While I'm not exactly a foodie, I have always appreciated a good meal.
It's hard to rank the best meals I've ever had, but three of them were dinners with my Come Cruise With Me colleague (and good friend), Matt Frankel.
Two of the best meals I've ever had in my life, certainly the two best, were on a single trip to Las Vegas. One night we had dinner at Nobu at Caesars Palace because we were both running out of reward points totaling over $200 each.
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That wasn't enough to cover our meal (but it was close) and we ordered with a sort of “we might never do this again” reckless abandon that comes with playing with house money.
Every bite at Nobu was crafted to perfection and even when one of us didn't like an ingredient, we ate it because the composition of each dish was so thoughtful it was transformative.
The next night we had barbecue for under $20 at a semi-secret spot inside Binions on Fremont Street. That was followed by a second top-five meal at Bobby Flay's Amalfi, also at Caesars Palace, where we inadvertently ordered a $200 filleted fish as part of a four-course dinner that cost us about $200 each. Total bill: $400.
The third meal was when Matt introduced me to Hall's Steakhouse, a Columbia, South Carolina institution, where I first tasted the pleasure of a bone-in filet. We also shared a seafood tower, which was on me that night. The bill ended up around $400.
I'm not sharing prices to show how opulent the meals can be, but to demonstrate how affordable a truly special meal at sea can be. The Omakase sushi dinner on Utopia of the Seas is $130 per person (or a $70 surcharge if you have the unlimited dining plan).
This means that if you enjoy a spectacular meal at sea, it may turn out very well even if it seems expensive.
Image source: Dan Kline/Come Cruise With Me
Omakase arrives in Izumi on Utopia of the Seas
It's important to note that the new experience offered at the Izumi restaurant complex in Central Park onboard Utopia of the Seas is not actually an omakase meal. Traditional omakase dinners vary from night to night.
The term roughly means “I leave it up to you” and is basically a meal where the chef serves the guests whatever he wants. This is not practical on a cruise because the chef, for obvious reasons, cannot buy fresh ingredients every day.
Royal Caribbean's version, on the other hand, is an intimate, eight-course dinner with six seatings, with early and late service. It's a roughly two-hour experience in which a host dressed in traditional Japanese style introduces and explains each dish.
Dinner is served in a private room, with sliding doors closing between courses. Sake is served with some dishes if you purchase a drink package, but that part of the meal seemed to be still in development as we had to ask for it (all five people at our table had paid for a Deluxe drink package).
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A high-end Japanese dining experience
The meal consisted of eight dishes, all small and leaving you wanting more. They consisted of:
- Lobster bisque and miso soup
- Sakura carpaccio
- sushi nigiri
- East Coast Oysters with Spicy Ponzu
- Creamy tuna with wasabi, tamari and nori
- Grilled black cod with miso
- Wagyu beef and sautéed shishito peppers
- Chocolate and sakura sorbet match
While the dishes themselves were fairly simple, the quality of the proteins was spectacular. The grilled black cod was the standout dish, almost translucent but also flaky and literally melting on the tongue.
It's strange that Wagyu beef seems like an afterthought, but it was something of an accent on the fish-based meal. The beef was special, but I would have swapped it for another piece of cod.
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The nigiri sushi was salmon, tuna, and yellowtail (pieces I order on almost every Royal Caribbean cruise), but the higher quality fish and perfect execution made each bite a special experience.
At our table, no one left a single bite of any dish on their plate and everyone seemed delighted with the experience. It's not something you do on every cruise, but as a special experience, it's worth it.
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