Important question about Potatoes

[mfs2k]

 

I'm curious what kind of breakfast potatoes are served on Celebrity ships at the Buffet and in the dining rooms..

 

One of my pet peeves about another cruise line was most breakfast potatoes were chopped tater tots. 

 

I like crispy home fries or crispy hash browns with my eggs.

 

What can I expect next month on Equinox?

 

Bonus question:  How are the scrambled eggs?  

 

PS:  I know the title of this post was deceiving but I think we can all agree: There really isn't an important question about potatoes on a cruise line forum.  Potatoes just aren't that important, so if you feel I click-baited you, I'm sorry, but you should bear some of the responsibility for reading this far.    Don't be mad.  Just answer the question if you know.   Thanks :)  Happy Cruising!   

-M

 

Edited February 22, 2019 by mfs2k

[Saturngrl]

I was on the Equinox last week.  I'm not a potato fan, and don't recall seeing hash browns in the buffet.  I can report the scrambled eggs are delicious!   It surprised me because it's challenging to keep scrambled eggs from over cooking. 

 

Also, the breakfast buffet features an omelet station, as well as poached/Eggs Benedict station that are both fantastic. 

 

Enjoy your cruise on this fantastic ship!

[guilga]

I'll be able to tell you for sure in three weeks, but I recall breakfast potatoes are delicious on Celebrity. They're what I would call crispy hash browns. There are also potato wedges with spices if I recall correctly. You'll probably like the choices :)

[4774Papa]

Never been impressed with the breakfast potatoes from the buffet.  They aren't bad, just nothing to write home about.  I do like that grits are now provided on Celebrity and Royal C.  I am a southerner and love my grits.

[helen haywood]

Equinox will have triangular fried hash brown patties on some days.  Either they've run out or I haven't found them every single morning.  They do have fried bread in the English Breakfast station and sometimes, before caffeine kicks in, I've blurrily misidentified them as the hash brown patties.  Also sauteed potatoes but these are not crispy.  I, too, have been impressed with the tureens of scrambled eggs.  Some of them have cheese in them.  You can always make your own cheesy eggs by putting a slice of cheese under or on top of your helping.  Celebrity really does have a great variety of breakfast offerings.

 

If you haven't sailed on Celebrity before, keep in mind that the treats in the glass case at Cafe al Bacio on Deck 5 are free.  The coffees and teas have a cost if you don't have a beverage package but you don't need to order a drink to get a pastry in the mornings or a dessert in the afternoon and evenings.  Sometimes we skip dessert in the MDR because we are too full and have dessert later at Cafe al Bacio.

 

[Luvcrusn]

I haven't seen crispy potatoes, but haven't looked for them. The omelet station will make fresh eggs any way you request. DH often gets basted, sunny side up, or over easy eggs made to order there. I have taken smoked salmon and capers there and asked them to make scrambled eggs with salmon and capers and they were happy to do it.

[paulhulatt]

If I recall correctly, on Constellation last year they had both American style thinner hash browns, and the chuckier triangular ones with the british breakfast selection in Oceanview Cafe.  Both were delicious.

[Alsmez]

In my experience, both fried hash brown patties and what I would call home fries (potatoes cut into 1/2" dice and sautéed/possibly roasted) are always available on the buffet. DH often eats the home fries, but sadly finds that they are occasionally undercooked and rarely crispy even when cooked through. Doesn't stop him from eating them, though! 🙂

 

As for eggs, the scrambled ones on the buffet are made from reconstituted eggs, of which I am not a fan. You can ask them to make you freshly scrambled eggs at the egg station, but you MUST specify that you want them made with fresh whole eggs, and hold them to it - otherwise they will use the reconstituted mix as well. Same with omelets. I once had to go back to the station three times to get my omelet made correctly with real eggs - there happened to be a not-so-conscientious employee working the omelet station that cruise who felt free to ignore my instructions to use real eggs, which was quite frustrating.

[chemmo]

The hash browns served with room service breakfast have been yummy....Come to think of it the fries they serve up with lunchtime options are scrumptious too. Perhaps they are the potato masters....Sorry never looked at Oceanview. 

 

Any food  that anyone really wants to enjoy on a cruise is important and knowing before hand where to find the best is vital!

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Hash brown are real potatoes chopped up but are not crispy and often have chopped onions and peppers in the.    They also have finger potatoes that are browned but again are not crisp.

[dkjretired]

2 hours ago, Saturngrl said:

I was on the Equinox last week.  I'm not a potato fan, and don't recall seeing hash browns in the buffet.  I can report the scrambled eggs are delicious!   It surprised me because it's challenging to keep scrambled eggs from over cooking. 

 

Also, the breakfast buffet features an omelet station, as well as poached/Eggs Benedict station that are both fantastic. 

 

Enjoy your cruise on this fantastic ship!

 

You can also go to the omelet area and have scrambled eggs made the way you want.

Edited February 22, 2019 by dkjretired

[mfs2k]

1 hour ago, Alsmez said:

As for eggs, the scrambled ones on the buffet are made from reconstituted eggs, of which I am not a fan. You can ask them to make you freshly scrambled eggs at the egg station, but you MUST specify that you want them made with fresh whole eggs, and hold them to it - otherwise they will use the reconstituted mix as well.

 

Are you sure they're reconstituted? 

 

It's possible they are frozen cracked eggs or they could also purchase 5 gallon buckets of fresh cracked eggs as well.  This doesn't bother me.

 

Reconstituted, to me, implies they were once whole eggs, then freeze dried and shipped like mashed potato flakes, then reconstituted with water on board.  I doubt Celebrity would use this product, but if I'm wrong, someone please correct me. 

