Pinnacle Caviar Serving Size?

[POA1]

Without knowing the actual brand name of the caviar, there is very little to go by only the price. At $45 for a 1-ounce serving, it is very inexpensive and doubtful to be of high quality. Most likely farmed from California, especially as HAL prides itself on using only sustainable seafood.

 

No, it was quite good. You don't have to take my word for it, but I know what I'm talking about. If you don't think it will be good, then simply don't buy it. See? Problem solved.

 

The markup at retail on caviar is quite high. We have our friends who own a restaurant buy it for us so that we can get their pricing. Cruise lines buy caviar in enormous quantities and they get far better prices than you, I, or even a large restaurant will see.

 

We normally get ours from Browne Trading in Portland, Maine. We've had farm raised caviars from Germany, Israel, Italy, the USA and Russia. When you could still get it regularly, we had wild Iranian and Russian eggs.

Edited March 12, 2014 by POA1

[Typhoon1]

Great pictures.

 

Thanks for sharing. Now, you've made me hungry.

[Guest superradiationboy]

I'm reminded of this humorous captioned photo:

 

http://blog.une.edu.au/ome/files/2009/02/24w7ed0.jpg

 

 

Haha that's funny! :D

[Krazy Kruizers]

You can see the photo in this post:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=42011153&postcount=246

 

The quality of the caviar was very good. The value was excellent. The presentation was "Meh." Please note that the photo is only my half of the caviar. My wife had an identical plate.

 

 

That is a wonderful size portion per person.

Definitely looks like it was worth the price.

[Krazy Kruizers]

That's pretty good for what they charge. I need to tell my friends who cruise on HAL about this. Thanks!

 

I don't think the presentation is that bad. Looking through my albums, quite a few places also presented their caviar modestly. Here are 3 of them...

 

I will happily eat them no matter how they're dressed. :D

 

 

 

 

 

Seeing all those presentations, especially the breakfast one, is making me hungry.

Thanks for sharing your pictures.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I'm reminded of this humorous captioned photo:

 

http://blog.une.edu.au/ome/files/2009/02/24w7ed0.jpg

 

 

Thanks for the chuckle this morning.

[Clarabella_Baby]

I am loving this thread and am quite curious about caviar.

 

If one would like to try caviar on the ship, as I've only ever had it stuck to the outside of sushi rolls, ;o) lolol, how would you go about eating it?.....without looking like a complete noob?

 

I've noticed in the pictures in this thread that there are always 'sides' of things served with it.

 

Thanks!

[AlohaPride]

I am loving this thread and am quite curious about caviar.

 

If one would like to try caviar on the ship, as I've only ever had it stuck to the outside of sushi rolls, ;o) lolol, how would you go about eating it?.....without looking like a complete noob?

 

I've noticed in the pictures in this thread that there are always 'sides' of things served with it.

 

Thanks!

 

I was wondering the same thing! ;)

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy

[Krazy Kruizers]

Whenever we had the caviar -- along with the sides -- there were always some toast points or small rounds of bread served with it.

Then you used either a small butter knife or a tiny spoon and put on as much as you wanted of an item or two or all along with the caviar on the toast points.

I noticed in the one picture that there appeared to be 2 tiny pancakes -- never had that served to us.

[CowPrincess]

I take the bread/toast point/blini/ (or heaven forbid cracker), spread on some creme fraiche or sour cream (using it as the glue to hold the caviar in place) then the caviar. I seldom use the other accompaniments (Sp?) but have been known to add a teeny spritz of fresh lemon. Teeny spritz. If I do add egg or onion, I put it on top of the caviar. A teeny amount.

[Guest superradiationboy]

I am loving this thread and am quite curious about caviar.

 

If one would like to try caviar on the ship, as I've only ever had it stuck to the outside of sushi rolls, ;o) lolol, how would you go about eating it?.....without looking like a complete noob?

 

I've noticed in the pictures in this thread that there are always 'sides' of things served with it.

 

Thanks!

 

I might be able to help a bit here. :)

 

Caviar is typically served with a few condiments - hard boiled egg yolks, egg whites, chives, creme fraiche, red onions and sometimes capers. Blinis (small little pancake like things) and/or simple crackers are usually provided as well, for you to put the eggs and whatever you like on. Mother of pearl spoons are considered the "proper" spoons to pick up the eggs... metal spoons and caviar together somehow taste strange.

 

Having said that, I usually eat mine without adding anything (I think one of the pics I posted has no condiments; that was on Lufthansa, the purser of the flight gave me an extra portion because without the condiments the regular serving looked too skimpy). Just slowly consuming them spoonful by spoonful and enjoy the "pops" of flavours.

 

My opinion is that, try different ways, whichever way you ended up enjoy the most, that's the best way of eating for you. :)

[K&RCurt]

The "Little Pancakes" are a Russian item called Blinis. They are a buckwheat pancake and are traditionally served with caviar in Russia.

 

Superradiationboy is right, many pieces of traditional metal flatware will impart a strange "metallic" taste to caviar and it is best served with mother-of-pear, ceramic or even plastic implements in order to keep it's flavor.

 

Wiki How has a decent primer on eating caviar: http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Caviar

[POA1]

The base is usually the blini, toast or whatever looks most like the "bottom." (Don't panic. It will be pretty obvious.) If you get both blinis and toast points, just pick one or the other. If you use both at the same time, that will look a bit off.

 

Next, put down a dollop of creme fraiche. (Again, don't panic. It's fairly tasteless - kind of like unsweetened whipped cream.) Next sprinkle on whatever toppings appeal to you. You usually get chopped hard cooked egg whites and yokes, minced dill, chopped onion, and capers. You may or may not get all of those accompaniments, but they're the most common. Finally, put on a some caviar and pop the little open faced sandwich in your mouth. If your base is toast points, take a few bites because the aforementioned mouth-popping would require a pretty big mouth. ;)

 

On the Noordam, the waitress spread our caviar over the blinis instead of letting us do it ourselves. This is wrong, but what the heck... It's not the end of the world. We were also missing the creme fraiche.

