Live Blog II. Celebrity Silhouette - the Food. 1st Sept to Norway

[Covepointcruiser]

The Porch is excellent and well worth $30. The lobster bisque and the seafood tower, ask for an emphasis on lobster is great. They have good clean seafood without the heavy sauces. It is also a beautiful place to eat.

[uncleboo]

hi thanks for your posts. do you think you can post some menus please. thank you.

i am interested in the dining option where you can cook your own steaks? do you know how much per person they charge?

 

also do you have any daily programs to post? thank you enjoy your cruise

[tml]

Thank you for posting this awesome food blog! I too am a foodie, and I'm looking forward to your daily posts

[GastroGnome]

Will you be posting pictures of the cruise/ports?

 

Thanks!

 

I'm not because I'm focussing on the food - but there is another live blog here groryjm...

[GastroGnome]

Dinner in Luminae. (2 days ago - the internet is very shaky in the Fijords) Ido think X would benefit from a change in menu. I know it’s a massive undertaking but I have now eaten from every menu in Luminae several times and it does become slightly boring.

The Amuse Bouche was a deep fried artichoke heart served onapple puree. I absolutely loved it; butDH and DM felt it had too much lemon. PersonallyI’m going to try to remember that to give it a go at home. The combination of the heart and the apple wasvery pleasing.

We opted for a full round of starters; 4 of us so one each. DM had the scallop ceviche with kumquats and roasted quinoa. Not sure what the roasted quinoa was supposed to add, but I love kumquats! DD had the braised beef gnocchi which looked lovely but I didn’t even get a sniff before they were devoured. DH had green curry soup. Perfectly passable for what it was. A very vibrant green which prompted some speculation as to how that had been achieved. Spinach would have been obvious but would haveleft a discernible taste. My personal bet would be kale, double sieved. But it could possibly have been pea. I had the kale salad with roasted tomatoes;more to make up the full house than because that would have been my first choice but perfectly nice. The Kale was blanched and ice cooled. The tomatoes were cherry which is my least favourite but the strong flavoured parmesan in generous quantity made up for any lack.

 

For mains the other 3 opted for cannelloni stuffed withveal. The pasta had been done in a crimpedstyle and was quite thick – but I would imagine far easier to stuff than thethin cannelloni tubes I use at home. Thefilling was well seasoned and the béchamel unctuous. I opted for seared cod which was sadly overcooked and the vegetables on which it rested swimming in water. Its actually quite hard to overcook cod so generallya disappointment.

 

 

By this time it was getting late. The house band was doing a rock n roll set inthe sky lounge and we badly wanted to dance so we called time on pudding….

[GastroGnome]

I will get photos up and all the menus as soon as the WiFi is stable enough - and I can stop looking at the scenery!

 

Uncleboo - I'll go and photograph the menu for you. I don't know the charge because we have unlimited speciality. But I'll look for you.

[GastroGnome]

I will get photos up and all the menus as soon as the WiFi is stable enough - and I can stop looking at the scenery!

 

Uncleboo - I'll go and photograph the menu for you. I don't know the charge because we have unlimited speciality. But I'll look for you.

Ah..internet! The artichoke amuse bouche

 

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[GastroGnome]

Sadly overcooked cod...

 

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[GastroGnome]

hi thanks for your posts. do you think you can post some menus please. thank you.

i am interested in the dining option where you can cook your own steaks? do you know how much per person they charge?

 

also do you have any daily programs to post? thank you enjoy your cruise

It's 45 dollars per person.

 

 

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[GastroGnome]

Luminae menus 1 to 5

 

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[GastroGnome]

Luminae 6 to 8

 

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[GastroGnome]

MDR menus..

 

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[GastroGnome]

Hardly a live blog with each section written offline as thewifi drops out in the fijords!

