Back From Emerald Princess NZ cruise :-)

[MicCanberra]

o.k. ....... this thread suddenly went in an unexpected direction...:D

Down the drain ?;)

[makawe]

Wait...I think I feel a 'flush' coming on.

[to_dee]

LOL @ ...lets not even consider the ole counter clockwise or clockwise once the ship respositioned from nth to sth hemisphere :p .....

 

Now back to our regular programme:

 

Lanwood ....these are the dishes we tried:

 

Salty Dog

After ordering a share dish is placed on the table with 2 pieces per person of thin breadsticks with coarse salt on them with a foamy cheese flavoured dip - these were a nice light yummy starter with cocktails :D

 

You order 2 dishes from the menu & a dessert ie 3 items total. On 2 occasions our order for 3 dishes was taken at the start of the meal and on one occasion we ordered our 2 dishes & our dessert order taken later.

 

So its not really a main + sides - you get your 2 x savoury dishes at once.

 

The Ernesto - ok this is a brilliant burger. It looks on the smaller size but seriously I was really full after it. DH had this option more than once as he loved it & he is a burger kind of guy. The jalapeno was v hot & I passed that onto DH as I am not big on hot stuff.

 

...BBL to complete bit of a large electrical thunder storm going over

Edited December 5, 2016 by to_dee

[MicCanberra]

The Ernesto burger, what is on it?

[to_dee]

The Ernesto burger, what is on it?

 

 

 

Drool drool :D

[to_dee]

Sorry Lanwood ok back to the dishes...as I said its not a main + sides set up ...you choose 2 dishes and a dessert.

 

Dishes we tried:

 

The Ernesto Burger - a fav of both of us

Big beef patty, very solid burger, looks small but is high and big on heavy fillings - this is not a salad style burger. Jalapeno is hot but easily removed if you dont do hot things. Two options for the fries & the sweet potato ones I thought were mega delicious. DH loved the truffle parmesan.

 

Wild Caught Calamari Frites

My memory of this dish is very vague - DH says it was ok nice not great. It wasnt calamari rings as I was expecting but more like calamari breaded things. Not special given that I only vaguely remember having it lol.

 

Maryland Style Jumbo Lump Crabcake

Dh had this ...it was a crabcake patty. He liked it said the crab was nice, tasty.

 

Wild Mushroom Saute

This is the one dish I thought was a disappointment. I really love mushrooms & expected a mushroom hero dish but there really wasnt that many mushrooms & the main item in the dish was the egg which was described on the menu as a crispy poached egg & when I got it I was surprised to get a kind of a breaded pan fried egg. I mean it was nice and the egg wasnt a flat fried egg by fried I mean brown the crumbs fry & the yolk was liquid inside so i guess that was clever. But I more expected a mushroom dominant dish not egg.

 

Spicy Stout Beef Short Ribs

Nice tasting but not very much meat at all, very small serving. DH said it was a little bit fatty for his taste. It was different to what I expected as there were no bones. I figured a rib dish would have the rib but nope it was just the meat from it. You are much better off ordering the Poutine dish which has heaps more meat on it than this one.

 

Lobster Mac & Cheese

I really liked this & so did DH. It was yummy seafood tasting mac & cheese. Kind of a comfort favourite. The only but is that I felt it was a but skimpy of the lobster part. There were 2 round small piece of lobster served on top of the dish & that was the only lobster in it. That felt a bit mean. But the dish itself tasted great.

 

Beef Short Rib Poutine- a fav of both of us

Hard to go wrong with chips & melty cheesey stuff with lovely short rib meat & sauce. As mentioned above there is significantly more meat on this dish than in the Stout Rib dish. I had to pass this one over to DH to finish as it was a lot of meat for me. Yummy crunchy chips at one end and the other end of the chips inside the bowl was soaked in the yummy sauce and meat.

 

Desserts - we only tried 2 & stuck to them due to deliciousness

 

Bourbon Chocolate Pot De Creme with Salted Popcorn

I really really really like chocolate and I love chocolate mouse so this was heaven on a stick for me. It is very rich, very solid very good. far too rich and chocolatley for DH but for me perfect.

 

Strawberries & Cream with honeycomb crisps

DH said it was a good dessert he really liked it. The strawberries & cream had been combined into a sort of light & fluffy concoction that wasnt OTT sweet. Honeycomb was the real deal but a lot more abundant on some nights than others. DH liked the honeycomb & said the sweet was great with the cream part. Good balance.

