The following review of Remy, the adult only restaurant aboard the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy is based on our dinner aboard the Dream in October 2018. I mentioned in our trip report that this dinner was the best Remy dinner experience to date with a recently changed menu that deserved a proper review. Well, I let the review slip a bit and after Disney Cruise Line announced a price increase for the experience, I figured it was time to sit down and share our opinion on our most recent dinner at Remy.
Remy offers guests a special culinary experience crafted by Chef Scott Hunnel from Victoria & Alberts at Walt Disney World and 3-star Michelin chef, Arnauld Lallement whose restaurant, l’Assiette Champenoise, is located near Reims, France. He is also a fun follow on Instagram, but I should warn you, his food pictures are intoxicating.
Reservations are required and there is a strict dress code. Men are required to wear a jacket, a dress shirt, dress pants, and shoes. However, ties are optional. Ladies are required to wear a cocktail dress, evening dress, pantsuit or skirt/blouse. Jeans, shorts, capri pants, sandals, flip-flops, and tennis shoes are not permitted. The dress code is actually enforced, we’ve seen guests told return to their stateroom to change and other times given a jacket to wear. I am simply pointing this out because dress codes elsewhere on the ships are rarely enforced and I suspect the Remy and to some extent Palo dress codes are often ignored when packing for a cruise.
We were seated in the corner booth, which we love, offering a full view to the sea and a front row seat for the concert. It is always a treat when a violinist is on hand to perform a few songs to set the mood; here is a video from a previous cruise.
The complimentary Collete cocktail, prepared table side, continues to be the ceremonial start of the Remy dinner experience.
It is one of the only mixed cocktails I approve of using Champagne in lieu of sparkling wine or Prosecco. It also doesn’t hurt that the Champagne, Taittinger Brut, used for the cocktail is the official Champagne of the Sanders Family.
Collette Recipe
1/2 oz. Grey Goose VX
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier Paris Edition
4 oz. Taittinger La Française Brut NV
Cassis Pearls
Dried Pineapple Cubes
In a martini glass, place Cassis Pearls. Add champagne and vodka. Finish with dried pineapple cubes.
Our server for the evening, Jerome, presented us with a couple menus including the enhancement menu with caviar selections, Miyazaki Beef, and pairings.
We were both a little undecided at first, so we took a look at the wine menu. I contemplated the idea of doing the wine pairing, but I keep going back to a prior recommendation to skip the pairing and just get a nice bottle.
I promise the actual menu onboard is not blurry. I really don’t know why I’m including this. Sorry.
Duncan, the Sommelier on hand, presented the fancy wine menu.
Ultimately, we each went with a glass of Taittinger Brut Prestige Rosé. A big part of this decision is that Remy dinner is a marathon and if you do not pace yourself, you will pass out in a food coma midway through the cheese cart.
There are two primary menu options, Saveur from Chef Lallement, and Goût from Chef Hunnel. Additionally, there is a listing of a la carte options. As we have done in the past, we asked Jerome and the chef to surprise us based on our dietary preferences and allergy restrictions. It is fun not knowing what will be presented for each course.
The bread service was also changed up, rather than a basket of various bread left on the table, we were served a choice of bread from a tray. Additional bread was offered during the course of the evening and as you’d expect, available upon request.
The first round featured a two pairs of canapés, Foie gras, and cauliflower with lime zest. The cauliflower canapés were incredible and I forgot all about the Tomato Soup Cube that has been a staple of Remy dinner.
Up next was a crisp and cream parsnip amuse-bouche. The wonderful punch of lime was right up my alley.
The King Crabe dish featured King Crab in a cabbage wrap with a delicious sauce added at the table.
The gnocchi! The gnocchi accompanied with wine sauce and spinach crisps literally melted in my mouth.
Chef Hunnel’s lobster was accompanied by beets.
The Sable Fish, also from Hunnel’s Goût menu, was poached in olive oil with fennel ravioli with a Pernod cream sauce.
The Flétan AKA halibut was served with a lovely onion sauce.
Poulet Rouge served with mushrooms. True story, I dislike mushrooms, they are one of the foods I typically refuse to eat. Yet, at Remy, I just eat them.
When the lamb arrived the dish was described as a fireworks of flavors. Incredible! Parsnips spinach purée dots, citrus, and rosemary! That description was spot on!
Plateau de Fromages!!! Remy gets me. If you love cheese, this is the cart for you. While the dinner menu receives updates on a regular basis, the cheese cart offerings remain relatively unchanged.
In addition to the cheese are some dried fruits and honey.
Bread crisps are also provided to accompany the cheeses.
