The Celebrity Equinox has three “nice” specialty dining options: Murano, the classic French dining experience; Tuscan Grille, the Italian steakhouse; & Silk Harvest, a traditional Asian & sushi restaurant. We had the opportunity to dine at each restaurant, compliments of Celebrity, & each was a unique experience. Our favorite, hands down, was Silk Harvest. The service was extremely friendly, the sushi was some of the best we’ve ever had, & the whole experience felt special. Murano, which we actually ended up eating at twice (at the recommendation of our travel agent, we had pre-paid a reservation ahead of time online), was a grand dining experience: many items flambéed table side, a dressy atmosphere, & authentic French cuisine. Tuscan Grille, which the majority of people I’ve talked to absolutely love, was our biggest disappointment.
Read more about each experience below:
Silk Harvest
The smallest of the specialty dining restaurants on Equinox, Silk Harvest makes up for its size with its dynamite food & service. From the moment we walked in, we felt welcomed & comfortable. The staff, the majority of which are Asian & really seemed to take pleasure in serving food from their home countries, were some of the most gracious we found on the ship. Food is served small plate style, in sharable portions, making this a great place to go with a group (how fun would it be to say “Just bring us one of everything”??).
While we happened to dine at Silk Harvest during Lent, when we had religious restrictions on what we could eat, our entirely vegetarian & seafood based meal did not disappoint. Highlights included cream cheese wontons, calamari, the amazing Solstice Roll (a sushi roll of shrimp tempura, crab salad, avocado & spicy yoma dressing), a California Roll, shrimp pad thai (maybe the best I’ve ever had), & kung pao shrimp. Too stuffed for much dessert, we managed to fit in a few bites of tapioca pudding, which tasted way better than the stuff my mom used to make on the stove.
Unfortunately, some of the newer Celebrity Solstice Class ships don’t have a Silk Harvest. I’d choose Equinox again over those ships just to eat here.
Dining in Silk Harvest carries a $20 per person charge – which is a steal for how good the food is & how much you get!
Murano
Men, you’ll want to wear a jacket to Murano, even if it’s not formal night, as it’s that kind of elegant dining experience. An evening at Murano is four courses of butter-filled French goodness. Highlights of our meals there included a phyllo wrapped scallop, Dover sole, a thick veal chop, filet mignon, fresh lobster covered in the most amazing bacon & Dijon cream sauce ever, possibly the world’s largest cheese cart, dark chocolate soufflé, & strawberry crepes, flambéed table side.
The restaurant is dark & romantic, & would be the perfect place to celebrate a special occasion. In hindsight, we should have listened to everyone who said that is where we should celebrate my birthday. The staff was attentive, well dressed, & seemed to take great pleasure in the dining experience they create. You cannot possibly leave Murano hungry. Don’t make the mistake we did & eat there on the last night of the cruise – you’ll be too stuffed from ten days of eating to really appreciate the gourmet food.
Dining at Murano carries a $40 per person cover charge – it’s well worth it!
Tuscan Grille
We had heard nothing but good things about Tuscan Grille, so we were excited to try it. I wish our experience had met our expectations.
After switching tables (the first one we were seated at was pushed in a corner, directly in line with the kitchen, & easily 15-20 degrees warmer than the rest of the restaurant), we settled in for what we hoped would be a grand Italian meal. I admit that I have high standards for Italian food – I come from an Italian family, I live in an area with great, authentic Italian restaurants, & I don’t consider Olive Garden to be real Italian. Unfortunately, at least the night we were there, Tuscan Grille was more Olive Garden than Italian bistro. The menu was underwhelming to me &, for the first time on the cruise, I actually had trouble deciding what to order because nothing jumped out at me (vs my usual problem of wanting too many things on the menu).
Our meal did have a few highlights, especially at dessert time. The chocolate fondue was a fun way to end the meal & the chocolate dessert trio we ordered featured some amazing sugar art.
Perhaps the worst part of the evening was something that I’d expect to find up on the pool deck (but actually hadn’t) & something we hadn’t found in the other specialty restaurants: the waiter pushing alcohol. Every time he visited our table, the waiter suggested wine, liquor, & after dinner drinks (even after we were done with dessert). Wondering if maybe it was included in our complimentary dinner & that’s why he was pushing so hard, we ordered wine when we hadn’t planned on it & were disappointed to see it on the bill (I know, our fault for not asking, but the whole thing felt awkward). Nowhere else on board had alcohol been pushed on us this hard, especially after repeatedly saying no. We left with a bad taste in our mouth.
Despite our bad experience at Tuscan Grille, I would actually consider trying it again on our next cruise. I truly believe the restaurant has potential, especially given its popularity on the cruise line.
Dining at Tuscan Grille carries a $20 per person cover charge.
Leave a Reply