Dinner...Reservations Required? Why not just do the Pearl?

[BeantownNewbs]

I am a little confused about the restaurants and dinner reservations...are reservations required? Are there set seating times, or open seating times? Can you and should you make dinner reservations before you go?

It seams the Pearl is the reportedly the better/nicer of the two restaurants, although some people seem to like the main restaurant? On a cruise, I generally prefer the specialty restaurants over the main dining room. But I'm not sure why we wouldn't want the Pearl restaurant every night if it's indeed the flagship culinary experience...unless the menu is very limited...or maybe to just mix it up.

The other thing I could anticipate is group meals with people you meet, and maybe more flexibility for those at Aphrodite.

I could also foresee some people wanting to get in and out of dinner quickly and that's not what the Pearl experience seems to be about...but otherwise, if you have a choice, what's food options are better at Aphrodite?

Also, the SP website says Suki Terrace is open Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat., although I can't tell if that's for private dinners or everyone. Others have reported that this restaurant is just opening on weekend. The website says: "the Suki Terrace is the perfect space to have a sensual dinner with your partner while meeting new friends and beginning with the risky affairs of the night." What makes is more perfect for any of that, besides a great view or as they say: "a promise of the most deliciously erotic dining experience you can enjoy at our resort?"

[SoNotFun]

We were at Pearl last week, and neither restaurant takes reservations. However, the two nights we tried to go to Pearl (one night with a group, one night just me & hubby), there was a 30-55 minute wait! The night we were with a group, we just decided to go to Aphrodite & got seated right away. The night with just the two of us, the 30 minute wait was actually more like 10 minutes, as a table opened up quickly.
I don't mind waiting a bit for a table, but 55 minutes seemed excessive (I can get pretty "hangry" LOL). I know the staff can't anticipate when their hundreds of guests are gonna want dinner, but that it happened twice in a row makes me think it's a common issue.
So, my advice: maybe stop by half an hour before you want to eat, check the wait times, and plan accordingly. Luckily the food is delicious & the service is great, so it's worth a short wait!

[BeantownNewbs]

So you clearly think the Pearl is better. Just a question of getting in.

Good idea to swing by 30 min early while the gf is getting dressed and put your name in! Then, you willl prob be the next avail or a saved table when u show up. Would be nice to see sample menus. Maybe I'll email the hotel.

[SoNotFun]

Not necessarily "better" and I wouldn't be a fair judge anyway as we only ate there once. Aphrodite was perfectly fine for dinner; fantastic, even. Since we ate just about every other meal at Aphrodite (breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks), we were keen for a change of scenery. Once we finally got into Pearl (on our last night) we enjoyed it but looking back we would've been content skipping the wait & eating at Aphrodite every night.
The main difference to me was the ambiance: Pearl definitely gives off more of a sexy, upscale vibe, but I found the food & service to be comparable to Aphrodite. If you went to both restaurants blindfolded I doubt you'd notice much of a difference!

[BeantownNewbs]

That's great to hear that it really just doesn't matter and just go w the flow...but I also like ur idea of circling down there in advance. Makes sense. Most ppl prob want to eat at 8pm and that restaurant can only prob hold a small number (15-20 tables). What we're your favorite items at each?

[SoNotFun]

I think your plan of checking the wait while your lady is getting ready is spot on. Wish my hubby had thought to do that! Pearl is right next to the lobby bar which makes the wait go by faster. Unfortunately for us, we planned to have a pre-dinner drink and THEN requested a table, it would've been better to request the table first then grab a drink. Lesson learned!

The menus at each restaurant change every night. I had some bacon-wrapped prawns at Aphrodite on Italian night and they were fantastic! One night my hubby got a raw salmon & snapper (?) appetizer that was divine, but I don't remember which night that was. We were at Pearl on the French night, and everything was delicious but quite rich. I was thrilled to get the foie gras, since it's now illegal here in California. I had the duck entree that night and it was also delicious!

