NCL Encore: Dinner At Onda By Scarpetta

NCL Encore added a speciality restaurant that is not currently on any other ship in the NCL fleet.  It is called Onda by Scarpetta.     Scarpetta is a famed Italian restaurant in New York.  My only knowledge of it was a visit back in 2011 when it was partly owned by Scott Conant. If you watch Chopped and other shows on Food Network his name should be familiar.  You can read about that rather visit using the link below.

https://glennandangie.blogspot.com/search?q=scarpetta

Scott Conant hasn't been involved with Scarpetta since 2014 so I had to wipe the slate clean and start fresh with this spinoff Onda.  Is there is one word to describe the food?  Yes.  Amazing.

I started with the creamy polenta which was served with the most savory and rich truffled mushroom gravy I have ever tasted.  It was referred to as a fricassee on the menu but this was certainly not of the chicken variety. They were in separate bowls and you could take as much or as little of the mushrooms and mix it. 

The polenta by itself had the consistency of a fine bechamel, except it was deep with fresh corn flavor and just a hint of nuttiness.    The gravy by itself could be its own dish as a delicious mushroom soup if it had been thinned down or creamed just a bit.  This gravy was the definition of what mushroom flavor should be:  Earthy, meaty and savory - all in one.  And it had some sweet onions to balance it.  Of course the idea is to mix the two together to your taste, which is what the waiter had started for me.  There are not many perfect bites of food I have had in in my life.  A few come to mind.  My first soup dumpling at Joe's Shanghai in New York's Chinatown.   The Stuffed Short Rib Burger at Maison Boulud in Beijing China,  The Clam Roll at The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport Maine.  And the Pacific Oysters from Freycinet Oyster Farm in Tasmania.  I will now add this creamy polenta to that list.  I really wanted to scrape the polenta down to the bottom of the bowl, but I knew what other items were coming and didn't want to get too full - at least not yet.

Next up was Short Rib Ravioli.   This pasta was just delicate pillows of dough, stuffed with some of the most flavorful beefy short ribs I have had.    It came with some garlic chips which were great for crunch and shavings of horseradish for a subtle bite.  Too often you see ravioli served without any thought about contrasting the texture of the pasta.  This was a very thoughtful and flavorful dish.

My wife ordered the braised octopus.  This is one of my all time favorite seafood proteins  - when cooked properly.  And they did a great job here.    Octopus is just like calamari.  You either cook it eally quick or really low and slow.  In the middle of those two extremes and you will likely wind up with large, stringy rubber bands.  The chefs knew what they were doing when they braised this.  Buttery  and tender served with a sofrito.  A sofrito is essentially a Spanish tomato sauce although peppers and garlic are usually the star attraction instead of tomatoes as you would find in an Italian sauce (or gravy).  There were also some chickpeas for texture and small pieces of pancetta for some saltiness.  Pancetta was a smart addition since bacon would have added an unnecessary smoky flavor to the delicate octopus. 

I was able to try the seared tuna which was so well cooked.  Often when a kitchen sears tuna, it comes to your table more on the medium side which ruins the intention of ordering it.  When we asked the waiter he said the searing was just for a few seconds a side, and the plating confirmed that!!  Perfect rare tuna!!  What made this dish stand out was the pistachio vinaigrette.  The added nuttiness and acid married perfectly with the rich tuna.  It also has some green beans for crunch.

This was the pan seared Branzino which is also sometimes referred to as European Sea Bass.   I would have liked the skin to be a bit crispier however the fish was perfectly seasoned.   Perhaps another minute searing on the skin side would have helped.  The fish has a sweet taste and I appreciated that they kept the sauce on the bottom of the plate under the fish.  Too often you see restaurants spend alot of time cooking something for crispiness or appearance, only to plate it then drown it in a sauce.    Here the lemony caper sauce was complimentary to the fish - not the other way around.  You could dip into the sauce and have as much or as little as you wanted.  It also went nicely with the rainbow cauliflower.

