QUICK BITE: Snack Foods in Iceland

One of my favorite things to do when travelling is to see the snack foods that people in other countries enjoy.  A few years ago in Turkey, I found such amazing potato chips and corn nuts.  The Turkish people really like their snack foods.  While travelling in Iceland, we had a rest stop at a convenience store and I just had to find something.  All the potato chips were the standard flavors you would find in the United States.  These cheese curls I found were the most interesting,  Kims Ostepops I have found you!!

These looked like genetic cheese curls you would find in the US.   But the taste was unlike what I have tasted from a Cheese Doodle,  The puffs were light and crispy - almost melted in your mouth,  And there was a deep cheese flavor  - unlike that salty flavor you find on others.  Who knew cheese curls could taste like actual cheese?

One item I didn't try and only had a picture was the salr fish.   They had many brands of this in the store so it must be popular.  I feel like if I tried this I would need more water than we had in our tour bus so I opted out this time.

QUICK BITE: Steak Tartare Snack

While sailing on the Viking Sea, I needed a quick snack before our excursion in Lanse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland.  On Viking Ocean cruise line, they have many quick ready to go snacks in the deli case at the Atrium bar.  The variety of snacks varies.  They always have sweet treats such as cookies or other pastries.  The savory ones vary from egg sandwiches to different types of cheese to shrimp salad.  They also had a steak tartare one which I just had to try as I am a fan of that.    Traditional steak tartare is hand chopped with some light seasoning and served on a plate.  This one was unusual.  From first look, it seems like the ground beef you would find in a package at your local supermarket.  But upon receipt of this dish, I performed a meat autopsy.  From what I can gather, the chefs put together the tartare, spread it across a sheet pan in a thin layer and then freeze that pan.  Once frozen, the sheet it cut into squares about an inch larger that a piece of bread on each side.  Then while stiil frozen, the tartate is wrapped around a piece of toast to create the beef bundle.  Quite an interesting preparation, it is the sides and seasonings that make it.  Im this case, they had a deliciously creamy salr-cured egg yolk, sweet onion, tomatoes and finely chopped pickles.   The meat itself was not seasoned so it let you add as much or as little of each side as you wanted.   And the toast added a necessary crunch.  While no your standard prepararation, I really enjoyed the creativity. 

FOOD HACK: Making Your Own Craft Hot Dog

People often talk about secret menu items you can get at different restaurants.  In N Out Burger is probably the most famous where you can get any burger "animal style" which includes thousand island dressing, mustard grilled patty and extra pickles.  You can do that yourself with other restaurants.  Take a look at what I got on Viking Sea cruise ship where I created something that wasn't on the menu.They had pulled pork they used on a special burger and cole slaw that was on the side with all sandwiches,  I put those both on a dog.  I'll call it a Carolina Slaw Dog.  Foot Long Hot Dog with pulled pork, cole slaw and yelllow mustard for a little spice.  Just because it is not on the menu, doesn't mean you can't have it. 

My Personal Secret Menu ot Dog on Viking Sea

Speciality Dining on Vking Sea: Manfredi's Italian Restaurant

One of the unique features on Viking Ocean is that the two speciality restaurants are included in your fare.  You do need to make reservations since space is limited, but you can eat at these as many times as you want during your sailing.  For our second night we ate at Manfredi's which is defined as an Italian restaurant, but I think it functions more like a traditional steak house on land that has a few Italian dishes.

They start you off with a breadbasket which has a very good selection.  The one that looks like roasted garlic cloves all nestled together is well designed.  A think buttery dough, thicker than filo, that has been rolled with garlic and butter,  Then each "bud" is merged together into the bundle you see.  It was so delicate and buttery.  A really good twist on traditional garlic bread.

When you walk into the restaurant, you will see prep chefs making the bread baskets and other items.  In front of them is a large wheel of parmesan reggiano from which they carve large slices and serve to your table.  I imagine they expect you to have this with some of the bread, but I just love eating the salty cheese by itself with a crisp white wine.

Parmesan wheel

The manzilla (bread) salad wasn't to my liking.  The greens were fresh and crispy and the tomatoes were flavorful.  But that is where it ended.  The dressing had way to much oil so it muddied the whole salad.  And the few croutons there were, while crispy, had no flavor of there own.  Could have been a nice dish with better execution such as a more balanced dressing.

