Triton’s, Part Two

As for our appetizers – like we need them – Bob orders his standard serving of escargot. Yuck. I’m reminded of what a friend of my parents once said of escargot: “Anything will taste good if you put it in enough garlic butter”!

Becky can’t decide between two appetizers – both the Shrimp Medley and the Leek and Goat Cheese Quiche look good to her. I encourage her to ask for both, and she does.

Benjamin is at the age where he could easily order off of the adult menu if something looks good to him – remember at Walt Disney World ages 10 and up are considered “adults” – but he mostly sticks to the kids’ menus. He chooses chicken noodle soup for an appetizer, and when it comes it has Mickey-shaped noodles.

Me, I try the Normandy Salad, a mixture of lettuce, hearts of palm, and shredded red cabbage with slices of green apple and a “citrus shallot” vinaigrette. It’s good… but I really need to save room for my entrée, so I don’t indulge too much.

This being the night of the “Pirates In The Caribbean” deck party, we have skull-and-crossbones black bandannas at our places. Sutas folds Brandon and Benjamin’s bandannas into pirate hats. The adults don’t want to be left out, so Sutas good-naturedly folds ours, too. I’m impressed that they don’t all look alike – he knows several different designs. Interesting, the skills you pick up working on a cruise ship.

Our head server, a big goofy guy from South Africa named Bhoola, comes around to visit with us. I ask Bhoola if I can snap his picture, and he insists on striking a scowling pirate pose as I do. Fun guy. He also takes a picture of us – wearing our pirate hats – with Bob’s camera.

Our entrees arrive and they are wonderful. The halibut is very, very tasty, maybe not quite as good as the sea bass, but much better than the sole. This “Herb-Crusted” recipe is one I requested and received from the cruise line back in 2003, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make it on my own, as it is one of the most complicated recipes I’d ever seen. It not only takes hours of preparation time, it also includes ingredients that I’d never heard of, including one or two that an internet search shows may not be available in the U.S. I’ve decided I’ll have to be content with having it here.

Bob’s “lighter fare” steak and potato are huge.

Our meal time is relaxed and fun. Sutas does a trick where it appears that a coin passes through a saucer into a wine glass. He leaves the props with us for the boys to try to figure out how it’s done. I’m worried that we’re going to have broken glassware before this is over.

Sutas and Nino also both create more brain teaser puzzles from toothpicks to keep us entertained. At the urging of the boys, I throw a couple back at them – the old “What’s the Name of the Bus Driver” puzzle and a comical mind reading “trick” I stole from The Amazing Johnathan. They both laugh heartily at the routines. Hopefully I’ve given them more resources they can draw on to entertain future cruisers.

Dessert time! Bob orders another of his favorites: crème brulee, letting Sutas know how he never passes it up.

Sutas brings two of them.