 

Your beverage of choice should be a dry champagne - not something sweet - or go the traditional Russian route and sip some ice cold vodka. (On the HAL list, Skyy or Stoli are good choices. Just make sure that you would like it shaken super cold. We prefer ours from the freezer so it's cold and undiluted, but were working in a limited environment here, just like the MacGyver of caviar.)

 

Hope that helps.

[POA1]

Forgot one very important thing. If you get the caviar container over a bed of ice as it's often served, make sure you get a non-metallic spoon. Metal will ruin the taste. The correct spoon is mother of pearl, but a plastic spoon would do in a pinch. Just avoid metal. (This is why you rarely see teenagers who have braces eating caviar. ;) )

[Clarabella_Baby]

Thanks guys! What amazing suggestions and ideas.

 

I might just be brave enough to try it now. :p

[Krazy Kruizers]

The base is usually the blini, toast or whatever looks most like the "bottom." (Don't panic. It will be pretty obvious.) If you get both blinis and toast points, just pick one or the other. If you use both at the same time, that will look a bit off.

 

Next, put down a dollop of creme fraiche. (Again, don't panic. It's fairly tasteless - kind of like unsweetened whipped cream.) Next sprinkle on whatever toppings appeal to you. You usually get chopped hard cooked egg whites and yokes, minced dill, chopped onion, and capers. You may or may not get all of those accompaniments, but they're the most common. Finally, put on a some caviar and pop the little open faced sandwich in your mouth. If your base is toast points, take a few bites because the aforementioned mouth-popping would require a pretty big mouth. ;)

 

On the Noordam, the waitress spread our caviar over the blinis instead of letting us do it ourselves. This is wrong, but what the heck... It's not the end of the world. We were also missing the creme fraiche.

 

Your beverage of choice should be a dry champagne - not something sweet - or go the traditional Russian route and sip some ice cold vodka. (On the HAL list, Skyy or Stoli are good choices. Just make sure that you would like it shaken super cold. We prefer ours from the freezer so it's cold and undiluted, but were working in a limited environment here, just like the MacGyver of caviar.)

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

You are right -- the Pinnacle server should never have put the caviar over the blinis.

Grey Goose works for us.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The "Little Pancakes" are a Russian item called Blinis. They are a buckwheat pancake and are traditionally served with caviar in Russia.

 

Superradiationboy is right, many pieces of traditional metal flatware will impart a strange "metallic" taste to caviar and it is best served with mother-of-pear, ceramic or even plastic implements in order to keep it's flavor.

 

Wiki How has a decent primer on eating caviar: http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Caviar

 

Thank you - my mind drew a complete blank over the official name of those tiny pancakes.

[cruisingxpert]

Forgot one very important thing. If you get the caviar container over a bed of ice as it's often served, make sure you get a non-metallic spoon. Metal will ruin the taste. The correct spoon is mother of pearl, but a plastic spoon would do in a pinch. Just avoid metal. (This is why you rarely see teenagers who have braces eating caviar. ;) )

 

Thanks for all the info. I too might try it again. I had some last year that was wonderful but on the few other occasions that I've had an opportunity to try it, the taste was awful - too salty and an unappealing fishy flavour.

 

CJ

[POA1]

Thanks guys! What amazing suggestions and ideas.

 

I might just be brave enough to try it now. :p

 

Go for it! Trying caviar on a cruise is probably one of least expensive was to get acquainted. If you decide you don't like it, just raise your hand, wave it back and forth, loudly stating, "Excuse me! I have some caviar here and I can't finish it. Can get a get a little help?" :D

[kazu]

Just want to thank you for posting the pics and your experience with the caviar on this thread ;)

 

I have broken the news to DH that the PG dinner is going to cost a tad more (then I told him the price) as I am definitely trying the caviar on the Maasdam to see :)

 

I told him I might only be eating appetizers - LOL

 

thank you again:D

[AlohaPride]

Thanks for caviar 101. I just might have to give it a try in August!

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy

[Guest superradiationboy]

Go for it! Trying caviar on a cruise is probably one of least expensive was to get acquainted. If you decide you don't like it, just raise your hand, wave it back and forth, loudly stating, "Excuse me! I have some caviar here and I can't finish it. Can get a get a little help?" :D

 

Oh, I do so agree. Caviar on a cruise is significantly cheaper than any land based establishments. I tend to over-indulge... and then don't want them for a while... until the next cruise. :D

 

I haven't been on the big ships for years, not quite sure how mass market cruises are priced these days. But if I add inflation on the cruise fare I paid years ago, HAL's $45 upcharge is quite a good buy.

 

Le Champagne on Silversea has a $30 cover, which has ossetra caviar, seared foie gras, goldleaf risotto, lobster etc. on the menu. Even the prices on their regular caviar menu, I find, are often cheaper than on land, just like their for $ wine list. That's another good deal.

 

Seabourn has caviar anytime you want it. That's the best deal, even that portions are small. But... I find they tend to cut corners on some other food, like bay shrimps.

 

SeaDream used to have caviar all the time, but I think they just cut that. Only that caviar champagne splash thing once a cruise. Still better than nothing I guess.

 

Oceania, if I remember correctly, usually serves sevruga twice in the dinning room - for welcome and farewell dinners. It's not bad.

 

On land based restaurants, if my memory serves me well, I have never seen anything less than a $150 supplement for one serving.

Edited March 14, 2014 by superradiationboy