The White Room, Ventura

I did dine at The White Room, a restaurant by Marco Pierre White at the top of the Ventura, itself a P&O cruise ship then someway off Lisbon, in April 2015. We sat inside as it was raining. For complementary starters, we were presented with an astringent aperitif, followed by a chowder of halibut, in an espresso cup, which I sipped curiously, and nibbled on the lumps of fish at the bottom. There were several varieties of bread in the basket, none particularly fresh. The waitress poured olive oil and balsamic vinegar together for a dip, however this made the dip too acidic and after it was finished I poured olive oil alone, which we preferred. My entree was parma ham, which lacked flavour and salt, on top of melon chunks, which I thought too firm. On top of both was a thin disc of a chewy substance I could not identify. Slightly separated, and at a 45 degree angle, was something resembling a spring roll without the filling, assuming the roll had been left outside for a few hours. In sum, I would not say the entree was the finest I have eaten. My companion ordered something with oysters, hoping she might get some oysters, but received lightly fried balls of fish-substances which may have included an oyster substance. At the corners of my plate were four small black cubes. I enquired of one of the two very efficient Asian waitresses what it was. They had already described the dishes as they brought them, but rather quickly and I could not understand their accent easily. She said it was a jelly with olive. I thought it gelatin strongly flavoured with vinegar. To drink we had a bottle of Lanson Black NV, which I thought a bit lemony. The main course was a fine rib-eye steak with pleasant if unremarkable vegetables. Hers was a lobster tartufi, which she though the best dish she had enjoyed for a long while. The dessert was Mr White's rice pudding. You would not have got fat on this portion of rice pudding, served in a small cup (indeed I felt a little peckish after the whole meal). But it was of exceptional smoothness and very tasty with the apricot sauce and dried apricots. Total cost for two was two covers (£25), champagne (£40), to which one should add the opportunity cost of not dining in the main restaurant (say £20) making about £130. In all, a very pleasant meal with excellent service. Although the waitresses had problems using my mobile phone to take a photo of us, so do I.