The Food Post

 Feb 1 - on our way to Kuala Lumpur

The restaurants on Explorer are the same as those on Seven Seas Splendor and Grandeur. We were on Grandeur early last year, so we have that recent experience to compare with this one.

It is always possible to find something you like with a choice of the main dining room, Compass Rose, and four other evening options. The only problem is that three of them require reservations, and from experience, if you don't get into the Reservations system on your online booking within a day or two of it opening up - and you have to check your booking to know when that is - you will either get the very early or very late times, or none at all. Depending on how full the ship is, getting a walk-in reservation may be impossible as well.

We were lucky a couple of times on this cruise, as the weather out of Sydney was quite rough and the restaurants had a number of cancellations, and later on a few people were off the ship for dinner in Bali as we had the overnight.

So here's a selection of dishes from each of the restaurants to stimulate the tastebuds:

SETTE MARI

The breakfast and lunch buffet restaurant converts into an Italian eatery in the evenings, complete with an open kitchen and appetizer/salad and dessert buffet bars. No reservations required. The selection is quite varied, and we liked the small portions of pasta that still allowed you to have another meat or fish entree.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Penne Bolognese

This Veal Chop Parmigiana was a special
one night. Had we known how big it was,
we would have ordered one for the two of us!

Eggplant Parmigiana was only on the menu one
of the three times we ate here, and it is one of my favourites. 

Tasted pretty good, too.

CHARTREUSE

The fanciest restaurant on board is the French-themed Chartreuse. We had made a reservation here and could not get in for a second meal. Chartreuse and the steak house, Prime 7, are open for lunch on various days of the cruise and serve smaller, more casual meals with the more relaxed dress code.

Cheese Souffle

Escargot, a little different

Lobster Bisque

Mushroom Soup

Lobster with Scallop mousse

Coquilles St.-Jacques, very different from
what you're used to. Scallops topped with Chorizo and
sitting on a bed of spaghetti squash 

PRIME 7

The Regent Seven Seas steakhouse. Steak and seafood as well-cooked as any steakhouse you'd find at home. We had dinner here twice and lunch once. We always find the food delicious and the portion sizes just right - but then again, we don't order the 20 oz bone-in Tomahawk steak.

Lunch:

Goat cheese panna cotta appetizer

Pork back ribs

Pulled pork sliders

Dinner:

Goat cheese tart (do I like goat cheese??)

Iceberg Wedge Salad

Roast Beef

New York Strip Steak - always a perfect
medium rare

Shrimp Cocktail

Clam Chowder

Somewhat deconstructed Caesar Salad

Sole, deboned tableside

Ribeye Steak

Key Lime Pie for Dessert

And last but definitely not least, PACIFIC RIM:

We actually managed to eat here 3 times; once after we left Sydney and had the heavy waves, once on our booked reservation, and a third time on the last night of the cruise when lots of people were on tour in Singapore.

This Duck and Watermelon Salad is to die for! I want
to try to duplicate it at home.

Tuna Tartar

Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai

Vegetable Pot Stickers

Lobster Tempura - so delicious!

The welcome plate - edamame, seaweed cracker and
peanut sauce

Soft Shell Crab Tempura

Aromatic Duck 

Chinese Barbecue Pork Ribs

Compass Rose is the main dining room where we had dinner in between the specialty restaurants. The menu changes every evening, but they offer a 'design your own' style of always available dishes This is a choice of meats and fish as well as mix and match sauces, pastas and side dishes. If you don't want to eat a 'fancy' dinner, you can always find something you like. They also have the chef's suggestion, or degustation, menu on the daily side. I had this one for Chinese New Year:

Seafood salad

Vegetable Wonton

Hot and Sour Soup

Chicken Stir Fry

Tapioca pudding for dessert

Overall the food was excellent on the cruise, but we did miss the ability to have a really light casual meal at dinner. If all you want is a burger or a chicken caesar salad, you have to order it from room service. The Pool Grill here is open for lunch every day and has a theme buffet, but it isn't open for dinner. We'll have to see how we feel about the food next year when we will be meeting our friends on Grandeur for a couple of weeks.

Hope you enjoyed this little tour of the dining establishments on Explorer!