The highlight of this meal for me was the mushroom soup.  I have found that for some reason, mushrooms on cruise ships are always treated with respect.  Whether ithey are sauteed, baked stuffed or fresh sliced on a salad, they are so tasty.  The soup lived up to that standard.  Velvety with rich meaty flavor of mushrooms.  The croutons were buttery and still crisp and they must have waited until just before serving it since they were still had that texture to balance with the creaminess.  

Mushroom soup at Manfredi's

Next up was lasagna.  Whenever I go to certain type of places, there is a signature dish that can tell me alot about other foods in that category. For example, if I go to a pub, I will try their cheeseburger - not fancied up with all kinds of toppings - but a bare bones burger.  If a place that serves primarily pub food can make a great burger, then it shows a lot of promise for their other pub-style food,.  In an italian restaurant, it is the lasagna that I use to gauge that.  The lasagna had some great components:  thin pasta noodles which appeared to be house made, a delicate tomato-based bechamel sauce and a nicele melted mozzarella blend on top.  What wasn't d great was the meat filling.  While it seemed to be made with good cuts of pork and beef, there was a lingering flavor of cinnamon which I didn't care for.  Had it brought more traditional flavors such as basil or oregano, it would have been much better,  

Lasagna at Manfredi's

My tablemates tried two of the available risottos.  The first was a spinach and cheese which was my favorite.  Rice was al dente, while still having that creamy, slightly liquid texture.  Very flavorful.  I think it would have benefitted from some pine nuts for an added crunch.

The second was an escargot risotto which was not as successful.  While the rice was cooked the same as the spinach one, any escargot flavors were muted,  Where I expected some deep garlic flavors, there were none.

Dessert was what they called a chocolate bar but is bettter described as a Rocky Road pie.  It was excellent having deep chocolate flavors, large chunks of marshmallow and nuts.  Pistachio dust added a nice extra crunch.  

Their cheesecake dessert was not so good.  First of all, I compare all cheesecakes to the one my mother made growing up. It was a recipe that her grandmother had gotten from a neighbor back in Everett Massachusetts.  It probably dates back to the 1920's.  Her recipe focused on the cream cheese -  and isn't that the reason you indulge in cheesecake?  I understand a chef adding twists to make the dessert their own, but some  foods are classic and you don't mess with them.  Cheesecake is high on that list for me.  This cheesecake was more cake that cheese.  It was also lacking moisture - perhaps because of the ratio of eggs to cheese and no sauce served with it.  Instead of the three raspberries, I would have liked a raspberry sauce to dip into.  Or maybe even some whipped cream.  However the most glaring issue with this dessert was the topping.  Perhaps to make this more "italian", the chef decided that adding finely chopped fruitcake fruit would do that.  Maybe adding a few would do that - but there was way too much topping.  

We are eating here two more times on this cruise, so I will have more feedback on the new items I try.   Overall, this was not one of favorite meals.  Some great ideas but lack of execution.  I would however go back for that mushroom soup and have that as a meal with some crusty bread.

QUICK BITE: Best Waffle I Ever Ate

Here is the most delicious waffle I have ever had. It is available on Viking Ocean cruises and posibly in Norway itself since the waffle is proclaimed to be a Norwegian speciality.  It is a thin, crispy waffle (almost triple the thickness of a pizzelle cookie) with thin sliced Norwegian Brunost (brown cheese). The cheese is halfway between sweet and savory and melts in your mouth. Combined with the crispy waffle, tart berries and pillowy whipped cream, it is a perfect bite.

Signature waffle at Mamsen's deli on Viking Ocean cruise line

What's for dinner? Eating at the included restaurant on Viking Sea

I am sailing on the Viking Sea cruise ship from Bergen Norway with stops in Iceland, Greenland and Canada.  Our first night, we ate in the main restaurant - coincidentally named The Restaurant.   The menu is setup like most other lines today where there is one section of everyday items - things that you can order any night you eat here during the cruise.  This included NY Strip Steak, chicken and salmon.    The desserts listed are also always available so you if you are trying to pick between multiples, you can always have that second choice the next night.  Or get your favorite again. 

Viking Sea menu from The Restaurant

The second page of the menu was in three parts.   The first part was a destination specific three course menu that is supposed to represent the region you are in.  Since we were departing from Norway, they must love their cod salad and meatballs.  The second sectionwas the items only available that evening.  And the third was a three course Vegetarian menu. 

Viking Sea menu from The Restaurant

Upon recommendation from our waiter, I started with the crab souffle.  While the souffle was well prepared and fluffy, it had little to no crab on crab flavor.   The red pepper sauce it was served on also lacked any depth of flavor.   It screamed out for a hint of acid or salr - anything.

