Omakase Dinner by Nobu Matsuhisa

 We had booked the cruise so close to sailing that we really didn't think we had any chance of getting into any of the Nobu dinners, but we were on the waitlist so all we could do was cross our fingers. It must have worked, because on Thursday we received the invitation to the early seating.

We were a little concerned though when Morne, one of the headwaiters who was helping with the guest list at the door, couldn't find us on the list. But then Sigi, who is in charge of Umi Uma, came to the rescue and showed us to our table...and we wondered if we weren't a late addition after all. We were at the last table in the larger section of the restaurant where all the guests were seated.

Our first course was Salmon Nashi Pears. Who would ever have thought to combine sushi salmon and pears? But this is why Nobu has had such a long career as one of the world's top chefs.

It was amazing!!! The citrus in the sauce from the Yuzu cut down some of the fat in the fish and the whole package was light and lovely to eat. I can still taste it as I write!

Next up was Lobster and Kohlrabi.....what??? Yes, another odd combination that worked really well together. 

The lobster was poached, and the kohlrabi had been shredded, marinated in miso and served with flakes of dry miso. If you aren't a fan of kohlrabi, and Larry isn't, try it this way! He really enjoyed it. And it was paired with Nobu's Premium Sake. Not something we would normally drink, but again, the two complemented each other very nicely.

The third course was Assorted Nobu Sushi. This was a small selection of Tuna, Yellowtail, Salmon and Whitefish with a cup of Caviar over sushi rice. The Sake also paired very nicely with this dish.

Anybody who ever goes to Umi Uma is already familiar with the wonderful sushi prepared at the Sushi Bar, so this course was not anything really new and different. The sushi chefs are all Nobu-trained, and sitting at the bar to get the floor show while you eat is always a real treat.

The best thing about our table was
that I had a great view of the sushi bar
and Nobu checking up on his chefs

Course number four was Chilean Sea Bass, steamed and served with cucumber and a mint-apple salsa. Again, not something you would immediately think of pairing. With this course the waiters served Nobu's own California Chardonnay.

It must be looking like we had a lot of food, but even after a nice sized piece of fish, we weren't getting full. But then, there wasn't a lot on the plates other than protein and a few vegetables.

Head Sommelier Jiri showing us one of the
bottles in a special Nobu Sake series that was on
offer. No, we didn't buy any!

Chef Nobu and the Executive Chef
of the Specialty Restaurants checking
out how service was going

Our meat course was Japanese Miyazaki Wagyu Steak, served with Shiitake Mushrooms and a Wasabi Pepper Sauce. The Nobu red wine that they served with this, the Cabernet Sauvignon also from Sonoma County, was like velvet and held up against the wasabi pepper sauce.

It was odd to find Wagyu beef sliced thin and, to any steak lover, overcooked! But it was very tender and layered with the shiitake mushrooms like a lasagna. Yummy!

And finally, we reached the dessert course. This was Mango Cheesecake with a Green Thai Curry Sorbet.

The cheesecake was very light and the thick mango layer on top gave it a mildly citrus flavour. The sorbet was delicious and actually had a hint of heat from the Thai Curry.

Once we were finished eating, we saw Chef Nobu by the sushi bar and asked Ritchie, one of the waiters whom we've known for a long time, if he would take our photo with him. Nobu kindly consented and we have a great photo that has even been published by Crystal Cruises in their social media.

Shortly afterward, we all started filing out to let the staff set the tables for the second seating of the Omakase Dinner.

Fast forward to Saturday evening. There was a pre-dinner 'meet and greet' with the special guests and Chef Nobu.  I had spent some time in the morning doing sketches of some of the courses, and took the opportunity to put them into my purse before we went to Palm Court.

When I had my turn to talk to Chef Nobu, I also showed him the sketches. He immediately asked for a pen and signed them all! Then he took out his phone and took a photo of them. I later found out from Naomi, one of the bar waitresses, that he had posted it on his Instagram stories for the day, and we managed to get a screenshot of it before it disappeared. One of the ship's photographers was on hand to take photos of guests with Chef Nobu and he was happy to pose with the sketches. An OMG! moment if ever there was one!!!

The photo posted on
#therealnobu

Me and Nobu and my sketches. WOW!

The sketches were even a hit with some of the Crystal maitre d's and headwaiters. A few of them took photos themselves.

So our brush with culinary greatness turned out even better than I could have imagined. Our meals at Umi Uma from now on will be that much tastier.

Kristiansand, Norway

 On July 18 we visited the town of Kristiansand, Norway. We went from the very top of Denmark to the very bottom of Norway in just a few hours.

The seas have been calm as glass, but we weren't expecting anything else as this whole area is protected by land. I remember overhearing a couple in the Crystal Cove just before we left Copenhagen. She wanted to make sure she took her medication before the ship left the pier. If she'd looked at a map she probably would have realized that there wouldn't be a lot of heavy wave action like she may have experienced in the ocean at any point in the cruise.

Kristiansand is not a very large city, but because of its situation, it is a real vacation destination. It gets the most sunshine of any place in Norway....which, considering there is nothing further south in Norway, seems a little obvious. We had another fantastic warm, sunny day for our visit, and it looked to us as though the town had declared a holiday to celebrate. We took our walk around in the late morning, but it seemed that the stores were closed, road construction equipment stood idle, and there weren't many people around.

