was that the food we enjoyed there was simply delicious!

You could order one dish or a combination and if you were off on an excursion and wanted it all at once you only had to let them know, but we preferred enjoying ours course by course on the occasions we opted for more than one dish.

To start I enjoyed the Greek yoghurt which was accompanied with nuts, honey and granola. Mr B thoroughly enjoyed the Rainbow mosaic. The presentation was beautiful and it had a selection of sweet and savoury bites. His favourites were the peanut butter with banana and chocolate shavings and Prosciutto with fig chutney and mustard cream cheese.

Mr B also enjoyed the Acai bowl made up of yoghurt, fresh fruit, chia seeds and coconut flakes. But there was one dish we both agreed was extremely tasty, the breakfast quesadilla which was filled with spinach, mushrooms and feta with an avocado cream on the side. It had a lovely balance of fresh flavours with the sharpness from the feta adding a lovely element.

But my all time favourite dish, not just at The Marquee, but out of all the breakfast dishes I enjoyed, were the Pumpkin pancakes.

I love a traditional pancake and have tried various flavours and toppings over the years, but I have never quite enjoyed pancakes like these, they were utterly divine! They were served with a light vanilla cream, a cinnamon syrup and pumpkin seeds, the combination of which made them even more delicious.

Lunch

The Marquee offers two menus for lunch, The Grill which offers salads, burgers, hotdogs, sandwiches, wraps and Grill specials such as Fish & Chips, Fish of the day and Grilled Beef fillet medallions.

To start it has options of Poke bowls, a selection of dips and Fritters, but the starter Mr B and I enjoyed the most and generally shared was the calamari. The squid was always perfectly crisp, not greasy and was lovely dunked into the garlic aioli.

For our mains we always ordered off the other menu which was Spaccanapoli, the homemade pizza menu which was available to order from 11am to 11pm. We have eaten a lot of pizzas in our life and we both loved the pizzas on Silversea. We both agreed they are the best pizzas we have had on any cruise.

We enjoyed several of them during our sailing, but our favourites were the Diavola which was one for the spice lovers as it was topped with spicy salami, mozzarella and spicy extra virgin olive oil.

We both loved the Funghi e Salsiccia which was topped with mozzarella, mushroom, sausage, basil and parmigiano Reggiano.

And not quite a pizza, but one we adored, was the Calzone. We found this one quite filling so didn’t have a starter and just enjoyed every bite of the Calzone. It was so tasty and packed with filling.

It’s worth noting if you don’t fancy a whole pizza you can ask for a smaller one which is approximately half the size.

Sitting in the Mediterranean sun, sipping on a cool crispy glass of champagne enjoying calamari and a delicious pizza, we always felt truly relaxed. We were never rushed from our table and often had to decline having our champagne topped up! But not always of course! But on the rare occasion I fancied something sweet to end lunch I opted for the Mint chocolate frozen sandwich which was brown sugar chocolate cookies, fresh mint ice cream and chocolate sponge, it was very tasty.

Dinner

In the evening the Grill is transformed into what some will know as ‘Hot Rocks’ where guests can cook their steak of choice on a hot lava stone. To protect your outfit you are given an ‘attractive’ bib to wear!

The menu offers a light selection of starters and I found the spicy pasta, feta and avocado salad a lovely start to our dinner, whilst Mr B went all in and opted for the ‘Blooming onion’, a deep fried onion with a spicy dip.

There is a selection of cuts of steak which you can order for your hot rock cooking. These range from Filet Mignon 6oz, Prime rib eye steak 10oz, New York strip steak 8oz, Lamb chops 8oz and prawns.

Sides available to accompany your main were baked potato with sour cream, bacon bits and chives (my choice on both our visits!), French fries, sweet potato fries, onion rings and roast vegetable tian.

Of course, you can’t have a steak without a sauce. Guests can choose from lemon butter sauce, hollandaise, bearnaise, veal jus, mushroom sauce and the favourite for both Mr B and I, the green peppercorn sauce.

