Bon Appetit
A conversation about a Regent cruise seldom continues for long without some mention of food. Yes, it’s great to wake up each morning in a different destination and to spend the day exploring and discovering new places. But whatever happens during the day, there’s always a great evening to look forward to as well. On this short seven day jolly, we wondered if there would be time to fit all our favourites in. We seem to have managed it nicely, though!
We had booked an evening in each of the speciality restaurants and were perfectly happy to spend our remaining evenings in the main Compass Rose dining room. We enjoy being sociable, meeting new people and the conversation that arises amongst the generally well-travelled Regent crowd usually makes for a great evening. However, with CV restrictions in place, we dined à deux for a change.
The menu in the main restaurant is never short of spectacular. If the daily specialities don’t seem tempting, then the “always available” offering on the left hand side is an ever-present distraction - lobster, dover sole, filet mignon and the like are perpetual distractions from whatever local dish is there “for one night only”. I never seem to have the willpower to opt for the lighter options somehow - though were I on board for several weeks, perhaps that would be advisable!
Sorbets are served in between courses generally, but then there’s dessert….or cheese…or both? For some reason, on this trip I took very few photographs of the food itself, except for this particular evening, when I chose the Almond Croquant with Pistachio Mousse and Caramel Sauce.
Delicious!
None of the courses are huge and the size of the servings is sensible. If it’s not enough - if we’d like more vegetables or a drop more sauce, it’s never a problem. I seem to recall one gentleman requesting a second serving of the main course instead of a dessert, but I think he was a one-off!
Our first dinner booking was for Pacific Rim, the asian restaurant with a huge dragon to greet diners.
It’s our favourite. We love our sushi and sashimi and the quality is first class.
On this evening, I took food pictures but no menu….
I do know though, that I chose my favourite misu flavoured black cod..
My Hero chose five-spiced duck breast and we shared a couple of rice dishes and some asian greens.
What made it particularly interesting was the paired sake with each course. We enjoy sake but know little about it, so the sommelier’s recommended choice with each of our dishes was fascinating. Could I say what each one was - or have I any idea of what was what - sadly no! I should have taken a photo of the sake list, shouldn’t I?
We had a booking for Chartreuse, the French restaurant one evening too, but we snooked in early and enjoyed lunch there as we left Istanbul. We learned to watch the daily schedule listing some time ago and to watch for the days when the restaurants are open for lunch. It’s great to get a flavour of the dishes available in smaller, lighter versions.
Each restaurant has its own dinnerware too. I rather like the “bubbly” Chartreuse style, especially the plainer, white versions, seen below with my Ile Flottante dessert.
We like Chartreuse very much and were delighted when friends invited us to join them for dinner there on the last evening too. Three times in one week - how lucky was that?
Last but not least, the American Steakhouse Prime 7 is a favourite of many. We find it fun but a little too much and have to temper our orders! Portions can be huge and it’s easy to over do it. For that reason, it’s fun to come here in a crowd, to share and to linger longer over what can be a pretty enormous dinner. My order this time was a small filet mignon - 6 oz - with bearnaise sauce and my Hero and I shared asparagus, dauphinoise and onion rings. I’d requested a starter of just two King Crab Legs (my favourite!) and even so, I couldn’t manage a dessert.
Now, in the unlikely situation that one of us might be hungry, there’s always the cafe of course. On Splendor, this has been extended with outdoor seating too, and a few more tables added around and about, making it a great place to meet for a chat.
Normally a buffet for cookies, doughnuts and other coffee shop offerings, the CV restrictions meant that Jessa Mae was usually around to help us to whichever of those calorie laden treats we fancied, whilst ace barista Sidney worked the coffee machine in a cloud of steam.
The all-inclusive basis makes the food and drink a real highlight of a cruise like this - not only for the luxury of having just what we fancy whenever we like (all of this is available as room service too) but because it makes it so easy to simply sit and chat with interesting people, to maybe meet up for a drink later or under normal circumstances, to share a table for dinner. No arguments about who’s going to pick up the tab, no worries about having the paired wine or the extra cocktail - there’s no bill! And strangely, just because it’s there doesn’t make for over-indulgence. There’s no need to go crazy - it will all still be there tomorrow.
I can’t write about the food on board without mentioning one last treat. Our suite, 819, comes with the service of a Butler. Leslie, from Mumbai, is the most charming and professional gentleman and clearly comes from the same school of butlering as every other Regent butler we have known. We enjoyed his company, appreciated his service (he managed all sorts of things from the pressing of my linen dresses, the cleaning of our shoes after all that trampling over ruins and getting a small leak in our shower fixed), but our regular daily encounter was when he brought a plate of canapes, served with a glass of cold white around 5pm every afternoon.
Leslie, we miss you!
Of course, there’s much we miss about this fabulous experience but we simply have to be patient and wait until the next time - Summer 2022 when we’ll sail from Copenhagen to Amsterdam via Murmansk and Archangelsk. Yes, we thought that was an interesting routing too…
In the meantime, there’s more fun on the horizon as we wonder how it can be that we sat for eighteen months going nowhere and suddenly, things have changed rather. Watch this space and come with us!
