August 25, 2012 Breakfast - Poached Haddock and eggs, Lunch – Canyon Ranch Menu, Dinner – Lamb Three ways and Roasted Duck

August 25, 2012 Breakfast - Poached Haddock and eggs, Lunch – Canyon Ranch Menu, Dinner – Lamb Three ways and Roasted Duck

I started the day with a glass of orange juice with a bit of ginger in it.  Then after watching the sun rise through the clouds from the Terrace Bar on the 8^th floor, we went to breakfast in the Britannia Grille.  The Britannia Grille is the white linen and table service dining room where we take our dinners at our assigned table, but for breakfast and lunch the seating is open and you are seated on a first come first seated basis.  You can designate whether you wish to be seated with others or alone or by window, etc.      We each ordered poached haddock.  Suzette chose poached eggs and I chose an omelet with Swiss cheese, onions, spinach and herbs.  We both loved our moist flakey fish and eggs.

For lunch Suzette went to the spa to celebrate her birthday with a spa day.  In honor of Suzette’s spa day, I went to lunch in the Britannia Grille and ordered the entire Canyon Ranch Spa menu, which is only available in the Britannia Grille.  It started with a bowl of cream of carrot soup; then a roasted Cornish game hen served with two carrots cut in the shape of flowers carrots and a broccoli floweret, and a large section of turmeric rice, that I barely touched.   I cannot believe rice is on a spa menu.  Instead I had a lovely buttered whole wheat roll.  For dessert I was served a coffee flavored cream brulee and a cup of tea.  I cannot say enough good things about the custards on the QM2.  This one was just as it should be rich and creamy with an intense coffee flavor and a crisp caramelized sugar crust that had to be broken through to yield the delicious custard.

Suzette received a birthday card at the room today from Cunard and I made the maître de aware that it was her birthday.

The night before, we made a plan with our dinner mates to meet for a champagne cocktail in the Winter Garden at 5:30 p.m.  I was a little late getting back to the room, but showered and we grabbed a chilled bottle of Grenelle Rose Brut sparkling wine from Samur and ran up to the Winter Garden where Ida and Vic and Michael and Nourie were waiting for us.  We poured glasses of wine and toasted Suzette.  Each of our dinner mate couples was kind enough to give Suzette a small gift and then we went to dinner, because there was a reception for Cunard repeat customers after dinner and each of our dinner mate couples were in that category.

If I have not mentioned it yet, I need to mention that all the sparkling wine made in Samur and Vouvray we drank and purchased was just like champagne, except mostly made with different grapes.  Some wineries, like Cellars Bouvet Ladubay in Saumur even make sparkling wines that are almost identical to champagne in the sense that it is made with chardonnay and some chenin blanc and pinot noir grapes.  If I recall correctly a rose made by Bouvet uses pinot noir grapes from property owned by the French actor Gérard Depardieu.  All the sparkling wines we drank in the Loire Valley were produce using the méthode traditionnelle, which is the same method used in Champagne for making champagne where there is a secondary fermentation in the bottle, except the Champagne producers have successfully lobbied the French government to restrict the use of the words méthode champenoise only on bottles of sparkling wine produced in Champagne.        

Dinner was lovely also.  We each ordered cold cucumber soup, which was not as good as that made at the Greenhouse Bistro, but this one was interesting because it was flavored and colored with beet juice, which was very nice.  I had a Roasted Duck thigh and leg with a potato dumpling and vegetables. Suzette got the winner; Lamb three ways, hash, confit and roasted.  For dessert I had chocolate mousse which was a little where we were served a birthday cake of strawberries and whipped cream and the service crew sang “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”.  One of the interesting and weird things about the boat is that the food is first rate and there is as much of it as you can possibly eat, but the alcohol is strictly controlled and very expensive.  So we are feeling like we are saving a $1000 by having 6 or 7 bottles of champagne.

After dinner we went to the Commadore’s Club on the 9^th floor and watched the sun set over the Newfoundland coast.  Sunset was around 8:00 p.m. and it was really beautiful.   At around9:00 we went up to the lookout on deck 12 and watched the sky darken to night.