Downy Woodpecker

This female caught our attention pecking away at the railing.

St Croix Casino TLC Buffet, Turtle Lake, WI

On the one hand you wonder why this casino is located in desolate Turtle Lake, yet when you drive into the parking lot, location is irrelevant as the casino really packs them in. And when I say "them", I mean seniors, lots of them.

Given its location and the clientele, it made sense the TLC buffet serves with farmer food, the basic staples even more conservative than what I broadly categorize as Midwest food. That's not a complaint but a way of saying the selections won't tickle a foodie's fancy.

The Buffet served a selection of the meat including steak, fried shrimp, baked chicken, baked fish, and the highlight prime rib. The fried shrimp was heavy on the batter. The remaining foods were decent but flat. The prime rib was served rare and tender but lacked a deep intense flavor. I can't complain for the price.

Spaghetti and (exotic!) seafood fettuccine rounded out the pasta offerings. The chicken wild rice soup was loaded with tons of goodies and would have been spectacular if it weren't so salty. The salad bar was conservative and a pass for me. The desserts included some moist white cakes with strawberry and lemon filling plus an assortment of pies.

All in all in it was solid value at $10, especially when you throw in the all you can eat prime rib and that the food is steps above Old Country Buffet offerings. The people were some of the most friendly I've encountered at a buffet. Given that, this will be our sole visit. Nothing was wrong but its a long way for food that we can get anywhere.


631 US Highway 8 63
Turtle Lake, WI

Khoury's - Inver Grove Heights

Khoury's is a family restaurant serving food that is comparable to the offerings of a Perkins or Country Kitchen. They don't offer any dishes that I would consider outside the zone of the stereotypical Midwest palate except maybe the Monte Cristo. That probably explains why each time I've dined there the majority of customers appear to fall into one of two categories: Young midwestern families who would never consider dining at 112 and customers old enough to have dined with the Disciples...Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

I had the Monte Cristo previously. It was good but it was so heavy and it sat uncomfortably in my stomach for hours. Today, I tried the Khoury burger ($9) consisting of a char broiled Angus patty bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, Dijon mayo, and grilled Parmesan wheat bread. The burger was an average rendition of a burger, nothing bad, nothing good. The patty was well done, bland, and on the dry side. The only distinctive note of flavor came from the Dijon. The grilled wheat bread was textural distraction and I would have preferred a quality hamburger bun. Overall the value factor wasn't there. Better burger values can be had at Sonics and American Burger.

If you're looking for safe comfortable food, Khoury's is your stop. If you're looking for food that makes your makes your taste buds dance, there are other stops in the TC.

5660 Bishop Avenue East
Inver Grove Heights, MN

Nice and Eze, France - RC Voyager Day 10, At Sea Day 11

The cruise was winding down. The French Riviera would be the last port of call. Nice and Eze were quiet relaxing places to visit yet rushed because of the limited bus runs. And we missed seeing Monaco.

The food quality was also winding down. The next day, Day 11, would be at sea before we hit our disembarking port Barcelona.

How was the food on the Royal Caribbean? It was a disappointment compared to the other cruise lines. It wasn't bad on its own but we've been spoiled and had high expectations ever since after our first cruise.

Was the cruise worth the money? Unquestionably. Wait for the deals and look at the itinerary, lodging, food, travel, and service offered. I can't think of a better vacation value.

Food in Rome, Italy

I realized after I got back that I didn't get the name of this eatery.


Although it would have been nice to have a sit down meal with pasta, we just had too much on the itinerary. These were a few sandwiches we had while in Rome. Fairly tasty but not memorable. I remember the service more than the taste. Cost per was about 3 Euros.

Cagliari, Sardinia - RC Voyager Day 7

Cagliari is the capital city of Sardinia. We were now getting to the meat of the cruise. There were many small restaurants lining the streets and alleys but no particular food seemed to represent Cagliari. Above is a photo of a pastry shop.


Lamb shank. Excellent. The best lamb and arguably, the best meal of the entire cruise. The meat was flavorful and fell apart at the touch of the fork.

Gibraltar - RC Voyager Day 5; At Sea Day 6

The Rock. Gibraltar was the most fun. We took a whirlwind tour of the island including seeing the caves, castle, and the monkeys.

The monkeys were accustomed to people and a number of tourists were holding onto the monkeys. The babies were adorable.


