Rocking, Rolling and Dining on the Drake Passage

With high winds predicted for the Falkland Islands Captain Stig and crew made the decision to change up our itinerary a bit.  Rather than sailing for the Falkland Islands after Puerto Madryn, which would require a tempestuous 57 hour crossing of the Drake Strait, then facing winds that would be too high to safely tender to Port Stanley, we headed straight for Antarctica.  This detour would only require 22 hours on some of the world's roughest waters.  The Drake Passage connects the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans in the seas between the Antarctic Peninsula and Cape Horn.  These waters, in the Roaring 40's and Furious 50's in latitude don't have the reputation for being the world’s roughest sea passage for nothing so I decided it would be worthwhile to take a seasickness pill just in case.  We knew people who had made this crossing last year and it was the Drake Lake, nice and calm, but it’s also known as the Drake Shake.  Maritime thrill seeker Karl was hoping for the latter, there’s just no understanding some people! 

Despite having seen the barf bags come out along the stairway handrails at each floor on the ship we brave explorers opted to have dinner on January 11 at Chef's Table, which is supposed to be the best place on the ship to eat, six courses where the chef comes out to explain how each is made, plus a wine to complement each course.  The latter wasn't a part of our experience but it was interesting to hear the kinds of flavors that went into making the different wines.

Luckily for us our transit of the Drake was somewhere in between a lake and a shake.  This photo doesn't exactly do the waves justice but gives you a little idea.  We did rock some a few times when a wave would slam into the bow like thunder, or spray that would reach up to Deck 12.

Most of the time I just had to walk around the ship trying to keep my balance by staggering from side to side a bit.  We went to the movie theater that afternoon to watch "Evita" and could hear a pretty consistent thud of waves hitting the bow during the movie.  By dinner it had quieted a little but we still looked like we'd had a stiff drink or two as we made our way to the room where Chef's Table is presented.

Each place setting had the menu sleeve shown in the above postcard containing the dinner selections for our meal.  We had a starter, soup, salad, two main courses, and then dessert. The flavors and tastes did not disappoint.  Pretty sure we'll be doing this again!

We each received our own cloverleaf roll, brushed with butter, garlic and herbs.  The smaller bites were perfect for munching on, the bread itself warm and tender.

First course was a Scallop Carpaccio that was ultra-thin slices of scallops topped with a tangy yuzu vinaigrette complimented by a tiny crunch added through the brown quinoa bits.  The way they are able to slice it so thin is by freezing the scallops before slicing.

I was looking forward to the next course because I always love a good soup and the Smoked Tomato sounded scrumptious to me.  Presentation was lovely here, they brought the bowl with just the cheese, croutons and a sundried tomato, then we were served the soup individually as they poured the liquid in each bowl from small pitchers.  Cooking tip, they marinated the tomatoes in olive oil, garlic, herbs and balsamic overnight, then roasted them the next day before adding a few more ingredients, making this delicious soup.  The secret ingredient was liquid smoke according to the chef.

Our dinner companions, Wigleys, MacIntyres, Sweetmans, Martuccis, Reynolds, and Knolls.  For anyone reading who does TikTok, Joe and Audrey Martucci have become quite the stars for the posts they started for their kids, they went from having just a couple of kids to 80,000 who wait every day to see what they're up to.  They are pretty hilarious to chat with and nice people.

Next course was a Maine Lobster Salad, slices of lobster tail served with the slivers of hearts of palm and a pineapple ball on top. Scrumptious!

I loved the presentation of the vanilla sauce that had individual leaves of cilantro on each to make them look like a tiny pineapple.

Since we didn't drink the wine our waiter, Vlad, brought us some of his favorite non-alcoholic drinks.  The one on the left is a Blueberry Nojito, it's become one of my favorites with its blueberry, mint and lemony flavors.  On the right is Tropical Crush, pineapple, mango and some Red Bull energy drink.  It was too sweet for me so I gave mine to Karl.

Our chef was from India, we've talked to him several times on the ship and I still can't remember his name, shame on me.  He's a great guy and has hundreds of recipes in his head.  Can't even imagine trying to come up with new recipes to please hundreds of people!

Our main courses were fish and beef.  The Roasted Branzino on the left is one of the few fish that comes on the ship whole, most are frozen filets.  It was tender, mild and delicious.  Royal Caribbean always does a marvelous filet mignon and this one was no exception.  This cut is also something they bring on as a whole filet and then butcher to serving size in their own shop.  It was cooked to perfection and melted in your mouth.  Chef said the trick is to sear the meat and then let it sit before you actually grill it to the required temperature.  He said he can tell by using a gloved hand and squeezing the filet to gauge how well done it is.  I've learned a new meat temp, even rarer than rare, it's called blue.  It means that the meat is just seared and the middle of the cut is still cold when served.  Our friend Steve likes his meat that way, too rare for me!

Dessert was called The World and it was decadent and delicious.  After the meal we'd just had there was no way I could finish it all.  That beautiful chocolate ball was about 4" in diameter!

They brought a pot with hot caramel and poured it over the chocolate until it

began to melt like this.

The chocolate just kept melting until it revealed the Salted Caramel Gelato, Chocolate Mousse, and Peanut Butter Ganache.  That's caramel corn down there with the strawberries and blueberries surrounding it as well. A spectacular ending to a fabulous meal.