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June 2017

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Day 1 on Holland America Volendam and we checked-in at noon and had a lot of spare time until the ship started leaving Canada Place in Vancouver. Our next 7 days, we would be embarking on a journey to Alaska.

Interior

We headed to Lido Market for a buffet lunch as some of us started getting hungry.

You seat yourself and find a table. Since we had 10 people in our party, we had to find a few tables close to each other.

Food Stations

As we walked through the different stations, there is a cheese station, salad station, sandwiches, different entrees, carvery, sushi, desserts, beverages and other things. There is really a little bit of everything here.

The staff are very friendly, but you’ll need a bit of patience waiting in like for them to serve you.

Buffet Style

I find this a nice place to chill at since you can basically wander in any time to get water, tea or coffee.

Depending on their hours, they may have a reduced amount of stations available to get food from. As this was the first restaurant we went to, we ate a lot to try to get a sense of this restaurant.

All of the food here was very so-so. Some items were salty, other were too sweet, but other wise, lots of food available.

It’s kinda what happens when food is made en mass.

We learned pretty quickly that we shouldn’t over indulge ourselves. There are other lunch options like Dive-In, The Dining Room, and Pinnacle Grill that I personally find better on the ship. On the contrary, if you love variety, Lido Market definitely has that. Dining here is complimentary and part of your cruise package, so you really aren’t losing out.

On our first dinner at The Dining Room on Holland America Volendam for our 7 day Alaskan Cruise, we were seated at 5:30pm for a group of 10. This dining experience is complimentary and included with the cruise.

We ended up being 15 minutes late for our seating since we got a bit confused on the boat.

We got to choose a starter, main and dessert. But nothing stops you from ordering as many dishes as you want. They can also cater to food allergies if they know ahead of time. My sister has celiac disease and they were able to recommend some gluten-free dishes and had gluten-free bread available. Our server – Edy would be the same server for us the entire time here until the end of the cruise.

Bread and Butter

Appetizers

Prosciutto and Caponata with smoked olive oil and sundried tomato bread stick. This is a nice start and well balanced.

My relatives had the French Onion Soup “Les Halles” with Gruyere cheese crouton, but all of them said it was too salty.

Seared Scallops was a recommended dish and the most popular ordered item. It also has bacon, tomato, avocado puree and vanilla-scented vinaigrette.

Mains

Chicken, Papaya and Avocado salad with lime juice, walnut oil vinaigrette, watercress and walnuts. A pretty basic salad, but one of the healthier options.

Smoked Chicken Breast Ballotine with Orange Bourbon sauce with celeriac and roasted brussel sprouts. The chicken breast ballotine was so gross. Very dry and not appetizing at all. After eating half of the dish, I found a hair in the dish. I was very disgusted, so I told the server and asked for a new one.

Beef Short Rib Stroganoff with egg parsley noodles, turnips and carrots was great. This was my second entrée as the first one was pretty damn bad.

Grilled Steelhead Salmon with Ginger-cilantro Pesto with basmati rice, sautéed swiss chard, and garlic cherry tomatoes. A good dish as per my sister.

Dessert

We put in our dessert order last and there are so many choices.

Sliced fruit is a healthy dessert option compared to the others.

Viennese apple strudel was what my mom ordered.

Crème Brulee was a gluten-free option. My sister said it was good but the portion was generous.

Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake was ok. A bit sweet and I didn’t like it topped with mini marshmallows.

Triple Berry Alaskan Tart comes as a small bite and some lime-scented diplomat cream.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the dishes can be hit or miss, but since there aren’t restrictions on how much you can order, you can keep on ordering until you find something you like. Just try not to over order and waste too much food. A few extra items like alcohol and coffee costs extra but they make it known that its extra.

Doritos HeatWave is a new limited edition chip that is now in grocery stores across the country. What I find interesting about the chip is that it starts of with a bold BBQ flavour and then the heat kicks in a bit later in the back of your mouth. The spice isn’t very intense but there is a tingle.

With Summer just around the corner, I can definitely see myself enjoying a bag of these at a party. If you love Doritos, you’ll love this flavour too. The taste of the underlying chip is so nostalgic to me since I loved Doritos since I was a kid.

Check it out if you see it at one of the major grocery stores and grab it before it’s gone.

Website: https://www.doritos.ca

Backcountry Brewing in Squamish is another craft brewery that just opened up in April of 2017. They join the great craft brewery scene in Squamish as the 3rd craft brewery here.

Tasting Room

The tasting room has a very good size and very homey inside. It was pretty busy here on the weekend around 3pm. All the tables and the bar seats were occupied.

The beer was flowing and lots of pizza was being consumed here.

Flights

I got a flight and I had the Squamish Lagger, Ridgerunner Pilsner, and the Trailbreaker Pale ale. I got them to choose the lighter less hoppy beers. All 3 were delicious.

Oyama Sausage

The juicy Oyama Sausage is wrapped in pizza dough and there are some pickles on the side. The pizza dough was deliciously crisp and the sausage inside was super delicious.

Soppresetta Pizza

The pizza has soppressetta salami, kalamata olives, confit garlic, onion, chili, and cream sauce.

I love the thin crust and it’s so crunchy. A good amount of toppings and I love the subtle spicy kick from the salami.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we really loved our experience here. The beer is great and also the food is really spot on. I’ll definitely be back.

We Rate Backcountry Brewing: 

Address:
405-1201 Commercial Way, Squamish, BC

Websitehttps://www.backcountrybrewing.com/

Backcountry Brewing Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato