Not on this ship… As you are aware Ive just been on a seminar at sea with Royal Carribean Adventure of the Seas, I thought I would wet your taste buds and tell you a little bit about the food I experienced on board – The house Red ‘La Terre’ went well with nearly everything I ate I found! But then most of you won’t be surprised by this news!!! A little review of the food outlets on board:
Winjammer Buffett: Two items jump out at me, The lemonade which as previous blogged my most delicious experience ever. Also Ranch dressing, now I am at home searching the supermarkets for one that even comes close would be good, but the dressing here was lovely. We ate in here on the first day, a couple of breakfasts and a lunch or two – Tandoori Chicken cooked to perfection, Macaroni cheese beautifully done with the widest selection of salads I’ve seen for a while. This is a real hive of activity on embarkation day and the food is really good, I wish I had eaten in there one evening for main meal, but alas I didn’t get there. Maybe next time. My only disappointment here was I felt that the deserts lacked a little something, they all tasted, just a tad bland!
Johnny Rockets: 50s style American Dinner, a small cover charge of $4.95 per person applied, but trust me, well worth the spend, when I walked in on Tuesday Lunch time, it was in full swing so to speak, I sat with Kelly and Laura in front of the retro juke box, which we were highly delighted at when the manager gave us some nickels to choose the music. Fries (With Range dressing) and onion rings were on the table before we had even ordered a drink, Roots beers please!! I ordered an Ole Smoke house burger and Chilli Fries. To be honest I struggled to get through the burger after nibbling at the fires and onion rings!!! The highlight of this venue for me was every quarter of an hour or so all the wait staff got up and danced along to one of the hits playing – So much fun – Like being in that scene in Grease at the burger joint before Frenchy gets her pink hair out!!
Vivaldi – Main Dining – Late seating 9.30pm!!! Now everyone of us felt 9.30 was a tad late, but it was apparently pushed back to allow for those who wanted to watch the show at 8pm. Which is understandable as they only did one show a night – More on that later! I have to state that I cannot praise the waiting staff more on our cruise, Mustafa and Tian, two amazingly genuine people who always have a smile for us and really did remember our names after the first meal and they was nearly 30of us! Food - The freshest breads were on offer minutes after settling at the table, favourite starters for me would have been the deep fried Mozarella and the shrimp cocktails I really really enjoyed Escargots (Snails) now I was so surprised at how lovely they were, they were done in an garlic olive oil with a beautiful crust on top, now I have been warned that not all snails are served this way and onboard they were particularly good. I also enjoyed the Fillet steaks, Lobster and Crab Ravioli which did however leave the most annoying film on my teeth after – but I think that was to do with the soft cheese filled pasta pillows – gorgeous non the less. I had tagliatelle in a gorgeous white sauce and truffles. I would love to serve this at home, but I don’t think they sell truffles in morrisons!
Promenade Café – So busy after the ice show I could hardly move, but I did manage to squeeze in a coffee, a brownie which was divine and later in the week an cheese and ham croissant – Great food – no extra fees and open 24hrs – Some of my colleagues found out that the serve pizza until 3am!!! We wont guess how, but let me assure you I was in bed… Well maybe not every night at 3am!!!
Now to the FINALE the supreme eating experience of the week for me:
PORTOFINOS – Cover charge $20 per person. Food – AMAZINGLY good, I cant beat it – and the service was outstanding too, now this was on Wednesday night – the most motion filled evening of the week where I was not the only person swaying occasionally – Although mine may have been vino induced.. Just kidding, but some seasoned cruisers even felt the motion on this night, so the restaurant was quieter than I would have expected, we were greeted by our waitress and guided through the prices as there were a few in our party new to Portofinos, including myself! We were offered a bread basket with oils and balsamic vinegar with parmesan in and then on to the ‘starter’ a table plate full of little appetisers, I had one with Roast duck on and it was truly amazing, the other reminded me a bit of cheese on toast – and who doesn’t like cheese on toast!! My main course was this stunning fillet cooked to medium rare perfection in its own Jus with vegetables and lovely crushed potatoes. The desert here was brilliant fun, myself and Sam our trainer had a sample plate of desserts, comprising of Marinated berries with Madagascar cream, a typical Italian tiramsu, a chocolate soufflé and my favourite ever desert Pannacotta… Unfortunately at the very last hurdle I was disappointed as Id saved the ‘best’ for last and it was not as smooth as I had hoped for but still one of the best dining experiences for a long time. Amazingly well organised, gorgeous food with some brilliant staff at hand always makes the evening that little bit better!
Here at cruise.co.uk were are always debating the best food onboard - What are your thoughts? Where is the best steak for instance?
Here we are again – Back in the office with Bruges under our belts – well for some us! I unfortunately didn’t make it out of my cabin on Sunday, so as a massive chocolate fan, you can imagine my disappointment to have been stuck by illness that kept me away from the markets and all their Christmassy delights and chocolate heavens!!!
The P&O Aurora however was a really good ship. From what I saw, plenty to do, plenty of space and even people swimming in the outdoor pools whilst we were still in dock in Southampton with snow on the ground and people sat around watching them swim in their hats and coats it was rather a strange contradiction. The blessing for others is the pool with retractable roof, much more pleasant for swimming and hot tubs even in the colder weather – reminded me of a rather Scandinavian way of living!
