I wasn’t planning on eating two burgers in one day, but you are allowed to break the rules when you are on vacation. And forget about the previous weeks of dieting.

The first stop, completely unplanned, was at Le Parker Meridian Burger Joint. This is the burger joint for the people in “the know”. We did visit this place before and what better time than a mid afternoon to visit again.

The line up was short but the wait was long. We managed to share a table with another couple.

Dinner

For dinner we went to DB Bistro Moderne, a mid to upscale restaurant.

I have included some pictures of all our food but in particular I had:

1. ORGANIC BEETS
   Baby Bibb Lettuce, Crispy Shallots, Candied Pecans Fromage Blanc Dressing
   Really tasty. I thought it was a good choice.
2. THE ORIGINAL db BURGER
   Sirloin Burger Filled with Braised Short Ribs & Foie Gras
   Served on a Parmesan Bun
   Pommes Soufflées
   The Pommes Souflees are really great. Hollow pillows of thin potato. Sort of a like a potato chip but with a french fry flavour.
3. DESSERT (we shared)
   1. Cookies – Small little fancy cookies
   2. Lemon Bar – Swiss Meringue, Candied Lemon Buddhas Hand
      Huckleberry Ice Cream
   3. Apple Tart Tatin – Caramel-Apple Light Mousse, Cinnamon Puff Pastry
      Mascarpone Ice Cream

In-n-Out burger isn’t a novelty for the locals, but when you are coming from Canada, what the hell? Plus we have had some tasty burgers there on past trips to Vegas. So Brad looked up the “secret menu“, which is a menu that basically simplifies how you order your burger. It is handy since the only thing that this joint sells is burgers, fries and soda.

Since we try to follow the Paleo way of eating, we ordered the Protein Style version of the burger. Well, I actually ordered two.

Instead of a bun, the meat, the toppings and sauce are wrapped in leafy green lettuce. So no bun or nasty complex carbs. And it is really tasty! I actually really enjoyed it. In the picture I ordered fries as a treat, but I didn’t eat them. I thought they didn’t taste very good.

Tonight we experience our best meal yet here in Reykjavik, Iceland. We went down to an upscale restaurant called the Fish Market (Adalstraeti 12. Reykjavik, Iceland). The decor of the restaurant is quite beautiful with soft lighting and modern bamboo decoration everywhere. When we arrived at 8pm, the restaurant was far from bustling but within 15 minutes every table was full and the food was flowing.

We all decided on the tasting menu, which is based mainly on seafood. I was hesitant at first because I’m not the biggest seafood eater, but as Aaron says, “Seafood tastes different when it is fresh and you are on the coast.” So it didn’t take much to talk me into saying yes to the $89 feast we were about to experience.

Course 1: Tiger shrimp with Spicy Tuna
Tasty, but not mind blowing. It was a great little starter with some nice details. I do love melon balls!

Course 2: Minke Whale with Deep Fried Mussels
My first attempt at eating whale in Iceland turned into me spitting it and the bernnaise sauce promptly back onto my plate. But this whale was different. It was a little bit rare and was sliced from a steak. It was definitely much better tasting then the chewy mess I had experience in Vik. The meat was tender with just a faint essence of fishy taste to it. Which I would expect is normal from a mammal that just eats fish. Accompanying the whale was tempura’d mussels. Again, very tasty.

Course 3: Clams with Caviar and Seaweed Salad
I am definitely not a clam eater, but I may be one now. These clams were excellent and the caviar gave it the perfect amount of salt to go with the clam meat.

Course 4: Romain Salad, Wasabi Dressing with Parmesan crisps and Mandarin Wedges
This could have been a boring “Caesar Salad” type course, but the wasabi dressing gave it a nice kick. And the parmesan crips which I assume were deep fried parmesan chunks definitely put a nice spin on the routine croutons.

Course 5: Sushi Plate
The sushi plate was an assortment seafood, all which I liked… strangely enough. I avoid any mystery sushi plates not knowing what to expect. We had Prawn sushi, halibut with caviar, squid with a green coloured roe, and a maki with salmon and seaweed. The halibut was one of my favourite flavours of the night… but I am a big fan of caviar now so that could have helped.

