The Best/Most Memorable Restaurant Meals of 2008

From a culinary standpoint, 2008 was the best year of my life to date.  There were so many opportunities that opened up for great food.  The following are the highlights of the year.

1. Spicy African Chicken at Restaurante Vela Latina, Macau
2. Beef Chow Fun at a local eatery in Guangzhou, China
3. BBQ lamb chops at River Thai, Hong Kong
4. Fish and Minced Beef Congee at a local eatery in Hong Kong
5. Lamb chops at Le Bistro on Norweigan Cruise Line Jewel

Pizza Hut - Miami International Airport MIA

Reportedly, there are over 100 restaurants within the airport. After our excursion, we were tired and didn't feel that adventurous in seeking a stellar restaurant. We had thought about Cuban cuisine at La Caretta but we opted out because the asking price was excessive.

One of the nice things about Miami International is that many of the restaurants are situated outside the security zone. Use this bit of knowledge and find a restaurant to dine in before you go through security.  We thought there would be many options beyond the security but not true. Not knowing this we stopped at Burger King for a quick bite and then hoped to find a decent eatery by our gate.

Our gate assignment was G. Once you're inside concourse G, you only have two options of which one is a Pizza Hut. The other was a sandwich stand I believe called Guava. What did I learn? Pizza Hut is decent when you're hungry.

At Sea - NCL Jewel Day 9

This was the last full day at sea, the day before the trip would end. Yeah, it felt like the Last Supper. Back to the grindstone.


Lunch at Tsar's. Beef empanada. 6.5

Flank Steak with Churasso. Very good. 8.4

The Last Supper at Tsar's. Strip Loin and Yorkshire Pudding. 7.6

 

At Sea - NCL Jewel Day 8

This signaled the end of the trip. It was the first of two days at sea, heading back to Miami.

Lunch at Tsar's. Beef Prosciutto. It was too beefy, leathery, and had a slightly off taste/smell. Maybe it was supposed to be that way. I've never had it before.


Lamb Kabobs. It was dry and lacked zest. I would take most any Gyro over this.


Apple Cranberry Crisp. Yummy. 7.8

Dinner at Tsar's. Seafood Salad

Excellent salad.

Lamb. This was just as extraordinary as the lamb at Le Bistro. Not quite as big but prepared slightly different with a different taste. It was the marbling or whatever that made the lamb so tender that provided the excellent mouthfeel. Rating: 9.6

St Lucia - NCL Jewel Day 7

We decided this would be the place to take a tour of the island with the Pitons and the volcano/sulfur springs. I'm not sure which it is. They call it both but it seems more accurate to just call it a sulfur spring. This was the most enjoyable of the island stops.

The entire day was spent on tour so we had a big breakfast and no lunch.

Seared Scallops

Grouper and Asparagus

Souffle

Barbados - NCL Jewel Day 6

Barbados appeared to be the wealthiest of the islands we visited. The people were more restrained, and there were very few people begging us to buy this or that.

Lunch:
 Baba Ghanoush. Rating: 6.8

Vichyssoise: 7.3
 Grouper. This was a surprisingly good dish. I forgot what the side was but that was also good. 8.4
  Opera - Chocolate, Vanilla, ? 7.9

Dinner wasn't memorable this night. The below was the only photo I took.

Seafood Cioppino. 8.0

Antigua and Barbuda - NCL Jewel Day 5

I don't remember much of Antigua and Barbuda, much as I don't remember Tortolo. The fondest memory was the food today. It was memorable because we dined at Le Bistro, the specialty restaurant on the ship.
 Gnocchi. Rating 7.9

Grouper. 8.2

Tiramisu. 8.2

Le Bistro is one of the restaurants on board with a $15 cover charge per person. I'll say upfront, it was worth every penny. I would gladly pay this amount for this quality food anywhere on land.

Escargot Barguignonne, Duo de Foie Gras et Patrine de Conard Fume, Seared Sea Scallop. Escargot: the snails were big, buttery, salty, and oh so good. The foie gras was similar to what I've had before but of a moderately more notable quality. Still, my guess is that it wasn't goose liver. I'm no expert on it but it is food that I can either take or leave, at least this grade.