If you want to dine and not have the experience of cooking on the hot stone you can request to have your steak cooked for you. Mr B thoroughly enjoyed our dinners at The Marquee. Cooking on the stone is a fun novelty and this absolutely did not detract away from the quality. On both our visits I opted for the Filet Mignon and the prawns, both of which were succulent and delicious.

From our two visits Mr B and I tried all three desserts. The Baked S’more which consisted of salty chocolate cookies with chocolate and Bourbon marshmallow, was a fun and very delicious dessert which brought back childhood memories.

My favourite dessert was the Mystere which was a frozen vanilla sabayon with meringue, caramel sea salt, sable biscuit and caramelised hazelnuts. It was perfect for my sweet tooth!

Mr B’s favourite was the Roasted pineapple which came with a sweet spiced caramel and passion fruit sauce and a coconut sorbet.

S.A.L.T Kitchen

Open every day for dinner, the focus on S.A.L.T Kitchen is destination-inspired menus, specific to the destinations you are sailing. The day of our visit we were docked in Bari.

For starter I could not resist the Burrata, something I can rarely avoid ordering when I see it on any menu! The creamy cheese was served with bell pepper puree, zucchini ribbons, mint, vinegar and olive oil. It was a simple starter which was fresh and delicious.

Mr B very much enjoyed the miniature savoury pies which came with two fillings, one with tomato, mozzarella and salami and the other with olive and caciocavallo cheese.

For my main I ordered the ‘Conchiglie con cime di rapa’. This beautiful pasta dish was such a delight, well-made pasta in a rich sauce sitting on a cheese fondue.

Mr B enjoyed the ‘Braciole Al Sugo’, garlic and herb beef rolls cooked low and slow in a tomato sauce, with herbed crushed potatoes.

Up-charge

There are three restaurants on Silver Ray which can be booked for the evening, but come with an upcharge.

S.A.L.T Chef’s Table which is an interactive tasting menu, La Dame which offers French fine dining and Kaiseki for Japanese fusion.

For us, personally, we didn’t feel the need to book any additional restaurants as we loved exploring the many included restaurants on Silver Ray. However, we did hear extremely positive reviews about all three restaurants from fellow passengers on our sailing so I think in future we would probably opt to dine at the Chef’s Table or La Dame.

Arts café

The place to go for your caffeine or tea fix, but a variety of food options are on offer throughout the day at the Arts café. From morning pastries to sandwiches, cheese plates and fresh fruit platters to a selection of cakes.

Both Mr B and I have eaten many scones in our time, both being lovers of afternoon tea. One afternoon we indulged in the freshly baked scones with jam and cream and can confirm they were delicious!

Room Service

From the comfort of your suite you can dine 24/7. When we had an early morning excursion we enjoyed breakfast in our suite, always served by our wonderful butler Dahnraj.

After arriving back from an excursion and missing lunch, we ordered some lighter options from room service.

And everyday at 5pm our butler set us up champagne and caviar. This was by request and there wasn’t a day when it didn’t appear and wasn’t laid out beautifully. It was such a wonderful indulgent treat and it felt very ‘Silversea’ enjoying the fabulous experience of daily champagne and caviar!

Some nights after (a few too many) cocktails and arriving into our suite after midnight the munchies were calling and after a quick call to room service we were enjoying a cheese and ham toastie with fries in bed.

We really loved the convenience of having room service available and that it was simply a quick phone call away.

S.A.L.T cooking class

We joined two S.A.L.T cooking classes during our sailing and thoroughly enjoyed both classes.

The recipes you recreate are local to the region you are sailing in. We found the classes really fun, the ingredients are already laid out for you and the chef talks you through the recipe step by step.

In our first class, we were in Montenegro and we made Njeguski stek (pork schnitzel with cheese and prosciutto) and a fig, prosciutto and arugula salad with honey dressing on the side.

And in our second, Soparnik (a savoury pie filled with swiss chard) with ajvar (roast pepper dip).

The best tip I have is when you board, make a reservation at reception to join one of the S.A.L.T cooking classes.

As I am sure you can tell we were delighted by the variety and quality of food offered on our voyage. The range of cuisines, choice and flexibility meant we were always trying new dishes and went to every meal looking forward to what was going to delight our taste buds that day.