It was a terrific meal and I would recommend you eat here when sailing on NCL Encore.  I have heard they are adding this to other ships, replacing their existing Italian restaurant La Cocina.  My only complaint is that the main part of the restaurant is very loud.  There are no drapes and the ceiling appears to have no sound dampening.  So you will hear the clatter of the kitchen and the mumbling of fellow diners throughout your meal.  It may not be a good choice if you are looking for a romantic dinner.  They did offer outdoor seating on the Waterfront which may be a better option for less noise, although depending on weather conditions, might be windy.  But even with the noise factor, the menu here is well designed and the food expertly prepared.

Avocados, "Local" Lunch And A Show With A Bar!!

What can a typical day be like on the NCL Encore?  Let's begin!!

It started with a great breakfast in the Haven restaurant.  They had a daily continental breakfast selection to choose from in addition to an ala carte menu.  Most of the fruit was in small mason jars and each day I would pick a few.  I usually find the fruit on cruise ships to be very fresh and this was no exception.  I picked up jars of cubed melons, strawberries, raspberries and then one with blueberry compote and greek yogurt.  A great start to breakfast!!

Avocado toast has become so popular that every breakfast place seems to have it on their menu.   The preparation in the Haven was served on crunchy multigrain toast and topped with a poached egg.  The avocado had just enough salt and garlic to bring out the flavor.

And the poached egg was perfectly cooked.

Lunch today was going to be at one of the alternative dining venues on NCL that is open 24 hours a day.  The Local serves primarily pub food such as salads, burgers and wings.

 We started with a watermelon and feta salad.

I loved almost everything about this salad!!  Juicy watermelon.  Check.  Chunks of tangy feta.  Check.  Briny kalamata olives.  Check.  Sweet red peppers.    What I didn't like was the large pieces of raw red onion.  I think onions were needed in  this dish.  Just not large pieces.  Thin sliced red onion would have been a better choice.  

Next was two types of wings.  BBQ wings (pictured) and korean spice wings (not pictured).    Both were very good. I favored the korean ones since they were much crispier and had a balanced spice.

Amd can you order pub food and skip the nachos?  These were thin crispy chips with the typical "plastic cheese" that is delicious.  Additional grated cheddar, ground beef, tomatoes, jalapenos and a drizzle of sour cream made a winning dish.

I also had one of the best chicken salad sandwiches I have ever had.  Medium chunks of chicken and minced onion with just enough nayo to hold it together.  It was on thick multigrain toast with crisp lettuce on the bottom.  A simple sandwich, but truly delicious.

Dinner this evening was at the Haven restaurant, starting with pork belly.    While flavorful, this had a similar issue to the pork belly at Ocean Blue in that it wasn't completely rendered.  A little more roasting time and it would have avoided having to cut through unrendered fat.  

The Boston lettuce salad was very good.  Cold, buttery lettuce with cranberries and walnuts.  The dressing was a light ranch.

Main was the beef tenderloin which I usually don't order in a restaurant but I had yet to have a steak onboard.  My experience with tenderloin is that it normally has little flavor since the cut has so little fat.  That was not the case with this one.  This was served over a cubed potato hash.  It was topped with sauteed mushrooms, asparagus and surprisingly a braised bulb of fennel.  The whole dish worked together well.

As a side, I also ordered the mushroom ravioli. The pasta was cooked perfectly, still having a bit of an al dente bite.  They were filled with a savory mushroom mixture and topped with even more mushrooms.  The sauce was a simple butter sauce which helped bring out even more mushroom flavor.

Be careful what you ask for!!  If might come true.  When you order nothing when the waiter asks for your dessert order, here is what can happen!!

NCL is known for staging smaller versions of broadway shows.  Tonight was a chance to see Choir Of Man.  During the pre show the cast invites everyone in the audience to come onstage for a beer.

The show was terrific!!  It is the story of a group of friends who always are gathering in their local pub.  Lots of great songs and audience participation.  Check your area to see if there is a case touring and go out and see it!!


After dinner we decided to go back to the Haven bar for a cocktail.  I ordered a Bombay Sapphire and tonic from Emir who was one of the bartenders.  He said I needed to get something fancier so he started making what a Gin Negroni which is gin, bitters and vermouth.  Then he brought out the smoker!!

