QUICK BITE: Commander's Palace New Orleans

Saturday's lunch he was at one of New Orleans oldest restauranrs,. Commander's Palace. This restaurant sits right in the middle of the garden district, about a 10 minute taxi ride from the warehouse district (downtown). On weekends they have a Jazz Brunch with a three course menu.  You pick a starter, a main and a dessert from a menu.  The cost of your lunch is base on the price listed for the main you choose .  There are about eight options in each category and some have an extra charge beyond the price of the main.  

I started with a New Orleans staple, Chicken Gumbo.  

This was thick and slightly spicy, made with a dark roux.   It could have been much warmer when it was served.  I also felt that the gumbo had been over reduced since it was very salty to my taste.   

Also tried the Domenixa Squash salad. 

I had nevert heard of this type of squash.Thw dish played off sweet and bitter components. The squash had been roasted which h brought out it's sweetness.  It was served with biter chicory greens and kale.  And the dressing was a raisin and brandy vinaigrette for sweetness.  While I would have done with much less dressing, I did understand what the chef was attempting.   This was tasty but I would try to get less dressing if I ordered it again.  

The best dish at lunch was the pecan crusted gulf fish.  Now they didn't lost what type of fish this was but I wiid guess redfish. Or possibly grouper.  

Delicate, flaky and most with a thin crispz slightly nutty coating.  And simply seasoned so you could really taste the fish.   It was served into of a type of succatash. Small, sweet kernels of corn along with charred kale and leeks. As good as the fish was, this was better. It is great to see dishes where the chef puts as much thought into the sides as they do the main entree.  Thinking back as the buttery cauliflower puree I had as Josephine Estellle, I would love a vegetarian main composed.of just that pureed and this succatash.  Such great flavors and textures.  

We tried two desserts. First was the apple cobbler.  

This was a very good desert.   Had all the components of a good cobbler.  Big pieces of apple, hints of nutmeg and cinnamon and a crunchy topping of brown sugar and oats. Topped with some creamy vanilla ice cream.  All the flavors were very good.

Also tried the mint chocolate chip ice cream.  

This was served in a freshly made waffle cone bowl.   Unlike.oce cream you might get at the supermarket, you could really taste the fresh mint they must have used.  And some large pieces of chocolate to offset the mint.  

QUICK BITE: Josephine Estellle New Orleans

We arrived two days ahead of the embarkation day for our NCK Breakaway sailing.  Tonight was dinner at Josephine Estellle.  It is located in the Ace Hotel.  Something interesting about New Orleans is that so many if the restaurants and bars are located inside hotels.  And you might think that those places are tourist traps it have orlverpriced, generic food. Not the case.  

We started with this delicious Sangiovese wine.from.the Toscana region. Dry with just hints of some.fruit.  

Dinner stared with an assortment of appetizers including Napa Cabbage with Prosciutto, their famous meatballs and burrata.  

The stay prosciutto was so good with the crisp.cabbage and green apples.  The meatballs had just enough breadcrumbs to hold them together but you could still taste the beef, veal and pork.  And the buratta was creamy and savory.  Just perfect with yellow beets, toasted hazelnuts and a delicious pomegranate molasses.  

For mains we want with the delicious fettuccine with veal ragout and short ribs with pureed cauliflower.  

The star was definitely the veal ragout.  Essentially like a pot roast, full of flavor and meatiness.   And perfe fly al dente pasta. 

The short ribs had decent flavor but I have had better.  They were missing the succulence and richness I associate with a great short rib.   The pureed cauliflower save the dish.  So creamy and buttery - almost like grits.  I would have preferred a vegetarian dish with this instead of the short ribs.  

Desserts were stellar.  These were a lemon semifreddo and a Peanut Butter mousse with chocolate ganache.  The semifreddo has some.smart addition of cadied lemon peel and a dark chocolate ganache. 

The peanut butter dessert was so well balanced between the creamy mousse and rich  chocolate.  

Soft Pretzels At Home

Who said you can't have soft pretzels for breakfast?  

A few keys to successfull pretzels:

Weigh the dough and divide by how many pretzels you are making.  The recioe I use makes about 620 grams of dough.   This insures that each pretzel will be a similar size.  

Roll out the dough into pieces of the same size.  The recipe I use says 30 inches.  I put painters tape on the counter as a guide. 

Once you have your pretzel shape, gently dip into a solution of baking soda and water.   This is what will give you the Browning.  Skipping this step will produce something closer.to a yeasty roll.  May still be delicious but not a pretzel.  

Use an instant read thermometer to test for domeness.  I find an internal temperature between 205° and 210° is perfect.  

Don't forget the melted butter. Dip as soon as they are out of the oven.

QUICK BITE: Playmakers Sports Bar on Odyssey of the Seas

We had a very good lunch at Playmakers which is the sports bar onboard the Odyssey of the Seas.  The UDP package gave us a $20 credit per person towards food. And we made the most out of it.  Onion ring tower!!  Two kinds of wings!!   Chicken planks!!  Tuna Poke Nachos!!   Truffle Burger!!

QUICK BITE: Sorrento's Pizza on Odyssey of the Seas

First lunch or second breakfast?  Who is really tracking?  

Sorrento's is the pizza venue on board.  They are open nearly 24 hours a day with hours of 11:30 AM to 3AM.   I thought it was just a place to grab a slice.  I didn't know they also had a great selection of antipasto.  

