Don't like sushi? Don't let that deter you from trying Raw on 5!

When you hear about a restaurant called Raw on 5, it's natural to think that it's going to be all sushi. Don't be fooled by the name of this specialty restaurant found onboard Celebrity Edge, Celebrity Beyond, Celebrity Apex, and Celebrity Ascent. While the menu heavily features seafood based dishes, there are options for those of you who prefer to pick your food choices from the land dwelling creatures of the world. We both dined here once for dinner and I returned once on my own for lunch. Dad was very satisfied by the meat options he tried and I enjoyed most everything I chose from the seafood dishes.

I confirmed with our server before we ordered at dinner that for those of us staying in the upper suites (Royal Suite, Edge Villa, Penthouse, and Iconic on Celebrity Beyond), everything on the menu including the pricey seafood towers was included. Unlike the other specialty restaurants where the price is based on a cover charge, this restaurant is priced a la carte. Each item on the menu has a cost and you will be charged for each of those items you order. Up to you how much you want to eat and want to spend. If you purchase a multi meal dining plan and choose to use it at an a la carte restaurant, it's usually a set amount to spend that's covered by your plan. Be sure to check with your server at the start of the meal.

Alaskan California Sushi Roll - Snow Crab, Avocado, Cucumber, and Roasted Sesame Seed. I joke that the California Sushi Roll is like the starter sushi roll. Nothing spicy and all flavors you might find in other dishes. I guess the Alaskan part refers to the use of snow crab versus imitation crab. Good mix of flavors and held together well while dipping into the provided soy sauce left on each table.

Shrimp Spring Rolls (listed only on this secondary menu from Celebrity's website) - Ginger-Lime Dipping Sauce, Marinated Rice Noodles, Basil, and Mint. This was probably my least favorite dish I tried. The taste was good but it was tough to dip and eat with the differing textures and the amount of stuffing inside the clear edible wrap. If you try this dish I suggest cutting it up into pieces before dipping.

Chicken Ginger Gyoza - Pan Seared Dumpling, Sesame, Yuzu, and Scallion. We both ended up ordering this dish between the two visits and it was great both times. This non seafood dish was right up Dad's alley and tasted similar to what you might get from local Chinese take out. This is a great option to share or to start with if you're traveling with someone who refuses to eat seafood.

Fried Calamari - Ponzu Aioli and Lemon. Now you know I can't see calamari on a menu and not try it. However, I wasn't expecting to be brought a plate that was fried calamari shish kabob style! The presentation made me think a golden colored tarantula had crawled onto my plate. It made the dish a bit awkward to eat with some pieces coming off the stick as large sections and others as chunks that would have disappeared in the dip bowl. The pieces were very lightly breaded and often slipped right out of the coating when released from the skewer. This, like the shrimp roll, was a dish I couldn't bring myself to finish.

Chicken Teriyaki - Marinated Chicken, Broccoli, and Toasted Sesame Seeds. This was Dad's choice for an entree. Reminded me more of the sesame chicken I enjoy from our local Chinese take out. Dad enjoyed the flavor and the tenderness of the meat but he wished there was more meat to it. Frankly, I think you could serve him the brontosaurus sized steak Fred Flintstone brought home and he'd still say he wished there was more meat. And of course he left that broccoli behind on the plate.

The Beyond Roll - Shrimp Tempura, Spicy Tuna, Cucumber, Eel Sauce, and Spicy Mayo. As they say, "When in Rome," so I had to try the Beyond Roll while we were sailing on the Celebrity Beyond. Normally I'm not a fan of a sushi roll that says spicy once, much less twice but this one had a good balance. A little bit of a kick in the taste buds at first but the rest of the ingredients mellow it out. 

Shrimp Tempura Roll - Avocado, Cucumber, Pickled Burdock, Tempura, Spicy Mayo, and Sweet Soy. Somewhat similar to the Beyond Roll but with more crunch than spice. Between the two, I liked the Beyond Roll better.

