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Tuesday 25 December 2012

The entrees of Royal Caribbean cruise - roast lamb, roast duck, filet mignon, braised lamb shank, shrimp, lobster, and turkey dinner!

Well, after all the yummy appetizers, we have to show you the entrees we had while staying on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas.  So without further ado, lets drool over the lamb, duck, shrimp, beef and lobster entrees...
One of our first meals on the ship had this lovely entree: Roast rack of lamb.  Typically done to med-well done, our waiter was kind and got the kitchen to slice my portion from one of the rarest racks, so mine was a nice medium-rare.  My boyfriend's was leaning more towards well done with a trace of pink - hah! :D
Well seasoned with a rosemary crust, it was smooth and not overly gamey, and I had trouble finishing the plate as it was 2 large chops with a large scoop of creamy buttery mashed potatos (I'd bet good money they were put through a potato ricer to get such a lovely texture), mashed roasted sweet pumpkin and a generous helping of a rich Cabernet jus.

The next night, I had the roasted duck on a bed of cooked sweetened red cabbage, and potato croquettes.  I assumed it would be a duck breast... but I momentarily forgot I was on a cruise catering to American appetites.  Half a duck with crispy skin came on the plate!  While the skin was nicely rendered and crispy, sadly, the duck was quite overcooked and a bit dry. Liked the crispy smooshy croquettes though - but I always do :)

My boyfriend laughed at the huge portion of duck on my plate while he dug into his entree of filet mignon and shrimp topped with a hollandaise sauce.  The filet was disappointing in that the texture of the meat was quite grainy and didn't have the textural characteristics we normally associate with a tender melt in your mouth filet mignon cut.  They need to better source their meat - while I love Alberta/Japan/Hawaii raised beef and on the occasion a good grass finished Angus beef, but unfortuantly, this beef just didn't make the cut.  The hollandaise sauce was heavy on the butter, but tasty and tied the surf and turf dish together,

Formal night - we indulged in more seafood, this time lobster with shrimp on the side.  Despite being batch cooked, we were impressed that all in all, everyone at our table and around us had perfectly cooked succulent lobster tails packed with a buttery breadcrumb mixture.  You could add on more melted clarified butter if you wanted more buttery goodness... you know, if the 16 sticks of butter we've been eating the last few days wasn't enough.

On another formal night, I nearly burst the seams on my dress after the meal.  I had a braised leg of lamb with mashed super buttery potatos and veges.  The huge entire leg of lamb nearly toppled off my plate when it arrived.  Tender, moist and delicious, the portion size alone did me in ... I barely had room for dessert, and our waiter Henry laughed and jokingly told me I wasn't allowed to leave until I got fat... putting on probably a good 10lbs on this trip alone wasn't good enough apparently.

My boyfriend went with a turkey dinner, which was hit and miss depending on if you got served moist pieces or very dry pieces of turkey.  Best part of the dish?  The rich and creamy turkey stuffing.

And finally on the last night,  shrimp scampi! Large shrimp are butterflied open and smeared with a mixture of breadcrumbs and herbed butter. Our waiter Henry thought the serving size was on the small side (it wasn't!), and he served everyone who asked for shrimp scampi for their main course extra shrimps all around. I had to waddle out the dinning room that night lol!

Next post.. the just desserts!

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