Discovery Princess Main Dining Room Dinner

Went to the MDR (Skagway) for dinner last night.  We had a 7:40 reservation that we made in the Medallion app weeks ago.  We were sat promptly at that time.  There was a long line of people without reservations.  The protocol appears to be that groups with reservations form a line on the left and others form a line on the right. I am not sure that was being followed but it definitely seemed to help that we had a reservation.  

We had water, bread and menus quickly. We had already looked at the menu earlier in the app so knew what we would be ordering.  Once we ordered we got our salads about 8:10 followed by French onion soup at 8:20.  Then our fish and pasta arrived at 8:45.  Certainly not the fastest service but our waiters were great.  All the food was at the correct temperature.  

The goat cheese salad was excellent. Crispy lettuce with a creamy balsamic along with a lightly fried piece of goat cheese and walnuts.

The French onion soup was good but not as good as what I had on the Ruby Princess in February.  This was definitely more onion-focused, thinner and without a lot of cheese.   On Ruby there was a much richer beefy broth and saltier gruyere cheese.  

The red snapper was a well cooked and flavorful piece of fish, although may have suffered a bit from carry-over cooking.  It was served on a bed of couscous that had raisins. There was a creamy sauce on the bottom and pieces of sweet potato.  The oddest part of the dish was the thin sweet potato "crisps". Great idea but they were more like pieces of sweet potato jerky.  

The pasta was supposed to be taggiatelle but was fettuccine instead.  It has a flavorful pesto with hints of rosemary and pieces of chicken.  It reminded me of the rosemary grilled chicken they have at Salty Dog Grill.  

We finished dinner at 9:10. We didn't want dessert.   

Today we dock in Cabo San Lucas at Noon. We are exploring on our own.  May check out Sammy Hagars Cabo Wabo or another place called The Office.  Supposed to be 75° today.

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!!

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.