While I'm not exactly a foodie, I've 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 have ever eaten, arguably the top two, were in a single trip to Las Vegas. One night we dined at Nobu in Caesars Palace because we both had expiring rewards points that totaled over $200 each.
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That was not quite enough to cover our meal (but it was close) and we ordered with a sort of "we may never do this again" reckless abandon that comes from playing with house money.
Every bite at Nobu was perfectly crafted and even when one of us didn't like an ingredient, we ate it because the composition of each dish was so thoughtful that it was transformational.
The next night we had an under-$20 barbecue meal in a semi-secret venue inside Binions on Fremont Street. That was followed by a second top-5 meal at Bobby Flay's Amalfi, also at Caesars Palace, where we inadvertently ordered a $200 fileted fish as part of a four-course dinner that set us back about $200 each. Total bill: $400.
The third meal was when Matt introduced me to Hall's Steakhouse, a Columbia, S.C., institution where I for the first time tasted the joy that is bone-in filet. We also shared a seafood tower and it was my treat that night. The bill finished around $400.
I'm sharing prices not to show how opulent meals can be but rather to show how good a value a truly special meal at sea can be. The Omakase Sushi dinner on Utopia of the Seas costs $130 a person (or a $70 upcharge if you have the Unlimited Dining Plan).
That means that if you have a spectacular meal at sea, it may be a very good value even if it seems expensive.
Image source: Dan Kline/Come Cruise With Me
Omakase comes to Izumi on Utopia of the Seas
It's important to note that the new experience being offered at the Izumi restaurant complex in Central Park on Utopia of the Seas is not actually an omakase meal. Traditional omakase dinners vary from night to night.
The term means roughly "I'll leave it up to you," and it's basically a meal where the chef serves the customers whatever he wants. That's not practical on a cruise ship because the chef, for obvious reasons, can't shop for fresh ingredients every day.
Instead, the Royal Caribbean version is an intimate eight-course dinner with six seats that has an early and a late serving. It's a roughly two-hour experience where each dish is presented and explained by a host dressed in traditional Japanese style.
The dinner is served in a private room and sliding doors are closed between courses. Sake was served with some courses if you had a drink package, but that part of the meal seemed as if it was still being developed, as we had to ask for it (all five people at our table had paid for a Deluxe Beverage Package).
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An elevated Japanese dining experience
The meal consisted of eight courses. All were small and left you wanting more. They consisted of:
- Miso lobster bisque soup
- Sakura carpaccio
- Nigiri sushi
- East Coast oyster with spicy ponzu
- Tamari and nori creamy wasabi tuna
- Miso broiled black cod
- Wagyu beef and blistered shishito peppers
- Chocolate match and sakura sorbet
While the dishes themselves were fairly simple, the quality of the proteins was spectacular. The broiled black cod was the clear standout, being almost translucent but also flaky and literally melting on your tongue.
It's rare that Wagyu beef feels like an afterthought, but it was sort of an accent mark on the fish-based meal. The beef was special, but I would have traded it for another piece of the cod.
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The Nigiri sushi was salmon, tuna and yellowtail — pieces I order on nearly every Royal Caribbean cruise — but the higher-end fish and perfect execution made each bite a special experience.
Nobody at our table left a single morsel of any course on their plate, and everyone seemed delighted by the experience. This is not something I will do every cruise, but as a special experience, it's well worth the price.
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