 

 

Flam today. (Or more precisely now - the day before yesterday!) We didn't want a full meal so were slightlylimited for food choice on land. Therewas a hot dog stand – hotdogs seem ubiquitous in Norway. Street shellfish and, slightly oddly, a thaifood stand. Rightly or wrongly I am slightly suspicious of shellfish from astreet stall so hot dogs it was. “Madewith local dog” the sign proclaimed. I’mhoping that was a translation error - or a Norwegian joke. The hot dogs themselves were reallyexcellent. We opted for bacon and cheese– which was incorporated into the frank itself. Well flavoured, a great snap texture. Really good actually. And at only60Kr (£6 or about $8 dollars) a mere pinch. The cheapest dish from the seafood stand was 250Kr (£25 or about $30?)

 

Dinner at Luminae again because octopus was onthe menu and it is DD’s favourite. I do like the way X does it. It has to be frozen and sous vide of course. But it tastes nice!. The Amuse Bouche was a crispy cracker parcel deep fried and stuffed with ricotta. DD and I had the octopus, of course. DM had chicken liver custard and DH theBurrata.

 

 

Mains on this menu are not, to me, particularly inspiring. DD had the beef short rib -soft melty, reallywell done but to me tasting somewhat of Bovril. DM had the ricotta capavetti with duck bolognaise, I had the roastchicken. DH had the Thai greencurry. On the menu as vegetarian he wasoffered chicken. The curry was actually verywell done – suitably spicy and authentic. Served with Raita and mango chutney which was a bit unusual. But the curry was absolutely excellent. Completely the highlight of the meal - but possibly a touch spicy if you are not familiar with thai food prepared traditionally rather than for an english palate.

 

 

Puddings were equally uninspirational. DD had chocolate cake off the MDR. I hadCherries Jubilee – a bit nursery food, but something of which I am quite fond!

[GastroGnome]

Octopus...

 

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[GastroGnome]

Geiringer – and our only day long tour. Which thankfully contained lunch – albeit servedat 4pm!

 

 

Soup to start, no description of it. Just “Soup”. Definitely a chicken stock base, creamy. DH’s had a bit of salsify in it. Served with plastic white sliced bread and flora spread. But given howcold we were (we were in a mountain rest at the foot of a glacier) and howhungry it was ambrosial! Poached salmonwith dill sauce serves on vegetable cous cous for main course. Simpleand pleasant (although come to think of it I’m sure I’ve had the same meal inIkea!) Apple cake with cinnamon creamfor pudding.

 

 

We were not pier runners – but only because we were on anofficial excursion. On board at 7.30with only minutes to spare. DD did anexcellent job of getting ready and we were able to take our seats in Tuscanwithin 45 minutes as planned. Lovely widowseat with great views of the fjord as we sailed out.

 

 

I love the food in Tuscan! Fresh basil chopped into oilve oil at your table – although technically youshould shred basil by hand rather than chop it which can sour the oil, but I dounderstand that you can’t do that in a service environment! A lovely basket ofbread. The sourdough particularly impressed– a good thick crust and doughy middle.

 

 

DH and I started with Carpaccio. Here it is not thinly sliced air cured rawfillet which I would expect in the UK, but lightly seared steak – I suspectribeye from the marbling -sliced wafer thin. Served with a dollop of tapenade. DM had calamari which were well prepared. Just enough “bite” without being chewy. Butserved with a tartare sauce which had far too much white vinegar. Not even a decent wine vinegar. Think salad cream rather than mayonnaise. Quite odd. DD had belly of pork which camemore like a chop and less like … well.. belly. Clearly heavily marinated shesaid it tasted of tomato ketchup. But itvanished quickly enough!

 

 

I love the steaks in Tuscan but wasn’t really in a steakmood so I opted for Lobster Alfredo. Perfectly pleasant. Nothing worldbeating. But as a side note I do wishthey would label or otherwise distinguish the salt and pepper grinders. Having to trial it onto your hand isundignified! DH had the tuna steakcooked rare with Romanesco sauce. Freshtuna isn’t my favourite, too metallic for my taste. But certainly well prepared and cookedcorrectly. DD had short rib ragu. Better, I thought, that the one in Luminae. Sweeter and more unctuous. DM had a half portion of lasagne – if thatwas a half I would hate to have been faced with a whole one! I don’t normally order lasagne as I can dobetter myself but this one was well proportioned, nicely seasoned and verycomfortable.

