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.
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| 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.
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