With our appetizer courses out of the way, we now moved onto our main courses.

Course 5: Salted Cod with Cherry Sauce, Celery Salad and Lime
Totally delicious. Cod steaks with cherry sauce drizzled all over, topped with a mayonnaise celery salad on  top. The meat was really tasty with a nice salty flavour. One of Brad’s favourite dishes of the night.

Course 6: Salmon with a Cauliflower Puree, Shitake Mushrooms, Edamame and a Sprig of Dill
I thought the salmon was incredibly tasty. The puree and mushrooms added to the dish and it was pretty fantastic.

Course 7: Lamb Chops with Blueberry Sauce and Potato Foam
This was probably the least favourite dish of the evening. The lamb was not as hot as we would have liked. For a country that has so many sheep, we haven’t been blown away by any lamb that we have tried. The presentation was great, and the potato foam was good. Blueberry is one of my favourite flavours, so I was quite happy to soak up all of the sauce.

Course 8: Dessert
We saw the plate coming and were a little shocked at the size of the dessert. We already had full bellies but we made it through dessert… somehow. Funny how you can always find room for some sweet after dinner. The dessert plate had three types of sorbet, a square that was called the Snicker’s Square, chocolate cake with raspberry filling, bread pudding, and a variety of fruit. The fruit was exotic to familiar, blueberries, pineapple, passion fruit, lychee, and a fruit that was seedy with prickles that I didn’t know what it was, and I can’t remember what she told us when we asked. Icelandic names are really hard to remember!

This was definitely our most memorable meal of the trip. This restaurant was  hip, cool, and full of flavour. There aren’t many meals that you know you’ll remember as they days and weeks pass.

Sometimes in my mind the end product when baking looks a lot better than I can produce. I’m going to a Scrabble night so I thought I would make cookies following that theme.

Food colouring scares me. I never want to overdue it so the vision was to have tanned brown icing. Instead I got a flesh tone. And the letters should be black but I cheated and bought icing in a tube for that. So they are blue.

At least they taste decent!

Last night went to a restaurant in the Trastavere region of Rome called Spirito DiVino which was recommended by Gavin’s friend Bessy. When you sit down the owner comes by and tells you the history of the building. He says the building is 180 years older than the coliseum. Impressive if true. They have an original well they you can look down and the original cellar which they use for wine.

When we arrived there was only one couple there, but when we left it was a full house. Impressive for a Monday. It is definitely a family run business, the owner was our host, the cook was the mother, and the son was our waiter. The son was fun with a carefree attitude that was quite entertaining.

The benefit of getting there first is that we were served our food promptly. By the time we left, the service was a little slow, okay a lot slow. They won the Slow Food award in 2004 which I guess is a big thing here in Italy. The slow service was more of a pain at the end because the place was 26 degrees… So we were sweating.

Now the food. Very tasty.

We split three appetizers to get it going. Chicken pate: devine, vegetable crepe: delicious yet underwhelming, and veal meatballs with mint: flavourful. For our seconds we ordered pasta, I had farfelle with pumpkin and gargonzola, incredibly rich and tasty. For my main I had the famous pulled pork which contained 13 herbs and spices. Apparently it is an old recipe from Julias Caesar’s chef. It was really good, the side was cabbage which I could have done without.

Last course was of course dessert. I had an apple and something dessert. I don’t remember the something. But it was apple ice cream with a sugar brandy sauce and a warm apple sauce.

The dinner was great and we would definitely recommend. Thanks to Bessy for the recommendation!

Found a little restaurant called Ai Spaghettari in the Trastevere region of Rome. Along with some wine I got Bruschetta, Spaghetti Carbonara and a pizza to share with Brad.

I thought the eating after the cruise would stop… I guess not.

The group is limited to 10 people a night, and only three times a week. We started out by heading to the galley kitchen where they make the food for the dining rooms. We had to scrub up and wear beautiful smocks. The most fun was walking through the dining room to get to the kitchen! Everyone in the dining room was of course staring… and so they should have been!

