Samba Grill is one of ロイヤルカリビアン’s speciality dining options hidden away on 海の輝き. It is not on every ship, in fact, it’s not on any others at all, so it’s unique in that regard, and in the cuisine. Samba Grill is a Brazilian inspired restaurant that serves salads, grilled veggies and seven different cuts of meat straight off the rotary grill skewer. First, though, you have to find the restaurant.
I stumbled upon it by accident on the first day of our first cruise on 海の輝き. I don’t remember what I was looking for, but I noticed the different paintwork on the ship on deck 12 above the Windjammer and saw the signs up for it so checked out the menu (or lack thereof). The menu board outside didn’t give much away, and unlike most venues on the ship during day one, the doors were closed.
The menu board only listed six things that are meant to be “popular favourites”. Those six things were the Brazilian name for the dish and a short description. There were photos, but they weren’t labelled.
On a long cruise, like our 18-night transpacific cruise, it can be an excellent opportunity to try one of the speciality restaurants, and ロイヤルカリビアン offers speciality dining packages that give you discounts on three, four or five speciality dining experiences. Normally, Samba Grill costs USD $30 per person, making it a great deal when done as part of a dining package.
So when we considered doing speciality dining, we wanted to make an informed decision about what we would be eating and if we were even interested. We needed more information about the Samba Grill though, and this, in turn, brought me to the conclusion that ロイヤルカリビアン is doing a terrible job of marketing this excellent restaurant.
We asked other restaurants and guest services for more information about the Samba Grill, but no one could tell us what was on the menu. So we decided to try and catch someone at the Samba Grill during opening hours. These hours are evening only, usually 6-10pm, and because it is solely accessible from outside on deck 12, that means braving the night time open air on one of the windiest parts of the ship. The wind was so fierce on the night that we went to check the menu that we felt like we were going to get blown into the sea at almost every step. When we finally got there, the door was locked shut, and we had to stand there in the wind, waving around and knocking to try and catch someone’s attention to let us in before we got blown off the ship.
After all that, they told us that the Samba Grill does not have a menu. Instead, it has a self-serve salad bar that you can access as you wish, followed by a serving of each of the seven different Brazilian style BBQ types of meat on offer, including the six on the menu board and an additional beef cut.
That wasn’t helpful at all, but I did find this notice about eating undercooked meats that made it more apparent what the different meats are:
- Frango: Chicken breast wrapped in bacon
- Linguica: Brazilian cured pork sausage
- Lombo: Crusted herb pork loin
- Fraldinha: Tender cut from the bottom sirloin
- Cordeiro: T-bone lamb
- Filet mignon: Tender cut from beef tenderloin
- Picanha: Prime cut of top sirloin
Since we don’t eat pork products that at least told us we would be interested in five of the seven types of meat assuming the bacon could be separated from the chicken easy enough. Unfortunately, they could not tell us any more about it. At the time, it seemed incredibly peculiar that there was so little information about this restaurant and what it serves.
Armed with that limited knowledge we were not going to bother trying it at all. Particularly since it still wasn’t entirely clear how the meat servings worked. However, we wanted to try Izumi’s and Giovanni’s Table, so we decided since we could get the dining package for three restaurants at basically the same price as dining at two, we decided to get the dining package and try Samba Grill as well.
Right off the bat, let me say: we are so glad we tried it.
ロイヤルカリビアン needs to work on how they present Samba Grill. It is, in my opinion, the best speciality dining restaurant on 海の輝き yet it is so poorly marketed we would not have bothered with it at all except for the dining package. It’s like all the focus is on Chops Grille, Izumi’s and Giovanni’s Table with Samba just an afterthought. A short narrative of the way the restaurant works with a simple menu would sell the restaurant to so many more people.
Something to the effect of:
Join our gauchos (Brazilian cowboys) for an evening of Brazilian BBQ inspired salads, sizzling vegetables, and seven mouth-watering cuts of meat brought to your table on the skewer carved straight to your plate. You will get to try them all at your own pace, just turn your meat-light from green to red when you need a break, or red to green when you are ready for the next cut. Save some room, though, you don’t want to miss out on one of our delectable Brazilian desserts!
Add to that a menu that explains how it works, lists the permanent salad items, indicates what the seven types of meat actually are, says what the desserts are, and they would be all set. It would be no larger than the Chops Grille menu and make a massive difference to the restaurant appeal. However, I digress, so let’s get back to the experience.
The Experience
Booking was difficult. As we didn’t know what day we wanted to go, we needed to book in the morning for dining the same evening. However, the number in the cruise compass to call for bookings with Samba Grill never worked for us. No matter when we called, it just wanted us to request a callback. That wouldn’t be a big deal except that we didn’t want to wait around for a callback (and we never actually received one anyway). We also tried the main dining reservations number which just gave us the same thing whenever we tried. Eventually, after speaking to guest services a few times and being diverted to the same voicemail boxes, they were able to put us on to someone that could place the booking for us.
