The wonderful staff at the Queen Mary invited us to sample their menus and views with other local bloggers last month and I wanted to share all the great stuff they are doing on the beautiful Ship in Long Beach. The Queen Mary isn’t just a tourist destination, in fact I was surprised to find out that there are a lot of people who live in Southern California that have never been to the Queen Mary, with Mrs. DanGarion being one of them. Along with the self guided tours and guide tours, the Queen Mary has four drink and food destinations as well as a Hotel! We weren’t able to check out the hotel on this visit but we were able to sample what they are mixing and cooking up on board.
Our hosts were going to take us on a “Progression Dinner”, which I guess just means we would progress from destination to destination throughout the night. Our first destination was the Observation Bar where we sampled martini’s and appetizers.
We then moved on to Chelsea’s Chowder House and Bar, where we were again able to sample more martini’s as well as some very nice quality bar food items and tasty clam chowder.
Next up was the main course at Sir Winston’s Restaurant, with a view overlooking the harbor. We sampled trio of items from their dinner menu and enjoyed ghost stories from the Commodore.
Our last stop of the night was at their newly created Tea Room, as it was explained to us all the other locations on the ship are as they would have been when the Queen Mary set sail, but the Tea Room was redesigned to look as it would on a cruise ship today. We finished off with a sampling of desserts and coffee.
I was pleased to hear that Chef Todd Henderson is worked on getting as many local ingredients as he can to develop dishes that celebrate Southern California. From the tastes of it, they are doing and good job. I even think that if they opened a progression dinner like this up to the public and made it a once a month type deal it would really be something special. Include admission to the Queen Mary, have the Commodore greet the guests and talk with them, and then venture from location to location throughout the night, it would be a great date night. But until then you can do it yourself stopping at each destination and enjoying your picks from the menu.
Click on the slide show below for more pictures!
Queen Mary
1126 Queens Highway,
Long Beach, CA 90802
One thought on “Dining at the Queen Mary”
We were there eons ago in Sir Winstons at some god awful hour and wanted a snack for some out of towners. There was a convention booked and they didn’t have a problem with being open late. They were Michelin 5 star rated at the time (maybe still are from you photos). Several of the people ordered nice dishes off the menu and they were excellent. One lady however ordered a grilled cheese sandwich. Our group was a bit horrified (I didn’t care really, but a date was among the concerned). They didn’t miss a beat and brought out probably the best example you’d ever see of such.
First class operation then and I expect they are now, as well. The Queen Mary is one of the really neglected gems of the area. The Long Beach and San Pedro area is our second near in mini vacation spots, with San Diego being the other. Obviously we can do the dinner / entertainment thing near our home and save the hotel bill.
Now that the Iowa is there, I hope to make the area a more frequent destination. (Jim St)