For the second year in a row, Vic Cherikoff and I were invited onboard the Regent Seven Seas Mariner as part of their Spotlight on Wine and Food cruises. The Spotlight on Wine and Food cruises feature local chefs and their cuisine onboard and as such we showcased Australian herbs, spices, fruits, meats and seafood.
The Regent Seven Seas Mariner is the world’s first all-suite, all-balcony ship, as well as the first to offer dining by the famed Le Cordon Bleu® of Paris in Signatures, one of four single, open-seating restaurants. Catering to only 700 guests, she is one of the most spacious cruise ships afloat.
We boarded the Regent Seven Seas Mariner in Darwin on Melbourne Cup day and during the cruise to Sydney we hosted a few Australian themed dinner menus in the Compass Rose restaurant, one of the menus included;
Australian native flavoured bread selection with macadamia nut oil and wattleseed
Creamy asparagus and potato soup with Sydney mintbush and a smoke oil drizzle and garnished with crispy kangaroo prosciutto dusted with Red Desert Dust.
Top End cold smoked barramundi, Alpine Pepper micro-greens and a wild lime and lemon myrtle mayonnaise
Sorbet of Lemon Aspen
Wattleseed infused Territory beef fillet with paperbark smoked mash, spinach, riberry (confit) and Alpine pepper jus
Selection of seasonal vegetables and munthari berries wrapped in paperbark and served with an Outback bush tomato chutney and toasted Alpine pepper macadamia nut pieces
Desert trio of wattleseed pavlova with rosella confit, lemon myrtle crème brûlée with Quandong confit and a wild lime curd tartlet
Apart from the Australian themed dinners we also hosted a series of Australian cooking classes using authentic Australian ingredients. During these classes, guests learnt how to preare some of the dishes on the menu. Afterwards, those interested were also able to purchase a copy of the Dining Downunder Cookbook and Australian supplies of herbs, spices and more in the shop onboard.
The Regent Cruise took us from Darwin around the Top End over to the Thursday Islands and Cape York Peninsula. Then as we hit the eastern seaboard we headed south down the coast stopping in at Cooktown, then Cairns, then cruising through then Great Barrier Reef and stopping in at Hamilton Island, then home to Sydney. The highlight for me was cruising through the Great Barrier Reef, as the water and vista was unbelievable. The other highlight was enter Sydney heads at dawn and slowly cruising into Sydney Harbour.
To view photos of the Regent Seven Seas Mariner trip, see the Cruise Photo Gallery.