Since on most cruise lines, you are able to order multiple appetizers and entrees, I put together my own surf and turf.  I ordered the NY strip steak and the scallops.

The scallops were served on a sunchoke puree which was well seasoned and creamy.  The scallops were topped with pine nuts which was a welcome crunch.  The scallops themselves were well seasoned and cooked to medium which I prefer.     A well done composed dish.

Viking Sea Scallops

One thing I have found on cruises, is it can often be hard to get red meat (sometimes any protein) cooked to your preferred temperature.  Not the case with the strip steak.  I ordered medium rare and it came out that way.  It has been simply seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with butter.  Delicious steak that was one of the best I have had.  The frites that came with it were not great.  They appeared to have been fried well before the steak was done and were cold and not crisp.  I ate a few but quickly returned to the steak.

Viking Sea NY Strip

Out table ordered a few desserts. The highlight was this green tea ice cream - although I think it is really gelato.  Velvety smooth and not sweet like some green tea ice cream I have had before.  Almost savory and a nice end to the meal.

Green Tea Gelato

Creme Brulee

Mango Tango

QUICK BITE: Plane Food or Plain Food?

I flew SAS (Skandanavian Airlines) from Newark to Bergen Norway to catch a transatlantic flight.  Can you get a decent meal on a plane?  For dinner, they had an option of salmon or chicken. I went with salmon. 

Salmon for dinner on SAS Plus

Salmon was pretty good but needed more salt as did the bland noodles. The salad was my favorite. A big wedge of goat cheese, greens and a rice pilaf. All went well together. I think the dessert was blueberry cheesecake but it was more cake than cheese which is "no go" for me. 

They did have a tasty lager branded under their name which was organic and a decent whiskey.

SAS branded Organic Lager

SAS branded whiskey

QUICK BITE: Rating the Jumbo Dog and Cheese Fries at Portillo's

I had never heard of Portillo's.   One location opened here in Tampa in 2016 and there was lots of "buzz" from many people that they were super excited one was finally coming.  I have always wanted to try it but rarely drive to the area where it is located.  When I recently visited our local asian supermarket to get ingredients for Pad Thai, I knew Portillo's was nearby so it seemed like the stars were aligning.  So what exactly is Portillo's?   It started out as local restaurant called The Dog House in Villa Park Illinois in 1963.  In 1969 that single restaurant was renamed to Portillo's in deference to the owner Dick Portillo.  It expanded throughout Illinois and the Chicago metro area until 2014 when it was sold to a holding company.  Since then, they have been expanding Portillo's into other states, promising to open five to seven restaurants each year. Right now they have about 46 locations. Based on the map from their website (portillos.com), they are still mainly focused around the upper midwest with a few stores in Florida, Las Vegas and Southern California.     I visited the location at 2102 E Fowler Avenue in Tampa which is not far from the University of South Florida campus.

The outside reminds me of the architecture you find in Chicago so it is fitting for a place with roots in that area.

Once inside, it was a little overwhelming since it has lots of signage which I needed a minute to review.  I wanted take out but wasn't immediately clear which line to go into.    I quickly figured out that all orders except mobile ordering were in one line which was to the far right.  They had two lines and three registers so it was very easy to order.  While  they offer many items here from chicken, to burgers to Italian Beef, it seemed like a hot dog was the item that would best represent this place.  I ordered what is listed on the menu as a Jumbo Hot Dog which comes with "everything".  This was essentially all the toppings from what I know as Chicago hot dog.  According to their website this is: "mustard, relish, celery salt, freshly chopped onions, sliced red ripe tomatoes, kosher pickle, and sport peppers piled onto a steamed poppy seed bun."  At first I thought it was strange they don't call it a Chicago dog. But then you must remember that this is a Chicago based restaurant.  I'd compare it to when I went to Nashville and ordered Hot Chicken.  It wasn't called Nashville Hot Chicken as KFC would have you think.    I also ordered cheese fries since I had read they were also a speciality of this place.

I ordered these to go since I was going to eat them at home.  First the fries.  I was surprised at how hot that had stayed in my 15 minute ride home. That says alot about how quickly they serve them from the deep fryer and the packaging.  The cheese was also still very warm.  The crinkle cut fries were the perfect style to use for cheese fries.  The edges grab onto that cheese when you dip whereas it would slide off a traditional fry.  I had mixed reactions on the cheese sauce itself.  For those that love "plastic cheese", you would love their preparation.   Smooth, velvery sauce that was surprisingly not goopy - at least while warm.    While I appreciated the texture, the flavor needed some help for my taste. It was a bit too mild and needed more notes of cheddar.  

