Royal Caribbean has a brand new signature eating expertise on Utopia of the Seas that gives the very best high quality Japanese meals you may discover on any of its ships.
Izumi Omakase is the third providing of Japanese delicacies by the cruise line, and it is the creation of Izumi Grasp Chef Travis Kamiyama. He is been accountable for all of the Izumi menus because the restaurant’s inception.
There are two seatings per night in a comfy room tucked between the sushi and hibachi sides of the restaurant.
As somebody that dines at Izumi on almost each crusing I’m going on, I used to be curious how totally different the meals could be at Omakase and what precisely the expertise entails.
The associated fee is $129.99 per visitor, and it is an eight course meal that features meals and alcohol pairings. When you have the Limitless Eating Package deal, there’s a $59.99 surcharge.
The restaurant is in the midst of a revamped Izumi
On Utopia of the Seas you may discover Izumi in a model new location, taking over residency in the midst of the Central Park neighborhood.
In reality, it is the biggest Izumi Royal Caribbean has constructed so far, and features a conventional sushi restaurant, hibachi tables, and now the Omakase choice.
A lot of the seating is contained in the restaurant, however there are just a few sushi tables exterior too.
A desk for six is an intimate eating expertise
The Omakase desk is a communal eating expertise, the place six individuals are seated collectively throughout a relatively giant wooden desk.
Much like Chef’s Desk, you may be seated with different passengers you might not know. The place you sit precisely is as much as you, as there is no assigned seating.
Your host guides you thru the meal
There are two individuals mainly accountable for your meal, however the host is who you narrates the expertise and explains every little thing.
Talking each Japanese and English, every step of the meal is launched with particulars of which elements are included and what to search for inside the dish or drink.
Eight programs of food and drinks
The menu has eight programs, and every comes with a drink pairing.
Identical to any Royal Caribbean restaurant, they’ll accommodate dietary restrictions or particular wants. As somebody who doesn’t eat shellfish, they had been capable of present me options for these dishes. One other visitor at my desk didn’t drink alcohol, and was served mocktails as an alternative.
In response to Royal Caribbean, omakase personal eating expertise shouldn’t be really helpful for kids and there’s no children pricing.
I used to be initially apprehensive eight programs could be an excessive amount of meals, however every of the choices was petite and I feel simply the correct amount of meals.
My eight course meal began off with a soup
The ichi course begins with a miso lobster bisque soup that comes with lobster meat and caviar.
Since I do not eat shellfish, my alternate soup was a mushroom soup.
A welcome glass of wine was served chilled with the soup. This might be the one non-sake drink we would have throughout the meal, though the host was adamant you possibly can request different drinks at any level.
Sakura carpaccio was subsequent
Our first batch of uncooked fish got here with the ni course, and this was the primary alternative to style the upper high quality sushi.
4 items of sushi-grade fish had been plated, and these had been “meatier” cuts that tasted higher than the sashimi I might often get at Izumi.
With this course, we had been additionally served our first cup of sake. Sake is a rice wine, and every course had a special sake pairing to strive.
Nigiri sushi was essentially the most acquainted course
I feel for those who think about what sushi is, then a nigiri roll might be what you consider.
For the san course, we had been served three nigiri rolls together with the sake.
An oyster course adopted that was “must-try”
On the shi course, friends got a single oyster that got here with a spicy ponzu sauce.
My tablemates commented the oyster was improbable and implored the others who had been hesitant to eat an oyster to provide it a strive.
My various was a spoonful of diced sashimi served in a spoon. I feel they needed me to have the identical sensation of with the ability to eat an oyster in that method.
A tuna ball was a enjoyable twist on sushi
For the go course, I can finest describe this as a nigiri tuna roll rolled up right into a ball.
I had by no means seen this earlier than, however it was akin to a bite-sized sushi roll and positively made it simpler to benefit from the flavors collectively.
The miso broiled cod was so flavorful
One of the best factor I ate throughout the omakase meal may need been throughout the roku course once I was served the miso broiled black cod.
I by no means would have imagined how good this tasted, and it was the dish I actually needed to get the recipe so I may make it at dwelling.
This was an especially tender piece of fish that had a miso glaze on it, and it was my favourite taste of the night.
The wagyu beef was a shock hit
The final course earlier than dessert was the wagyu beef served with pepper and I actually preferred this greater than I believed I might.
Identical to the cod, I loved the flavour greater than I anticipated in all probability as a result of I didn’t account for the nikiri glaze.
A dessert to wrap all of it up
The ultimate course was a chocolate matcha served with a sorbet.
I usually do not eat many desserts on a cruise ship, however it was a candy method to finish the meal.
The entire eating expertise took two hours
Our meal started at 6pm and we walked out of the restaurant somewhat after 8pm, simply earlier than the 8:30pm omakase meal was scheduled to start.
Given this can be a chef-driven meal, it’s important to anticipate it will not be an “out and in” sort meal. I do not assume it felt pointless lengthy. In reality, I believed the programs got here in fast succession with out main gaps at an affordable tempo.
My favourite dish was the miso broiled cod, adopted by the “tuna ball”. There was was nothing I did not like, and possibly the dessert was the one course I did not take care of.
The service was impeccable
I did not know a lot of what to anticipate from an omakase meal, however I assumed the service could be wonderful, and I used to be right.
Our host was attentive and he or she made an effort to make sure everybody had every little thing they wanted. In contrast to a traditional meal the place a waiter has just a few tables to take care of, she was targeted solely on us.
Omakase is the right meal for Japanese meals followers
As somebody that loves sushi, I walked away from my first omakase meal very happy and I believed it was the right meal for somebody like me that basically enjoys Japanese meals.
In contrast to hibachi or sushi, the upper price ticket makes it extra of a luxurious to pattern every now and then. I would love to do that with a bunch of associates, maybe on a group cruise.
I feel given the actual fact we had sake pairings and the notably increased high quality meals, it was well-worth the price. The caveat is you ought to be somebody that loves sushi and is open to attempting new issues. The meals is not that adventurous and did not delve into the forms of sushi that I feel scare lots of people away, corresponding to octopus or caviar.
General, I believed Izumi omakase was higher than I anticipated and it is the sort of meal price attempting as a particular occasion.