Atlantide Restaurant on Silversea Silver Muse

Atlantide is one of the eight restaurants on board Silversea's new flagship, Silver Muse. Silversea's description may lead you to think that Atlantide is basically an upscale seafood restaurant. And, perhaps it is. But, it is much more than that. To begin with, it is one of the larger dining areas on Silver Muse, with seating for up to 164 guests. The adjoining Atlantide bar allows guests to enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail while waiting for their table. Atlantide is open for á la carte menu breakfast, lunch and dinner service each day. As far as breakfast and lunch are concerned, Atlantide is the closest venue you will find on Silver Muse to The Restaurant on other Silversea ships. While the breakfast menu is the same each day (as it is in The Restaurant), the lunch menu does change each day (on a seven-day rotation).

Lunch at Atlantide

We had lunch in Atlantide one day after returning from a shore excursion. The restaurant was nearly empty on our visit, not unlike many experiences we have had at The Restaurant on other Silversea ships. Many guests prefer the buffet at La Terrazza, making lunch at Atlantide a quiet, relaxing alternative. The menu on our visit was also reminiscent of what we would expect to see at The Restaurant on other Silversea ships: a variety of salads, soups, mains and desserts. A corn chowder was a nice start and my potato salad with grilled chicken was very good. The seared tuna main course, however, was way overcooked and dry. The tuna left us a little nervous about our dinner reservation at Atlantide later in the week.

Dinner at Atlantide

We made dinner reservations at Atlantide weeks before our cruise through the MySilversea website. As soon as we embarked Silver Muse, I inquired about our dining reservations at Reception. I was dismayed to learn that they had no record of any of our pre-bookings, for dining or excursions! I brought a printout of my online confirmations to show them, but to no avail. We then began scrambling to make reservations. The Hotel Director asked the Restaurant Manager to assist us and he assured us that he would take care of securing our reservations, which he did. However, there is no way (that we could find) to check all of our reservations either online, or through the stateroom interactive television. We just had to wait to see if the confirmation card was delivered to our suite.

So, the day before our reservation at Atlantide, we met with Mike Lafratta, the Maître d' at Atlantide. He assured us that we did, in fact, have a 7:00pm reservation for two at Atlantide on the following day, which happened to be our last night on board Silver Muse. He also was the first person to explain how the reservations and dress codes work on Silver Muse. We had been under the impression all week that reservations were required at Atlantide, Kaiseki, Indochine, La Dame and La Terrazza. Mike informed us that while reservations are recommended, they are not required. He also explained that if the dress code of the day as published in the Daily Chronicles is "casual," then that is the dress code for the restaurants, as well. So, on embarkation day and the night before disembarkation, you can eat at each indoor restaurant in casual attire.

Mike Lafratta, Maître d'

We arrived about 30 minutes early for our dinner reservation, so we had the opportunity to visit the adjoining Atlantide Bar for a pre-dinner cocktail.

As with all bars and lounges on Silver Muse, service was fast and efficient. We also were treated to some substantial hors d'oeuvres of mini crabcakes and spinach-filled pastry puffs, which were delicious.

As promised, our table was ready at 7:00pm and we were escorted to a very nice location next to a window. We were offered a glass of white or red wine, complimentary on all Silversea ships. We opted for the Chilean red, which was very nice.

Rickee studies the menu at Atlantide

The menu at Atlantide has something for everyone. So, even though the menu is heavy on seafood, meat-lovers and vegetarians need not shy away from Atlantide.

Even the elegant flatware at Atlantide is etched to reflect a seafood theme

The Starters Menu is divided into three sections: meat, fish/seafood and vegetarian. I decided on the King Scallops & Strawberries. I love seared scallops and I love strawberries, but I have never heard of them being fused in such a manner. As strange as it sounds, the fruit was used to make a sweet salsa that paired nicely with the perfectly-seared scallops. A fois gras-coated crouton and lemon butter drizzle showed real finesse. The dish was as beautiful to look at as it was delicious to eat.

Rickee went the vegetarian route and ordered the Vegetable Vol au Vent, a flaky puff pastry filled with fresh green peas, potatoes and asparagus tips in a thick creamy broth reminiscent of a deconstructed chicken pot pie, without the chicken. She loved it.

The starters impressed us and when the plates were cleared, we sipped our red wine in anticipation of our Intermediate course. For our second course, I ordered the Velouté of Vine Tomato and Baby Meatballs. For my fellow Texans, that translates into cream of tomato soup with meatballs. Regardless of where you come from, the soup is delicious. A large bowl arrives with nothing but two lonely meatballs. Soon, our waitress arrives with a pitcher of creamy, delicious tomato soup that is carefully drizzled on top. The effort Silversea puts into the presentation of a bowl of soup extends to every aspect of the meal. The soup, er uh, Velouté, was delicious.

Rickee's Roast Cherry Tomato and Lemon Salad sounded quite intriguing and certainly won the award for most unusual presentation of the evening. Roasted red, green and yellow cherry tomatoes were carefully placed along the edge of the plate along with red onion, sage leaves and mandarin orange slices. Tiny pieces of oven-roasted lemon were scattered about. It was certainly one of the most interesting salad dishes we have ever seen. It was both beautiful and delicious.

For my main course, I ordered the Italian Veal, a 250gr (about 9oz.) veal chop. I can tell you from experience that the menu lies. There is no way my veal chop was only 9oz. It had to be at least 12oz. The thick, bone-in chop was perfectly grilled to medium, and was tender and delicious. It was as good a piece of veal as I have ever had. The five-pepper sauce was a nice accompaniment, but completely unnecessary.

Rickee's Porchini and Wild Mushroom Risotto was equally impressive. The rice was perfectly cooked with just the right amount of garlic, butter and aged Parmesan.

Neither Rickee nor I could even think about dessert after such a substantial meal. How do the rest of you do it? However, the dessert menu looked quite tempting.

The Verdict

Our dinner at Atlantide was exceptional, one of the best meals we have ever had on Silversea. And, that is quite high praise. Service was excellent, as always. There is a level of finesse in the preparation and presentation that is rarely found on a cruise ship. This was out last meal on our Silver Muse cruise, and I can think of no better way to end the trip.

After our meal at Atlantide, Rickee and I were beginning to grasp Silversea's new direction in cruise ship dining. After all, Silver Muse is the first cruise ship to my knowledge to have completely abandoned the idea of traditional cruise ship dining. There is no restaurant on Silver Muse with a rotating evening menu, such as is the case with The Restaurant on other Silversea ships. The idea is for guests to rotate between restaurants, each with their own menus that do not change. It took seven days for us to become comfortable with this, but now we are believers. When each restaurant only has to focus on a small range of offerings within their menu, they can execute the menu much more effectively.

Atlantide will be at the top of our list of reservations should be sail on Silver Muse in the future.

*On embarkation and disembarkation days, the dress code for all Silversea dining venues is casual.