Now, it’s time for the red napkin, the telltale sign dessert is on the way.
There are two desserts on the Remy dinner menu, one from each chef. The best course of action when dining at Remy is to make sure you try both because they are just as delicious as they are good looking.
This evening the desserts featured were Banana and Miel.
The Miel (honey) dessert was incredible. Who doesn’t love eating gold.
Time for the bonus round of desserts. The tarts were beyond flavorful and the fruit roll ups were nice and tart.
Pro tip, by this time of the Remy dinner experience you may want to hold off on eating the chocolates. Focus on the perishable items and save the chocolates for a stateroom treat later in the cruise. Alternatively, you could just eat them if you are so inclined.
Time to pay the piper. As I mentioned earlier, this dinner was in October, well before the recent price increase. For the sake of keeping this a current post, I am going to pretend we paid $125 each instead of the previous $95 charge for Remy dinner.
In 2016, when the price was increased $10 to $95 I made the following statement:
Remy dinner has increased $20 in the last two years following a $10 increase in April 2015. I still feel dinner is worth the price if you enjoy fine dining, but the Champagne Brunch now at $90 (including the pairing) is now borderline leaning to not worth it on a regular basis. For more on the Remy experiences check out episode 13 of the Disney Cruise Line Blog Podcast.
After last week’s $30 price increase at Remy, I did not share my opinion. In part because I wasn’t sure how I felt. The price change for Emily and I means it will now run us $60 more for Remy dinner. The level of detail, quality of food, and service have always been excellent at all of the Remy experiences. This was hands down our best Remy dinner experience to date and I would have no qualms about paying another $60 for the dinner experience. The increase may change my mind regarding the additional glasses of Champagne and sparking water, however. We have also brought our own bottle of Taittinger and paid the corking fee, which is less than purchasing 2 glasses of champagne, and I believe that we will do that on our next cruise.
I did a little research, I wanted to see how the menu and prices compared to l’Assiette Champenoise. Lallement’s Saveur menu runs 185 Euros that’s approximately $211 USD. For a dinner experience curated by a 3-star Michelin chef, I think $125 is a fantastic deal.
Chef Lallament's menu with prices (in Euros) at l'Assiette Champenoise – you can argue he is not on the ships, but to get a menu he takes part in curating for $125 is a deal in my book. pic.twitter.com/RDBLs0Accb
— Scott Sanders (@TheDCLBlog) December 19, 2018
Food, prices, favorite ship. This is all subjective and so is this review of Remy. I will say, that even with the recent price increase, I still highly recommend Remy dinner & we will continue to dine there when cruising the Dream & Fantasy.
Prior Remy Dinner reviews
- Mini Trip Report Review (2017)
- Mini Trip Report Review (2015)
- Remy Dinner Review (2013)
This sounds truly amazing and something I would love to treat myself to once. May I ask how long a dinner seating at Remy normally takes? Are you welcome to take your time, space out the meal and enjoy it over a couple of hours or do they move things along pretty quickly in order to turn over the tables?
The dinner is timed nicely. We’ve never felt rushed.
Never dined at Remy…but our server at Palo on our last Fantasy cruise told us that tables at Remy are not turned. Your table is yours for the evening…you may linger as long as you like. (This could be dated information, as that was late 2015…)
Would you say three hours or closer to two?
Closer to 2 hours, but sometimes around 2.5 hrs.
I believe that it is just Palo, somewhere around 2 hours, even though they don’t rush you. That should be enough time to enjoy yourselves fully.
Oh wow, thanks for the post. We’ll be going to Remy’s next month on our second Disney cruise (Fantasy). It was all booked the first time so we were able to get in with our earlier registration. I wasn’t planning on taking my suit but after reading this I think I better. I hadn’t thought about the dress code for Remy (was only thinking about the Captains dinner). These courses look amazing. Thanks for the post and all the great pictures!
We have enjoyed Remy in 2018 October, Fantasy, Halloween cruise. Two questions: how do you illuminate your food shots? The lighting seems to be opposite the camera, not a flash, and high key as if shot in daylight not dinner light. Second, we are cruising the same cruise this October. What menu ideas would you recommend or, should we try Palo?
Many thanks and best regards.
Bill
Hi Bill, I am using available light and pulling as much out of the shadows as I can in Lightroom. Since transitioning from my trusty D300 to a Sony Alpha 6000, I’ve been able to bring life to otherwise unusable shots. If you are asking me to pick between Remy and Palo, I’d go with Remy. With the seasonal menu changes there is always some surprises whereas, Palo’s menu remains pretty much the same.