The thing about a long cruise is that it is a lot of restaurant eating, in this case three meals a day for 24 days since we aren't making the kind of stops that allow you to lunch with the local residents (And I've seen what penguins eat. Yuck.)
Seabourn food is great -- on this cruise the food is much, much better than our last Seabourn cruise, but the choices are odder and more limited -- what would have been an Indian market buffet for dinner in the Colonnade two years ago is instead an a la carte menu, and the vegetarian option isn't Indian, it's Asian noodle stir fry and not very good. "Why," I asked, "when some of the best vegetarian food in the world is Indian?" "That's what they decided in Seattle," shrugged the waiter. Whether it was really a corporate decision or not (the vegetarian entree on Italian night was, I am not kidding, "Soy Glazed Shiitakes and Gingered Greens") it's an error of judgment.
Likewise these amazing three course Keller menus they serve in the Restaurant, but in limited supply. The scarcity is at Keller's direction "to create a demand" said the Guest Services Manager. If more people realized these menus were available I imagine the limited supply would just create a demand for Keller's head.
But I'll direct these comments somewhere they can do more good. My point was only that sometimes you want to get dressed up and go out fancy, sometimes you want to hang at a neighborhood grill, and sometimes you want to stay home and eat in your jammies.
On our third night out we went with the third option. Burger (and excellent fries) for Jer, spaghetti and tomato sauce for me, set up with tablecloth and all in the room. In the warm weather the balcony is the place to do it but forget about it now -- cozy in the living "room" is the way to go.
Which brings me to last night. The Restaurant was offering a fixed Chef's menu (not THE chef, just "a" chef.") it looked good, but we'd been tuxed and gowned the night before and I was definitely thinking comfort clothes if not comfort food.
One phone call later we had two waiters bearing down on our suite with a full array of silver and settings and five courses. They set us up and left us to it. Each course was superb,
stayed warm, and made us smile. No waiting in between, no loud chatter, no obnoxious person drinking too much at the next table. And jammies!
Lime marinated gravlax -- yum!
White plum tomato soup. Not familiar with the white plum tomato (hmm) but also yum.
A seared scallop in cauliflower purée.
Halibut with sundried tomatoes and mushrooms with basil mashed potatoes.
Lastly a plate of sweet bites -- a mini baked Alaska (okay, that one suffered a bit), pistachio macaron, and a perfect bite of strawberry cake.
And then another phone call to have it all whisked away.
That's one romantic evening. And no high heels!
I would choose room service every night.
Posted by: Ronnie | December 27, 2015 at 07:23 PM