Victoria & Alberts discontinuing 7 & 10 course options starting July - confirmed

[Monykalyn]

Instead of a wine pairing, guests can always order some wine offerings by the glass.

We did this last (& only) time we dined at V&A. Frankly-the 3 pours we had was more than enough to last us.

I am very very far behind the times but hoping beyond all reason that I can snag a reservation in early august. I really really didn't plan enough. We dined at V&A for our 15th anniversary and will be in WDW for our 25th and would very happily pay the price, but if we did a wine pairing for each of us for 10 courses I'm afraid we wouldn't be actually walking out...

 

[Golf4food]

Well, we just cancelled our August 6th at 6:15, maybe you can get that one, Monykayln.

Couldn't justify an additional $300 for the experience. Will enjoy Cava at the Four Seasons instead and "save" a few hundred bucks to put elsewhere on the trip.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Any reports from recent guests? Would love to hear about the new menu approach. @Hbelton07 @cindycastle30 ?

 

[cindycastle30]

We went Sunday night 7/8. I'll write more when I get home , on monorail right now. Short review , not rushing back anytime soon . 1st time we went was such a wow experience and couldn't wait for more. While this visit was of course amazing just didn't leave with a can't wait to go back feeling .

 

[2xcited2sleep]

We went Sunday night 7/8. I'll write more when I get home , on monorail right now. Short review , not rushing back anytime soon . 1st time we went was such a wow experience and couldn't wait for more. While this visit was of course amazing just didn't leave with a can't wait to go back feeling .

Thanks for posting some quick thoughts. Wish I was on the monorail right now! Sorry to hear it wasn’t a wow experience. I’ll look forward to hearing more when you have a chance. Enjoy the rest of your trip!!!!

 

[Airb330]

As someone who hasn't visited V&A yet, this isn't a welcome development. 7-courses honestly sounded lovely and more than enough. So that's quite a large increase in price, pushing $770 I believe for 2 people, where we would have been more than happy with the 7-course and wine paring for $500. That's disappointing, especially with not taking TIW. $500 already would get some amazing meals in Philadelphia, and $770 would go quite far even in NYC...

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Following along for a review. I have it booked for both September (regular) and November (QVR)

 

[MickeyCrazed]

Following along as well. Have our first V&A’s reservation booked for December. Read a lot of reviews before making the reservation, so I’m curious how these newly implemented changes will impact the experience.

 

[RRB]

Questions for those recently attending -
When you choose wine by the glass, is it premium wine or less than premium.
What are the cost ranges of wine by the glass
What are people tipping for the meal? 18% of $700 is $120.00

 

[drwadadli]

What are the cost ranges of wine by the glass
What are people tipping for the meal? 18% of $700 is $120.00

First...here is the wine list from V&A: http://www.victoria-alberts.com/pdf/winelistf.pdf
Second...Our meal came to $650 ($250 per person + one $150 wine pairing) not including tax ($689 with tax) and we tipped $161 to make the bill an even $850.00

 

[Dean Marino]

Really - we are going in Nov. 2018....

Boris, and/or Israel, will just TELL us what the bill is. And we are not having a fit .

 

[helenasue]

I was pretty put out to hear that the menu structure had changed when they called today. We were hoping to each get the 7-course and have two choices open to us for each course. We're not big eaters, so paying more for added food isn't especially appealing to us. We were a lot happier about the old structure because my husband is a VERY picky eater and we wanted as many choices as possible so we had the best chance to accommodate him.

They were great about going over all of his likes and dislikes with me, so hopefully we'll be just fine. I'll eat just about anything and am happy to let the chef steer.

PS. Does anyone know if his restrictions will impact my meal now that there are no choices? I LOVE seafood, but my husband has a strong 'no seafood' preference. I'd hate to be confined to his palette at a place like that, because I'm a big foodie and I want the full culinary adventure.

 

[nekonekoneko]

I was pretty put out to hear that the menu structure had changed when they called today. We were hoping to each get the 7-course and have two choices open to us for each course. We're not big eaters, so paying more for added food isn't especially appealing to us. We were a lot happier about the old structure because my husband is a VERY picky eater and we wanted as many choices as possible so we had the best chance to accommodate him.

They were great about going over all of his likes and dislikes with me, so hopefully we'll be just fine. I'll eat just about anything and am happy to let the chef steer.

