Review of Celebrity Cruises' Bistro on Five Restaurant

Bistro on Five on the Celebrity Millennium

Bistro on Five is a restaurant located on the majority of Celebrity Cruises’ fleet offering made-to-order crepes, paninis, soups, and salads. Celebrity Cruises describes the Bistro on Five restaurants “to be casual enough for a solo breakfast with the day's news, and stylish enough to drop in after the theatre for a dessert crêpe and a glass of wine.”   

The open kitchen allows you to watch the chef create your crepe.

After 13 days on a previous Celebrity cruise in the Mediterranean, I never managed to eat there. I was conflicted as the food was really delicious throughout the ship and therefore, I had a difficult time justifying the $5 per person service charge.  However, I was determined to try it on the recent 15-day Panama Cruise on the Celebrity Millennium.  Bistro on Five is a new addition to the ship, part of the ship’s renovation that took place in May 2012. 

I found a hidden gem.  It’s centrally located on all the ships; however, during the times I walked, by I often found only a few people eating there.

I think it’s the perfect spot to go in the morning if you want a more relaxed meal before an excursion rather than the hustle and bustle of the buffet or perhaps for a leisurely brunch on a day at sea.  Bistro on Five’s hours is meant to fit into anyone’s schedule as it opens at six o'clock in the morning and stays open until late.  After sleeping in, a leisurely brunch was exactly what I felt like before exploring the port area in Colon, Panama.

Menu & Food Overview

Celebrity Cruises defines Bistro on Five’s menu as “a modern twist on traditional crêpes with a wide variety of creative fillings and toppings.” The menu features crepes, paninis, soups, salads, and desserts. Click here for the detailed menu. All crepes are made fresh to order and since it’s an open kitchen, you can walk up and watch the chef making your crepe.

Italian Dessert Crepe

Crepes I tasted:

• Designed-my-own Breakfast Crepe with Scrambled Eggs, Tomato, Spinach, and Bacon with Breakfast Potatoes
• Buffalo Crepe with Marinated Grilled Chicken with Shredded Lettuce and Blue Cheese
• Cowboy Crepe with Grilled Flank Steak, Spinach, Caramelized Onion, Bacon, Provolone and Blue Cheese Dressing
• Italian Crepe (Dessert) with Nutella, Banana and Pistachios

Breakfast Crepe

My favorite was the Breakfast Crepe as it included all of my most loved breakfast foods in a crepe. It was a nice change from my usual morning omelete. The combination of items in the Cowboy Crepe really worked well together and I found it very savory. 

Don’t forget to leave room for dessert. The Italian Crepe, which includes bananas and nutella, is my all-time favorite crepe combination that I get whenever I'm in Paris. The addition of the pistachios added a nice crunch to the sweet crepe. There is no limit to how much you may order so definitely explore different types of crepes and paninis.

Service

In the Celebrity Millennium the service was spectacular. It really felt that the staff had pride in the restaurant and wanted to make sure we had a pleasant experience.  All of our questions were answered and special requests completed with ease.  A couple next to us couldn’t decide on what dessert crepe to order so the chef made them two smaller portions so they could try both!

French Dessert Crepe

A little encouragement

My sister was sailing on the Celebrity Solstice while I was on the Celebrity Millennium.  I sent her an email later that day from the ship to tell her to find time to try Bistro on Five, even if it was for a snack.  She ended up eating there twice during her cruise!

Chicken Panini Shredded Lettuce, Diced Tomato, Spicy Chicken and Cheddar Cheese

She really enjoyed the Paninis. Her least favorite item was the French Dessert crepe with Grand Marnier and Candied Orange.  She’s more of a chocolate-lover so and that crepe wasn’t for her but she wanted to give it a try.

Final Thoughts

I would definitely eat there on a future Celebrity cruise. I'm looking forward to branching out and trying some of their soup, salad, and panini selections. I secretly hope that it remains an insider secret (shh!) as I really enjoyed the quiet atmosphere compared to other dining options.

In addition, there were great views for looking out to sea as well as a good spot for people watching with its central location on the ship. If you’re going on a longer voyage, Bistro on Five gives you a break from the daily buffets and a chance to try new foods.

Available On Celebrity Constellation®, Celebrity Summit®, Celebrity Infinity®, Celebrity Millennium®, Celebrity Solstice®, Celebrity Equinox, Celebrity Eclipse®, Celebrity Silhouette, Celebrity Reflection.

The cost is an additional $5 per person and no reservation is needed.

FreshCruiser Tip: For $5, it’s a great escape on a sea day when you want to get away from the crowded buffet. It offers unique food that you won’t find anywhere else on the ship.

Flavors Unite! Review of Qsine on Celebrity Cruises

Qsine, Specialty Restaurant

Dining at the specialty restaurant, Qsine®, on the Celebrity Millennium was one of the culinary highlights of my recent cruise.  I will go into more details but the presentation of the food alone is worth the visit, let alone how delicious it tasted.  I have to admit that when I was looking up the specialty restaurants on Celebrity Cruises’ website for the Celebrity Millennium, I thought that Qsine sounded gimmicky with a confused identity.  I convinced my husband to go as I like to try new things and it sure did not disappoint!

About Qsine

Celebrity Cruises describes Qsine:

"Qsine® offers a culinary journey that delivers elements of surprise and delight. Our James Beard featured Master Chef created Qsine to give you something you've never experienced before—on land or at sea. Leave any preconceived notions behind. Dig in and try new things. It's time your palate got a wakeup call. Our iPad® menus make your dining experience even more fun and interactive."