We were hoping to be there for sunset since the cruise compass indicated Samba was open from 5:30 pm that night. After all, that’s part of the reason to go to the speciality restaurants right? They do have some of the best views. Unfortunately, though, it was wrong, and they weren’t open until 6:00 pm. So we booked for then, and just caught the tail-end of the sunset.
Bread
Upon our arrival, we were shown to our table and brought some warm cheese-filled bread balls. Then we were presented with what appeared to be a menu.
These bread balls don’t look like much, but they are unbelievably amazing! They are soft and warm with a strong cheese flavour. On the inside, they have a gooey cheese centre. YUM!
It turned out the menu wasn’t a menu after all. It was a drinks list and had a narrative on it that explained the inspiration behind Samba Grill.
How Samba Grill Works
Our Maitre’d then explained to us how the restaurant works. Your table number is double-sided mostly serving as a stop light for the main course. One side has a red background, and the other has a green background. These sides indicate whether you are ready for the main meal, the BBQ meats, or whether you need a break from them for a little while. He suggested that we get some salads, but not too much, then turn the stop light from red to green, letting our gaucho know that we are ready for the main course. If we need a break or have just had enough, turn it back to red, and they will know to stop bringing out meats and check if we are ready for dessert.
It sounds pretty full on doesn’t it? It’s not, the restaurant is very relaxed, but the whole experience is as much a show as it is a mouth-watering meal.
The salad bar
So, we headed to the salad bar and picked up some things to try. While the bar is small, there is a decent selection of salad, cheese, bread and the like that are different to what is served elsewhere on the ship. It was unclear whether or not the items on the salad bar change, but the options that were there were yum.
Some of the options included:
- Lettuce leaves
- Olives
- Sliced tomato
- Sliced purple onion
- Sliced cucumber
- Ceaser dressing
- Thousand island dressing
- Italian dressing
- Potato salad
- Seafood salad
- Green bean with tarragon vinegar salad
- Smoked salmon
- Grilled mushroom with pesto salad
- Garlic crostini
- Marinated mussels
- Calamari salad
- Grilled asparagus
- Radicchio with balsamic glaze
- Assorted cold cuts
- Brie cheese
- Carrot and celery salad
- Baby mozzarella ball cherry tomato salad
- Feijoada soup
- Assorted cheeses
Main meal
Just after we sat back down, our gaucho came to the table and asked us how we like our meat cooked. They could do it anywhere from rare to well-done. We made our choice, medium-well for wifey and medium for me.
We turned our sign around to green straight away, so we could try and get some of the meats with our salads. At this point, we hadn’t been told there would be any vegetables served at all so we thought that it was going to be eating salad and then the meats on their own one after the other. We weren’t too excited about that. It turned out though that they still didn’t bring out any meats until after we had finished our salads, Before the first meat arrived, two sauces, salt flakes, and two bowls of goodies were brought out for the table. It turns out the salad bar is your starter.
The sauces were chimichurri and creole, while the first bowl had grilled vegetables, including squash, zucchini, tomato, onion and carrots.
The second bowl had excellent steak fries and super sweet deep fried banana’s. A little unusual I know, but it reminds me of the islands where fruit, especially banana, is commonly served as part of the main meal. Apparently, it is also common in Brazil.
Soon after the vegetables and fries arrived, the first meats were brought out.
Pork sausages and chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto
Our gaucho arrived at our table with a skewer holding two Brazilian pork sausages and two pieces of Brazilian-inspired chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto. We don’t eat pork, so we skipped the sausages and unwrapped our chicken. It wasn’t the stand-out meat of the night, but it was cooked perfectly, moist and tender.
I should mention, you don’t want to do the Samba Grill if you are in a hurry, like most restaurants on board, you can expect your meal to take two hours if you try all the meats.
Filet Mignon
Our first meat arrived about the half-hour mark. Then 10 minutes or so later, our gaucho came with our next cut, filet mignon. After serving it straight from the skewer to our plates, our gaucho made sure that it was cooked to our liking. If not, he would take it back and make sure it was right.
After checking it, we noted it wasn’t quite right but close enough, so we were happy with it, and we didn’t want to wait longer for it. I have to say; it was superb. Chops Grille is known for their filet mignon, but the Samba Grill filet mignon is significantly better. It’s a pretty similar size, so I assume the meat is the same, the difference just being in how they cook it. We were blown away by how good it was, and the creole sauce with it was fantastic. If you want to see the filet mignon at Chops Grille, check out my review.
子羊
Next came the lamb, cooked to perfection. It was served off the skewer again, of course.
We were starting to get pretty full by this point, especially considering the salad, vegetables, chips and banana’s we had also eaten. Fortunately, up next was the pork loin which we don’t eat. So we had a bit of a break and contemplated calling it a night, after all, we had the filet mignon already. Surely the remaining two beef cuts, the striploin and tenderloin couldn’t be any better.