PS. Does anyone know if his restrictions will impact my meal now that there are no choices? I LOVE seafood, but my husband has a strong 'no seafood' preference. I'd hate to be confined to his palette at a place like that, because I'm a big foodie and I want the full culinary adventure.

My DW loves seafood, I'm not a fan. She got a bunch of seafood at the beginning, while I got iberian ham and quail.

V&A accidentally listed that I had a seafood allergy, which I don't, but it was fine.

 

[crazycatstacy]

Very excited about this. We used to dine in the main dining room with the 7 course menu where you had the ability to choose between 1-2 offerings per course. Mine was always altered slightly because of seafood allergies plus I was told that I could substitute an item from a different course or from a vegetarian menu or even from DH's menu (assuming it didn't have seafood) and occasionally they'd just modify an existing course to remove any seafood.

Then we made the mistake once of dining in the QVR with the 10 course menu. That set an unfortunate precedent - now we can't go back to the main dining room we loved the QVR and 10 courses so much. We did QVR again two years ago and have booked it for this upcoming December. I was quite worried that I wouldn't be able to get the QVR and would have to eat in the main dining room (oooo - how terrible a fate ). So it's good to know that even if we can't get into the QVR in future, we won't be limited to the 7 courses. I actually preferred the 10 courses; much smaller plates but lots more variety. No choices for each course but I'll eat pretty much anything the chef cares to give me as long as there's no seafood in it. I hate mushrooms but I've had a mushroom pasta at V&As that I can still remember after so many years and it was so delicious. It convinced me that, in the hands of a highly qualified chef, only food allergies are relevant - I ignore food preferences and let the chef do what they know better than I.

I agree with you about food preferences. We ate at the Chef's table three years ago and I do not eat seafood- no allergy just not something I enjoy. We talked about it but I decided to not have mine be a no seafood meal and several courses had seafood and they were amazing!

 

[helenasue]

I agree with you about food preferences. We ate at the Chef's table three years ago and I do not eat seafood- no allergy just not something I enjoy. We talked about it but I decided to not have mine be a no seafood meal and several courses had seafood and they were amazing!

I wish my husband was that flexible with it! His preferences are uncompromisingly rigid. It's not definitely accurate to say that he "doesn't like" seafood, since he's 30 and has never. tried. it. He's never eaten any kind of crustacean in his life, and he intends to keep it that way. The way he feels about it, we may as well all be sitting around eating cockroaches. He swears up and down, "they're bugs from the sea, and that's absolutely disgusting, I'm not eating a bug. I don't care WHAT it tastes like."

 

[helenasue]

I wish my husband was that flexible with it! His preferences are uncompromisingly rigid. It's not definitely accurate to say that he "doesn't like" seafood, since he's 30 and has. never. tried. it. He's never eaten any kind of crustacean in his life, and he intends to keep it that way. The way he feels about it, we may as well all be sitting around eating cockroaches. He swears up and down, "they're bugs from the sea, and that's absolutely disgusting, I'm not eating a bug. I don't care WHAT it tastes like."

 

[crazycatstacy]

I wish my husband was that flexible with it! His preferences are uncompromisingly rigid. It's not definitely accurate to say that he "doesn't like" seafood, since he's 30 and has never. tried. it. He's never eaten any kind of crustacean in his life, and he intends to keep it that way. The way he feels about it, we may as well all be sitting around eating cockroaches. He swears up and down, "they're bugs from the sea, and that's absolutely disgusting, I'm not eating a bug. I don't care WHAT it tastes like."

If it makes you feel any better, I was the same way until closer to 40! Then I got more adventurous. So there is hope yet!

 

[krum]

Call them and ask about no seafood. They can usually accommodate, especially considering shellfish allergy is pretty common. I suspect they already know what to do.

Also, I'd be surprised if they actually added more food. The 10-course menu was already pretty filling. The trend in this space is smaller plates, so they've probably adjusted the number of courses to match a smaller course size. Anyway you have to keep in mind that you're paying for the experience not the food, really. Not that the food is bad, but you could walk into pretty much any Michelin 3-star restaurant in NYC and get a better food experience for the same price or less.

 

[FSU Girl]

Has anyone recently eaten there? I'm curious how the new structure is. We'll be there November 13.

 

[helenasue]

If it makes you feel any better, I was the same way until closer to 40! Then I got more adventurous. So there is hope yet!

That DOES fill me with hope! Thank you! Maybe one day he'll be willing to sample one of my perfect sous vide scallops.