With so many outstanding dining options included in your cruise fare onboard Celebrity, you may be like me and wonder "Are the specialty dining options really worth the extra cost?"
It's a great question! In this article you will get to see what the dining experience is like at Le Grand Bistro onboard Celebrity's newest ship the Ascent. You'll learn how much it costs, what the ambiance is like, and our favorite dishes that we tried. Allons-y! :) Le Grand BistroIf you're dreaming of visiting France but find yourself on a Celebrity cruise to the Caribbean, don't worry! The boulangerie-patisserie Le Grand Bistro on Ascent will definitely do in a pinch! ;) And PS you can find plenty of Celebrity Cruises stopping in France ;D Le Grand Bistro is located on Deck 4, midship, between its upscale French dining neighbor, Le Voyage by Daniel Boulud and the buzzing Craft Social Bar where you can enjoy beer flights and bar bites. Whether you sit down to dine at dinner, enjoy a casual lunch, or prefer a demi baguette and a latte at breakfast - Le Grand Bistro has something for you to try! Le Grand Bistro Menu on AscentLe Petit Chef Menu:
Le Grand Bistro Main MenuOn the other hand, if you're craving a morning croissant or an afternoon croque monsieur then the a la carte menu is for you!
Le Grand Bistro Cocktail, wine, and beverage menu
Sip in style with French cocktails and wines or a hand crafted espresso-based beverage. Prices range from $4 for a single espresso to 25 for a glass of Veuve Clicquot, Yellow Label Champagne.
Le Grand Bistro Dessert MenuLe Grand Bistro To go MenuLunch Experience at Le Grand Bistro on Ascent
We decided to visit during lunch as we didn't want to miss dinner with our families in the main dining room. As the bistro was not especially crowded on the day of our visit, we chose to sit beside the window in order to enjoy the ocean views.
The meal started with our choice of bread and butter. In the main dining room you always receive a basket of assorted bread/rolls/etc and admittedly it did feel fancier to have the slices hand delivered at Le Grand Bistro.
The bread was really good and I wish the basket came back around during the meal without having to ask.
French Cocktails - $12 + $17Steak Frites - $24Lobster Bisque - $10
Lobster Bisque with Tarragon and Puff Pastry - Peeling back the cute little puff pastry beret (lol) to show you the soup inside!
By the way, have you ever wondered what the difference is between a soup and a bisque? I hadn't until just this very moment! In a nutshell, a bisque is a type of soup that has a thick, rick, creamy base and is traditionally made with some sort of shellfish. These days non-seafood creamy soups are also called bisques.
Take for example the following food math equation: tomato soup + cream = tomato bisque. Voila! The perfect companion for soup is a salad, right? We did, but didn't, end up with 2 salads. You will understand by the end. Baby Arugula Salad - $8
Wait.. Was this even the salad we ordered. Oops. No it wasn't. Quickly the correct salad arrived. Frisée Lardon Salad - $8
Featuring crispy pork belly, poached egg, pickled shallots and parmesan on curly endive, this salad was a treat. Perfectly poached, if you're team dippy-egg yoke then this picture will no doubt bring you joy.
The whimsical texture and freshness of curly endive played nicely with the salty, fatty pork belly and the bright yellow yoke of the poached egg added a pleasing pop of color and richness.
Crème Brûlée - $5
Caramelized vanilla egg custard with fresh berries.
Creme Brûlée is a quintessential French dessert much loved by cruise passengers. You may never order it out back home, but on a cruise you can usually indulge in several of these during your voyage.
We decided to try the creme brûlée at Le Grand Chef because we genuinely wanted to know if it was different than the "free" creme brûlée available in the main dining room.
To complete the experiment we ordered creme brûlée at dinner in the main dining room that night and we can confirm that YES, it is different! When you are paying extra you want to know you are getting a different product, a better quality, an advanced technique, a personal touch..
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Oh, Hey!We're Justin and Marissa
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