Our evening started by meeting in the atrium of the ship. Here we were greeted with a glass of champagne and one of the wait staff. The Chef De Cuisine soon met us and we had a toast before we we led back to the galley for more champagne and for three appetizers. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed in the galley, most likely for safety and security reasons. We were gathered around one of the prep tables in the middle of the galley. A flurry of activity was happening all around us. Salad prep to my right. Appetizer plating right in front of us. But a very quiet environment. No one was barking our orders.
The first appetizer was a very thin slice of nutty parmesan romano cheese along with marinated olives. This was a great palate awakener - and not because of the cheese. The chef explained that the olives had been marinated on the ship. I expected them to had traditional flavors you would find in a mediterranean olive. Olive oil. Rosemary. Oregano. Pepper flakes. While some of those were there, these olives had a very interesting and welcome ingredient: Orange zest. I had never heard of olives marinated this way but it made so much sense when you tasted it. It paired so well with the peppery olive oil and added a much needed brightness. So inventive. I think I will be trying this at home.
The next appetizer was a bold one, something that many people would never ever order: goose liver pate served on a small spoon. I am a huge fan of liver and will almost always order foie gras if I see it on a menu. When I traveled to New York for work I would go to the Stage Deli and only order a nice plate of chopped liver. That with some fresh rye bread and thin sliced onions is heavenly!! For this preparation, the chef smartly was able to eliminate the sometimes gamey flavor liver can have. He was able to bring out the nuttiness and make it so smooth so that everyone's first instinct was we were tasting peanut butter. It certainly changed some people's mind about whether they liked liver.
The last galley appetizer was a super bite size shrimp Po'Boy. They must have had these rolls specially made onboard since they were only about an inch long, perfect for the fried shrimp and remoulade. While the bread could have been more toasted, the flavor of the shrimp paired well with the sauce.
After a short galley tour we were led to a private dining room where we would have our additional courses. Each person received a personalized menu.
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| Carnival Conquest Chef's Table Menu |
A text version of the menu which is easier to read.
Spring Peas & Matcha Soup
condiments
Berkshire Pork Belly, Shrimps
veil of yuzu mustard, crustacean essence
Slow Cooked Crispy Lamb
roasted beet & port jus
Olive Oil Poached Seabass
asparagus & white miso
Quail, Wild Mushrooms and Carnaroli
parmesan, pepper threads, roasted onion jus
New York Prime Strip, Crushed Green Apples
light cheese broth
Citrus Cream
lime snow, elderflower caviar
Chocolate Hazelnut
basil moss, cocoa logs, chocolate soil
We started with a bread service. We were served the most pillowy roll completely covered in shredded parmesan cheese. It was served with a small edible flower, unsalted butter with truffle (almost a good as Tasmanian butter) and honey. I didn't want to have too much of this since I knew how many courses had yet to come. But how can one resist? It was interesting to pair all the flavors. I liked the sweet honey combined with the salty parmesan the best.
First course was a Spring Pea and Match Soup. This was served in a way that you made your own broth strength with the powdered matcha. What is matcha? I had never heard of it before this meal so was glad the chef explained it. It is a type of green tea and in this preparation was in super fine powder form. They had also made a stirrer which was a celery stalk attached to a pineapple shell topped with a cherry tomato.
The idea was to take a as much or as little of the matcha and put it into your bowl. The chef recommended to start with a small amount. I tried it by itself and it had a mild earthy flavor - alot like green tea (not surprisingly). This was about a half teaspoon of the matcha.
Then the wait staff came along with a separate pitched of the soup and you used the stirrer. It was so interesting how you could infuse the soup with the essence of the celery tops. The soup had a great fresh pea flavor and the matcha gave it a richness that most pea soups like this are missing. A very nice start to what would be coming.
Pork belly is one of those dishes that really needs attention to detail. I have found too often that it appears on a menu for pure "wow" factor, but the result on your plate is less than a wow. Usually the issue is the pork has not been rendered enough, leaving the diner an unpleasant plate of uncooked fat. Not in this case. The pork was properly cooked to be slightly crispy but still moist and had a great pork flavor. And the use of the yuzu to make a mustard was a perfect compliment. If you have no heard of yuzu, it looks like a lemon but has more of an orange and grapefruit flavor. Perfect contrast for a dish where you want to cut against the richness of the fattiness. The "dome" on top of the pork was pureed and dehydrated cantaloupe molded into the triangle shape. It had the texture of beef jerky. It was creative but really didn't belong on the dish. The same was true with the shrimp and the crustacean essence, which was really just a lobster and shrimp stock made from shells. Tasty by itself, and perhaps great in another dish, but didn't go with the other flavors in the dish.