Beef striploin
Fortunately, the striploin arrived before we turned our sign to red, so we gave it a try. The striploin is carved straight from the skewer to your plate, and it was terrific. It was the stand-out of the night, cooked perfectly with a crunchy, outer glaze from the seasonings. Since your gaucho carves it in front of you, you can have as much or little as you want. We had already had plenty of food, so we only had a small piece each, and we are happy we did! Add some chimichurri sauce for something different, and you can’t go wrong.
Tenderloin
Note: The meat list suggests the tenderloin is the filet mignon and there should be two striploin cuts. However, our gaucho told us this was tenderloin, so I’m not 100% sure which cut it is.
After how good the striploin was, we decided it was only fair to wait and see what the tenderloin was like as well. It wasn’t long before it arrived and was again carved from the skewer directly to our plates. A little piece was all we could handle, but it was excellent too. It was not as good as the striploin, but was well worth waiting for and trying.
Desserts
Once you’ve had enough to eat, turn your table number around, so the red side is visible, and your gaucho will be around to see if you are ready for dessert. If so, there are three options.
The choices are either creme caramel, pina colada pannacotta or layered chocolate cake. Once you let your gaucho know that you are ready for dessert, a waiter will bring around a dessert tray with one of each dessert on it for you to make your selection. We were kind of disappointed when they were presented to us as the options didn’t seem Brazilian inspired. We were even more disappointed when the desserts we had chosen left with the waiter, and there was a 10-minute delay before they were brought out to us. It’s probably a good thing though since it gave us a bit more of a break between courses.
I went for the pina colada pannacotta as it seemed the most “Brazilian”.
While it wasn’t mind-blowing, it was yum and very light, which is a good thing after a huge meal!
Wifey went for the layered chocolate cake.
I’m not sure what makes this one Brazilian inspired, but it was a big surprise. Slice it open and there was layer upon layer of crunchy, moussey, yummy chocolatey goodness!
全体
If I had to rank the meats we ate in order of mouth-watering goodness where one is the best, I would say:
- Striploin
- 子羊
- Tenderloin
- フィレミニョン
- 鶏の胸肉
普段は鶏肉が好きなので、5と評価したのは牛肉と羊肉の良さを物語っています！食事の他の部分に関しては、サラダはサンバグリルに固有のものです。あなたは船の他のどこにもそれらを見つけることができません。それらのいくつかは私の意見では非常に魅力的ですが、他のものはそうではありません。それはあなたがここにいる理由ではありませんが？
野菜のグリルは美味しいです。私はスカッシュのファンではありませんが、楽しんだし、トマトはとても甘かったです。ステーキフライは素晴らしかった、私の意見では、彼らは最高のチップスです 海の輝き バーなし。そしてもちろん、バナナの揚げ物もあります。これを見逃さないでください。それを手に入れることができるのは船上で唯一の場所であり、誰もが好むわけではありませんが、少なくとも一度は試す価値があります。個人的には本当に楽しんでいます。最初は少し固めの別の種類のバナナなので、調理すると中央が固くなり、外側が柔らかくねばねばします。それをねり粉で包んでください、そしてあなたはそれを持っています。とても甘く、バナナが染み出るところは少し歯ごたえがあり、食感は絶えず変化しています。
デザートは特にインスピレーションを得ているようには見えませんでしたが、楽しく、夜のハイエンドに向けて作られました。
Is It Worth It?
Samba Grillに行くには、$30ppのカバーチャージを支払うか、特別なダイニングパッケージを購入する必要があります。どちらの場合でも、行くには追加料金を支払う必要があります。私たちにとっては、多くの船内クレジットを持っていたので、その一部をダイニングパッケージに使用して、そのように試してみることにしました。それだけの価値がありました。あなたが菜食主義者またはビーガンであるなら、それはあなたのためではありません。サラダ、野菜、バナナだけのカバーチャージの価値はありません。あなたが肉を食べなければ、あなたは他のほとんどすべてのレストランからはるかに多くの価値を得るでしょう。あなたが肉を食べるなら、これはあなたがなりたい場所です。
特に天気がひどい場合は、行くのは難しいですが、私たちは食事の経験、雰囲気、南米スタイルの音楽、ガウチョ、そしてあなたのガウチョがあなたの肉を提供する方法を愛していました。サービスは素晴らしく、2時間の食事時間にもかかわらず、私たちは何かを長時間待っているような気がしませんでした。そこのチームはフレンドリーで、彼らの仕事を楽しんでいるようで、全体の経験をさらに楽しくしました。
そしてもちろん、食べ物そのものもありました。それは素晴らしかったし、私の意見では、船上で最高の専門レストランです 海の輝き。それがどれほど優れているかを考えると、Sambaが他の船に乗っていないか、よりよく販売されていないことに驚いています。だからそれを考えると、あなたは間違いなくあなたが乗船している間にそれを試してみることを確認したいです 海の輝き.
どう思いますか？
Samba Grillを試しましたか？どう思いますか？私たちと同じくらい好きでしたか？あなたの好きな肉は何でしたか？以下のコメントであなたの考えを聞いてみたいです。
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