Location: La Central, 250 Convention Blvd, San Juan, PR, 00907 https://distritot-mobile.com/la-central-by-mario-pagan Date Tasted: 3/22/2024 (Saturday) (dinner) Price: $18 Beverage: Chopin Martini, dry, blue cheese olives […]
Our initial reaction was one of hopeful curiosity. The smell was good and cheesy, but the (rolled!) carpaccio was hiding under a large bed of carrots, jicama and watercress.
I set my expectations low for this dish because the restaurant is essentially at the end of the cruise ship dock. Living in St. Thomas, in my experience you’re not going to achieve many mind-blowing culinary experiences in such locations. You’re there for the view; the water and salt breeze and people watching.
After a wonderful day at sea we sat down to the ship’s Italian restaurant for Valentine’s Day dinner. This was the first carpaccio appetizer I saw when I checked the restaurant menus after boarding, but it was the third I tasted on the trip.
On a cruise ship, there is no consequence to ordering a lot of food and then ultimately not eating it. For that reason many of the dishes, even in the specialty dining areas are understandably small. In this case, it’s really too bad because it was a very well-executed dish all around.
This selection from the Sint Maartin (Dutch side) is going to be given a tremendous amount of grace in this review for a number of reasons.
Great recovery Tre Belle! Although I rated this dish a 2/10 back just about 2 years ago, today’s offering was a vast improvement and salvaged the offering for future tastings.
Wow. Just wow. This is pretty much the definition of a deconstructed dish but the most notable feature is that this was a SINGLE piece of meat. One, gigantic, plate-filling, perfect cut. I have never seen that pulled off before.
Apparently, Tampa Florida shares some important similarities with the Netherlands. They both touch water, and they both seem to have carpaccio on every menu. Win for me.
I’ve heard from some Tampa locals that they don’t even try to go to Bern’s because it’s impossible to get in. They have a pretty amazing server training program and they really focus on doing things better than they need to be.