 

Overall it is not a huge meal by any means but I guess that in part is why we liked it as we're not exactly grumbly belly hungry on cruises. So it was great to have a pre-dinner wine, a nice meal that satisfied but didnt leave us over full. I do think some people may find it not enough food. Its not the same price or size offering as crown grill but I dont think its meant to be. We also loved Crown Grill but very different experience, different price and very full after Crown :o

 

Hope that helps :)

 

Blimey I need to get back to the gym after that pig out :o

Edited December 5, 2016 by to_dee

[MicCanberra]

 

 

Drool drool :D

 

That looks and sounds delicious.:D

[MicCanberra]

Sorry Lanwood ok back to the dishes...as I said its not a main + sides set up ...you choose 2 dishes and a dessert.

 

Dishes we tried:

 

The Ernesto Burger - a fav of both of us

Big beef patty, very solid burger, looks small but is high and big on heavy fillings - this is not a salad style burger. Jalapeno is hot but easily removed if you dont do hot things. Two options for the fries & the sweet potato ones I thought were mega delicious. DH loved the truffle parmesan.

 

Wild Caught Calamari Frites

My memory of this dish is very vague - DH says it was ok nice not great. It wasnt calamari rings as I was expecting but more like calamari breaded things. Not special given that I only vaguely remember having it lol.

 

Maryland Style Jumbo Lump Crabcake

Dh had this ...it was a crabcake patty. He liked it said the crab was nice, tasty.

 

Wild Mushroom Saute

This is the one dish I thought was a disappointment. I really love mushrooms & expected a mushroom hero dish but there really wasnt that many mushrooms & the main item in the dish was the egg which was described on the menu as a crispy poached egg & when I got it I was surprised to get a kind of a breaded pan fried egg. I mean it was nice and the egg wasnt a flat fried egg by fried I mean brown the crumbs fry & the yolk was liquid inside so i guess that was clever. But I more expected a mushroom dominant dish not egg.

 

Spicy Stout Beef Short Ribs

Nice tasting but not very much meat at all, very small serving. DH said it was a little bit fatty for his taste. It was different to what I expected as there were no bones. I figured a rib dish would have the rib but nope it was just the meat from it. You are much better off ordering the Poutine dish which has heaps more meat on it than this one.

 

Lobster Mac & Cheese

I really liked this & so did DH. It was yummy seafood tasting mac & cheese. Kind of a comfort favourite. The only but is that I felt it was a but skimpy of the lobster part. There were 2 round small piece of lobster served on top of the dish & that was the only lobster in it. That felt a bit mean. But the dish itself tasted great.

 

Beef Short Rib Poutine- a fav of both of us

Hard to go wrong with chips & melty cheesey stuff with lovely short rib meat & sauce. As mentioned above there is significantly more meat on this dish than in the Stout Rib dish. I had to pass this one over to DH to finish as it was a lot of meat for me. Yummy crunchy chips at one end and the other end of the chips inside the bowl was soaked in the yummy sauce and meat.

 

Desserts - we only tried 2 & stuck to them due to deliciousness

 

Bourbon Chocolate Pot De Creme with Salted Popcorn

I really really really like chocolate and I love chocolate mouse so this was heaven on a stick for me. It is very rich, very solid very good. far too rich and chocolatley for DH but for me perfect.

 

Strawberries & Cream with honeycomb crisps

DH said it was a good dessert he really liked it. The strawberries & cream had been combined into a sort of light & fluffy concoction that wasnt OTT sweet. Honeycomb was the real deal but a lot more abundant on some nights than others. DH liked the honeycomb & said the sweet was great with the cream part. Good balance.

 

Overall it is not a huge meal by any means but I guess that in part is why we liked it as we're not exactly grumbly belly hungry on cruises. So it was great to have a pre-dinner wine, a nice meal that satisfied but didnt leave us over full. I do think some people may find it not enough food. Its not the same price or size offering as crown grill but I dont think its meant to be. We also loved Crown Grill but very different experience, different price and very full after Crown :o

 

Hope that helps :)

 

Blimey I need to get back to the gym after that pig out :o

 

Wow, I am full and my mouth is still watering with anticipation.:D

[Lanwood]

Wow, I am full and my mouth is still watering with anticipation.:D

 

Me too. O.k. I know where I'm heading in 13 more days!!

 

Thanks for that To_Dee. I've been keeping eye's out for good reviews of the Salty dog. That was excellent.