Now onto the star attraction,  the Chicago  . . . rather Jumbo Hot Dog. Let's start with the very important vessel - the bun.  Based on their website, they steam their buns.  Now depending on the quality of a bun, steaming it can have adverse impacts.  The poppy seed bun they use was of excellent quality and held up perfectly to the steaming.   I was also very impressed in how they managed to get all the ingredients into the bun.  The hot dog itself was terrific.  It had that snap I love in a hot dog.  Slightly smoky and salty.  Perfectly complimented by the mustard and pickle to cut the richness.  The big surprised was the tomato.  In having previous "C" dogs, the tomato always seems to be a throwaway ingredient usually being diced so that you don't even know it is there.  At Portillo's  they assemble their dogs using a sliced tomato which was very meaty.  You could taste it and it really added some freshness to each bite.  

I was also impressed by the price.  The Jumbo Hot Dog at this location was 3.59.  The fries were 2.39 for a large order with an extra charge of .70 for the cheese.  So for about $8 (plus any drink) you could have a decent lunch since it was very filling.  No wonder this place is very popular with the university crowd.  I think I was outnumbered 10 to 1 during my visit.

Well done Portillo's!!  I'll be back to try some of your other items including the Italian Beef.

RESORT REVIEW: Casa de Campo in La Romana Dominican Republic

I had the pleasure of staying two nights at this unique resort in DR.  It ia a huge property that includes three golf courses, three beaches, a separate marina, horse stables (including polo) and a shooting range.  When you book a stay here, each room comes with a golf cart.  It really is that large.  The restaurants at the resort have a la carte pricing but there is an all-inclusive option you can purchase which is what I did.  This makes your stay closer to what it is like a a traditional all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean.    My wife and I were able to try two of the dinner restaurants and had lunch at the same place twice (it was so good).

We arrived about 3PM and hadn't had lunch so we went to La Cana.    They had a very large lunch menu which made it hard to pick

My started was the Salad Nicoise which had some great tasting seared tuna along with anchovies and fresh greens.  The greens were drizzled with a creamy dressing - similar to caesar but not as much garlic which was a great omission since I wanted to be able to taste the tuna.

We also had the steak tartare.  This was a very balanced preparation and the quail egg was a nice touch to add some creaminess to the dish.

For main course, I went with the Flat Meat (I think we would call it Flat Iron steak in US) with garlic and parsley compound butter and a side salad.    I had ordered the steak medium rare and it came out closer to medium.    This has been an issue I have seen at many all inclusives since I think the term "medium rare" gets lost somewhere in translation.  What we later learned to do, was to use the term "less done" or rare and we got the correct temperature.  It is of course possible to have them cook something more if it did come and it was not done enough to your liking.

Even at medium, the steak was full of flavor, and as that compound butter melted it enhanced it even more.  The salad had a light vinaigrette which was a nice balance to the richness of the dish.  I loved the simplicity of this dish.  

My wife's started was the grilled salmon with sauteed vegetables which she had also ordered medium rare.  This also came out more done than she wanted which we think was the same reason the steak had that issue.  No issues with the flavor.  If you are a lover of salmon, you know that the texture suffers a bit as you have it cooked more towards well done.  So a good composed dish - just need to make sure they can cook it to the temperature you prefer.

After an afternoon of skeet shooting (Yes!!  You can do that here!!), we were back in our room and got ready for dinner which was also a La Cana.  My starter was a delicate spinach and ricotta crepe.  It was listed as a main course on the menu but the server let me order it as a starter.  If there is such a thing as crepe mastery, this was it.  The crepe was so thin, yet held all the ingredients together as you took each bite.  And it was served on top of a what I think was a rich bechamel.  Where some bechamels can become gluey or goopy (don't you love fancy words?). ths was smooth and succulent and enhanced each bite.  I also like that the bechamel was at the bottom since the crepe had some crisp browning for texture.  I would order this again and again. 

  

Also had this delicious scallop dish which was lightly sauteed scallops in a cream sauce with green beans and asparagus.  The scallops were cooked perfectly medium so they weren't dry in the middle.  Veggies were a nice al dente for a bit of crunch to the dish.

