A big part of any cruise is the food, and Crystal's has always been right up there with the best. We were looking forward to tasting some of the old favourite dishes, and seeing what changes had been made in Umi Uma and in the new Osteria d'Ovidio. Here's a look at some of what we ate (we are back at home as I post this):
Waterside, the main dining room, still had delicious menu selections that changed daily.
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| Tuna Tataki appetizer |
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| Lemon Sole |
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| Berry crumble tart with Vanilla ice cream |
On the first formal night, we had a seafood extravaganza:
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| Caviar |
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| Fresh Oysters |
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| and Lobster |
Waterside's food and service were impeccable as always on the other days we dined there:
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| More caviar, but on a bed of creamed potato |
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| Oysters Rockefeller |
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The very, very famous Prego Mushroom Soup
in a bread bowl |
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| Beef Wellington |
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| Sea Bass |
We tried the Osteria d'Ovidio early on, and found the food quite good, although the menu had changed completely from the old Prego. Since the new owner of Crystal is Italian, he wanted to make the menu authentic - except that most of the guests loved the 'American Italian' offerings from Prego. Some compromises will be coming, I'm sure.
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A little trio of 'amuses bouche' - air dried prociutto, cheese
and a crab raviolo |
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| Lobster medallions |
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| Beef carpaccio |
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| Gnocchi |
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| New Style Minestrone Soup |
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Duck breast with beets and balsamic
(a little odd, but it tasted good!) |
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| Lamb chops |
The casual eating spots on board are the Trident Grill which is open all afternoon for burgers, wraps and the like, and Tastes. Tastes is open for Late Risers Breakfast, lunch on most days, and Asian inspired dinners served family style.
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| The famous Tastes Chinois Chicken Salad |
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Everyone knows Larry loves a Steak Sandwich
at Trident Grill |
We had dinner at Tastes once, as the specialty restaurants were not open every night on our cruise. There were only 150 guests, so there was a rotation of days when one or the other was closed.
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| Deep fried shrimp balls |
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| Tuna tartare wrapped in lettuce |
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Lamb chops, fish tacos and
roasted cauliflower
|
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| and a Key Lime Slice (shared) for dessert |
And of course, there's Umi Uma. They haven't made too many major changes to the menu here, but Nobu has update a few dishes. We didn't get a chance to sit at the Sushi Bar; Umi Uma was the most popular by far of the specialty restaurants on board.
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| New Style Yellowtail Sashimi |
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| Beef Sashimi |
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| A selection of Sushi Rolls |
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| Stir Fried Shrimp and Scallops |
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Wagyu Beef Steak with a trio of
dipping sauces |
And we also attended a Vintage Room dinner, where we were presented with a special dinner, with paired wines for those partaking, by the Executive Chef's team. These exclusive dinners are for a maximum of 14 people and only may happen once per cruise. One perk of reaching milestones of 50 (hopefully still) or 100 cruises is a special Vintage Room dinner with your choice of guests.
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| Duo of Alaskan King Crab Meat |
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| Lightly smoked Salmon on a Morel Mushroom Sauce |
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| Roasted Tomato Risotto |
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| Wagyu Beef Tenderloin |
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| Dark Chocolate Marquise with Raspberry Sorbet |
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Head Sommelier Jiri along with the
chefs responsible for the dinner |
So let's hope you haven't gained 5 or 10 pounds just looking at these photos! We managed to be active enough, or maybe kept enough of a handle on breakfast and lunch, that we still managed to fit comfortably into our clothes on the way home. But this was just a little break - we still have our stop in Quebec City to tell you about ---- where we did a Walking Tour of the Old City that brought us to 4 restaurants for a full 5-course meal!!
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