Windstar Star Plus Dining guide
Following a recent ship stretch and refit we sailed on Windstar cruises Star Legend and can bring you this complete dining guide featuring both the original and new dining venues on board all of the Star Plus class ships. Recent changes to the Windstar fares now mean that there is the option to purchase upfront an all inclusive fare which includes all drinks throughout the voyage but there is also the choice to opt for the cruise only fare which would just include hot and cold non-alcoholic beverages. We love the all-inclusive option, meaning you can enjoy a cold beer our glass of wine with your meals, as well as a pre-dinner cocktails without having to worry about your onboard spend. We found the wine and beer on offer to be extensive and varied and the bartenders were all accomplished mixologists offering some amazing cocktails. Aside from the fabulous drinks available, the food was top notch but lets go into that in a bit more detail, venue by venue.
Veranda:
Veranda is the buffet style venue which at breakfast time has a fruit and cold cut station near the entrance to the restaurant, a pastry section and a hot food section, including an omelette station looking out over the seating area. There are other hot dishes available to order and plenty of crew around to collect food thus avoiding people gathering in front of the food areas.
The indoor seating at the back of the ship is light and bright, though it does get a little busy with it being adjacent to the food stations. however, for more quite indoor dining there are lovely little lania style areas down each side of the venue with lovely full length windows to enjoy the sea view. In good weather though most people head to the outside terrace where there is plenty of comfortable seating arranged under a large canopy providing shade and shelter if need be. Breakfast service is usually sometime between 7 and 10 with a slightly later finish on seas days and an earlier finish on port days.
The Veranda is also open for lunch from noon to 2pm most days with a salad bar set up in the entrance way, desserts arranged along the side stations and the hot buffet food from the rear serving station. This is usually ‘themed’ with special dishes served by the chef himself. There are also grilled dishes to order, such as a hot dogs or chicken, beef or veggie burgers.
Candles:
In the evenings the Verandah transforms into Candles restaurant, a speciality steak and seafood restaurant featuring some dishes created by chefs as part of Windstar’s partnership with the James Beard Foundation, an organisation establishes over 30 years ago to celebrate and support the people behind America’s food culture. Whilst Candles is a complimentary speciality dining venue it is very popular and a reservation is required. We would recommend making a reservation as soon as you board the ship to ensure you get to experience it at least once. We loved it so much we went three times on our twelve night voyage.
The menu is pretty extensive with five starters to chose from, our favourite being the mushroom cromesqui. There are so many choices on the entree menu it can be hard to decide but we would recommend the filet mignon, the lamb rack and the pesto cooked chicken breast, as well as the absolutely delicious cauliflower bang bang, one of the nicest vegetarian dishes we have ever eaten. The waiters will automatically bring the broccoli and asparagus sides to accompany the main meal but we also loved the onion rings, and roasted potato dish. And though they aren’t on the menu you can always ask for either the truffle fries or the sweet potato fries from the main dining room menu too. Though we managed to try all of the desserts in our three visits our absolute favourite was the caramelised lemon tart served with honey greek yoghurt.
Room service:
Room service is a good option on Star Legend with very extensive menu choices throughout the day, starting with breakfast menu from 6am to 11am, followed by an all day menu available from noon to 10pm, alongside an in-suite dinner option from the Amphora main restaurant menu, finishing off with the night time menu available from 10pm to 6am.
Unlike most other lines we have sailed on Windstar you don’t order your breakfast the night before (though there is the option to leave a hanger on the door for hot drinks and a light continental breakfast) instead simply calling up room service from the suite phone and ordering what you want when you want it. We quite prefer this, usually being too disorganised to remember to hang out the breakfast request the night before. There are plenty of options for breakfast from juices, fruits, traditional savoury options like omelettes and Eggs Benedict, and the usual sweeter fare like waffles, pancakes and French toast. Once you have placed your order it arrives promptly and a quick call back to room service and they will come to collect the empty plates.
The day time menu offers a limited choice of small plates or starters, along with a couple of salad options and a range of sandwiches., including quesadillas, a steak sandwich and the Windstar burger. There are a couple of desserts and a cheese plate, perfect for a mid afternoon munchies. There is also the option to have the main dining room service in your suite during Amphora’s opening hours, which along with the well stocked minibar makes a for a lovely cosy night in, maybe watching a movie from the extensive movie options on the TV. And if a movie is on the cards the overnight menu even has popcorn and tortilla chips on it, both vital for a movie night! The overnight menu is actually quite extensive with many of the savoury daytime options still available.