When it came to dessert, I went for what was described as a strawberry shortcake style mousse dish. The little cup was layered like a parfait with cut up strawberry and pieces of shortcake surrounding a creamy vanilla flavored mousse. The top is adorned with a sprinkle of green tea powder and a halved strawberry. While more for presentation factor than substance as this dish was barely half the size of my soda can, I found it surprisingly filling and a wonderful balance of creamy and light sweetness that was the perfect end to a meal of spicy and savory flavors. 

Time for a short trip to Le Voyage

If you said to us, "Hey, let's check out this French restaurant for dinner tonight!" you aren't likely to get an enthusiastic response. Coupled with the fact that our suite had the regular menu included plus how much we ended up liking Bistro Sur La Mer on the Enchanted Princess, we vowed to at least visit once. After all, a cruise ship is certainly a place where you won't go hungry if you decide you didn't like the first place you chose to eat. 

We were seated at a super small table near the entrance so we had quite a lot of traffic passing by throughout the meal. The server made a big deal out of the wine list and seemed really put off by our polite refusal. We also were visited a couple times by the restaurant sommelier and manager to question our lack of drinks. Visiting once could be seen as checking up to make sure we weren't overlooked or needing refills but with each repeated visit it seemed like the attitude went from pleasant to pissed off. Once they gave up on serving us alcohol, our table service also dropped off. While we tried several dishes, we felt limited by the choices and didn't find anything that made us want to return again. 

Beet based amuse bouche. Mr. Picky Eater heard the word "beet" and refused to try it.

Alaskan King Crab Salad Appetizer - Avocado, Radish, Mango, and a Ginger-Lime Vinaigrette. The crab was cold like a ceviche. The radish, mango, and whatever other tiny circular cut ingredients (cucumber?) on top were colorful but hard and barely edible. The top was covered in some sort of spicy seasoning that the cold crab did nothing to offset. Maybe that's why they expect to serve so much alcohol in this restaurant so you can drown the spiciness off your taste buds. Or drink so much you forget the food was spicy?

Prime Black Angus Filet Mignon Entree - Black Truffle Sauce, Salsify, Hazelnuts, Saint-Nectare Potatoes Mille-Feuille. I asked about the hazelnuts when ordering and was assured that they were only on the side and easily avoided. I had to look up the ingredient salsify and it turns out to be a plant whose roots can be prepared like a potato but tastes like an artichoke heart. The salsify pieces were what was placed under each hazelnut forming a border around the beef with small spinach leaves. I guess they were trying for a deconstructed spinach artichoke dip? The tiny square of potatoes was good and the beef was mostly cooked to my liking but was surprisingly more chewy than tender. 

None of the dessert choices really interested us so I picked the one we thought sounded the least of the worst and that was the Cafe-Cardamom. Ethiopian Coffee Ice Cream, Chocolate Financier, and Chocolate Foam. If you're a regular reader here, and if you are, have I mentioned you're my favorite?.. If you are a regular reader here, you're probably reading this and saying why would she pick a dessert that is coffee flavored when she doesn't like the taste of coffee? The answer: everything else had some sort of fruit or nut concoction and I was hoping the chocolate would balance out the coffee flavor. 

This dessert does come with an added presentation factor as the scoop of ice cream arrives at your table propped up by cut chocolate shards. The server then pours the chocolate sauce all over your dish in front of you. I tried each aspect of the dish giving it the old college try of taste tests but I'm sorry to say that unless you love the strong robust taste of dark roast coffee, this dessert will flunk out of school.

We ended the night on a more positive note with this view of wonderful guest entertainers - rock trio, Rebel from our floor seats followed by the late night adult comedy of Sam Fedele. 

And a little bit of laughter as we discovered on our way into the theater that even hand sanitizer stations are not immune to losing their balance when the seas are rough! Disclaimer - that's the pattern in the carpet, not shattered glass in the door.