Was there Razzle in all that Dazzle? Or perhaps something else unexpected!

Razzle Dazzle with its red, black, and white decor, is known as the vegan or vegetarian themed restaurant. They do have a few items with meat on the menu under a section called "Naughty." The wait staff will also play up the idea of a "secret menu" featuring a couple other "Naughty" dishes like butter chicken and steak. It ceases to become all that much of a secret when the wait staff greets you at the table with "Hi, Welcome to Razzle Dazzle! Have you heard about our secret menu?"

We dined in Razzle Dazzle for three of our meals, twice for dinner and once for brunch. Service was fairly good for all three times. One moment I'd really like to commend is when our brunch visit coincided with a crew safety drill on a port day. The gentleman who started out being our waiter was in the middle of explaining the brunch menu to us when the announcement about an upcoming crew drill that included him was made. He not only explained his need to step away to us but arranged for another waiter to take over for our table until he could return. Between the two of them, our table service was great and never missed a beat!

First Dinner (2nd evening of the cruise):

My appetizer was the Melon Salad - vegetarian and gluten free. It was great to see notations like this on the menu so those with dietary restrictions or food allergies could know what their options were. If your food issues are more about certain items like a nut or soy allergy, I would still speak to your wait staff. It was at this restaurant that we watched a passenger at the next table be approached right after being seated to confirm their gluten free requirements and point out the few items that weren't gluten free on the menu. She commented that she has found such prompt attention at every restaurant onboard as it comes up to alert the staff when she checks in. 

Melon Salad is described as cured lemon yogurt, cucumber, harissa vinaigrette, smoked salt. We both enjoy fresh fruit especially when you crave something simple and light as an appetizer or dessert. Dad's favorite off menu thing to order for an appetizer is a straight plate of melon. I'm pretty sure the common appetizer of prosciutto and melon was thought of with him in mind. A plate of meat and melon - throw in a slice of chocolate cake and that's his definition of a well balanced meal. 

This dish however, was a bit disappointing. I don't mind some spice but spice was all you could taste. Having something more like a yogurt to dip into versus just a line around the edge of the bowl would have been a better balance. I also found the melon itself to be tough so you were stuck chewing for a while leaving that spice lingering as well. The cucumbers were softer than the melon in this case.

Dad's appetizer was the Crazy Cobb salad. This dish is also gluten free but not vegetarian/vegan as it contains confit chicken, bacon, blue cheese, avocado, asparagus, and a beet stained egg. He enjoyed most everything in this dish.

The butter chicken from the "secret menu." Perhaps my taste buds were already dulled from the melon but I didn't find this dish to be very spicy at all. The chicken was tasty and tender. The sauce was plentiful and enjoyable paired with both the chicken and the bread.

Dad chose the steak from secret menu. In all of the pre-cruise information we'd read, this steak was one repeatedly described as a must try. My meat and potatoes loving Dad's verdict - must miss! He didn't like the taste and felt that the meat was too tough. 

For sides, we split the fries, smoked bacon, and the mimolette cheese tots. It was almost humorous as the cruise went on to see how the fries offering changed. Tonight was long, thick fries like the chef fed a whole potato through a slotted slicer. Another day, we'd have fast food style fries. Another time it was thick flat steak fries. Varied even in repeated visits to the same restaurants. The smoked bacon was actually like a combination of sweet and smoky since it had a maple glaze. It will leave your hands feeling sticky. The bacon was a great balance between being crispy enough to stand up in the cup but not so crispy that it breaks apart when you pick it up. 

I'm the kind of person who should probably start a cheesy fries and nachos support group so I had to go for these cheesy tots. I'm not sure I've ever tried mimolette cheese but it was an odd taste for these tots. I wanted to love them. I kept eating them like they were somehow going to taste better the more I consumed. I think it was more that visually I was expecting a more cheddar or nacho cheese taste, not one that was so fruity, sweet, and a nutty. A definition of mimolette cheese describes it as having subtle notes of caramel so that would explain why I wasn't a big fan of the taste.

Bet you can guess who finished off this first Razzle Dazzle experience with the Razzle Cake - chocolate mousse and toffee crunch. Dad loved this cake so much that he compared all other desserts to it.  We both had it on the second visit but Dad says the second slice wasn't as good. The toffee seems only to be in that middle strip of frosting so if you aren't a fan like me, it's easy to avoid. The mousse part is the dollops on the top. Otherwise, it's a standard marble cake batter. 

For this first visit, I had to try one of the two desserts everyone talks about - Rainbow Churros. The menu describes it as ube ice cream with strawberry caramel. 

I wasn't sure what "ube" ice cream was but later read one reviewer describe it as purple sweet potato and coconut ice cream. For an ice cream made out of savory ingredients I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. The churros were a bit too hard and crunchy for my preference. The whimsy aspect of it is cute and I can see how it would be a fun choice if you're not super hungry for dessert. 

Second dinner (6th evening of the cruise):

Razzle Dazzle was I believe the only restaurant that we dined in more than once that actually remembered us when we walked up to check in. Before I could even get the cabin number out we were greeted like we'd eaten here every day. I also noticed how the crew in Razzle Dazzle would often refer to you by name having taken the time to associate it with your picture. By this point, we were intentionally trying to spend sailor loot and bar tabs so for dinner tonight I ordered "The Grasshopper." I've seen this drink on the menu on a few other cruise lines and always wanted to try it since I love mint chocolate. 

The menu in the app describes the drink as having creme de mint, creme de cacao, fernet branca, and ice cream. Okay, creme de mint and creme de cacao - makes the drink creamy with flavors of mint and chocolate. And ice cream - yup all good. Had to check Google for the fernet branca reference - a style of bitters. Okay, now I understand what each ingredient listed is. So riddle me this, why did my drink come with an extra ingredient?

A real live dead grasshopper floating in the top! Despite sufficiently grossing ourselves out and the neighboring tables, I did use the straw to sample the drink from as far from the uninvited dinner guest as I could get. I keep forgetting to ask about mocktail versions. This drink was like someone dumped some Andes mints and a scoop of ice cream into a bottle of alcohol. They asked if I'd like to take the rest of my drink to go when we finished with dinner. Umm no, that guy needs to find his own way to the show. Made me morbidly curious and scared to order other drinks like the Goldfish and the Gym Bunny.

This time for an appetizer, I got the Crazy Cobb salad. Same menu item as the second evening but notably different in presentation.

Different cut and doneness of the bacon, some sort of spicy red pepper instead of red bell pepper, guacamole instead of sliced avocado, and nearly non existent lettuce. I tried some of everything but it was notably less appetizing than Dad enjoyed on our first visit. Most likely another casualty of being low on ingredients or having to substitute for what they didn't have.

On a tastier note, I went with an entree from the Naughty list while Dad enjoyed the Butter Chicken I enjoyed on the first visit. My entree was called Black Garlic Bowtie Pasta and is described as fennel braised pork, chanterelles, and swiss chard. I took note of the restaurant theming that continued onto my plate:

The pasta was cooked well. The mushrooms blended in with the coloring of the pasta. The green chard gave a pop of color to the dish. There was a light sauce coating the pasta that was quite good. There was no need for a pool of sauce in this dish.

So does Razzle Dazzle do dinner or brunch better? To be continued in the next post...