Back at the ship:

Seafood Salad. Squid is always welcome.

Lamb chops. These were good, way better than the T-bone.

Lunch. What was this? Some form of pita?

Mushroom pastry

3 Tiger Shrimp. Formal night. Must have been Day 6.

Cafetaria S. Nicolau - Lisbon, Portugal

I have this recorded as Portugal. Is it? It was a friendly laid back environment but we did see a tourist have her purse snatched.

Two pastelarias. Portugal is known for its Portuguese cream tarts. They were absolutely delicious. One of my favorite desserts if not favorite dessert during the entire trip.




Dinner
Mushroom ravioli

Beef something...

Creme brulee. It wouldn't win any awards but creme brulee is alway creme brulee.

Vigo, Spain - RC Voyager Day 3

Our first port of call was Vigo. We disembarked around 9 AM and the city seemed asleep. It was nice laid back environment with friendly people. Although excursions were available, we didn't take any here. In Vigo, my mission was to find Jamon Iberico.

Early afternoon, we witnessed a crime against a tourist: grab the elderly lady's purse and run.

Crabcakes. Foodwise, thing were seemingly getting a little more innovative. The first two days had been disappointing.

Duck Terrine. This was the fanciest thing served yet.



Lamb T-bone. This was a first for me. It isn't as as good as lamb chops or lamb shank.


Dessert. The name escapes me but it was good.

South Hampton, England - Embark Royal Caribbean Voyager Day 1, At Sea Day 2

From London Victoria Station we took a bus to the South Hampton embarkation port. The biggest surprise for us is that when we handed our luggage over, we weren't expected to nor did we tip the baggage handlers.  What a refreshing change from the lazy ass entitle minded baggage handlers back in at the Florida embarkation ports. 

We may not know all the cruise tricks but we know enough, especially when it comes to food, regardless of the cruise line. This would be our first time with Royal Caribbean.

The first thing we do after finding our stateroom is go for food. The cafeteria or buffet place without fail has been located on the swimming pool deck on the ships. Our mission was to find the Windjammer cafeteria on the Voyager of the Seas.

My first impression of the food with Royal Caribbean was that it wasn't on par with the food of other cruise lines like Costa, Carnival, and Norwegian. Day 1 and 2 at sea eating like a horse at both the buffet and the sit down dinners would prove my impression. Another disappointing aspect was that the Voyager of the Seas had only one specialty dining option.


Dessert. As with much of the food on the cruise, I don't recall the names. This one had a crunchy exterior. It looked pretty but it had a crumbly texture that wasn't appealing.

Escargot. Buttery good.

Duck Canard. Very good.

Beef something? Tender but not flavorful.

Fish. Grouper? It was flavorful and flaky.

Souffle. Average.


Cherry Jubilee. Probably my favorite dessert from Day 1 and 2.

There was much more food but I didn't feel motivated to take photos or names.

London Luton Airport LTN

The airport felt more like a large clean bus station.  I didn't realize London had another airport besides Heathrow.

Croissants - Paris, France

It's expensive eating in Europe. With the exchange rate being at 1.5, we didn't eat at any Michelin 3 star restaurants. Besides having only a couple days in Paris to see the famous sites which they categorize by Arrondissements, our ability to sit down for a nice french dinner didn't happen.

One of the first things I did want to try was the croissants. In the Porte de Cligancourt metro area in Paris, we walked into one of numerous bakeries and picked up a couple of regular croissants and almond croissants. The bakery was a mom and pop operation, nothing to indicate it was special or out of the ordinary. The croissants were absolutely fantastic, the best I've had bar none. Crisp, light, flaky, buttery, chewy inside, sensational mouth feel.

Later on as we stopped at the Gard du Nord metro station, we picked up croissants at Paul bakery, a franchise with shops located throughout Paris. While their croissant was slightly different texturally, it was equally sensational.

These may not be the best croissants in all of France but two bakeries were chosen at random and both made the trip to France worthwhile. Now I know why the French are known for their croissants. And if I may be so bold, Americans don't know how to make croissants compared to the French. I wasn't enamored with the people but when your food is that good, I supposed you earn the right to stick your nose up in the air.

Charles de Gaulle Airport CDG - Paris, France

It was smaller and much less busy than I imagined.

Bubbles Seafood and Wine - Amsterdam Airport Schipol AMS

It felt like we had to go through this airport every time we traveled through Europe.



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