Princess Cruises Sapphire Princess

Overview

One of the two surcharge restaurants on Sapphire Princess, Sabatini’s is an Italian trattoria-style dining room that is open for dinner only, with murals of cliché Italian coastlines lining the walls. Although the food was generally good, greatly assisted by being cooked to order in the open kitchen, it’s not stellar. Still, the relaxed atmosphere and attentive service makes a visit here worth the modest surcharge.

Food

Our meals started with assorted breads served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and accompanied by a dish of olives marinated with slivers of orange zest. We started with an artichoke soufflé, a decadent appetizer rich in butter and egg and topped with shards of black truffle. Fried calamari served from a paper cone was excellent—the squid tender, the batter light.

For main courses we ordered the penne with beef short ribs, an unsophisticated but hearty and satisfying dish—it would have been better had the pasta been served al dente. Our meat course was a steak, which was the only sour note of the meal. Although the meat was cooked as ordered, the cut was a bit chewy and salty. There were slow-baked tomato slices on top, which were nice, but the spinach salad that the steak was seated against was overdosed with salt, so much as to be inedible.

For dessert we enjoyed zabaglione, the creamy Italian custard laced with Marsala wine—this was draped over fresh strawberries, blackberries and blueberries.

Drinks

The ship’s standard wine list was available, and cocktails from the standard drink menu could be ordered.

Additional Details

Sabatini’s was open for dinner nightly from 6 to 11 p.m.