FoodMayhem.com

Breakfast
It's a long way between Santorini and Naples so it's a whole day at sea. It's great cause we can relax and sun bathe but bad cause we'll be eating a lot without the walking a lot. We slept in and it was too late to eat in the dining room so we had to join the crowded buffet for the same old food that I'm sick of.

Demo
Chef Alfredo Marzi is the head chef for all 18 fleets of the Princess line. We, along with a surprisingly large crowd, watched him demo a few dishes and promote his cookbook. Honestly, it put Lon and I to sleep but we waited around because we wanted the tour of the kitchen. It did look very clean, except for the raw chicken left out, with no one tending to it.

Lunch
Lunch started with a very sad Thai Hot & Sour Soup. It tasted like I was drinking packets of sauce.


Lon's Stuffed Calamari wasn't much better, tough and chewy, with a random meat filling that had no particular flavor.


The Tagliarini with Meatballs were better, well at least we ate it. The pasta was over-cooked, the sauce a bit too acidic, but the meatballs were decent. In the end, I guess you can always eat pasta with meatballs.


I ordered the cheeseburger and then realized that the waiter never asked me how I would like it. The burger arrived just as I was finishing my thought. Of course it was well done, but somehow the cheese wasn't even melted. I asked if it was possible to get it rare (which we learned was the way to get medium rare) and I did eventually get a decent rare burger that we finished. The fries weren't cooked enough but I ate half of them, picking out the crispier ones.


Lon ordered the Key Lime Pie after seeing that it looked nothing like the one from the night before. This was indeed better.


I ordered the Bread & Butter Pudding which was a bit too eggy flavored for me but it was nice and tender. I also asked for a scoop of hazelnut ice cream on the side which was very good, creamy with a few bits of hazelnut lingering.


After lying around in the sun most of the day and then a few minutes of ping pong (we gave up cause it was too windy to play), we got a snack to eat on our balcony. In the afternoon, you can get sandwiches made to order at the buffet. Lon took advantage and had two. The mango ice cream (today's flavors were mango and pistachio) was very creamy but I would've liked more mango flavor.


We also picked up the pizza of the day, white pizza, which was ok.


Dinner at Sabitini's
We shouldn't have had the afternoon snack. We were still full when we went to Sabitini's for our 6pm reservation. Sabatini's is one of two restaurants on the ship that you pay extra ($20 per person) for a fancier meal. We had no idea that it was a tasting menu. We both really wished we had bigger appetites because it was a lot better than the standard dining room. Right off the bat, the bread basket is loaded with wonderfully soft and fluffy focaccia.


The starters are all served Russian Service, starting with a prosciutto and melon salad. It was about the same I would expect from an average restaurant in Manhattan.


The shrimp and artichoke salad was good, but not memorable.


The antipasto selection, olives, mushrooms, roasted peppers, roasted tomato, cheese (maybe Pecorino?) were all pretty good but the anchovies tasted like pickled herring which I liked but Lon didn't.


The ricotta flan was tender with a subtle cheesiness that balanced perfectly with the tomato. The crab cake was piping hot and the outside was crisp but both of us didn't like the crab inside. It just tasted like cheap stuff.


The fried zucchini really wowed Lon, lightly sweetened with a really thin batter, fried perfectly al dente. The calalmari wasn't any better than fast food though.


The Tomato Seafood Soup was great. The seafood was all tender, the tomato was balanced, and the olive oil and herbs were such a nice touch.


I thought it was weird that both pastas were cheese or cream based but I enjoyed both. The Paparedelle with thin strips of asparagus, baby spinach, and mushrooms was rich and aromatic. The pasta was cooked perfectly.


The Ricotta Ravioli was even better, so soft, the tender pasta melted and gave way to the creamy ricotta filling. Just heavenly.


Our waiter recommended two main courses so Lon had the lobster tail and I had the Sea Bass. Both were great but overly buttery and decadent.

The lobster tail was presented nicely, but Lon couldn't help wishing it was Spiny Lobster, instead of the American lobster we're used to. I think we're forever ruined.


His sides were also good, a risotto with pumpkin seeds and pumpkin puree.


My Sea Bass was so tender and flaky. The herb crust was nice. The salad and asparagus on this plate were certainly better than the ones in the standard dining room. The vegetables just looked brighter and fresher.


We tried so hard to finish but did leave a few bites. Had we known it was going to be a tasting menu, we probably would've skipped the afternoon snack.

Before desserts we got a plate of nice cookies. The amaretto and pignoli cookies were similar, a chewy cookie that was still light and airy. I didn't taste the biscotti since I was already ready to burst.


I got the Tiramisu which was good but not memorable.


Lon's White Chocoloate Mousse with Limoncello was amazing. It was more like ice cream than mousse and just so well balanced. I usually don't like white chocolate because it's too sweet but this one was great.

posted by Jessica@Foodmayhem at 12:41 PM 1 Comments add a comment