Cruise Lines

Meatballs without spaghetti and popcorn fish and chips are just two of the dishes that will be on the menu in a new restaurant on Celebrity Eclipse when it launches in Southampton in April.

Called Qsine, it has been created by chef Jacques van Standen, who is also Celebrity's vice-president of culinary operations.

Van Standen took time out on Wednesday to unveil details of the new diner, which will replace the Silk Harvest Asian fusian restaurant on sister ships Solstice and Equinox.

Basically this new one is all about serving up a new take on old favs such as the meatballs, which will be served alone on stylish platters and you'll only get three - one kobe beef, one veal masala and one turkey in cranberry and sage gravy.

There are spring rolls served in springs, a soup and souffle dish, sushi lollipops, Chinese food served in Martini glasses and popcorn fish and chips. Of course.

There are no appetisers or main courses, you just five in and order what you want from the waiters, who will be called "chefs" and guide you through what's on offer on the menu, which will somehow be illuminated.

They've obviously had a lot of fun with the menus. The dessert one is a magic cube which you have to unfold to find what's on offer. "Some people will think it's weird," Van Standen admitted. Surely not!

He has come up with all sorts of funky phrases to describe the food - palate pleasers, playful, making the ordinary unordinary - but the whole concept is really just a 21st-century take on Spanish tapas, where you order lots of dishes to share.

In fact, the look and style of Qsine reminds me of Restaurant 2 on Seabourn Odyssey, where you also get a taste of each dish. It's a style-over-substantial scenario, but the little taste you got was always very nice.

Actually, what excited me more than the food in Qsine was news that the wine list will be on an Apple iTouch. You tap in what you want (red, white, bubbly, whatever), drill down to get a description of the various wines available in that category, give the order and the wine waiter goes to fetch it.

Van Standen said they hope to have it working by the time of the launch. I hope so too, as I'd like to see that in action.