 

Here's a frozen product they may use, but there's nothing reconstituted about it.  

 

 

[Alsmez]

I haven't seen them mix the powdered stuff with my own eyes but I assume that's what they do because there is a MASSIVE difference in texture between the non-freshly cracked eggs and the freshly cracked ones (I agree the frozen product you mentioned isn't too bad). I was once served an omelet in Blu made from the non-fresh stuff that happened to have been undercooked in the center, and took an unsuspecting bite - the uncooked egg slime was utterly repulsive. That was actually the last time we tried Blu for breakfast!

[mfs2k]

The frozen product above says it's made from whole eggs and "dairy."  The "dairy" could be anything and probably isn't regular milk, otherwise they would have said so. Maybe the "dairy" gives it shelf life and holding life on a buffet, but also gives buffet scrambled eggs its weird texture.  gross.  I'm getting eggs at the omelet station from now on.. 

[mfs2k]

Cooking instructions for above frozen egg product:

 

Thanks to the premixed recipe, all you have to do is cook the eggs without the hassle of cracking eggs to save you time during food prep for the day! These eggs can be cooked straight out of the freezer or after you've let them thaw. Plus, you can cook the eggs right in the bag for added convenience. Simply choose a stock pot or steam kettle large enough to float the bag. Fill your vessel 3/4 of the way with water and heat it until it simmers. Add the bag of eggs to the water and maintain a low simmer between 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit. When the eggs have reached your desired texture, remove the bag from the water, knead the bag to break apart the eggs, and you're ready to serve! 

[Alsmez]

5 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

The frozen product above says it's made from whole eggs and "dairy."  The "dairy" could be anything and probably isn't regular milk, otherwise they would have said so. Maybe the "dairy" gives it shelf life and holding life on a buffet, but also gives buffet scrambled eggs its weird texture.  gross.  I'm getting eggs at the omelet station from now on.. 

 

I'm guessing "dairy" would be powdered milk in a product that is meant to be cooked in the bag, straight from frozen. 

[mfs2k]

1 minute ago, Alsmez said:

 

I'm guessing "dairy" would be powdered milk in a product that is meant to be cooked in the bag, straight from frozen. 

makes sense

[Luvcrusn]

54 minutes ago, Alsmez said:

I haven't seen them mix the powdered stuff with my own eyes but I assume that's what they do because there is a MASSIVE difference in texture between the non-freshly cracked eggs and the freshly cracked ones (I agree the frozen product you mentioned isn't too bad). I was once served an omelet in Blu made from the non-fresh stuff that happened to have been undercooked in the center, and took an unsuspecting bite - the uncooked egg slime was utterly repulsive. That was actually the last time we tried Blu for breakfast!

How log ago was that? We've never been served a bad omelet in Blu. I'm thinking that may have been a one off.

Edited February 22, 2019 by Luvcrusn

[CruisinRoxy]

Yes on the Equinox a few weeks ago the hash browns were the triangle shaped glorified tater tots.  They were pretty good when hot but we had them thru room service and they were cold so therefore sub par.   At the breakfast buffet they also had roasted potato chunks. They were good but not crispy the way I like.   

[Alsmez]

5 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

How log ago was that? We've never been served a bad omelet in Blu. I'm thinking that may have been a one off.

 

Several years ago, on Reflection. It actually happened twice on that cruise - as I recall the first day I ordered an omelet without asking that it be made with fresh-cracked eggs and was served one made with the reconstituted stuff, and then the next time I specified that they make it with fresh-cracked and it still came made with the recon stuff. Hopefully they have upped their game since then, but we were not at all impressed with breakfast in Blu. Dinner was another story; we found the meals mostly very good to excellent. I wrote a LONG review of our dining experiences on that cruise, let me see if I can dig it up.

[GeorgesGal]

4 hours ago, mfs2k said:

 

 

Bonus question:  How are the scrambled eggs?  

 

 

 

For freshly made scrambled eggs - made with fresh eggs - go to the omelette station  and order them.  The ones on the steam tables tend to be runny and I think made from powdered eggs.

[Alsmez]

Here's that old Blu review (from 2014):  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1903484-blu-review-reflection-11814/

[Luvcrusn]

Alsmez, we sailed on Reflection in December 2017 and are booked in Aqua again on her in 2020. We found Blu to be quite good, and excellent at special orders. I'd suggest you try again and ask the maître d to make sure that your eggs are cooked with fresh cracked eggs. Even though Reflection is X's largest ship and as such serves more passengers than any other ship in Blu, we found it the best at meeting special orders so far. Anyway, I think we should return to the important topic of potatoes!

Edited February 22, 2019 by Luvcrusn

[mfs2k]

1 minute ago, Luvcrusn said:

I think we should return to the important topic of potatoes!

 

Yesssssssssssss

[Alsmez]

30 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

Alsmez, we sailed on Reflection in December 2017 and are booked in Aqua again on her in 2020. We found Blu to be quite good, and excellent at special orders. I'd suggest you try again and ask the maître d to make sure that your eggs are cooked with fresh cracked eggs. Even though Reflection is X's largest ship and as such serves more passengers than any other ship in Blu, we found it the best at meeting special orders so far. Anyway, I think we should return to the important topic of potatoes!

 

Well, we'll be on Summit in our first ever Sky Suite this May, so we'll get to harass the chefs in Luminae about fresh eggs. We would definitely try AQ again on Reflection if the price were right, though. Our last couple of S-class cruises we debated AQ vs. all-specialty dining and all-specialty proved less expensive, but that may not always be the case!