NCL Mexican Riviera Cruise Day 2: Le Bistro Dinner

There were restaurants that required additional charge on the cruise. We were interested in the French, Italian and steakhouse restaurant. After viewing their menus, we chose the French restaurant, Le Bistro, to have dinner.



The surcharge was $15/person.  The restaurant was quite small comparing to the main dining room.  Service was much much better though.  The servers at the regular dining room were kind of robot-like.  They take your order, bring you food, ask you how everything is without smiling and sound like they don't really care but just require to do so, then they disappear.  And almost all of the servers were Asians (mostly Filipinos).  The servers at the paid dining room were mostly Europeans.  They were really polite and friendly, lots of smile, and they actually chatted with us and sounded like they actually care.




Versace plate was used.  But no, you don't actually use the plate.  They put the dish on top of this plate to serve.


Migration Pinot Noir ($15.00 corkage)

We brought our own wine to the cruise.  Corkage fee was $15 per bottle.  Migration is my favorite Pinot Noir.  Yum!


Bread

The bread was the same as any other dining room's.  I didn't eat much bread on this trip.  I rather get filled up by "real food" instead of bread.


Duo de Foie Gras et Poitrine de Canard Fume

We ordered a lot of appetizers to share.  The first one was a combo of foie gras terrine and smoked duck breast.  The duck breast was good.  Foie gras terrine was really rich.  I thought it was good at first, but later it became too heavy for me.


Toasted Brioche

The foie gras gerrine was served with toasted brioche.


Roquefort - Frisee Salad

Frisee salad with Roquefort cheese crumbles, roasted pancetta, dried figs, dandied walnuts and lemon-mustard vinaigrette.  So far we loved all the salad on the cruise.  This one was no exception.  Delicious dressing.


Onion Soup au Gratin

Onion soup was ok.  The Gruyere cheese was burned and tough.  The soup itself tasted pretty good, but the burned cheese ruined it.


Seared Spice-crusted Sea Scallops

Sea scallops were fresh and very soft.  But the spice crust lacked flavor.


Escargots Bourguignonne

Escargots with garlic-herb butter was really good.  Because of this dish, I ate more bread than I would like.


Grilled Swordfish Loin

We got two entrees to share.  The first one was grilled swordfish loin with braised pancetta lentils.  The swordfish was way overcooked and very tough.  We both took a bite and left the plate alone.  Now I thought about it, we really should sent it back and get something else since we paid extra for the meal.  But we were pretty full from the appetizers and didn't bother to do so at the time.


Roasted Rack of Lamb

Roasted rack of lamb was really good.  It was cooked medium and very tender.  The sauteed artichokes was very good, as well.  We loved this dish.


Vanilla Creme Brulee

Vanilla creme brulee was the must ordered dessert at Le Bistro.  Really good.



We also ordered crepes.  It was prepared by one of the servers "along tableside".... but at along someone else's tableside.


Crepes Suzette Flambe

I love the combination of hot crepe and cold ice cream.  But the citrus sauce was really sour and overpowering.


Cappuccino

We both got a cup of cappuccino to go with our dessert.  They make really good cappuccino on the cruise.  We almost ordered it on every meal.

My overall experience at Le Bistro was great.  We liked the appetizers, lamb and creme brulee.  Service was excellent.  Was it worth the extra $30?  I think so.



When we got back to our room after dinner, I found a cute little thing sitting on my bed.  Just wasn't sure what it was.  Lamb?  Dog?  Rabbit?

We went to bed early because we arrived in Cabo San Lucus the next day.  Gotta wake up early for fun day at the beach.

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