The Wake is the other restaurant in addition to Razzle Dazzle that offers a brunch option. This is the restaurant between the two that our night one server Rafaela recommended was the better choice. This is a restaurant we tried twice for brunch and dinner and found that both had worse experiences later in the cruise.
One of the things to keep in mind if you choose to dine at either restaurant for brunch is that they refuse to let you order a couple options off the menu unless you are dining after a certain time. Personally, I feel that if you're going to call it "brunch" thus a combination of the words breakfast and lunch, then you shouldn't have a distinction between whether it's brunch hours or lunch hours. Especially since there was nothing stopping us from ordering the brunch items after 12PM at The Wake. I doubt there's a magic wall in the galley that sets off an alarm at noon sending a gate crashing down around the eggs and bread. Or some fantasy creature standing guard at the steak and seafood cases that dare not be disturbed until 12:01PM. Or perhaps that is where the octopus like sea creature from Scarlet Night spends her time on the other days of the sailing.
On this first brunch experience, we happened by chance to get a reservation around 11:45AM in the app. Seated quickly and had great instant and constant attention from our servers. We were informed at the start that if we wanted anything from the official lunch menu, that we would have to wait until noon to order. The official lunch menu has two entree items involving cuts of steak, Hanger Steak with salad and fries or Filet Mignon with vegetables. The remaining options are all an upcharge and feature a seafood platter variety varying in size and as expected in price. There is one steak option on the brunch menu - the classic Steak and Eggs. While we got a good chuckle out of being told we'd have to wait when we would probably be getting our order brought to the table around noon, we assured our server that we had no issue with choosing dishes from the brunch menu only.
Dad started with the Wedge Salad - Baby Gem Lettuce, Smoked Bacon, and Blue Cheese. We had dishes coming out of the kitchen so fast you'd think we called ahead. I don't know if it's the fact that most of these restaurant style wedge salads are a hunk of lettuce and a limited amount of toppings or if there's something in the sea air that makes Dad suddenly love salad. Sometimes he mixes things up with his melon fruit plate appetizer by asking for a simple tossed salad. Hey Dad, let's have a salad with dinner tonight any other day of the year. Ugh, no that would be too much to eat!
Dad ordered the Steak and Eggs from the Brunch menu - Potato Rosti, Braised Swiss Chard, and Bordelaise Sauce. That food disappeared from the plate almost as fast as it came out of the kitchen. Dad said the steak was even better than the one he had at Razzle Dazzle for dinner and the combo of the steak and eggs was delicious!
My side of the table was a bit more adventurous and it seems the only dishes I remembered to get pictures of during this meal. For starters, I went with Poached Shrimp - Horseradish, Meyer Lemon, Spicy Cocktail Sauce. I routinely order Shrimp Cocktail on cruises at least once or twice so I thought this was Virgin's version of that.
I suppose you could still call this Shrimp Cocktail disassembled? No tails left on the shrimp for dipping. This was more about a small bite to stab with your fork and swirl in the swipe of sauce decoratively arranged on the plate. The sauce was a little heavy on the horseradish but the shrimp were cooked well. Notably smaller shrimp than I would have expected as well. Felt like I had the diet or child's portion for an appetizer while Dad's wedge salad at least filled the plate.
For my main dish, you know I had to sample the Eggs Benedict options. Pictured on the left in this photo is the Avocado - Asparagus and Lime Hollandaise version. On the right is the version listed on the menu as "The Wake" - Crispy Pork Belly, Sauteed Spinach, Bone Marrow Hollandaise. I like avocado. I like asparagus. Together with a poached egg, it made the avocado super soft and goopy. Wasn't a fan of the texture because it made it feel like a sandwich with too much mayonnaise sliding all over while you're cutting into it. The Wake version was much better even though the crispy coating around the pork belly made for its own dual texture experience. In this case however, that contrast helped because it tasted more like a small breaded cutlet that happened to have a thick creamy sauce overtop.
Our second visit to The Wake for brunch came near the end of the cruise. I had looked at the app the night before and no times were available to reserve. Dad decides to stop and ask anyway around noon. We arrive and get in line behind another couple. They ask about making a reservation for tonight but get told nothing is available. The hostess helps them make a reservation for the following night. This whole time we can see how empty the restaurant is. When it comes our turn, we ask about being able to walk in for brunch. Hostess insists that nothing is available and offers to make a reservation for tomorrow's brunch. We choose to decline and step outside of the restaurant area. We opened up the app to check what is currently open right now. As we scroll, we notice that The Wake has a reservation opening at 12:15PM for today. Being that it is now 12:10PM, we snag that reservation and walk the 10 steps back to the restaurant podium. A different crew member was monitoring the stand when we showed up and seemed confused when trying to find the reservation. Soon the original hostess returns and finds it right away. Her reaction however at seeing us return with a valid reservation mere minutes after she turned us away was one of obvious annoyance. Despite several tables being open near where we sat for the last brunch and for dinner, she intentionally led us away from other passengers seated near each other to a table around the corner near the entrance to the kitchen. As a result, we were often forgotten about by our servers. Several times I noticed the look of surprise when they'd wander out of the kitchen and remember we were there. It also took significantly much longer to get our courses delivered and drink refills when tables across the way were being served much faster. Our server would routinely come over and apologize for the wait. We reassured him that these issues were not his fault. He had the greatest deep belly laugh when I pointed out that since it was a sea day, it's not like we were in any rush to get off the ship.
Rather than get a starter, I chose to try the third option listed on the menu for Eggs Benedict. This time it was a soft shell crab flavor. Now I'm originally from Maryland and I've tried and loved crab many ways. Cue the speech from Forest Gump about shrimp. Never though have I tried eating soft shell crab despite seeing it on past cruise menus. Intentionally eating the shell in addition to the crab inside seems so odd to me. Especially when you pile a bunch of softer ingredients on top making that crunch in the middle even more jarring. But hey, when I make the pledge to try something new on every trip, I honor my commitment.
This time since I only asked for the one flavor, both of these are the soft shell crab variety. I don't know about you but being presented something to eat that looks like it is trying to crawl off my plate doesn't exactly get my taste buds salivating. It was like the chef even tried to hide it because it seemed like all the remaining supply of spinach on the ship was included on top of the crab. The texture felt really weird and out of place being so different from every other ingredient. I ate the first one and tried a bite of the second one before I gave up. The server was not the least bit surprised when I said I didn't like it.
My entree was much more redeeming as this time I went with the Steak and Eggs. It's hard to tell in this photo but there is a panko covered ball of mashed potatoes and pile of swiss chard underneath the eggs. However, it too fell to the curse of end of cruise decline with a tougher cut of meat than Dad enjoyed during the first visit.
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