Cruise Ship Food Aboard the Norwegian Bliss

I recently went on a cruise aboard the Norwegian Bliss from Seattle to various ports in Alaska and British Columbia. While I did eat off the boat, this post will focus on food aboard the ship.

Garden Cafe:

This is the main buffet on the Norwegian Bliss. While the Garden Cafe did a good job with their food for the most part, sometimes certain foods were hit or miss. I found the breakfast buffet got repetitive with the same several items repeating themselves over and over again with certain items that they could never get right (good luck finding a piece of crispy bacon on this buffet). Breakfast also seemed to lack certain items which seemed standard on every other cruise I've been on (lox/smoked salmon at breakfast). Lunch and dinner buffets had a nice selection with a good number of items that changed from day to day. There was an after hours buffet in the Garden Cafe which was quite sad. Seemed like hamburgers, hot dogs, and a few select leftover items from dinner.

Various Breakfast Foods:

There were certain genres of food that the Garden Cafe did consistently well. For example, they always had really good Indian food. I'd rank the Indian food at Garden Cafe up there with some of my favorite Indian restaurant lunch buffets!

Tried some of the items when Garden Cafe had a seafood themed dinner buffet. Fish cakes, seafood casserole, and salmon bisque.

There was also an Asian noodle soup station which I enjoyed. There seemed to be some daily variation here in terms of broth and noodles. I saw udon, ramen, and pho.

Desserts:

The Local:

This was the only restaurant serving food 24 hours a day on the Bliss. I enjoyed almost everything I ate at The Local with one exception.

Rachel Sandwich and Pretzel Bites.

Caesar Salad

Watermelon Greek Salad and Turkey Pot Pie

Fish & Chips. This was the only meal from The Local that I didn't enjoy. The batter on the fish was thicker than the fish itself and was soggy rather than crispy. The french fries were also on the soggy side.

Taco Salad. Beef, beans, salsa, guacamole, and cilantro served over rice, all in a taco bowl.

Watermelon Greek Salad. This was one of my favorite salads I had on the Norwegian Bliss. The sweet watermelon mixed with the salty feta, kalamata olives, and vinegar was very nice.

Carrot Cake

The Manhattan, Taste, and Savor:

These were the three main dining rooms on the Norwegian Bliss. These were the fanciest restaurants on the boat which didn't have an upcharge. Each location had a different name, but each had the exact same menu for each day. Like the Garden Cafe, some foods at these restaurants were hit or miss.

Breakfast was consistently better at Taste and Savor compared to the Garden Cafe. You got service, presentation, and items that didn't make it to a buffet.

French toast:

Bagel with lox.

Eggs Benedict.

Strawberry Yogurt Parfait.

Smoked Salmon and Dill Spinach Pancakes. This was my favorite breakfast aboard the ship. I am a big fan of savory pancakes, and this combination of spinach-green tinted pancakes, salty fish, and sour cream topping was delicious.

Breakfast Casserole. This seemed like an interesting variation on an English breakfast. Baked beans and sausage topped with a poached egg. Not my favorite, but it was interesting regardless. 

I think I preferred breakfast in these restaurants a bit more than dinner. Dinners weren't necessary bad, they just had the feel of mass-produced convention center type food. I had an appetizer with every meal in these restaurants at dinnertime. Here's some of them:

Scallops:

Fig and Goat Cheese Flatbread:

Baked Brie:

Matzo Ball Soup (I question the Kosherness of this soup):

Stuffed Mushrooms:

Tostadas - I think nachos would be a more appropriate name since these were basically tortilla chips topped with stuff:

Spring Rolls:

Vegetable Tempura Rolls:

Here's some of the dinner entrees I ate:

Lamb Shank:

Salmon:

Shrimp and Grits:

Eggplant Parmesan:

Pad Thai:

Various desserts from Taste, Savor, and The Manhattan:

Overall, the food on the Norwegian Bliss was decent. There were definitely some hits and misses when it came to menu items, especially at dinners in the dining rooms. Definitely better food compared to what I've had on Carnival ships.

Yeoman's Cask & Lion in Kissimmee, FL

I had lunch in the new Sunset Walk shopping center at Margaritaville in Kissimmee. I ate at Yeoman's Cask & Lion. This British themed restaurant sits beneath a replica of Big Ben. Big Ben fits perfectly for a resort complex with a tropical theme! The menu here seemed to be mostly burgers and sandwiches. There was a small portion of the menu which served stereotypical British food.