It was a delicious cocktail that I would never have thought of ordering,  The vermouth was balanced with the botanicals of the gin.  And there was a delicate smokiness that I wouldn't think would work with gin but it did. I would have ordered another but considering this one took about 15 minutes and nearly set off the smoke detector, it was time to call it a night.

NCL Encore: Ocean Blue

NCL has a concept of freestyle dining meaning that you can eat when and where you want.  There are four included sit down restaurants onboard plus a standard buffet.  The NCL Encore has multiple speciality restaurants onboard where you pay a surcharge or ala carte prices when you eat there.  Tonight I got to try Ocean Blue which is a restaurant that focuses primarily on seafood and is ala carte pricing.  There are dining packages you can purchase or receive as a promo as part of your booking that cover the surcharge.

I started with scallops on pork belly.

The scallops we as well cooked as the ones at the Haven restaurant from dinner a couple of nights ago.  One of the pieces of pork belly were well cooked but two of them were not rendered properly and were too fatty.  Pork belly is a lot like a smoked pork shoulder.  You really need to take the time to render the fat to have it cooked properly.  This pork while flavorful, needed some more time in the roasting pan.

Next up was a wedge salad.  Unlike the caesar salad from an earlier dinner, this didn't have enough dressing.  I realize I sound like Goldilocks!!  If you want to sell a wedge with blue cheese, it really needs to bring the blue cheese for my taste.  I asked for some dressing on the side and it was perfect.  Crisp, cold romaine with thin sliced onions and tomatoes.

I was able to try the roasted beet salad my wife ordered.  This was a fantastic dish featuring three kinds of beets and schmears of balsamic dressing.  Each beet was served on a small amount of a feta-like cheese.  They respected the beets which doesn't always happen with a beet salad.

My main was grilled halibut with a mango chutney.  I am a little bit spoiled when it comes to Halibut since the best halibut  I ever had was in Seward Alaska.  If you have not eaten halibuts cheeks put them on your food bucket list.  What is on your food bucket list?  Enter a comment to let me know,

My fish was a bit dry but was seasoned properly.  They also had a butter sauce which in retrospect is what I wished I had ordered to moisten up the fish.

Much like a steakhouse, you could get side items with your mains.  I went with brussels sprouts and lobster mac and cheese. Neither side was outstanding.  The mac and cheese while creamy with a crispy topping was missing any real lobster flavor.  The brussels were braised and then dressed in a sweet balsamic glaze.  All the brussels weren't cooked to the same level of doneness which detracted from the dish.   

The desserts were really good here!   I ordered the apple tart.  Flaky, crispy pastry with lots of sliced apples in cinnamon sugar.  Topped with vanilla gelato and a meringue stick.  Every flavor you would want and expect in a great apple dessert.

I was able to try the key lime pie my wife ordered.  It was creamy and full of lime flavor and topped with bruleed meringue.

Finally a chocolate dessert!!

That wrapped up a great meal at Ocean Blue.  We had only planned on one dinner here but all of use agreed we would need to come back one more time.  Just for science.  ;-)

Thanks for reading!!  We dined at one other speciality restaurant which will be in an upcoming blog.  

Three Course Lunch!!

The cabin I stayed in allowed me to eat in a special restaurant each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It is a rarity these days on cruises where you can have three sit down meals every day.  Most cruise lines only offer that for breakfast (sometimes brunch) and dinner, where lunch is only in the dining room on sea days.  When you stay in the Haven on Norwegian you can have sit down service for all three meals.  Today was a chance to see what they had for lunch.

I started with Seafood Frito Misto which was an assortment of fried seafood and veggies including scallops, fish, calamari, mussels, onions and zucchini.  The batter was very light.  I think they use a batter that is at least partly rice flour so it some out close to a tempura.  The most surprising item on the plate was the mussels. I have had those prepared many ways although mainly steamed.  I had never had them fried in the shell. The surprising thing was that they were not overcooked.   I think they steamed them, then once almost cooked through  it when they battered them for frying.  They still had a chewy meaty texture I like in a mussel.  While the seafood was all good, the best item was the thinly sliced zucchini.  I had never had zucchini prepared this way even when getting tempura at a Japanese restaurant.  The texture was almost like potato chips since they had been sliced so thin. 

