QUICK BITE: Sushi in Aruba

We had our dinner tonight off the ship.  Some sushi from Aruba!!  This is a place called Hanasaki and is about a ten minute walk from where the cruise ships dock. 

Once you order, they bring out the sauces.  

This was spicy mayo, a thickened soy sauce with a hint of molasses and regular soy sauce.  

We order the sushi pizza.  Sounds strange but my favorite dish.  

Seasoned sushi rice which has been crisped on the bottom.  Topped with spicy salmon, eel sauce and sesame seeds.  So tasty.  

This was the spicy tuna bowl over brown rice.  

It was served on warm brown rice along with hearts of palm, pineapple, corn, carrots cashews, seaweed salad and cucumber. The tuna was chopped wup with some spicy Japanese mayo. The corn was odd. Neither added or detracted. All tasted great when mixed together.

Next was the Kazan roll

It was deep fried and had crab and asparagus. I could have done without the creamy seafood gratin which overwhelmed the sushi. Just scraped it off. Otherwise, very tasty.

Next was tuna sashimi. 

Four pieces of the best tuna sashimi I have had. And only $3.33 USD. And what a presentation!!

QUICK BITE: Blue Iguana on Carnival Freedom

My favorite quick service breakfast on any cruise line!!  The Blue Iguana delivers the goods!!   Huevos Rancheros!!  Make sure you ask for eggs.  Sometimes they want to only hand you the "rancheros" and you don't want that to happen.  So many great salsas also. My favorite is the roasted tomato.  The watermelon jicama is also great.  And don't forget the crema!!

Crown Grill on Ruby Princess

A pretty good meal at Crown Grill last night. The surprising highlight was definitely the Black and Blue Onion Soup.  Rich, beefy broth with a melted combination of gruyere and Roquefort.   The porterhouse was also flavorful and cooked to order (medium in my case). 

They serve everything with family-style sides of sauteed mushrooms, "grilled" asparagus and creamed spinach plus your choice of potato.  Those were all okay (especially the mushrooms) except for the asparagus.  I have yet to see a preparation of asparagus on this ship that doesn't remind me of how my mother cooked it by boiling it until it was nearly disintegrated.  Am I the only one that likes grilled asparagus that is still al dente?    

The steak tartare was decent but I have had better. 

 The scallops had a great sweet flavor, cooked a perfect medium but the accompaniments of tart Granny Smith apples and some sour tasting pickled leeks didn't pair well at all.  

The rhubarb cobbler could best be called disappointing.  Soggy and muddled with just a "sweet" flavor.  No detection of any fruit or the tartness that you expect with rhubarb.  

We did buy a couple bottles of one of our favorite wines.  A great red blend "The Prisoner" from California.   Had to use up some OBC!!