Chef Table at Norwegian Jade

WOW......that is what i can say....truely an experience.....a first for me....and it was divine....now you are probably like...what is she going on about...but maybe you have figured it out from the heading of my blog. Kim organised for us to attend the chef table on the cruise...this normally happends once a week and as you might guess by the name, the chef attends it and talks you through a 9 course meal with a few wine pairings. There is one table and it seats 12 guests.

The evening started off in the Tankard bar, one of the bars on the ship, with a glass of Berlucchi Cuvée 61 Rose from Lombardy, Italy. A very nice brut bubbly. After that they took a group pic of the 12 of us and then we were shown to our table and were seated as our name tags directed. The chef then came and introduced himself, Chef Rodney from Barbados. Throughout the night he came and gave an explanation on each dish before we tasted it. He also explained a little about himself, how he got to where he is now, about his life etc...he made it personal which was very nice. The dinner would be 9 courses and we would receive 3 different wines during these 9 courses.

The first wine we received was the Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand. It was a very fruity and light wine, i enjoyed it.....the nice part was whenever you were low on your wine they asked whether you wanted a top up. Now let me start with the food.....the first course was an amuse bouche...a molecular gastronome....it was a spherical mango, vodka and jalapeno ravioli.....very delicious...of course i took pics of each dish which i will be sharing with you.....

Amuse bouche

Next up, 2nd course, Ahi tuna tartar with orange wasabi glaze and sesame crisp served on a tomato, basil, curry and lavender lavosh. Now...you might think...what is a lavosh...well i didnt know either...in fact it is a crunchy middle eastern bread. It was below the tuna tartar...this dish was one of my favourite dishes of the whole evening...but i love sashimi...so yes...this was great....

Ahi tuna tartar

Time for a wine change.....a Silverado Vineyards Chardonnay from Napa Valley, California. This was not my favourite wine, and that surprised me, normally i definitely prefer Chardonnay to Sauvignon Blanc, but i must say in this case i, hands down, prefered the Sauvignon Blanc. The course was an asparagus cream with cauliflower flan, crispy beetrot and saffron angel hair....i loved the presentation, first the plate came with just the cauliflower flan and then they individually poured us the asapargus cream soup. Kim loved it...then again, kim loves most soups....me, i was not the biggest fan, it was nice....but not WOW, but then again, i am not the biggest fan of any type of soup..let me share pics (i am sorry not all my pics are perfect quality cause i did not want to sit at the dinner table taking a million tries for the food pics)

Cauliflower flan with crispy beetroot and saffron angel hair

Cauliflower flan with the asparagus cream

Next, the short-crust tartlet with goat cheese, sundried tomato chutney, basil oil and kalamata olive tapenade...yes, you might guess, also not a firm favourite of mine cause i am not a fan of goat cheese, whether warm or cold...however, the crust was delicious, and i did try the stuffing, and i could eat some of it, just not all...this seemed to be the case for most of the guests at the table....beautifully presented though...

Short-crust tartlet

Next up, 5th course- half way, the grapefruit and moscato granite, that was simply delicious, really yummie.

Granite

Then came the fish course.....a pan seared sea bass, plantain crusted with a mango, papaya and avocado salsa and a lobster veloute. The sea bass is quite a meaty fish and i felt the salsa lifted it up, made it lighter, i really enjoyed this course, and the lobster veloute....delicious...kim did not really like the fish, but he said he is not a fan of the sea bass, like i said before, i really enjoyed this course....

Pan seared sea bass

Number 7....and with this came a wine change....time to switch from the whites to a red wine...an Emblem Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, California....average...it was ok, but nothing special, also kim felt that way....the course that was served with it was a "milk-fed" veal chop with anna potatoes, sauteed spinach and a truffle veal jus....again...the plate came beautifully presented without the jus and then the jus was individually poured over....for me, this course was average, nothing special at all, it was well cooked, potatoes crispy but just average, kim felt the same way....i guess i expected a little bit more from the dish....

Veal chop without jus

Veal chop with jus

Number 8 was the cheese....a St Andre triple creme and a Stilton....now this was an interesting course...the chef told us that we must take a bite of St Andre, then take a little bit of the honey comb and then a piece of the pickled watermelon...yes, all together.....then we had to take a piece of the stilton with a piece of the port-infused figs and a small piece of the crispy bagel chip.....now the verdict...which did we prefer.....i must say i liked them both, the flavours were very interesting...especially the combination of the first was very unexpected, it was very good....however, i prefered the second, because i prefered the stilton cheese to the St Andre cheese, but honestly, just by a small bit, cause i loved them both...well i guess we all know how much i just love cheese....hahaha....so yes, i loved this course.

Cheese

Last but not least...the sweet dessert...there were two desserts....the ladies received the chocoholic delight- spiced rum cake infused banana cocoa mousse and the men received the yoghurt mousse dome- lychee rasperry creme, hazel sable, lime vanilla reduction....of course you were supposed to share with your other half....the winner....cannot say...both had aspects that i loved and both had aspects that i did not like so much...let me start with the choc...i loved the choc splinters and i loved the banana pieces, but the dessert was way too rich and way too big.....for the yoghurt dome...i loved the crispy base, so damn good, the dome filling i thought was ok, nothing wow.....so which would i pick...very hard to say, and in all honesty i cannot say...let me share a pic of each....

Chocoholic delight

Yoghurt mousse dome

So...that was our 9 course meal...the ending...coffee/ espresso and a liquor if desired...either whisky or cognac or baileys or port or grand manier or kahlua....i opted for the cognac, kim opted for whiskey....all in all though, a really amazing experience and i must say not badly priced at all....well worth it, and i would definitely recommend it for anyone that cruises on any of the NCL ships....so yes, a WOW experience. The evening ended with us receiving the menu signed by the chef and we also received the couple pic as well as the group pic....thank you for a special night, i truely enjoyed the experience.....

To end my blog ill share the pic of the menu as well as the pic of Kim and I....so from me cheers...and we chat soon.....