 

 

DH and DD had polenta frieswhich were loads of fun. Thick rectangularchunks of polenta, dusted in something crunchy (presumably polenta meal),stuffed with cheese and deep fried. Having thought about it overnight I think I’veworked out how to do it so I just need to get back to my kitchen and play! The garlic “broccolini” is normally freshtenderstem broccoli and really rather good. But this time it was sad slightly overcooked chunks of obviously frozenbroccoli. The only disappointment.

 

 

Definitely no room for pudding!

[GastroGnome]

Lunch in Alesund, at a little café called “Flux”. Had to do quite a bit of hunting to find somethingwhich suited everybody. DD wanted meatso went for what was described “Pork shoulder sandwich”. A triple decker club of thick sliced smokedpork layerd with salad and aoli. DHopted for fish and chips. A thick solid slug of something deep-water. Not cod, definitely not pollack which I loathe. I thought probably nuss. I had local prawns. A decent batch of really fresh Norway prawnswith bread and salad – yummy. When Iordered the waitress told me, slightly apologetically, I would have to peelthem myself. I wondered what experience shehad had with other cruise ship passengers….

[GastroGnome]

Appetizers at a “Meet the Captain” party in Michael’s. He hadn’t been at the earlier one and I understandcomplaints were made. So there we all werein a room thick with officers. I’malways in two minds about these things and not completely sure I understand whymeeting the officers is such a quintessential part of cruising. But anyway – back to the food! There wassalmon served in a shot glass with a tiny fork which turned out to be a ratherclever mix of shredded smoked salmon and tiny pieces of cucumber bound in sometype of emulsion. Very neat – but notreally a party niblet. You definitelyneeded two hands. There was also amarinated feta brochette, the cube of cheese pinned between a chunk of cucumberand an olive. There was another options,but the waiter had disappeared and anyway this was beginning to look like a starterall on its own!

 

Dinner at Luminae. The amuse bouche was, slightly surprisingly,a complete fail. Scallop ceviche – but madewith whole queenies. To cure the meatright the way through so much lime had been used that the outside of each wasreally quite tough. I love ceviche -anddo quite a mean one myself, but this was sad.

 

 

And disappointingly also followed with a sad starter. Not a good menu choice. I chose the Pate de campagne with cornichonsand was rewarded with a large chunk of what was really meatloaf and a pickled sliceof cucumber. Ideally a Pate de campagneneeds to be pressed for 12+ hours and served chill so the fat within isfirm. This hadn’t really been pressed atall and was quite warm so had become very loose in texture and a bit greasy. The flavour probably would have been fine hadit been chill, but as it was, was rather over salty.

Thankfully the others were not so encumbered. DH chose smoked potato soup (although beingdyslexic he thought he had ordered sweet potato soup). The result was beautiful, smooth and creamywith a wonderful smoky flavour. DM chosesweetbreads; on the menu as with chilli and blue cheese but which she hadplain. They were well prepared, possiblyslightly overcooked but the texturewhen on point can be surprising so it was possibly intentional. DD chose French onion soup from the MDR. It is a particular favourite of hers. How anyone can manage that and a main courseastounds me – but she does every time. Agood basic French soup, although made with sherry where I prefer to use brandy. In a nice classic bowl. With two massivechunks of bread suspended in the liquid topped with a significant amount ofcheese – monteray jack I think, definitely not gruyere or emmental - finished with a blow torch.

 

 

DD and I had pastrami and short rib ravioli for maincourse. A bit dense in texture for mebut a really full and satisfying flavour. DM and DH chose scallops with porcini and a pea nage. The scallops were properly cooked, firm and slightlycaramelised outside, soft in the middle. The porchini had clearly been dried and reconstituted; something that particularspecies usually tolerates well. Something had been added to the soaking liquid which resulted in aslightly unusual back bite -but I couldn’t figure out what.

 

 

Chocolate souffle was available for dessert; DM, DH and DDall opted for that. (I must confess atthis point I do not actually like chocolate!) I had the citrus macaroon. All professed themselves very happy with thesouffle -certainly the caramel ice cream alongside with nice. The macaroon was gooey and crunchy – just whatwas needed!