Desire Resort Forums

Is there a buffet for dinner? Do you have to pay extra for room service? We have heard read that dinner can take a long time...?

Aphrodite offers buffet and ala carte dining, open 6 - 10 pm. Room service is available and I think there is a small charge, like $10 or so.

eddieandjojo wrote:Aphrodite offers buffet and ala carte dining, open 6 - 10 pm. Room service is available and I think there is a small charge, like $10 or so.

We don't go to Aphrodite as much as Pearl but I think I've only see a buffet for dinner there once - as part of the Brazilian Barbecue thing. Every other time we've had menus and a waiter - just like at Pearl.

As for the wait, we don't find it terribly long at either place. There are several courses but we find it quite enjoyable to linger over dinner. It's all subjective I suppose.

We have the same question. Hope someone that recently returned can enlighten us.

stillyoung1 wrote:We have the same question. Hope someone that recently returned can enlighten us.

The two posts above yours are from Forum members that spend a considerable amount of time at Pearl - I suggest if you have a more specific question that you would like answered then go ahead and post it ....

We go to Aphrodite about as much as Pearl for dinner. Our experience has been that Aphrodite has order off the menu for the evening meal. Unless we are meeting friends we typically check what each restaurant to what is being served and pick on what we like. I think both have good food and haven't been disappointed yet!

Slightly off-topic but we are always pleasantly surprised at what a good job they do turning Aphrodite into a classy dinner experience. Breakfast and lunch feel somewhat "cafeteria-ish" (not in a bad way) and you would think it would make dinner feel similar but it's really not. The subdued lighting has a lot to do with it of course and they close off the buffet section. On several occasions they've had a singer supplying background music. It's the kind where he plays along with a pre-recorded song filling in the vocals and some guitar. It sounds kind of cheesy (written here) but it's really well done (in our opinion).

We like it for breakfast and lunch, great deal of options whether choosing from the buffet, ordering from the menu or special days when they fire up the outdoor grill. The views are outstanding and of course the service is top notch! Much better than RM in our opinion. We typically hit Pearl for dinner even though it usually takes a little longer than we'd like....but then again, we aren't on a time crunch and just let the evening flow. Another option, as noted above is room service, always nice having dinner on the balcony/deck!

We never tried room service since the restaurants are so close by. On our last visit, we dined at Aphrodite most of the time since it was a little more casual as men can wear nice shorts and nice sandals or nice flip-flops. One night we tried to go to Pearl, but it had a 30min wait-list. So we just wondered over to Aphrodite for some appetizers first, then back to Pearl to share a main and dessert. I would say just look at the menus at both restaurants first and make your decision from there. BTW, my wife though the decor at Pearl is a bit cheezy and prefers Aphrodite for it's casual elegance. They do use table cloths there at dinner time.

Funny story, when we were there in April we ended up staying in for the night (after foam party someone (my husband) had consumed a little bit too much alcohol and did waaaay to many body shots and passed out when we got back to the room) and I called down for room service. When I asked what their soup of the day the guy said "I don't know how you say it, it is the vegetable that is the green balls" I just said oh you mean pea soup and he said yes. I laughed so hard when I hung up the phone without ordering pea soup (I hate peas).

Melissa

Just to follow-up since we just returned.
There is a $10.00 service charge for room service. We did breakfast twice so we could eat without getting dressed and while it was good the room service menu seemed a bit limited. Not a big deal but I asked for bacon both mornings and didn't get any. Also asked for just muffins etc. and they said they didn't have any. Not sure why they couldn't have just went over to the buffet for both items.
The morning buffet was very impressive and that's before hitting the made to order omelet station. The lunch buffet was just as good but the days they grilled outside were also enjoyable and we were able to just wrap a towel around for service and head back to our lounge chairs. We also did this with the buffet a few days as well.
Dinner at both Pearl and Aphrodite were also excellent, better then expected even after reading reviews, and we actually thought the service was very quick considering we had apps, soup, main and then desert.
We never had to wait for a table, even on the days when the resort was at or close to full capacity. We ate dinner a bit late, never before 8, if that helps as a reference.
Sorry for the ramble....

tandme wrote:The morning buffet was very impressive and that's before hitting the made to order omelet station.

Hmm, I've never seen the made to order omelet station. I've ordered omelets from the kitchen to be sure but I've never seen anyone making them at a station.

Before Aphrodite was remodeled a few years ago there was an omelet station. Now you order and the waiter gets it for you. At night there is a nationality theme each night but you can get other items too. Pearl rotates three different menus.

mandjinneworleans wrote:Before Aphrodite was remodeled a few years ago there was an omelet station. Now you order and the waiter gets it for you. At night there is a nationality theme each night but you can get other items too. Pearl rotates three different menus.

When we were at Pearl first week of July, there was an omelet station close to the buffet at Aphrodite. According to Hugo, the head waiter, this was a test. If positive, the plan was to have a permanent one installed.
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