Samba Grill – Allure of the Seas

Another dining experience that we paid additional money for on the Allure of the Seas was the Samba Grill, the Brazilian steakhouse that is one of the premium dining options on the ship.

When we were on the ship, this dining experience was located in the solarium, which is on the fifteenth deck along with the pools. We had to make a reservation, so it was the six of us who were together on the cruise. We had actually planned this dinner from the beginning, but it was pretty late in the cruise (I think the second to last night), so we were pretty tired of food by then.

Ohh well…

Our reservation was for 7PM. They made us start with the delicious food at the starter bar (which is the same area as the Solarium Cafe during the day).

There were dozens of prepared salads and dishes. Some based on seafood, some based on vegetables and starches, some based on meats. There was also a cheese, bread, and cracker station, and a station that had a plethora of sliced deli meats.

I made sure I didn’t overdo it because, after my first experience at a similar restaurant, I knew how it was going to go.

None of the dishes I tried from the starter bar were outstanding, but it was a fun way to start the meal. They brought some popovers to the table…

…and then all hell broke loose!

We had to take a break, which means we had to set our “button” to green.

…and the meat continued!

By that point we had enough! Ohh. I totally forgot to mention what each one was. Well, how about this? Have some fun trying to match each one up with the menu.

To me, the outstanding items were the picanha and the frango. I also liked the linguica. The rest were pretty dry and not really memorable.

They sent around an exotic dancer at various points in the night. Not that kind of exotic. ‘Exotic” in the sense that she didn’t dance like American hipsters.

To round out the meal, of course, I had to order dessert…

I honestly for the life in me can’t remember what the dessert was. I definitely remember it being excessive. But that didn’t stop me from ordering the special dessert shot.

The shot was $6. It had a creamy layer and a fruity layer. Once mixed, it tasted like raspberry cheesecake. I’d love to learn how to recreate this one day!

Even though we had enough food by that point, we very much enjoyed the meal and the experience. It was definitely worth the extra $35/person, especially since the cruise was free!