Now to get in we had to sign a document that stated that we weren’t sick or wearing open toed shoes. So Alen had to run up and change into his wedges.

We couldn’t touch anything, but we were allowed to take pictures…which we did!

There are 6 kitchens on the boat, and we were allowed to ask any questions. For example, Gavin asked how they keep their produce fresh. They have a special fridge with an airlock door so the temperature never changes and they keep the produce consistently fresh. They can have the same fresh salad on day one as they can on day 14. Yes, the freshness lasts for up to 14 days!

We were taken to a portion of the kitchen that wasn’t being used and there were carved melons and an ice sculpture just for us! Already we knew we were getting the royal treatment! We were promptly served champagne and our appetizer courses started!

• Blue Crab Margarita with Avocado Mango
• Bistro Mini Quiche with Fontina Cheese & Truffle
• Pizzette with Goat’s Cheese and Ricotta
• Roasted New Potatoes with Sour Cream & Caviar

We were on the 4th course and we were still standing in the kitchen! By the way, the caviar was delightful. No one else on the ship gets caviar.

We were then guided to the dining room. We were served bread sticks and wine… and the 5th course.

Carpaccio with Basil, Cheese on Focaccia.

This was followed by Risotto with Lobster Tail and Claws. It was totally tasty with little nuggets of Lobster in it. It was a meal in itself.

Along with the Lobster Risotto we enjoyed a white wine.

We then moved on to the palette cleanser, Raspberry Lemon sorbet with Grey Goose vodka poured on it. Damn tasty! And it cleared my palette!

Then the main came, Roast Veal Shank & Veal Tenderloin, with veggies, potatoes and roasted onions.

The next course, yes it keeps on going, was Baked Camembert with Pine Nuts and a Port Wine Reduction & Walnut bread. The port reduction was do die for… and so was the dessert wine that they served with it!

We then were at dessert… with Lemoncello liquor to accent. The pastry chef came out and introduced it. It was an Ameretto Parfait with pears and Brandy Snap Tuile. They also had some fancy sugar decoration. Which of course Brad gobbled up.

Lastly, there was marzipan fruit, and a variety of home made biscotti and cookies. Of course I had one of each. With of course a coffee drink…

We were each then presented with a Princess Cruises Cook book (223 pages hard cover) and we had our pictures taken which we received at the end of the dinner.

The meal and the experience was fantastic. If we were to experience this meal in any other setting we would have paid 4 times of much and probably would not have been treated as well as we were. We really felt special and they really do it right. From the tour to the liquor to the food, it was delicious and we are all extremely sated. If you ever find yourself on a Princess Boat I highly recommend it. It is hard to get into, so make sure you book right away!

It seems like just yesterday that we were in Toronto. Actually it was.

And now here we sit at the top of Parque Eduardo VII in Lisbon drinking Espresso and eating walnut ice cream.

Lisbon is great from what we have seen so far. And the weather is fantastic. We will probably turn in early and start early tomorrow and get on a bus tour. Pictures to come later!

Interesting snack on TAP on our flight from Madrid to Portugal. A mystery meat, canned mushrooms, and a nice hunk of Brie cheese. Actually quite tasty… Surprisingly.

Although we are very tired and can’t wait to roll up to the Sofitel and take a nap. Soon. Very soon.

Here we go, the first of many food entries. And what better way to start then with airplane food.

I selected the beef, although there are no right answers to this game. (the other option was chicken). It was some beef in some gravy with beans/peas and mashed potatoes. To add carbs to carbs we had potato salad and a roll.

Now the dessert. I just don’t get it. If you look at the picture it is that poo looking thing in the top left. I really don’t know who came up with this dessert but it was mousse with a little muffin pushed into it. It didn’t taste bad but I just don’t get it. Here’s hoping that the continental breakfast will be more than a spongy muffin.

Location update: somewhere over Labrador.

Entertainment update: got bored with Revolutionary Road. Now watching Extras.