Monday, December 23, 2019

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.


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