Food Post #2

As promised, here is another round of food photos. I have the time to actually complete the blog this trip because we missed our final port stop of Gustavia, St. Barts. (This is actually being posted while we wait for breakfast before heading home. Photo upload speed on Friday afternoon became abysmal.) We arrived there on time and the captain sent out one of the tender boats to see the water conditions. The swells were so high, even on the protected side of the ship, that tender operations would not have been safe. Given what we've seen of the passengers during this two weeks, that was a very prudent decision as many of them are shaky enough on their feet when the ship is barely moving. Getting them into tender boats would have been virtually impossible.

So we ended the cruise with three sea days instead of two.

Here are some of the delicious and interesting meals we had at Pacific Rim. This is the Asian dining room on the Regent ships. The menu is a little more varied than Umi Uma on Crystal, but the sushi and sashimi are not as dominant here.

Lobster Tempura

The very interesting lampshades in Pacific Rim

Seaweed crackers and Edamame

Sashimi platter

Sushi rolls

The potstickers

and Siu Mai

The Chinese barbecue ribs were delicious

And Korean lambchops

Dessert of mochi - ice cream covered
in fruit flavoured bean paste

The tapioca pudding

Compass Rose is the main dining room. We ate there quite a few times, but did have our share of reservations in the specialties. The food was just as good as anywhere else, and it was nice to have a list of 'always available' dishes on the menu.

Delicious escargot

Cream of tomato soup

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Branzino

Raspberry cheesecake

Profiteroles with ice cream and chocolate sauce

The Pool Grill is open at lunch with a buffet and menu, and quite often also for a casual dinner. 

Greek Salad

Caprese Salad

The steak is as good as any at Prime 7

This might have been Larry's first hamburger
of the trip!

There is a Culinary Arts Kitchen on this ship, as well as on Splendor and Explorer, but the classes had always been without a fee, so it was impossible to get a space. Now that they are charging for them, it was much easier to reserve a spot. In fact, I managed to get two sessions. And I think I've already mentioned that the instructor was David Shalleck, who was also the culinary instructor for the classes on Oceania.

Here's the first: Taste of the Mediterranean.

The setup at my station. Apron, towel and
many of the ingredients we would need

The kitchen setup with 18 stations

We started with seared scallops served on polenta
rounds with chopped pecans and cashews and a
blueberry jam

Here's how it looked - and it tasted great!

Next up - Zucchini Fritters with Labneh, a spiced
yogurt with herbs. Also delicious

And finally, a chocolate chia pudding

The final display for the class

The second session was called 'Fiesta on the High Seas', with a Mexican theme.

Our first course was Snapper
steamed in parchment paper with peppers,
garlic, spices and white wine

Ready for baking

The finished product

Next up we made tacos with fresh corn tortillas

Reheating the cooked chicken in
spiced oil

This also tasted fabulous

For dessert, Chef David made choco-chili
shortbread cookies and we had
Palomas (tequila, grapefruit juice and
sparkling water) to go with them

We of course also got all of the recipes at the end of class. I will definitely be making some of these at home.

So that's it for this cruise. It was very relaxing as we hadn't planned many excursions, and with missing Costa Maya and St. Barts we had even fewer.

We'll make up for the relaxation next month when we head to Tokyo for three weeks around Japan on Crystal Symphony. Stay tuned!