There is one thing I know for sure. If you immerse yourself in your surroundings and step out of your comfort zone (not just on your vacation), you will make the most wonderful and surprising memories.
We have experienced the best times of our life, taking a left turn where we should have taken a right and those times were our most memorable. This was a left turn.
The man of the hour (and for the rest of the trip) was this man. A combination Pee Wee Herman and the gayest of Caribbean characters (Birdcage anyone?) you will meet in person. He was so over-the-top, every woman wanted to take him home with them and every man just stared in awe.
What a blast!!
If it wasn't for him, I don't think we would have enjoyed the evening.
Our last day in Bermuda ended at 4:15pm. After we sailed off to the Atlantic and back to New Jersey we got ready for a dinner in one of the specialty restaurants. We were invited as a guest of the Blue Chip Club, to the newest, unique restaurant that serves small plates that you order at your table on a tablet. Not exactly tapas, these were full-sized plates, but meant to be shared.
There were 15 other diners from the same club so it was nice to spend some time outside the casino, getting to know our fellow gamblers.
None of us really knew what to expect except The Nudge & I who just happened to eat at one on our last cruise to Europe. Everything was served family style, our host ordered just about everything they offered, in sets of three (front of table, middle, end). Each of us shared one or two dishes at one time,with 4-5 people.
We started with a salad of mixed greens and a fried medallion of goat cheese. Along with that we ate a Thai-style pork mixture rolled in crunchy rice noodles that was fried and placed in a martini glass with a sauce.
First off it was luke warm, not hot and the noodles were limp from sitting in the sauce by the time we got around to it. I think they called it a bird's nest something or other.
Not something I would try to replicate at home.
The next dish was a shrimp salad in a remoulade sauce that had a digital 'Disco Light' in with the ice.
It was good and entertaining, but again, nothing to write home about. While it was dancing in the ice, it was not dancing in my mouth.
This dish was a Moroccan chicken skewer of zucchini and eggplant, served over saffron rice with a spiced yogurt drizzle. This one flew off the table. I think by now we were so hungry for good food, everyone cleaned the plates.
Finally we were served a three meatball arrangement that looked promising. I love to try different flavored meatballs. I was hoping for inspiration to take home with me. The turkey one (in the middle) was way too salty, had blueberries in the interior (yuck) and had no flavor at all. The ricotta meatball was par but not remarkable (a basic meatball in sauce) and the beef with mushrooms tasted just like a Stroganoff. I was not impressed. I was not the only one.
Right before desserts were served I noticed we never got a taste of the lobster-escargot nibble. I imagine they thought we were full so it didn't make the list. I wanted to taste it and when it arrived, the group on our end wanted to share, so I took one, ordered another serving and was sorry I did. I am not sure if the others enjoyed this dish, but all I tasted was lobster base (yes, like Better Than Bouillon) which totally overwhelmed the escargot and the lobster meat just disappeared. The best part? the brioche cones to dip into the sauce.
Dessert was donuts (too sweet and been there done that), brownie cupcakes (passed) and the best thing served, Neapolitan gelato in miniature SS cocktail shakers, yum!
We ordered three more for our end.
With a large crowd, this was a nice evening, and I enjoyed hearing everyone impressions as to what we liked or didn't. The best part was the conversations, the worst part was the food. I was expecting dishes I would not think of eating at home with a few foams and dry ice presentations.
I know I am a foodie, cook and eat what the average person does not but the general consensus of the group was, they would never pay the extra money that a reservation would cost the traveler (yes, there is an additional fee to eat there).
The food in the main dining room is in par with eating in a French restaurant, was better and included in the price of the cruise. I am sorry I did not bring my camera into that dinning room. We feasted on Duck la'Orange, Veal Bolognese, Gnocchi, Beef Wellington, etc.
If you are on a honeymoon and want to eat alone, the specialty restaurants are a good way to have a date night. Turned out, at our table for 6 in the main dining room, we were the only two that showed all week, so every night was date night. Nothing wrong with that, it was nice, but the one thing I always enjoyed by eating in the main dining room, was the chance to meet a few couples over a nice meal and great wine and a few I am still in touch with today.
Getting people to sit down to dinner together is just as hard on vacation and it is at home.
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Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to visit a part of my little world. Just remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and in the world of food....."va tutto bene" (it's all good).