Oh, the food!
No blog about a cruise would be complete without mention of the exquisitely presented food.
On some days the choices were so tempting that it was too hard to choose just one. So some people at our table - I won't mention any names, but it wasn't me - ate 3 appetizers. This was sometimes followed by two entrees. Yes, self denial was not practiced here. Actually, all the men at our table were at one time or another guilty of multiple selections and on one memorable occassion, all six of us did it.
That was lobster night.
The menu said something like "lobster tail", not "tails". We all ordered it and we asked our waitress if we could each get an extra lobster tail.
"No problem," she said and when our plates were delivered, there were in fact 2 lobster tails on each plate.
"Excellent," said someone, "she already put them on the plate instead of bringing an additional one on the side."
Two minutes later she showed up with, you guessed it, 6 plates each contained another two lobster tails. Evidently the menu should have read "tails", not "tail".
We each ate 4 lobster tails that night. But in our defence, they were small.
Rocco, one of the 6, is Italian. The Head Waiter for our section is also Italian and in a bizarre twist, the two men came from neighbouring villages in Italy. They formed an immediate bond and we all benefitted from it.
"I will personally cook you something delicious tomorrow," announced Carmelo, and asked if we all liked mussels. Pat can't eat them, but 5 out of 6 was enough to convince Carmelo to make them anyway and sure enough, the next evening Carmelo delivered a platter of about 3 dozen mussels. We feasted! Naturally, this in no way caused us to pull back from our usual multiple menu selections and we waddled out of the dining room groaning the whole way.
After that, every other night Carmelo would treat us to a specialty from Italy that he prepared for us. One night it was pasta with garlic roasted in olive oil. So simple but delicious. Another night he prepared seasoned shrimp and calamari.
"Not too much calamari," I say as he prepares to serve me. I actually hate calamari because it's so tough and chewy, but I didn't want to say so to Carmelo. He gives me just a few pieces and I tentatively taste one. To my great surprise, it's soft. My teeth actually bit clean through it without having the chew. It was delicious!
"This is the best calamari I've ever tasted," I tell him with delight. He's not at all surprised to hear me say so and explains that calamari has to be very fresh to be so soft, and also not to overcook it.
I tried it again the next day but it was back to being chewy.
On some days the choices were so tempting that it was too hard to choose just one. So some people at our table - I won't mention any names, but it wasn't me - ate 3 appetizers. This was sometimes followed by two entrees. Yes, self denial was not practiced here. Actually, all the men at our table were at one time or another guilty of multiple selections and on one memorable occassion, all six of us did it.
That was lobster night.
The menu said something like "lobster tail", not "tails". We all ordered it and we asked our waitress if we could each get an extra lobster tail.
"No problem," she said and when our plates were delivered, there were in fact 2 lobster tails on each plate.
"Excellent," said someone, "she already put them on the plate instead of bringing an additional one on the side."
Two minutes later she showed up with, you guessed it, 6 plates each contained another two lobster tails. Evidently the menu should have read "tails", not "tail".
We each ate 4 lobster tails that night. But in our defence, they were small.
Rocco, one of the 6, is Italian. The Head Waiter for our section is also Italian and in a bizarre twist, the two men came from neighbouring villages in Italy. They formed an immediate bond and we all benefitted from it.
"I will personally cook you something delicious tomorrow," announced Carmelo, and asked if we all liked mussels. Pat can't eat them, but 5 out of 6 was enough to convince Carmelo to make them anyway and sure enough, the next evening Carmelo delivered a platter of about 3 dozen mussels. We feasted! Naturally, this in no way caused us to pull back from our usual multiple menu selections and we waddled out of the dining room groaning the whole way.
After that, every other night Carmelo would treat us to a specialty from Italy that he prepared for us. One night it was pasta with garlic roasted in olive oil. So simple but delicious. Another night he prepared seasoned shrimp and calamari.
"Not too much calamari," I say as he prepares to serve me. I actually hate calamari because it's so tough and chewy, but I didn't want to say so to Carmelo. He gives me just a few pieces and I tentatively taste one. To my great surprise, it's soft. My teeth actually bit clean through it without having the chew. It was delicious!
"This is the best calamari I've ever tasted," I tell him with delight. He's not at all surprised to hear me say so and explains that calamari has to be very fresh to be so soft, and also not to overcook it.
I tried it again the next day but it was back to being chewy.
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