The pizza was pedestrian. I have had much better crust on other cruises ships. Princess and Carnival come to mind.  The special.pizza of the day (Prima Vera) was the best of the two, lifted by terrific toppings of marinated tomatoes, peppers,.spinach and onion.  It had a good kick of heat. 

The real gem of this place is the antipasto.  So many things to try.  

The marinated olives were my favorite. If you have never tried marinating olives with oranges, stop what you are doing and add it to your "to do" list.  This was not the first time having them this way, but it was the best.  Something about the sweet citrus that goes so well with the brininess.  The marinated roasted peppers and eggplant were also delicious. They were combined with some spicy peppers which raised the whole dish up several notches.  The stuffed potatoes were surprisingly tasty.  Small yellow potatoes that had been boiled and them had some the potatoes scooped out and combined with cheese. Then that mixture added back as stuffing.  There were also stuffed and fried mushrooms.  While these had a good flavor, they were served cold.  If they had been warm, it would have been a winning dish.  

So while this place may be "known" for it's pizza, you should really go for the antipasto.  It is a shame this isn't located on the pool deck although I understand why they have it near the casino.

Izumi Dinner on Odyssey of the Seas

Izumi is the sushi restaurant on Odyssey of the Seas.  We were able to eat here as part of the Unlimited Dining Package (UDP).  

When you get the menus, they also bring you some warm and well salted edamame.  

These were very tasty and the salt gets your palate ready for the meal.  

The UDP allowed us to have the prix fix menu.  This started off with a very nice but standard miso soup.  

Some nice pieces of tofu in a very well seasoned broth.  

The prix fix let us have one starter each and two mains each.    After talking to the waiters he recommended the Crispy Chicken Kara-Age and the Shrimp Firecracker Spring Roll.  

The was chicken thighs in a soy, ginger and mirin marinade.  They are they coated with what I think was corn starch and then deep fried.  Served with a Thai chili sauce on the side.  

I have a few followers of this blog who will know what Hawaiian Fried Chicken is like. This was the ships version of that dish. The biggest difference was the sauce.  When I have made this the sauce is thinner and made with lemon juice, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar.  A very tasty and satisfying dish.  

The springs rolls were crunchy come shaped bite that had shrimp and a spicy sauce inside. 

For the mains we only picked one which was the chef's sashimi plate. 

A great assortment of large pieces of salmon, tuna and yellow fish. There was also some shrimp.  Standard sides of wasabi and ginger.  

We asked fhe waiter to work with the chef on the other three mains we should try. This is what was presented.  

This is the seared tuna tataki roll.  Large pieces of seared tuna with scallions and a ponzu sauce. 

This is the Futomaki roll.  It had a variety of tun@, salmon and whitefish and was tempura fried and topped with a champagne sauce.  The chili strings had a bit of heat which could add with each bite.  

This is the Champagne Lobster Roll.  Blanched lobster, avocado and Daikin with a champagne sauce. This was my favorite of the night.  

Ended the night with one of my favorite ice creams: Green tea!!

While it could have been creamier, the flavor was spot on. Not too sweet!!

A fantastic meal!!   If we had more sea days we might try this for lunch but it will need to wait for another cruise. 

QUICK BITE: Breakfast at Coastal Kitchen

Good Morning from Cozumel!!   Having breakfast at Coastal Kitchen and then a day of visiting some resorts.  

I ordered the Baja Eggs and French Toast.  

Baja Eggs were over easy with fresh sliced tomatoes, avocado and jalapenos. Sides of salsa and sour cream.  

The French toast was custardy and dusted with cinnamon sugar.  Warm maple syrup and flambeed banana on the side.  

What would you have ordered?

Lunch at Chops Grill on Odyssey of the Seas

Chops Grill is the steakhouse onboard the Odyssey of the Seas.  This is a speciality dining restaurant that has an extra charge.  On our first sea day, it was open for lunch.  We paid $174/person for an Unlimited Dining Package which let's us have lunch and dinner at any of the speciality restaurants on board all cruise.  Normally the cover charge is $25/person at Chops. So what did we order?

Started with the Collosal Shrimp Cocktail.  

Four meaty, well cooked shrimp in a horseradish-heavy cocktail sauce.  Exactly as a shrimp cocktail should be.

Next was mushroom soup.  

If you have was some of my other blogs, mushroom soup is one of my "go to" items on a cruise.  If it is offered, I will order it. I have rarely been disappointed. And that didn't change with this soup.  A delicious soup with tons of rich mushroom flavor.  It had been pureed so it was creamy - without having any added cream.  There were also subtle hints of garlic and truffle - but not enough to overpower the star ingredient.  

Next was a steak salad. I loved how they served the filet separately from he salad.   You could add as you needed without wilting the greens. 

Also ordered the burger.  I was nervous about this because our waiter said he could only have it cooked to medium well.   If that was the case, I would rather eat cardboard!!  But he said he would "negotiate" with the chef for medium. And he was a good negotiator.  Still had some pink - not as much as I would like - but it was still flavorful and juicy.  

As is the case with most steak house, you can order shareable sides at Chops. 

Clockwise from the top is asparagus, mashed potatoes, gruyere cheese tator tots and Mac and cheese.  The asparagus was my favorite.  Cooked  al dente and well seasoned.  The mashed potatoes were creamy and seasoned with just enough salt.  Potatoes are a starch that crave salt.  The gruyere tots were disappointing.  There was not the strong gruyere flavor I was craving. Maybe a hit of salt would have helped.  The mac and cheese was creamy with well cooked elbow noodles.  Subtle hints if cheddar and maybe a swiss.  Overall a great lunch!!