Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady: Dinner at the Test Kitchen

Another of the restaurants onboard Scarlet Lady is called the Test Kitchen. 

While paper menus are available, all the restaurants have switched to QR codes where you use a camera to access the menu link.  

 Like all restaurants onboard, the food is included in your cruise fare. They do have optional beer, wine, cocktail and Jon alcoholic pairings for a nominal additional charge. 

We elected to get the wine pairing which was $35/person. 

This was to be a six course tasting menu.  The menu only lists the theme of each course.  

First course was a delicious mushroom pate served with super thin roasts.  

This was paired with a Sauvignon Blanc.  

The pate was in the whimsical shape of a mushroom.  And that somehow further enhanced the rich, meaty mushroom flavor.  It was everything you like about a mushroom soup, but compacted into a flavorful cold pate.  The toasts added a great crunch to break up the texture.  

Next course was egg.  This was an egg yolk they served under a dome of smoke along with fresh peas, edible flowers and pea tendrils. 

This was paired with a Gris Blanc which was a light rose.  

The chef suggested that you break the yolk and mix everything together so the egg coated all the peas.  This is where the acidity of the wine really helped break up the fattiness of the yolk.  

The next course was scallops which was my least favorite and probably probably one reason I have no picture of it. The scallops lacked any real seasoning and had a mild fishy flavor.  The broth was also very salty.  The best part of that dish was some delicious serrano ham. This was paired with a white burgundy. 

For the next course you could choose between venison or beef tenderloin.  My wife had the beef and I ordered venison.  

They were plated with splats of blueberry compote, fresh blueberries and edible flowers.  A venison pan sauce was poured over the top.  It was paired with this robust red.  

While the meats were cooked to a proper medium rare, both lacked salt.  A bit of kosher salt before cooking or perhaps even just as it was plates could have greatly improved this dish.  

The next course was a blue cheese ice cream.  This was paired with a syrah. 

The ice cream was so flavorful. It had a subtle blue cheese flavor so would probably even be liked by people who don't like blue cheese.  Brinoissed pearsz edible flowers and a citrus sauce were served along with it.  This was my favorite wine pairing.  

For dessert we had a chocolate cake.  We had been seating at a counter where the pastry chef was plating these desserts.  

So it was not too surprising when dessert arrived.  

This was paired with a Hungarian Late Harvest dessert wine which went very well with the chocolate flavor. 

The best way to describe this dessert was it was similar to a Twix bar.  It had a crunchy bottom cookie and then layers of rich chocolate cake with tres leches in between.  And the most interesting part was it was topped with what appeared to be a sponge cake.  It certainly had that texture. But it was a combination of almond flour and coconut milk that had been microwaved. And when that happens, the reaction creates this sponge like cake. Very tasty and something I had never had.