It was served with a sauce which at first I thought would be thick like a cocktail sauce.  Instead it was the consistency and flavor of what you would get in a bouillabaisse.   Thin and so flavorful.  I would guess they used shellfish to flavor it.  Such a great idea instead of aioli or cocktail sauce.

I next tried the lobster bisque.  While it could have been hotter, this had a deep flavor.  I would compare it to the base roux that you would build when making a gumbo.  There was a nice chunk of lobster tail meat in the middle as well as a drizzle of creme fraiche.  

For my main, I had the brie cheeseburger.  In an earlier blog I had stated how delicious the burger at American Diner had been.  This one topped that.  It was just as cleverly put together with a meaty, seasoned patty, topped with creamy brie.  I loved that they also included some of the rind which added lots of nutty flavor to the burger.  And the lettuce was on the bottom bun!!  They avoided one of my pet peeves of burgers!! 

Too often burgers are over complicated where a chef thinks about what else can they add to the burger. where instead they should be considering what should be removed.  I really don't need to see another "Texas BBQ Burger" with a fried onion ring.  Last I knew, Texas is not the home to onion rings.    This burger had everything it needed and nothing it didn't.  Served with some thin, crispy fries made it complete. 

QUICK BITE: What Does Room Service Breakfast Look Like On A Cruise?

If you have cruised before, you know that room service is available on most of the major lines.  The offerings can vary, often depending on the type of cabin you have.   Some cruise lines only offer continental breakfast while other lines offer some hot options.  While the food itself can be complimentary, the cruise lines will sometimes charge a service fee for delivering,  I was staying in a cabin on NCL Encore that had some hot options available.  There is nothing like having room service breakfast with a view!!

Scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and home fries.

Fresh melon and crispy red seedless grapes.

Embarkation Day on NCL Encore!!

After about 10 days from being back from Australia, it was time for another trip.  This time it was a seven night cruise on the brand new ship NCL Encore.  I'll share many of the food and drinks I tried on the ship.

For embarkation day lunch, I ate at American Diner which is an ala carte restaurant onboard the ship.  They have some standard pub foods and interesting salads. I had read some reviews on line indicating that the lobster sliders were really tasty. So I knew I had to start with those.

These were the perfect twist on a classic lobster roll.  Firstly, they were served on a hot dog bun which is the way you will find lobster rolls in the best places in Maine.  Secondly, the roll was nicely toasted, which kept the filling from making the roll soggy.  Lastly, there was lots of sweet chunks of cold water lobster including some tail meat.  And there was a thin garlic aioli that was drizzled on top, giving some contrast to the sweet lobster. They kept this slider all about the lobster, without cluttering it up with gloppy mayo, celery or loads of lettuce.  It was one of the best lobster rolls I have ever had.

I also tried a flank steak.  There was a terrifically seasoned chimichurri with a nice balance of parsley and garlic.  Unfortunately, the steak was either of very low quality or had been tenderized several times too many with a mallet.  Instead of having a toothy, meaty flavor,  it was like a low quality minute steak.  Somewhat grisly.  Pleasant flavor.  Not pleasant texture.

For my main, I ordered a cheeseburger. 

Cheeseburger at American Diner on NCL Encore

This burger was terrific!!  Started with a big meaty well seasoned patty that was cooked to medium rare.  You would tell they had seasoned it before hitting the flat top. It also had some nice crispy edges which is a sign they really paid attention to how they were cooking it.  Too often you find that restaurants end up steaming burgers which really takes away any chance of beefy flavor.  Those crispy. almost burned edges from the flat top grill really add that umani!! 

