Our big finale on this cruise was the CHEF’S TABLE dinner on our last night. It started of a little rocky because we kept asking around and were told to meet up at a bar on deck 5 but there were no signs and no indication of who we were supposed to meet so it was a little awkward figuring it out. Not the best system. Then when we did figure it out we learned it was less Chef’s Table and more food and wine paring. I’m not a big drinker and wine is definitely not my favorite but we already reserved the spot and I was hoping the food would make up for it. Also, Chef’s table is a dinner with 12 people total, so we were going to be eating with strangers and that’s not what I would call a fun time. Our group was a person short but half the diners were 1 family and my personality was not outgoing enough to mesh with theirs so it was a tiring experience. The upside was that the Chef’s Table took place in the main formal dining area which we had failed to make it to the whole cruise, so it was nice to be able to eat there with the giant chandelier and the white table cloths.
For some reason I can’t find a photo of the bread basket that started off the meal but it was a pull apart garlic roll that was about the size of a softball for each individual diner. It was sooooo buttery and warm and had us all very excited to eat. A couple of girls asked for the extra rolls to take with them after the dinner because they ate their whole serving and it was so delicious. I’m sad I didn’t take a photo to remember it by but it was so tasty I don’t think I’ll forget it.
(Excuse the sad lighting in the photos, it wasn’t the best but it is what is is.)
COURSE 1: SCALLOP CARPACCIO - Yuzu Vinaigrette, crispy quinoa
This was a great start to the meal; very light and delicate. The scallop just fell apart in my mouth and it wasn’t fishy or tough at all. The flavor was very mild and citrus-y from the yuzu and it was a good cold starter. It was a little tricky to eat because the scallop slices stuck to each other but it was enjoyable overall.
COURSE 2: SMOKED TOMATO SOUP - Garlic Focaccia croutons, Parmesan
This course started off with some showmanship but in the most basic sense. The waiter placed all our plates/bowls? then came back around and poured a warm tomato broth on top which helped keep the croutons crunchy. This was a perfect serving and even though I didn’t grow up eating tomato soup (or liking tomatoes for the majority of my childhood) I really enjoyed the smokey warmth of this course. I love soup in general and this was top tier.
COURSE 3: MAIN LOBSTER SALAD - Hearts of palm, pineapple, cilantro, vanilla dressing
This was a very surprising course and nothing that I’ve had before. I wasn’t a huge fan of a cold lobster in general but overall it was a unique take on a salad. The lobster was cooked perfectly and wasn’t tough and it had a great flavor to it that was surprisingly well balanced with the pop of flavor from the pineapple and the texture from the hearts of palm. I wasn’t in love with the little greenery on the plate and ate it just to clear my dish but it didn’t add much to the overall course.
COURSE 4: ROASTED BRANZINO - Grilled Zucchini, peppers, lemon confit, pesto, black olives
Apparently, I also failed to take a photo of the branzino which might also be an indicator of how I felt about a fish course. Fish is alright to me but I’m not a huge fan of branzino and while it was still a good course, having to eat around bones starts making me frustrated and takes me out of the experience of eating a ‘fine dining’ meal. This was also the course that had the most items that I’m not a fan of including the peppers and black olives. Add to this that I felt very rushed eating this course and spend a majority of my time trying to pick around the things I didn’t like and making sure I didn’t swallow a fish bone, this was my least favorite course of the night.
COURSE 5: GRILLED FILET MIGNON - Truffle Potato purée, asparagus, bordelaise sauce
Redemption! I’ve gotten my second steak of this trip, the downside is that while I was hungry at the start of this experience, by course 5 I was absolutely stuffed. So, once again, my poor filet, which I never get to eat at home, was partially wasted by a full stomach. I was beyond disappointed in myself. This was such a delicious course that was cooked so perfectly. The purée and the veggies were just right and helped me balance out the richness of the steak. I’m not great at eating meat because I hit my quota of how much protein I want pretty quickly but I’ve always been a huge fan of vegetables and no matter how full I am I can always eat another piece of asparagus.
I’m so sad this course came so late but this is a traditional course setting it the meal overall was good up to that point that it was bound to happen that I would be stuffed by the time the meat came out.
DESSERT - THE WORLD - Peanut Butter ganache, valrhona chocolate mousse, salted caramel gelato.
Let me start off this course by saying that I am not a dessert person, so I wasn’t terribly sad that I was full for dessert especially when I realized it was heavily chocolate based - I’m not a big chocolate fan and will take a bite or so of chocolate sometimes but I don’t typically crave it and I never what THIS much of it. It’s also quite lofty to name a dessert “the world” just because it resembles a sphere.
(A view of Karie’s dessert being melted)
Still, this was a fun course and the server again came around and poured a warm caramel sauce on top of the chocolate dome to melt it and reveal the inside. The idea was better than the execution and while the server was great all night, he decided to hold the pitcher of caramel sauce right in front of me while he poured it onto my dessert meaning I didn’t get a very good visual for my experience and the caramel sauce wasn’t warm enough or the chocolate dome was too thick that it didn’t melt impressively at all and was kind of anti-climactic. This is also a very rich chocolatey dessert and I kept checking the menu description because it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. The “salted caramel gelato” tasted more peanut butter-y than caramel and was so icy and chunky it wasn’t enjoyable. The wateriness of it did help cut through how much chocolate was in this dessert though and I did end up eating only the peanut butter/salted caramel. I was much happier with the desserts at the specialty restaurants the past few nights.
In general, I did feel pretty rushed for some of the courses and felt like I needed to eat everything quite quickly so I wish that it was paced a little slower so that I could really savor the food and not feel so stressed about the timing with 10 other people. As nice as people at the table were, I still didn’t have a great time eating with so many strangers and that always comes down to luck and chance. We had 2 couples on either side of us that I would’ve liked to talk to more but it just wasn’t the way the conversation went and that’s going to be different each time with a different group so I wouldn’t take that aspect into consideration. Overall, it was fine. I probably would’ve considered it differently if I knew it was more of a wine and food paring but it was still fun to get that experience and now I know.