Johney Burger in St Maarten

If you ever are at the St Maarten airport (SXM), check out this food truck Johney Burger which is outside the departures area.  They also have a location inside the airport.

They have a French Side and Dutch Side.  You might say we went "Double Dutch" since we had the Phillipsburg (named after the Dutch capital) and the SXM (named after the airport which is on the Dutch side).  

Phillipsburg is your basic bacon burger. The SXM had bacon with the addition of a grilled plantain which added some nice sweetness to the smokey bacon.  Both cooked perfectly medium rare. And they both have Sunset sauce. Like most burger places, the ingredients of their sauces are a "secret" but I am guessing it is mayo, ketchup and sweet pickle brine mixed together.  Maybe a little hot sauce for some kick. And both also had lettuce on the bottom so that the burger didn't make the bottom bun soggy. 

Pretty good deal as well.  Two large burgers (both with a huge portion of crispy fries), two beers and two waters was $41USD.

QUICK BITE: More Tapas at The Club

Tonight's small bites at The Club!! Bacon puffs artichoke puree, lobster cocktail, rice cracker with carrot and smoked salmon on a ginger macaron.

Some amazing tapas and no one else seems to know they have these every night.

Chef's Dinner at The Restaurant on Seabourn Odyssey

After four nights enjoying the menus at other venues, we finally made it to The Restaurant which is considered the high end dining venue on Seabourn Odyssey.  Tonight's menu was a six course menu where you had one choice: Sea Bass or Filet.

First course was a crabmeat salad. The crab was wrapped in a slightly bitter leafy green.  There were dollops of mustard and lemon for some balance to the creaminess.   

Next course was a delicious mushroom bisque. 

If you have followed this blog for awhile, you will remember that mushroom soup (and mushrooms in general) are one of my favorite dishes on a cruise.  And this soup didn't disappoint. Creamy and meaty!!   This could be a while meal with a larger portion and some crusty bread.  

Next course was a beautifully seared scallop. 

Such a well composed dish with a smooth buerre Blanc sauce along with some shredded carrot for a little crunch and additional sweetness.  

Next course was a peach champagne sorbet palate cleanser.  

Followed by the sea bass.

Well cooked fish with crispy skin served with seasoned brocolini.  

Desset was sort of a twist on tiramisu. 

A log of marscapone surrounded by a coffee jelly.  Then a cannel of dark chocolate and dollops of butterscotch and lemon cream.  

QUICK BITE: Tapas at The Club on Seabourn Odyssey

The Club is one of the lounges onboard Seabourn Odyssey. It has a small stage where bands play and also has a small (very small) casino off to one side.  While we enjoying a cocktail a few nights ago, the waiter brought us over some honey potato chips and then asked if we would like more snacks.  He brought out this.  

There were deviled eggs (he called them angel eggs).

So creamy and delicious.  

There was also a crispy rice cracker with dollops of avocado and mango puree.  

Another cracker with a type.of tapanade.  

The best bite was a savory macaron. 

This had a beautiful curry flavor.  To this point I'm my life I had only had sweet macarons I had been missing out. 

Last night we were also in the same lounge.  The bites were all different including another savory macaron with smoked salmon, a cauliflower puree and grilled Mediterranean shrimp.  Can't wait to check out what they have tonight.  

French Dinner at The Collonade

The Collonade is one of the five options for dinner on Seabourn Odyssey.  For breakfast and lunch, it is a buffet-style restaurant. At lunch they have a few things you can order a la carte such as a daily fish special, burgers, hot dogs and chicken.  At night, it becomes an a la carte restaurant and each night has a different theme. Last night was French cuisine.  

There is a bread service of a crunchy baguette along with whipped butter, olive oil and a salted cream cheese.  

Started with some French onion soup. 

The broth was really excellent.  Rich onion flavor.  It was topped with a crouton that had some cheese flavor.  If you are a fan of a cheesy french onion soup, this would not be your favorite.  

Next was the french classic of escargot. 

They were served with a piece of toasted garlic bread.   These weren't the best escargot I have ever had but they had a buttery, garlic flavor.  And with these, it is usually about using the bread to sop up that liquid.   

Next was fois gras. 

This was served with some buttery toast points, some leeks and dollops of mustard.  The fois gras still had some thicker pieces of fat which wasn't my favorite. It would have tasted better if this had been quickly seared on each side. A little disappointing. 

For mains, my wife and I both had the chateaubriand cooked medium rare. 

This was a very flavorful piece of beef.   Cooked perfectly and served with au jus with onions and mushrooms.  There were also snap peas, carrots and potato planks. What brought everything together was the super rich and creamy bearnaise sauce.  That went really great with the potatoes. 

While I thought the overall meal was underwhelming, the chateaubriand saved the meal. I have found the beef on this ship to be properly prepared and cooked to order.  

QUICK BITE: More great bites from Earth and Ocean

We had one more dinner at Earth and Ocean last night.  Had two amazing dishes. The first was roasted salmon with lentils. 

The salmon was cooked perfectly medium rare with some crispy skin.   And it was served on top of lentils that had been cooked with port wine.  The lentils has a bit of a peppery kick to them.  So flavorful and creamy.  

Also had the best dish (so far) on this sailing. This was roasted cauliflower. 

If you have followed this blog for awhile, you might remember a similar dish we had on Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady in October 2021. That dish was terribly executed. The cauliflower was raw and lacked seasoning. Virgin Voyages needs to take a look at how cauliflower should be cooked. 

The thick slice of cauliflower had first been put into a smoker.  Then seasoned and roasted.  Then it came topped with a pomegranate vinaigrette, capers and some other roasted vegetables including peppers.   Wow!!   What great flavor from the smoke balanced with the sweetness from pomegranate and saltiness of the capers.  This dish had everything.