I ordered a sandwich called the Brie Castle. It was a fancy grilled cheese made from brie and muenster. Besides the cheese, there was pot roast, arugula, apple slices, and caramelized onions. Overall, the sandwich was mostly good. All the components made it much more interesting than a basic grilled cheese. A corner of the sandwich did have some pot roast that was fatty and inedible, but the rest of the sandwich was covered in nice and tender pot roast. Fries were served as a side.

Besides the little bit of chewy pot roast, I enjoyed my lunch here. I'd return to give them another try.

Las Vegas Food #2: In-N-Out Burger

This post is going to be controversial. I'm going to talk about my first visit to an In-N-Out Hamburgers. I'm going to say I wasn't impressed with everyone's much hyped burger chain...

I decided I had to try the In-N-Out Burger I spotted along the Las Vegas Strip. I've been hearing about the wondrous food miracles that In-N-Out does with their burgers for years. With all that hype, I'm sure I was setting myself up for disappointment. I know In-N-Out is known for their secret menu, but I figured I'd order some of their published menu standards since it was my first visit.

I ordered the Double-Double (left). The person I ate there with had a Cheeseburger (right) with only meat and cheese (super picky eater). Fries came as a side for both. My Double-Double had two beef patties, cheese, onions, lettuce, tomato, and sauce. It was adequate. It tasted like a mediocre fast food burger to me, above the monstrosity level of Burger King, but about even with a McDonald's burger. The Double-Double wasn't the worst thing I've had, but not something I'll be craving from Florida for years to come. Don't get me started on the fries though. They were bad. They were soggy, had no character of their own and desperately demanded to be drenched in condiments to make them somewhat okay.

Since my visit to In-N-Out, I've discussed my thoughts with fans of the restaurant. I've been told I would have enjoyed it so much more if I had ordered off the secret menu. In my mindset though, my first experience with the restaurant should be with the regular menu. If I was that impressed, I'd go rushing back to try the secret menu items. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. In-N-Out, you did not live up to your legendary hype...

Las Vegas Food #1: Buffets (Le Village Buffet, Flavors, Spice Market, & Paradise Garden)

I found some very cheap flights and went on a very short trip to Las Vegas. Of the many eating options in the city, Las Vegas does have a reputation for buffets. Upon arriving, I saw advertised that there was a deal where you got unlimited 24-hour access to five buffets in various casinos in the Harrah's chain for $49.99. I was only going to be in the city for about 36 hours total, so this seemed like a good way to go. Timing wise, I was able to get four meals out of this deal, working out to under $13 per buffet before tax and tip. 

Le Village Buffet in Paris:

I arrived in Las Vegas early in the morning. This meant it was time to have breakfast. I stayed in Paris, so after arriving at the hotel, I bought into the buffet deal for a late breakfast at Le Village Buffet. This was the only highly themed buffet I dined at. It was set in a Paris street, with a cloud filled sky up above. The restaurant would have fit right in at Epcot.

Le Village Buffet was somewhat themed foodwise. There was all the standard breakfast items you would expect, along with more French breakfast items such as crepes (which I did not sample because of huge lines), quiches (which I did sample, both the meat and vegetarian versions, both of which were good), and smoked fish (smoked salmon and smoked trout- I enjoy smoked fish).

One major disappointment. There was no French toast on the buffet. I wanted very much to say I ate French Toast (which isn't French) in a casino buffet pretending to be Paris in the Nevada desert. Besides the lack of French Toast, this was actually the best of the buffets I sampled in Vegas. Read on...

Flavors in Harrah's:

This was buffet #2 for lunch. Of all the four buffets I sampled, this was the most unappealing, heading towards the Golden Corral level of food. The cigarette stench from the casino floor also drifted into the buffet, which is a bit disgusting. Wonder how long it will be for all these casinos in Las Vegas to go smoke free?

The buffet was vaguely internationally themed, with various world cuisines. Everything I tasted here was really mediocre. Not impressed. Flavors lacked the flavors...

Spice Market in Planet Hollywood:

Spice Market was buffet #3 for dinner. Similar to Flavors, Spice Market was also internationally themed. The food on this buffet seemed better quality with a better variety. I'm not sure if this is the difference between lunch options and dinner options on buffets owned by Harrah's.

First plate of food included a trip to the Mexican section of the buffet, with quesadillas, rice, beans, and guacamole.  From the American section of the buffet, I had some BBQ ribs (meat wasn't very tender).

Plate #2 mostly consisted of the Mediterranean section of the buffet. This seemed to be what they were pushing in all of the buffet's advertisements. There was lamb skewers, tabouli, roasted vegetables, stuffed grape leaves, and large cubes of feta. Just like the ribs, the lamb was a bit too chewy.