Yacht Club:
The other option for a light breakfast is the lovely Yacht Club, located at the front of the ship on deck 8, perfect for watching a sail into the next destination on the itinerary. Though the options here are limited fruit, pastries and cold cuts are always available alongside what soon became my ‘go to’ breakfast, the delicious parfait pots, made up of greek yoghurt, fruit compote and a smattering of granola. The Yacht club opens at 6am so is prefect for early risers with barista style coffee and a wide range of teas served form the small bar all day long until it closes at 6pm. Mid to late morning the breakfast fare gets replaced by a range of sandwiches, some little cup cakes and posset pots, and cookies which remain available throughout the day until the bar here closes.
Star Grill:
This is the other al fresco dining option, serving lunch every day from 12.30pm until 2.30pm. The Star Grill offers a daily carvery, hot veg, a daily special and a quiche option. Either side of the main grill are cold servers, one stocked with an array of delicious salad options and the other with tempting desserts and cheeses. Also available to order here are the hot dog and burger options, which remain available throughout the afternoon until late afternoon for those that miss lunch of fancy something later in the day.
Although not open in the evening on our voyage (due to us sailing with only 50% capacity) when sailings get back to normal capacity this venue will also be open in the evenings as another al fresco dining option. The menu has been designed by bbq king Steven Raichlen as part of the James Beard Foundation partnership and will offer a grilled menu option. Since there is no buffet restaurant open in the evening we assume that this will become the informal dining option for those that don’t wish to go to the main dining room or either of the two reservation only restaurants.
Amphora:
This is the main dining room on the ship and is open every evening from 7-9pm with open seating and no reservations required. The Star Legend is quite unusual in that it has no buffet option available in the evening (with Veranda turning into the reservation only Candles venue) so most guests dine here in the evening. The restaurant was enlarged and refitted in the ships lengthening and is now a large venue with spacious seating and a variety of table sizes allowing guests to join their friends if they wish. The restaurant is very traditional in feel with low ceilings, subtle lighting, crisp white table cloths and silver chargers.
The menu changes completely every evening and there is a good range of choices, usually with a couple of vegetarian choices available too. There are also two or three ‘regular’ dishes that feature every night if nothing takes you fancy from the daily menu. We found the food here to be excellent with a wide variety of dishes on offer and most of them being a cut above the usual. The service is good, friendly but formal, and the timing between the courses was almost perfect, with enough time left in between courses to make an evening of dinner.
A selection of our starters:
A Selection of our main courses:
A selection of our desserts:
Cuadro 44:
Cuadro 44 is a complimentary speciality restaurant seating only 36 guests each evening, with reservations required to ensure at least one visit each voyage. It is a modern, inventive Spanish cuisine restaurant which is part of Windstar’s exclusive partnership with the James Beard Foundation, created by one of their recognised chefs, Anthony Sasso.
The ambience is different to the other on board dining venues with a very intimate feel and the option to sit at the large sharing table. The decor has a very Mediterranean feel to it with dark wood, golds, bright reds and blues contrasting against the cream walls and large picture windows. There is an open kitchen so guests can see the chefs at work, with the chefs doing the rounds at the end of the meal to chat with guests and offer the recipes of their favourite dishes.
No sooner are guests seated than they are immediately bought over three little taster dishes of anchovies, olives and tomato bread. Starters are generally a tapas type sharing affair with a choice of six different options to choose from. Again there is a choice of six different main courses served with a variety of sides for sharing. We would particularly recommend the delicious lamb chops, a firm favourite of many of the guests dining there. As we couldn’t choose between the 3 delicious desserts they became sharing plates too.
Thank you to our preferred travel partners Panache cruises and Windstar Cruises who invited us to join the Star Legend on a 12 day Spain, Portugal and Canary Islands cruise from Barcelona to Lisbon in November 2021. Windstar cruises paid our cruise fare, drinks package and wifi package, all other costs were covered by ourselves and neither Windstar or Panache had any editorial control over any of our content, either before, during our after our voyage.
If you enjoyed this blog why not take a look at our Windstar Star Legend Ship Tour or our Viking Ocean Cruises Dining Guide.
If you are interested in booking a cruise with these or any other luxury cruise lines then we would recommend contacting a connoisseur at our trusted cruise partners Panache cruises - please mention that you have been referred to them through Visit With Us.
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