{"id":5553,"date":"2018-03-18T22:53:31","date_gmt":"2018-03-18T11:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stillaslife.com\/?p=5553"},"modified":"2018-03-24T00:47:54","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T13:47:54","slug":"speciality-dining-at-samba-grill-on-royal-caribbeans-radiance-of-the-seas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stillaslife.com\/zh\/speciality-dining-at-samba-grill-on-royal-caribbeans-radiance-of-the-seas\/","title":{"rendered":"\u5728\u7687\u5bb6\u52a0\u52d2\u6bd4\u6d77\u7684\u5149\u8f89\u4e2d\u7684Samba Grill\u4eab\u7528\u7279\u8272\u7f8e\u98df"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Samba Grill is one of \u7687\u5bb6\u52a0\u52d2\u6bd4<\/a>’s speciality dining options hidden away on \u6d77\u6d0b\u5149\u8292<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

\"Samba<\/a>
Samba Grill is located outside on deck 12 above Windjammer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I stumbled upon it by accident on the first day of our first cruise on \u6d77\u6d0b\u5149\u8292<\/a>. 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\u2019t give much away, and unlike most venues on the ship during day one, the doors were closed.<\/p>\n

\"Samba<\/a>
Samba Grill menu board<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The menu board only listed six things that are meant to be \u201cpopular favourites\u201d. Those six things were the Brazilian name for the dish and a short description. There were photos, but they weren’t labelled.<\/p>\n

\"Samba<\/a>
Samba Grill menu board close-up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a long cruise, like our 18-night transpacific cruise, it can be an excellent opportunity to try one of the speciality restaurants, and \u7687\u5bb6\u52a0\u52d2\u6bd4<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\"Royal<\/a>
\u7687\u5bb6\u52a0\u52d2\u6bd4<\/a> Dining Packages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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 \u7687\u5bb6\u52a0\u52d2\u6bd4<\/a> is doing a terrible job of marketing this excellent restaurant.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Inside<\/a>
Inside Samba Grill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

\"Meat<\/a>
Meat Cuts Served by Gaucho in Samba Grill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n
  1. Frango: Chicken breast wrapped in bacon<\/li>\n
  2. Linguica: Brazilian cured pork sausage<\/li>\n
  3. Lombo: Crusted herb pork loin<\/li>\n
  4. Fraldinha: Tender cut from the bottom sirloin<\/li>\n
  5. Cordeiro: T-bone lamb<\/li>\n
  6. Filet mignon: Tender cut from beef tenderloin<\/li>\n
  7. Picanha: Prime cut of top sirloin<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    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.<\/p>\n

    Armed with that limited knowledge we were not going to bother trying it at all. Particularly since it still wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

    Right off the bat, let me say: we are so glad we tried it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \"Samba<\/a>
    Samba Grill Salad Bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u7687\u5bb6\u52a0\u52d2\u6bd4<\/a> needs to work on how they present Samba Grill. It is, in my opinion, the best speciality dining restaurant on \u6d77\u6d0b\u5149\u8292<\/a> yet it is so poorly marketed we would not have bothered with it at all except for the dining package. It\u2019s like all the focus is on Chops Grille, Izumi\u2019s and Giovanni\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

    Something to the effect of:<\/p>\n

    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!<\/em><\/p>\n

    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.<\/p>\n

    The Experience<\/h2>\n

    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.<\/p>\n

    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.<\/p>\n

    \"The<\/a>
    Samba Grill\u65e5\u843d\u7684\u5c3d\u5934<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Bread<\/h3>\n

    Upon our arrival, we were shown to our table and brought some warm cheese-filled bread balls.\u00a0Then we were presented with what appeared to be a menu.<\/p>\n

    \"Warm<\/a>
    Warm cheese-filled bread balls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    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!<\/p>\n

    The \u201cmenu.\u201d<\/h3>\n

    It turned out the menu wasn\u2019t a menu after all. It was a drinks list and had a narrative on it that explained the inspiration behind Samba Grill.<\/p>\n

    \"About<\/a>
    About Samba Grill – From the menu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Samba<\/a>
    Samba Grill Drinks List<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    How Samba Grill Works<\/h3>\n

    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.<\/p>\n

    \"Green<\/a>
    Green Is For Go<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    It sounds pretty full on doesn’t it?\u00a0It’s not, the restaurant is very relaxed, but the whole experience is as much a show as it is a mouth-watering meal.<\/p>\n

    The salad bar<\/h3>\n

    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.<\/p>\n

    Some of the options included:<\/p>\n

    \"Assorted<\/a>
    \u4ec0\u9526\u5355\u72ec\u7684\u6c99\u62c9\u9879\u76ee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n