This seafood risotto was a bit different preparation that I had seen,   More like a stew but had great flavor and tender shrimp.

Dessert time!!   I love a good lemon dessert so had to order this lemon curd over a granola crumble.  The lemon flavor was pronounced and not super sweet.  The "wedges" were thin pieces of meringue.  The only addition I would have made is serving this with a bit of creme fraiche to balance the tartness a bit.  Otherwise a great dessert.

We also tried their version of chocolate melting cake.  It was served with a coffee ice cream and crumble.    It had everything you would expect in this type of dessert which seems to be served at almost every fine dining restaurant.  Seems to be a staple they must all have - somewhat like a caesar salad.

I loved how they served the coffee here with a sample of a few small cookies.

The only picture from breakfast.  Loved the views  and the food was pretty good. They only offer a breakfast buffet at this resort.  There is no a la carte options that we saw.  I found it to be lacking in variety.  Both days we had breakfast it was nearly identical items being served.   Also, the only way to order eggs or omelette was to stand in line for the chef to make them to order.  I love having a chef station for eggs since it lets you get an omelette however you like it.  Or to get those delicious freshly fried over easy eggs so you can soak them up with toast or croissant.  But they had no area for self-serve scrambled eggs or any egg dishes at all you could get yourself.  That is a staple of every other breakfast buffet I have been to.  So if you were looking for a quicker breakfast with some eggs, you would be waiting in line.  The resort was at about 60% capacity and the line was at least 15 minutes to get eggs.  I know - you are on vacation and you should be relaxed and not stress out.  But I think the resort should review how they do this.

My favorite item was the fresh mango.  That has been terrific at most all inclusives I've been at (see my blog about Breathless Punta Cana for more details) and was the same here.

We spent the rest of the morning at the pool.  We had lunch back at La Cana.   I had the one of the most delicious pieces of beef I have ever had.  It was grilled flank steak with frites.  From our lunch experience the day before, I learned to ask for "rare" and it came our perfect for me.  It was seasoned with a garlic butter (maybe the same compound butter from before) and then topped with parsley and garlic.  The frites were so crispy and almost melted in your mouth.  And I had a little mayo on the side for dipping for the Belgian Fry experience!!  Perhaps the only thing I would have added is a small crunchy french baguette.  I would have used that to sop up the delicious juices that came from the flank steak.

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My wife got a chicken caesar which was well made.  Fresh croutons, large pieces of moist chicken and a delicate dressing.  

Desserts were a decent apple crumble with vanilla ice cream and lime sorbet which was my favorite.  A great palate cleanser after that nice lunch.

For our last night we had dinner at La Casita.  This was a restaurant where it really became obvious why you need a golf cart to stay here.  The restaurant was a little town down past the marina.  Several of the restaurants are in this area.  Since it was our first time, we left plenty of time to drive there.  We had to park in a lot just for golf carts and then we walked to the restaurants.  We later found out they have shuttles which we took back after dinner.

We had a great table right next to the water.

I started with the octopus which was served with garlic, sweet pepper and drizzled with olive oil.  My favorite dish of the night.  Octopus was cooked so it was still tender and was well seasoned.

Scallops which came with similar toppings to the octopus.  I guess sitting next to the water inspired us to order seafood.

These were goat cheese balls served with arugula and machego.

Seafood mixed grill.  It was shrimp and caribbean lobster in their shells that had been split and then grilled. Also was grilled calamari. It was tossed with olive oil and lemon after grilling.  Calamari was my favorite since it was still tender.  The shrimps and lobster had suffered a little on the grill and came out dry.    Could have used a side dish of clarified butter but overall a decently cooked dish - that could have been cooked better.

This was the grilled snapper with tomatoes and capers.    The fish was a bit overdone but still had a nice flavor.

This was a passion fruit cake.  I didn't like the flavor of this.

I love a good cheesecake with fruit topping.  I was hoping this would be that dessert.  The cheesecake flavor was lacking, maybe too many eggs were used.  Instead of having a creamy goodness, it was more cake-like.   

We also got a small plate of some great tasting cookies  - seems to be a signature of this resort.

TOP TIPS:

1.  We only had a chance to eat a two restaurants but if you come here, I would avoid La Casita.  It wasn't worth the drive we made.   La Cana had the most outstanding food of the two nights and I hope they still have that Flank (Skirt) steak when you come.
2.  Room service is not part of the all inclusive so don't order that unless you are okay with the  a la carte prices.