They smartly kept the shredded lettuce on the bottom of the bun which kept the freshly toasted brioche bun from getting soggy.  Two slices of american cheese and some pickles complimented the burger perfectly.  The thin fries were very crispy and I could tell they had been salted immediately out of the fryer which is the key for getting flavor into any deep fried foods.  The slaw it came with wasn't my favorite.  They seemed to be trying for a horseradish slaw which is a great idea - just not executed properly in this case.  The cabbage had been shredded too finely, much like the texture of the cole slaw at KFC.  Don't get me wrong.   I have enjoyed KFC slaw in the past.  That was because the dressing they use has lots of flavor, which overcomes the almost minced cabbage.  In this case, the slaw had a very muted horseradish flavor but not other detectable seasonings.  It needed more acid and mayo to have it come together. 

Dinner tonight started with a shrimp cocktail.  I was impressed with the size of the shrimp which I would guess were jumbo in size.  The texture was good and the cocktail sauce was spicy enough.  Instead of the shrimp having a "fresh from the sea" taste, they were overly salty for my taste.  I think when they cooked them, the water had been over salted or possibly had been used for other batches and gotten over reduced.  In either case, it was a shame to see a waste of such a good product.

Where the shrimp had gone wrong, everything was put together especially well for my next appetizer which was the tuna tartare.  The chunks of fresh tuna were the star, plated evenly over a bed of seaweed salad.  Seaweed salad is one of my favorite dishes when I have sushi so to see them utilize it in this dish got me very excited.  Traditionally, seaweed salad is dressed with a sesame dressing.  And the one they used here had a great balance of the sesame oil and rice vinegar.  It was served with a raw quail egg which was the perfect binder for all the ingredients.  When you mixed it all together, the tuna was really complemented by the acid in the dressing and the creaminess of the quail yolk.  Such a smart dish!!

I also tried the braised short ribs which were served on small potato cakes.  The short ribs were so tender than a knife wasn't needed - as it should be.   While I appreciated the use of the potato cakes, they weren't very well seasoned and added no texture to the dish.  I would have preferred a crunchier item.  I think a raw item such as sliced radish would have worked well, adding both crunch and a bit of a bite to contrast with the rich short ribs.  A very good dish which only needed one tweak. 

The caesar salad came with lots of salty anchovies which I loved.  And the dressing was also well seasoned and creamy.  Unfortunately, they had used about twice as much dressing as needed which removed any chance of the romaine being crunchy. 

For my main, I went with the sea scallops.  While I was expecting the scallops to be larger, they were well seasoned and cooked medium rare which is my preference.  The addition of the fresh cherry tomatoes and kalamata olives was a great contrast to the meaty scallops.  There was also a creamy butter sauce bringing it all together.

Dessert was a chocolate mousse cake.  When I ordered this I thought it would a somewhat generic dessert that you see on most fine dining menus.  It seems that almost every restaurant feels a need to have a chocolate mousse or flourless chocolate cake. 

 This dessert was so well composed.  The chocolate mousse was velvety like you would expect.  It was covered in a dark chocolate sauce, with more of the sauce dripped on the plate.  On the top was a blossom of chocolate petals with a surprising "bud" that was a fresh lychee nut.  That was additionally garnished by a mint leaf and topped with a crispy rice cracker.  The freshness of the lychee is what made this dessert shine.  It served as an interesting alternative to the standard vanilla ice cream you see with these type of chocolate desserts.

After dinner, it was time for some live music in "Q" which is an ala carte restaurant onboard.  I wasn't able to try any of the food this cruise, but they had some great drinks.

This was the sidecar  - one of my all time favorite cocktails.  They used a bit too much lemon juice for my taste, but I loved the taste of the 12 year old brandy.  And who doesn't like a sugar rim?

This was the smoked peach margarita which was "on tap".   I saw these on tap cocktails at most of the bars onboard. I hadn't seen it on other cruise lines.  I think NCL is doing this to streamline bar service when it is busier.  The cocktail had some great peach flavor and smoke.    The hibiscus salt helped contract the sweetness.

What a great first day on the ship!!   Thank you for reading!!   Look for upcoming blogs with more of the items that I tried during the cruise.