In all of Celebrity Cruises’ marketing material, it pushes the fact that your menu is an iPad, which you order directly from.  I’m typically on some type of electronic device throughout most of my day so this part didn’t sound “fun and interactive”; but rather, annoying. Why couldn’t I just give my order to the waiter?  To my surprise however, I quickly found out it was only one small aspect of the restaurant and was fun just clicking a button to send the order to the kitchen.  The friendly Brazilian waiter stopped back often as we went through the menu to answer our questions along with giving us recommendations.

Every dish that came out had its own unique presentation and flavors.  You can travel around the world while dining here.   We had the opportunity to meet the chef, Jean-Pierre, who really enjoyed cooking all types of dishes from around the world and sharing them with guests.

Dishes Worth Trying

Fresh Market Salad

There were definitely some dishes that were stand-outs for me.  The Qsine Greens is described as a “Fresh Market Salad with Arugula, Radicchio, Frisée, Watercress, Spinach, Pomegranate Emulsion, Crispy Goat Cheese Crumble”.  I didn’t think much of it when I saw it on the menu, but was really happy that I ordered it.  The warm goat cheese pattie combined with the pomegranate emulsion provided a crispy yet sweet and creamy taste.  The dressing provided on the side allows you to customize the taste to your preference.

Treseviche

The Treseviche dish included three types of cerviche served with a side of French fries to cleanse your palate and provide a little saltiness to help cut the citrus-ness of the dish.  With each taste, I tried to figure out which one I liked the best and I couldn’t decide as they were all exceptional.  The flavor combinations were matched perfectly to each type of seafood.

Treseviche included:

• Tiger Shrimp & Bay Scallops with Lemon Juice, Tequila, Cilantro, Tomato & Jalapeño Oil
• Salmon with Yuzu Citrus, Cucumber, Vodka & Basil
• Sea Bass with Lime, Red Onion, Choclo, Avocado & EXVOO

Slider Party

In addition, I would recommend ordering the Slider Party.  The dish comes with one slider per person, which comes out of the kitchen on a grill pan with cheddar cheese on top surrounded by a medley of burger fixings. 

The burger was just the right size, juicy, and still piping hot and served with a side of French fries….what could beat that?!

Painter's Mignon

Stand-outs for presentation included the Painter's Mignon which was a Filet Mignon with a variety of sides, served in little jars.  The sides included mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, and a demi glace sauce. The presentation was unexpectedly refreshing for what’s normally considered a “fancy dish”. 

Sushi Lollipops

In addition, the Sushi Lollipops including, “Nigiri Sushi, Soy Center, Wasabi Mayo & Pickled Ginger-Radish Salad” was sushi presented in a fun way and was even more fun to eat!

Tips for Ordering

Disco Shrimp

The portions are meant to share and some are larger than others.  If there is just two of you, read the different dishes carefully and what comes in each one as if it lists 10 items, you may want to pass to try more items as that alone could fill you up. I definitely decided to try as much as I could.

After a good number of dishes came out, the waiter came to inform us that we were only half-way through what we had ordered on the iPad to see if we wanted the food to keep coming.  His timing was perfect as we were getting full.  We decided on one more dish to try and that would be it as we still wanted to leave room for dessert.  

Dessert Menu

The way that the dessert menu is presented is distinctive and memorable in a puzzle cube. 

We enjoyed the tombstone cake, which was rich and fabulous, and the silver bullet, which was filled with two types of sorbet.

Additional Highlights

The service was outstanding, even a step above the typical dining room experience.
Another aspect I liked about this restaurant is that I enjoy going for tapas and getting to try new things when I’m on land. However, my husband and I are always looking at the price and trying to add things up in our heads.  Part of the fun of this restaurant was ordering what you felt like versus trying to find the cheaper or more filling items on the menu. My only regret was that we didn’t go back again to try the items we didn’t order and to have some of our favorite dishes again.

Where to find Qsine

Qsine is available on the following ships in the Celebrity Cruises’ fleet: Celebrity Eclipse®, Celebrity Infinity®, Celebrity Silhouette, Celebrity Summit®, Celebrity Millennium®, Celebrity Reflection.

FreshCruiser Tip: Qsine is definitely a splurge if you’re trying to eat healthy while cruising. To help with this, start your day off with a visit to the fitness room and eat a healthy breakfast and lunch which will let you splurge a little more at dinner.

Just got back from a Cruise? Time to deal with Cruise Lag!

Similar to jet-lag, I suffer from something called “Cruise Lag” when I return from a cruise and just experienced it again last February when I got back from cruising on the Carnival Paradise. After a cruise, I’m used to eating whenever I want throughout the day. It’s difficult to pass up ice cream as you're walking by it on your way to the pool area or eating a few pieces of sushi to hold you over before dinner. Despite how healthy you may eat, you’re probably still eating more frequently and at different times than normal when cruising. 

Time to transition our stomach back to the real world.

I take my time and don't go 100% cold turkey. I keep a few chocolates for those sweet cravings and try to start limiting those items as the week goes on.  I also normally drink a lot more coffee on the ship then I do in my everyday life; as a result, I slowly reduce my caffeine intake as well.  Cruise Lag may sound silly, but if you experience it, don’t panic and take it one day at a time!

And keep in mind, Cruise Lag not only involves food!  You may find yourself confused and put on a tuxedo for dinner, thinking it is formal night.  Or, upset when your bed isn’t made! What effects of Cruise Lag have you experienced?

FreshCruiser Tip: Start to plan your next cruise! It always helps to get over Cruise Lag!