Breakfast
Nothing interesting about the buffet breakfast today.
Lunch
Rhodes is also very touristy, but at least there’s more to see than just stores. We walked through the Palace of the Grand Masters, which exhibits ancient jugs, bowls, jewelry, etc. within beautiful stone and marble walls. We took plenty of great photos before looking for lunch, where we were at a loss. Every place looked the same: full of tourists, expensive, with back garden, sidewalk, or roof top seating. We chose one a little bit away from the rest, but it didn’t help. I was hoping to have a great Greek Salad like the one at Alefkandra (in Mykonos), but this one was like any you could get in New York, with one exception: the onions were sweet. I had no idea onions were so great in Greece!
We chose a sampler platter of Greek Salads that was also no better than stuff you could get in New York. The Aubergine Salad was standard. There was a cheese and mayo salad which tasted like chunky mayo. The Taramosalata didn’t taste like much, just salty yogurt. There was another cheese spread that looked clumpy and didn’t grab my attention either. The Tzaziki was just yogurt and cucumbers, no garlic, no dill.
We forgot to take a picture of the Mixed Souvlaki, but it looked like any other plate with one skewer of meat, mediocre rice, and awful, water-logged carrots. There was one good thing on the expensive platter, thinly sliced and layered potato gratin, it was tender and cheesy.
Greek Specialties
We stopped in at Natura Greca and bought more olive oil and olives. Yup, we’re really stocking up. Then we spotted Kaberis Coffee & Spices and it got me interested in Greek coffee. They blend and grind coffee, but don’t brew on site. The proprietor, Stavros, recommended going a few stores down to try the coffee. They are cooked in special little pots. Sugar can be added, but no milk or cream.
I enjoyed the smooth taste, which had almost no acidity. Afterwards I went back to Kaberis to buy the coffee and the little pot.
Dinner
I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, every night it annoys me the way that butter is served in our dining room. The butter florettes are served in little slotted bowls (with another bowl underneath) with some ice on top. Does this look appetizing to you? The idea is that the ice will keep it cold and then drip through to the second bowl beneath as it melts. I already hate the idea of having ice or water mix in with my butter, even a little bit, but often it gets worse when the melted ice pools and over fills until the butter is just immersed in water.
Other than annoying butter service, it was a rather good night for the dining room. We both started with Big Eye Tuna Sashimi, which was a far cry from Sushi Yasuda quality. They did a nice job searing the tuna evenly and then slicing and presenting it nicely. Lon felt the grapefruit was out of place. On the ship they often garnish with items that don’t make sense; that is, the garnish is not an ingredient in the dish itself, just a random item.
I had a decent second appetizer, Grilled Calamari on Fennel Salad. The calamari was nice and tender, but didn’t taste like anything. I don’t like raw fennel, so I skipped the salad.
Lon had an Oxtail Rotelle, which was overwhelmingly buttery, but he enjoyed it – clearing the bowl. He was hoping it would have more than just little bits of meat though.
I ordered the Shrimp Kebabs and was pleasantly surprised by perfectly cooked shrimp with snap and all. The salsa was a bit week but it was served with the good rice (like the night before).
The desserts were also pretty good. Lon had a Chocolate Banana Brioche Pudding that was soft and creamy with the tang of fresh bananas. It was more like flan than brioche pudding, which means Lon didn’t like it. The funny thing is that they often have desserts with the same name at the buffet, but that look different. Later in the evening, we saw a Chocolate Banana Brioche Pudding at the buffet that looked more like bread pudding.
My Coffee Creme Brulee was very smooth, creamy, and full of coffee flavor. The brulee was done perfectly, a very thin and crisp layer. As much as I loved this dessert, it was quite sweet so I’m concerned about the desserts getting sweeter.
Second Dinner
The theme of the buffet tonight was Rijstafel, which we learned means “rice table”. We tried a few stews and fried things, a rice and lentil salad, and of course, dessert. I only like the fried mozzarella ball (melted cheese can do no wrong) and the lamb meatballs.
“http://www.flickr.com/photos/lonbinder/2583508578/”>
I have learned not to expect too much from the food on board and I am quite disappointed in the food in Greece today. Rhodes did not offer us the food I expected. The olive oil was still great. Santorini next!
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We’re with you on the butter. We understand the sanitary reasons for keeping it cold, but then you can’t spread it!!
Mozzarella ball seems weird for Dutch/Indo rijsttafel…
Your photos are looking really good!
I just heard that Katie Lee Joel (as in Billy Joel’s wife) is holding a book signing for her new cookbook “The Comfort Table” in Watermill on June 21st! She (and her husband?) will be at the new Yigal Azrouel store from 1pm to 3pm this Saturday (and – according to a friend there are going to be FREE specialty cocktails!).
Thought you might want check it out!
Ewww! Butter on ice? Yuck–I’m with you!
I don’t have your itinerary, but surely there are some websites like egullet or chowhound where you can ask questions before you get to your port of call, no? BTW, try the pistachios! Don’t know what happened to Greece this Euro 2008. Quite a shame.
Oh yes! Eddie loooves Greek pistachios! You can’t get them in the US… unless they are smuggled in, somehow.
Less about cruise ship food….who cares. Tell us about the street food.
K&S;, we understand the sanitary reasons but often the ice is completely melted, so the purpose is not met anyway.
Soopling, I agree, they often had things on the buffet that did not fit the theme.
Thanks ahb281
Asianmommy, totally!
Anonymous, we usually research food for our trips before going but we were just too tied up with the wedding this time. Unfortunately, internet access wasn’t really working on the boat and we didn’t want to waste the little time we had at ports to look up stuff.
Caroline and anonymous, I wish I had read this before we left Greece…we didn’t try any pistachios. =(
anonymous 2, the cruise food was pretty boring…sadly we couldn’t have any dinners on land since we had to board between 4 and 5:30PM pretty much every day.