Celebrity Qsine menu adds fish and chips, but not as we know it

As good as their word, Celebrity Cruises are bringing “proper” fish and chips to their newest ship, Celebrity Eclipse, which will be sailing from the UK throughout the summer. Well, almost.
I say “almost” because the Boddington’s beer-battered fish won’t look like the slabs of cod you and I get from the chippie every Friday; it will be “popcorn fish and chips” – made from cod, but in bite-sized balls, and only available as part of an innovative menu in the Qsine restaurant which was announced this week.
A few weeks ago Celebrity CEO Dan Hanrahan came to London to tell some of our top travel agents how facilities – and menus – on Eclipse would be carefully tweaked to ensure customer satisfaction from British passengers.
One of the changes was the inclusion of cod in parsley sauce, English chips and mushy peas among the always-available items on the menu in the main restaurant, and I had some fun with him trying to explain that what the restaurant really needed to provide was cod in batter.
So my heart glowed gently when I saw that the fish and chips will be among the items described as “contemporary favourites and a modern take on familiar dishes from around the world,” on Qsine’s menu.
It will be there alongside a Meatball Trilogy (Kobe beef with cheddar and marinara sauce; veal with mushrooms and marsala sauce; and turkey with cranberry and sage gravy), Taco Royale (Black Angus sirloin steak, homemade taco shells, caramelized onion-poblano, and do-it-yourself fresh guacamole, with a stone mortar and pestle); and Lava Crab (Alaskan King crab, sweet yellow corn and spring onions with Hataifi and Old Bay sauce, served in glasses over heated red stones).
Together with gimmicks like spring rolls served inside real springs, sushi lollipops, and Chitinis- Chinese specialities in Martini glasses.
No word on whether the fish and chips will be wrapped in newspaper, and no sign of the mushy peas – that’s confined to the main restaurant rather than in Qsine, which replaces the Silk Harvest Asion fusion restaurant on sister ships Solstice and Eclipse, and which carries a $30 per head supplement.
Celebrity’s vice-president of Culinary Operations, Chef Jacques Van Staden, said: “Our guests love new and different dining experiences, and we’ve designed Qsine to deliver that in a big way. Qsine is designed to offer a globally-influenced blend of nostalgic and contemporary favourites, artfully presented with elements of surprise.”
It’s not just the food in Qsine that will be innovative and different. The dinner menu is on some sort of gizmo that lights up at the press of a button, the dessert menu is a magic cube, and best of all, the wine list of about 100 varieties available by the glass as well as bottle is on an iTouch so diners can read descriptions and see images of the labels
Celebrity Eclipse is scheduled to arrive in Southampton on April 20 and will be named in the city on April 24.