Tag Archives: food

Hebridean Island Cruises

Five star cruise ship food porn…

At the risk of sounding trite and using the now somewhat cliched term “food porn”, I am inspired to post about some of the fantastic food we’ve enjoyed on SeaDream I and Hebridean Princess.  These two ships are both five star all inclusive vessels.  For the most part, the food offered on them is outstanding.  SeaDream’s menu tends to be Asian influenced and includes raw items for those who are into raw food.  Hebridean’s menu is very traditional and British and not quite as extensive as SeaDream’s is.

I liked the food on both ships and have had the chance to tour the galleys on SeaDream I and Hebridean Princess.  I am amazed at what the culinary staff is able to do in such small quarters.  I especially enjoyed Hebridean’s kitchen staff, who tried to tell me a story about hunting haggis… to which I said, “Bollocks!”  They thought that was funny… or maybe I thought it was because I was high on scotch after trying haggis for the first time.

Anyway, I often wonder about the stories cruise ship employees pass around after their guests are safely out of earshot.  On luxury ships, I’m sure the standards are high and they run into their share of tough customers.  The beauty of luxury cruising is that there are fewer tough customers than what they would have on a large mainstream line like Carnival and Royal Caribbean.

So, without further ado… here’s a parade of food I have enjoyed on my five luxury voyages…

Minute steak on SeaDream I

Salad!  SeaDream I

Prime rib on SeaDream I

Looks like fish and risotto…

We were presented with this cake after dessert and chocolates… Never did really get to eat it.

Thai satay style lunch on SeaDream I.

Pasta on SeaDream I.

Dessert!

Eggs Benedict made with regular bacon instead of Canadian.  I requested that.

Smoked salmon scrambled eggs and caviar…

Not sure what that is… looks lovely, though.

Pear sorbet in a candy dish… Yes, the dish is made of sugar candy and is completely edible.

Hmmm…

This was part of the tasting menu.  I think it was filet.  Excellent beef!

Grand Marnier souffle!

Caviar and champagne…

This was the day of the Champagne and Caviar Splash… There was lots of food.

Dessert extravaganza!  The pastry chef insisted that I take that huge piece of sugar candy that was part of his display.

A nice simple dessert.

Raw food.  This was actually very good.

I think that was duck.

Raw panna cotta!

Breakfast on Hebridean Princess.

Colorful!

Fish!

Smoked salmon and shrimp!

Eton mess… very yummy!

Lovely rice pudding with raspberry.

Looks too good to eat…

Mmmm…

Salmon and potatoes…

Beef and asparagus…

French toast!

Haggis.  It was not bad at all, especially when washed down with scotch.

Fish!

I think this was lamb.  Must have been Bill’s dinner.

Scallops!

Duck

Fish!

Gelatin with berries… 

A fruit and ice cream surprise…

Lemon pudding…

Ham…

Burritos! SeaDream style…

Chicken breast!

Strawberries and chocolate

I think I have the itch to book another cruise.  Unfortunately, I don’t want to do that until we know if Bill is going to have a job after June.  For now, I think I’ll have to gaze at all these photos and be inspired by the creativity of some very talented chefs.

Lobster on Hebridean!

Pork…

Pear…

This is making me hungry…

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Our second NAO trip in San Antonio…

Bill and I had a date night tonight.

Mr. Bill is very studly tonight… and he always makes me smile.

We decided to go out to NAO again.  We went last month, when we were house hunting.  We had a good time and the prices are right, so Bill decided to take me out again to help boost my lagging morale.

We had a good time.  I started with an El Diablo cocktail…

This was a cocktail made with tequila… and other stuff that I don’t remember right now.  It was very refreshing and interesting.  I would order it again, even though it was not cheap.

I had a delicious lobster and crayfish soup as an appetizer.  This soup was like velvet and was delightful.  I liked it better than my entree.

Bill had a bacon and goat cheese salad… I didn’t taste it because I don’t like goat cheese, but he said it was excellent.

I had a pork tenderloin entree with a cool potato, asparagus, and pea salad.  I liked the appetizer better.  This was kind of a paltry entree, though it tasted fine.

Bill’s dinner was shrimp… and he got a heartier serving than I did.  As we were finishing dinner, our waitress asked if we wanted more bread, though she hadn’t brought any out to start with.  No matter.  I was glad not to feel stuffed.  And she did get us some cheese rolls and tortillas that tasted like grits.

Sweet Bill doesn’t know how handsome he is… especially over Argentinian Malbec.

Chocolate Encounter.  Bill had this last time.  It was a nice dessert, but once was enough.

Bill had a pineapple savarin– kinda like angel food cake with pineapple.  He liked it.

As we were finishing up, I was suddenly confronted by the dentist who fixed my tooth two days ago!  She’s a very charming lady and she happened to be enjoying NAO for the first time tonight.  She was giving us all kinds of restaurant tips.  Her husband is a hand surgeon, so I’m sure San Antonio is a very exciting town for them.  If you’re medical, you’re golden!

I was actually glad to see her.  She did a great job on my tooth and I think we will get along well.  We seem to like a lot of the same things.  In any case, we had a nice night out and we’ll have to go back again soon.  San Antonio might be the right place for us after all.

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