As with most towns and cities bordering on the Skagerrak, Kristiansand's economy revolves mainly around trade and the fishing industry as it has since the town was established in 1641. Along with the main fish market that supplies retailers and restaurants, we checked out a small market in a little enclave of shops and offices near the port. There was a nice selection of fish, and even lobster, still to be had even though it was toward noon.

The waterfront is all public parkland and includes a couple of beaches where children were splashing around in the water. We walked along here until we reached Christiansholm Fortress. Built by King Christian IV in 1660 to defend the harbour and local naval operations, it is apparently also a museum, although the interior is currently closed. We had nice views of the bay from the cannon placements though.

The building is a very popular fish restaurant

Cannons overlooking the harbour

We next headed toward the old part of town known as Posebyen. There was a major fire in the city in 1892, in which many of the wooden houses were destroyed. This area contains the ones that were not affected, and now this is one of the largest collections of wooden houses in all of Norway. They are all beautifully kept. We really enjoyed walking through the area.

An artist must live here. Who else would match
the purples with this teal green??

After leaving Posebyen, we headed toward the Kristiansand Cathedral, the tallest building the city, and also found the Rådhus, or Town Hall, and a large public square and garden. And we also found all the people. It was a lot busier here, with restaurants and cafés starting to fill up. We took a look inside the Cathedral and found it very interesting. Obviously dedicated to protecting sailors or fisherman as there is a wooden boat hanging just inside the entrance.

The Rådhus was quite a surprise

The Cathedral

The boat is hanging under the organ loft

A gorgeous organ. There are
free recitals on Tuesday mornings

We walked back to the ship after this. We had a 6:00 reservation for one of the Nobu Omakase dinners and wanted to make sure we showered and were ready on time. The next post will be dedicated to the dinner.

After dinner we headed up to Palm Court to see the sunset, and were not disappointed. Here are a few photos:

Now on to the next post, as I think everyone is really interested in the special Nobu food we enjoyed at dinner!

Skagen, the Town at the Tip of Denmark

 On Thursday, July 17, we spent the day in the town of Skagen. The Danes, like the Dutch, have their own way of pronouncing the letter 'g'. Where the Dutch make a very gutteral sound, in Danish the 'g' sounds more like an 'aay', so Skagen is actually Skaayen.

Our excursion took us to the very, very, very tip of the Jutland Peninsula, where the Skagerrak (Skaayerak), the North Sea, meets the Kattegat, the Baltic Sea, which is called Grenen. The area from just outside of the town to this tip is entirely sand so there are lots of dunes, and our guide was telling us about the way one long 40 metre high dune called the Råbjerg Mile moves across the peninsula at about 15 metres per year due to the constant winds. Eventually it will cover the main road between Skagen and the rest of Denmark, but will move off about 40 years later. I think the Danish government is already planning how they will deal with this when it happens.

The beach at the end of the dunes

People walking their dogs near the last dunes
before the sand spit

When we arrived at the visitor centre, we boarded a Sandworm, which is a large carriage towed by a tractor to get people out to the end of the peninsula.

It was only a 10-minute ride to where the Sandworm let us off to enjoy the scenery and walk all the way to where the waves from each sea flow into each other. 

The Skagerrak side has more wave action than the Kattegat

You can see the difference between the 
two seas here, only about 30 metres from the tip

The sun was too bright for us to see the difference
in the water colour between Skagerrak and Kattegat

Larry standing almost at the tip of Denmark

Looking back from the tip you can already see
the difference in the seas

It was an interesting experience to be on such a flat 'beach' where two seas meet up. No crashing waves; they just lapped against each other. Of course we would have had to wait a while to get our own photos at the tip; someone was always trying to do some interesting pose for their camera. The other issue was that we were there when the sun was almost straight ahead of us, so the people were pretty much silhouetted, but it was easier to see the direction of the water.

After our time at Grenen, we were taken into the centre of town for a visit to the Art Gallery. In the late 1800s a group of Danish painters established an artists' colony here, where their subjects were the fishermen and residents of Skagen and life there in general. Painters in the colony were women as well as men, and they all contributed to depicting daily life in the area.

The gallery was fascinating, and I couldn't resist taking photos of some of the paintings. They are all quite beautiful.

Outside the Gallery, a sculpture of two
of the founding members of the Skagen Painters

This building, now a hotel, was the original
meeting place for the Skagen Painters.

Some of the paintings of the fishermen and sailors
are so realistic you would swear they were photos

Our final stop on the tour was at the Sand-Covered Church. This was a rather large church built in the 14th century a short way outside of the town. In the 18th century the moving sand dunes started to encroach on the church and they had to constantly dig it out. Eventually this became impossible to continue and the church elders decided to abandon the building. They emptied out and auctioned off everything they could, but it is said that the altar was left, probably due to superstition, and the church was left for nature to take her course. Now all that is left above ground is the church tower.

From a short distance away it looks like a house,
but it is the original church tower

The interior of the tower. There is a staircase
to walk up higher, but it is very narrow. Our
tour guide did her best to discourage anyone
from climbing it.

After this visit, we went back to the ship. We weren't leaving until 6:00 but I had an appointment at the spa for a manicure and pedicure and we had a dinner booked in the evening.

Skagen was certainly a different and somewhat unexpected port stop that we enjoyed very much.