Next course was Crispy Lamb with Roasted Beets.
The lamb was braised and very tender, served on a flavorful au jus. It was topped with a crispy whole grain cracker which had dollops of creme fraiche and mango. The most interesting part of the dish was the roasted beet on the left in the picture below. The beet had been crusted in dehydrated olives and then deep fried. I had never seen olives used as a breading before. It was a good contrast to the sweetness of the red beet. I think it would have been a much more interesting dish had the chef decided to have this be a vegan course, where only beets and other complimenting items were paired together. While the lamb was good, it's richness was a bit too much after just having the pork belly.
Next course was Sea Bass.
This was one of the best dishes I have had in my life!! It was poached sea bass which had been cooked perfectly. Firm flesh but still moist inside. And it came with lots of complimentary side items. Where to start? How about the passion fruit "caviar" which was on top, and had just started to melt as the plate was set in front of you. Or the olive oil dust where you could drag a morsel of fish through it to provide a a floral nuance. Or the wonderfully crispy squid ink chip which you could break up into pieces like a tortilla chips and mix with the delicate white miso sauce. Everything on this plate had a purpose which is what made it so wonderful. Fish, cooked simply, and only partnered with sides that complimented, and in some cases deliciously contrasted with that succulent seafood.
The next course was Quail with Wild Mushrooms. When the plate first arrived, I think we all exclaimed "Where's The Quail"? I think the thin rolls of parmesan and pepper threads were to be a reminder of the very first course we had in the galley. The wild mushrooms were prepared in what I would call a fricassee style. Creamy and meaty. But where was the quail?
Almost on queue, the chef came around and plated each piece of quail on our plates. right on top of the mushrooms. It was topped with roasted onion jus which had a sweet flavor, almost like beets. The quail was well seasoned and moist with a crispy skin. The onion jus was a nice compliment to the mushrooms.
The last savory course was New York Strip, The chef came out with a large smoked dome!! What was inside?
It was our grilled strip steak which had been smoked in that dome!! In addition to the side of asparagus was a very unusual spoonful of crushed green apple which had a cheese broth on top. The flavor profile matched since cheese and apples are a favorite combination of mine. Just an odd side dish and I am not sure it married well with the steak. The steak itself was okay but had some large part of fat which hadn't been cooked. Since these had been sliced to order, I would have expected them to be trimmed a bit more since the far was appealing to look at or taste. This was my least favorite course.
Now it was time for dessert!! First up was a Citrus Creme. This was perhaps better described as a key lime tart - without the tart. Tart citrus flavor, further complimented by the lime snow which took lime juice and used molecular gastronomy to create the magical dust. And a repeat of the "caviar" from the sea bass course, except this time it was elderflower which had a nice tartness. For anyone (like me) that doesn't like overly sweet desserts, this would be at the top of their list for favorite desserts.
Our last course was a Chocolate Hazelnut cake. Hazelnut it not one of my favorite flavors since I find it usually overpowers other flavors in a dessert. To the pastry chef's credit, they managed to keep it as a background flavor and the forward flavor was still the chocolate. The basil moss was a most interesting contrast to the sweetness of the chocolate. The chocolate "logs" were drizzled chocolate that had been refrigerated. They were crunchy so was a nice contrast to the soft texture of the cake. I wish the dessert had a small amount of plain old vanilla ice cream. There was so much chocolate flavor that your palate needed a break after a couple of bites. Perhaps the basil moss was meant for that purpose but it didn't work for me. Sometimes all you need is some ice cream.
So after eleven courses and almost four hours, our Chef's Table experience had ended. Some wonderful dishes. I was very impressed with the whole meal and how the chef and his team catered to us.
Favorite course: Olive Oil Poached Sea Bass - Simply one of the best dishes I have ever eaten.
Favorite amuse bouche: Has to be the olives since they surprised me with the addition of orange zest
Favorite dessert: Really unfair since there were only two but hands down it was the Citrus Creme.
Most disappointing dish: New York Strip - It was sad to see what appeared to be a good cut of meat wasted.
Since Carnival keeps the same Chef's Table menu for at least eighteen months, it may be awhile before I try this again. I will keep an eye out for when it changes to see if it looks interesting.
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