Paradise Garden in The Flamingo:

My final buffet in my 24 hours was at Paradise Garden in The Flamingo. This was my second breakfast buffet in Las Vegas. They had pretty standard breakfast items, although I preferred Le Village Buffet for breakfast. I found it interesting that they had French toast on the buffet in this restaurant, but the French themed buffet did not.

I had a strawberry filled crepe here as well.

Desserts were interesting, especially for breakfast. They were very colorful tarts. The weirdest one was the fruit tart which came with a syringe of raspberry syrup.

Overall, this was a good deal for food for my short time in Las Vegas. Breakfast buffets seemed to definitely be done better compared to the lunch and dinner buffets I tried, which were sort of hit or miss. After this trip, I can cross the Las Vegas buffet thing off my list...

City Dog Cantina in Tampa, FL

Had dinner at a restaurant in Tampa called City Dog Cantina. They seemed to be mostly bar, but they had a decent menu including all day breakfast. I ordered the French toast.

This meal came with two thick slices of French toast, topped with powdered sugar. Two slices of bacon were served on the side. Everything on the plate was as expected. Nothing was exceptional or creative, but it was a good serving of French toast for dinner.

Cafe Du Japon in Daytona Beach, FL

I was in Daytona Beach and was looking for another Japanese restaurant which I had visited in the past. After being unable to find it, asking around told me it had closed up and I should try Cafe Du Japon instead. Cafe Du Japon is like a sushi speakeasy. GPS will give you directions, but you end up a somewhat sketchy storefront with a question mark in the window and old neon signs advertising Beer & Wine and Internet. There's nothing with the name of the restaurant, nor is there any indication that they serve Japanese food if you don't already know. Seems like a bit of a strange advertising method, but the word of mouth about Cafe Du Japon must be good because they were busy.

I tried three sushi rolls at Cafe Du Japon. I had the Fuzzy Caterpillar Roll, Orange Country Roll, and Spicy California Roll (left to right in the photo). All of which I enjoyed. The presentation on the Fuzzy Caterpillar was very nice with the sauce antenna on the plate!

Market Street Diner in Celebration, FL

It looks like the long time restaurant in downtown Celebration formerly known as Market Street Cafe has been rebranded to Market Street Diner. It's a subtle name change, but still a name change. It looks like the interior was renovated since the diner was known as cafe.

On my first time eating at the restaurant under the Market Street Diner name, I tried the Atlantic Fish Po' Boy. This was a huge filet of fried cod topped with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce, all served on a roll. The sandwich fillings overflowed off the bread, but still held together well. The fish was hot and crispy with a nice, flavorful batter. I had tater tots as my side.

The restaurant seems pretty consistent of how it was pre-name change. It's what you would expect from a diner type restaurant with food that seems slightly above average for this type of place.

Fire on the Bayou in Orange City, FL

In honor of Fat Tuesday, today we visit a cajun restaurant in Orange City called Fire on the Bayou. I found this restaurant when they showed up on the top of the listings for Orange City restaurants on my phone. It was new to me.

They had all the standards you would expect, ranging from poboys, seafood boils, gumbos, and more. I ordered the Taste of Nawlins, served with Jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and andouille sausage. The portion size of this dish was huge, with just one of the bowls being enough for a meal. The jambalaya contained chicken and sausage and had a good kick to it. It was much more stew-like compared to many other versions of the dish, but I enjoyed it. Of the three, the jambalaya was my favorite. Gumbo was my second favorite, topped with three large shrimp. The red beans and rices were good, but seemed pretty ordinary compared to the gumbo and jambalaya. The andouille sausage topped the red beans & rice. Slices of French bread were served on the side, perfect for soaking up the stews...

I enjoyed my meal at Fire on the Bayou. I would gladly return.

PR's Taco Palace in College Park, FL

I visited PR's Taco Palace in College Park for lunch recently. This restaurant used to have a few locations, including one in Winter Park which was around forever and another in Longwood which was much shorter lived. As far as I know, their College Park location is the only PR's remaining.

I had the Lunch Combination, where you got to pick three items off the menu. I picked a tamale, something called a Truck Stop, and rice & beans. The Truck Stop was almost similar to a quesadilla, filled with cheese and beef pressed (and possibly fried) in a tortilla. The Tamale was smothered in cheese. Rice and beans were pretty standard. It was interesting that the normal sides counted as an item for the combination. I had the option of picking something which would be considered more of an entree in place of the rice and beans.

Pretty standard of what I'd expect from a Tex-Mex lunch special. Everything was good, but nothing ground breaking. It's good to know that there is still a PR's Taco Palace still around in Orlando...