Onion Soup au Gratin, Cream of Mushroom Soup. Both soups were fantastic. Some of the best onion and cream of mushroom soup I've ever had anywhere.

Roquefort Frisee Salad. A very good salad. I would daresay the best salad I had on board.

Cassoulet, Choucroute Garnie al'Ancinne, Roasted Rack of Lamb. The first two are classic French dishes and so had to be ordered. I had a small slice of the duck and it was quite tasty but nothing extraordinary. The Choucroute Garnie was something I had to try because I wanted to make it but it was too much effort to find juniper berries. It was a pretty decent dish but of the three, I had to say this was the letdown. I can say that I've now tried it. The rack of lamb was the best dish of any we had on the cruise. It also ranks in the top 5 best lamb dishes that I've ever had.



Flambe Suzette, Chocolate Napolean, Creme Brulee. The Suzette was OK. It just didn't tickle my fancy. The Chocolate Napolean was the best chocolate dessert I had on the cruise. It was subtle but each ensuing bite got better. The best dish of all was the Creme Brulee. Finally there was a proper version of it served on board. It was light and custardy as brulee should be and the top was carmelized. I wouldn't say it was the best I've ever had but it rated in the top 10. Again, if you're on board, I highly recommend you let go of your scrooge ways, pay the $15 cover and get some great food. Also the service was steps beyond the service in the main dining area (Tsar's).

Tortola, British Virgin Islands - NCL Jewel Day 4

Tortola wasn't the most memorable in terms of what we did but what we saw was quite beautiful. Again, its one of those places where you have to go on an excursion and pay through the nose to truly enjoy.

Some food from the previous day didn't agree with one of us so we cut the visit of this place short.

Ribs, lambshank, and fish for lunch at the Garden Cafe. All were quite delicious. Probably one of the best lunch days at the Cafe.

Dinner Time. Spring Rolls. These can't compare with the real Vietnamese rolls. Rating: 6.0

Avacado Tomatillo soup. Chilled. 7.5


Prime Rib. Ordered medium well, this came well. 7.3

Samana, Dominican Republic - NCL Jewel Day 3

Samana was once considered a destitute area of the Dominican Republic. We had lots of children coming up to us begging us to buy this or that. Food wasn't that extraordinary this day. Lunch was a quick buffet at the Garden Cafe.
 Ribs, lamb shank, fish. This was probably one of the better lunches of the cruise. I pigged out on the ribs and lamb.

Tuna Tartare. Raw tuna tastes so much better than cooked tuna. 8.2

Roasted Monkfish Fillet. It was a pretty tasty dish as a recall. 8.2

Salmon Coulibiac, Chicken Tikka, Cottage Pie, and Orange Flan from the Garden Buffet. I was not enamored with any.

 

At Sea - NCL Jewel Day 2

Day 2 was a full day at sea. I woke up early before most of the crowd and ate breakfast at the Garden Cafe, the buffet dining area.

It opens from 6:30 - 10:30 for breakfast, 11:30 - 2:30 for lunch, and 5:00 - 9:30 for dinner. The breakfast offerings were vast but nothing unusual.

We ate lunch and dinner at Tsar's.



Tsar's is the main dining room for sit down breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 Oyster Fritter. Not much oyster taste. It was more like a hush puppy. Kind of reminds you of turds, doesn't it? Rating: 6.3

Gumbo Shrimp. Nothing extraordinary. 7.2

Sweet and Sour Grouper. The first decent part of lunch. 8.2

Bread Pudding. Average rendition. 7.1

This was the start of dinner. Asparagus and Scallops. With a little sesame oil. 7.8
 Losbster and Grouper Extravaganza. Good but otherwise small portions. 8.2

Honey Creme Brulee. It was decent but a little starchy. The top was left untorched. 7.6

The Jewel's other restaurants include Azura, Tango, Blue Lagoon, Chin Chin, Teppanyaki, Le Bistro, Mama's, plus a few other lesser restaurants.