The sushi lounge/martini bar was open Fri & Sat night while we were there, but we didn't check it out. The handful of people we talked to had lukewarm reviews, someone even told us, "You're from San Francisco, you definitely won't be impressed." We do get spoiled with great seafood & Japanese cuisine here, but I'd think Riviera Maya has access to some fantastic fish as well (the appetizer we enjoyed at Aphrodite was certainly sushi quality).

[BeantownNewbs]

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The menus at each restaurant change every night. I had some bacon-wrapped prawns at Aphrodite on Italian night and they were fantastic! One night my hubby got a raw salmon & snapper (?) appetizer that was divine, but I don't remember which night that was. We were at Pearl on the French night, and everything was delicious but quite rich. I was thrilled to get the foie gras, since it's now illegal here in California. I had the duck entree that night and it was also delicious!

The sushi lounge/martini bar was open Fri & Sat night while we were there, but we didn't check it out. The handful of people we talked to had lukewarm reviews, someone even told us, "You're from San Francisco, you definitely won't be impressed." We do get spoiled with great seafood & Japanese cuisine here, but I'd think Riviera Maya has access to some fantastic fish as well (the appetizer we enjoyed at Aphrodite was certainly sushi quality).

So, I'm on vacation, so foie gras, seared or pate, is way up there...bring on les Francias.

As for sushi, I really can't believe that this is best at DP vs. what i can get downstairs in Boston or in NY or what you can get in SF...maybe for a snack...I'll have a tuna roll, but I have a hard time believing the sushi restaurant is going to be a culinary special experience. On the sushi front, I am increasingly gravitating to very selective cuts, mostly sashimi. So, I am skeptical that I would be excited about the sushi restaurant. Anyway, we're going from Mon-Fri, so sounds like we miss sushi.

Personally, my priorities would be: French, Italian, Asian/Fusion...and steak, lobster, veal and duck, and yes, foie gras! Bring it on!

[Budlee]

We enjoyed both the Pearl and Aphrodite restaurants (split our meals half and half, with one night at the Asian on the patio, when it was open). Different dining experiences, but both were quite good. With the menus in rotation, we were able to eat from a different menu on each of our 8 nights at the resort, which was nice. We were there during low occupancy, so there was never a wait for a table. Honestly, I'm not sure we'd be able to pick which restaurant we liked more. Though Pearl is fancier in ambiance and has a menu to reflect that, I wouldn't say eating at Aphrodite was settling for second best - not at ALL. The food there was equally as delicious, and the service was just as good. Having been on many cruises, I understand your preference for eating at the specialty restaurants. I would not think of Aphrodite as the "main dining room" and Pearl as the specialty, as they are both specialty a la carte restaurants for the evening meal...

[couplenindy]

It sounds like the sushi restaurant might now require reservations, but maybe because they only have 5 tables.

I am a huge fan of not having reservations. I don't mind waiting for a table...not that I really have anything pressing to do while vacationing at Desire Pearl anyway!

We have had really bad experiences with resorts that have a dinner reservation system in the past. We have seen people reserve a table and not show up, which makes the table unavailable for people who really want it. The no reservation policy is one of our favorite policies at Desire!

~Indy

[K&S4Fun&Sun]

We ate pretty much all of our meals at Aphrodite. We did go to Pearl for dinner one night, but as it turns out we arrived earlier than most so their was no wait. Preferred Aphrodite. Pearl was nice, but I wouldn't say it was any nicer than Aphrodite overall. It was darker, looked like it was trying to be more upscale, but we didn't think Aphrodite was 'downscale' for lack of a better word at all. Service at both was good, but I think was a little better at Aphrodite.
-Mrs. S

[OKcouple4x]

We can confirm that the sushi restaurant absolutely requires a reservation. We were turned away (with 4 open tables at the time...) for the 6:45 seating last friday. We tried to play the member card (both us and the couple we were eating with are members) and that still didn't help.

The sushi restaurant isn't anything special - actually I think the spread they used to do with a bunch of pre-made roles and lots of sashimi/nigiri was better. They have a selection of appetizers, salads, nigiri/sashimi, and main course maki roles followed by desert to make it more like a standard 5 course meal. You can also order more than one items and they will come around and ask if you would like more. It is really good, but nothing your neighborhood sushi restaurant doesn't offer.