Each year there is a Gala Dinner, theoretically a big deal, held for the World Voyagers. This year's dinner was held in Dubai, at the Madinat Jumeirah Resort Hotel- "The Arabian Resort". The setting was as totally Scheherazade / Sinbad / Arabian Nights as one could possibly imagine, complete with Yemeni-looking drummers, Turkish-looking belly dancers, a horrible trio of musicians/singers and the worst meal I have had in years and years.
The starter was supposed to be spinach and shitake mushroom salad - already not terribly "gala". What I got was shredded lettuce and carrots with oil. The main course was beef but I had checked the vegetarian menu expecting something typically Arab, but I got salmon. It was lukewarm, watery and undercooked: warm on the top and bottom and cold in the middle. Had I been able to find a waiter I would have sent it back, but, there were only 7 servers for 300 diners. The potatoes au gratin were also cold and tasted soapy, the cola was flat and room temperature. The dessert was beautifully presented but I do not like dark (bitter) chocolate. I know it has health benefits but so do Brussel sprouts and I don't want them for dessert, either.
Fortunately, I was sitting next to the sous-chef from the ship (he was the host at our table) - the perfect witness to the murder of my dinner.
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