Generic Fresh Market Seafood listed on MDR menu

[farjar]

On 10/30/2021 at 8:04 PM, MisterBill99 said:

I've noticed that the new HAL menus (at least the ones in the Navigator app) list a generic "fresh market seafood" on several dishes, and I don't really understand why they're doing it. At land restaurants, market fish is put on the menu because they will prepare a different type depending on what they get from the market on a given day (and also do not print new menus every day). Holland isn't doing that (even at Rudi's Sel de Mer, they didn't get local fish on our Koningsdam Norway cruise a few years ago, which I was told they WOULD do and bothers me to this day). So why are they confusing passengers by not listing the actual fish on the menu? I know that my wife and I are not interested in ordering generic fish, and want to know what it is before deciding on an entrée and I can't imagine we are the only ones. Listing it generically means you need to wait for the server to come over and ask them what it is (and hopefully they know and don't have to go ask). They print menus fresh every day, so I do not know why they can't just put what they are serving that night. 

 

Can anyone who has been on a ship since they started doing this provide insight?

We just got off the Koningsdam Mexico cruise on Oct. 31.  The first night the "fresh market seafood" was swordfish.  It was absolutely delicious.  Just ask your waiter every night before you order dinner.  Another night it was Mahi Mahi.  If I recall correctly on one gala night they had halibut and sea bass on the other.

[rkacruiser]

Fresh or frozen, I have never tasted salmon tasting the same as trout.  

[Florida_gal_50]

7 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

Fresh or frozen, I have never tasted salmon tasting the same as trout.  

I have somewhat.  I’ve purchased trout a few times at the market and it looked like salmon but lighter in colour.  I thought it tasted more “fishy” but similar.  I’m sure it won’t be long until I’m told I’m incorrect though.

[Dunmore2]

Rainbow trout and steelhead are ray-finned fishes in the salmon family. That being said, I prefer the other types of salmon. As mentioned earlier, Arctic char is related to both of them, and I find it extremely tasty.

[MisterBill99]

15 hours ago, Dunmore2 said:

Rainbow trout and steelhead are ray-finned fishes in the salmon family. That being said, I prefer the other types of salmon. As mentioned earlier, Arctic char is related to both of them, and I find it extremely tasty.

 

Yes, steelhead is what I was thinking of, in addition to arctic char. It's also known as salmon trout.

Edited November 3, 2021 by MisterBill99

[VMax1700]

Over here we have what is called 'Sea Trout'.  

Taste and look is very similar to Salmon. 

https://fishinginireland.info/salmon/sea-trout-fishing-in-ireland/

 

It is much preferable to farmed salmon.

[FlaMariner]

Got off the Rotterdam 11/3 (2 week TA).....

 

The first question for the waiter was "what's the fish today" and it was all over the board.....Had some great fish dishes (variety of fish) as well as shrimp and scallops. 

 

The food is as good as ever.....portions were adequate.....arrived warm.....service was top notch.....

 

 

[Caribbean Chris]

Our first night aboard Rotterdam VII (November 5) the market fish was swordfish and it was excellent. I do not know if it was brought aboard fresh that day in Ft. Lauderdale. I wish I could cook swordfish and have it turn out so tender - we both ate every bite and they were generous servings.

 

[FlaMariner]

16 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Our first night aboard Rotterdam VII (November 5) the market fish was swordfish and it was excellent. I do not know if it was brought aboard fresh that day in Ft. Lauderdale. I wish I could cook swordfish and have it turn out so tender - we both ate every bite and they were generous servings.

 

 

I agree....I had that on the Rotterdam also....It was excellent.  I don't care if it was fresh or frozen or whatever...it was delicious.  As was other fish/seafood I had onboard.

[Dunmore2]

It looks delicious, thanks for clarifying what this ambiguous dish could be. 

[jeh10641]

Hi, All,

I grew up in the suburbs of New York City and went to college in Maine. I used to love Atlantic salmon until I moved to the Seattle area. Here we have Pacific salmon (apparently in five varieties) and there is no comparison. Pacific salmon is much tastier, fresh or frozen. In many cases if caught off Alaska it flash frozen. In Seattle's iconic Pike Place Market, fresh salmon is tossed from one vendor another.

 

Most of the Atlantic salmon sold here is farm raised. Out of respect for the fish and the fishermen, I will not eat farm raised salmon. I always ask if it farm or wild. If the server does not know, I ask for them to find out from the chef. If there is hesitation, I will not order it.

 

I also love Idaho rainbow trout most of which is farm grown but that is okay with me.

 

At a dinner party I hosted at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas for customers of mine attending a bookseller's convention, the Maitre d', with great pride, announced that Atlantic salmon was the special dinner that evening. I told him he would not sell any to my party of 20. He asked why. I said we were all from the NW. After dinner, he came over to say I was right. Enough said!

 

Jim

[Sharon in AZ]

On 11/2/2021 at 4:39 PM, Dunmore2 said:

Rainbow trout and steelhead are ray-finned fishes in the salmon family. That being said, I prefer the other types of salmon. As mentioned earlier, Arctic char is related to both of them, and I find it extremely tasty.

Exactly!  However, I love Steelhead and Rainbow trout more than salmon. 
 

We ate lunch at a seafood restaurant last week and the special was Steelhead.  It does have a pink color and flakes like salmon but I find it milder. 
 

[RGEDad]

17 hours ago, jeh10641 said:

Most of the Atlantic salmon sold here is farm raised. Out of respect for the fish and the fishermen, I will not eat farm raised salmon. ...

 

I also love Idaho rainbow trout most of which is farm grown but that is okay with me.

OK - I just have to ask:

• Why do you not eat farm raised Atlantic Salmon, but it is OK to eat farm raised Idaho rainbow trout??
• And why would it be "Disrespectful" to the Atlantic Salmon fish and fishermen??

Edited November 16, 2021 by RGEDad

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, RGEDad said:

OK - I just have to ask:

• Why do you not eat farm raised Atlantic Salmon, but it is OK to eat farm raised Idaho rainbow trout??
• And why would it be "Disrespectful" to the Atlantic Salmon fish and fishermen??

 

Maybe it's because I live In Ohio--far removed from any body of salt water--but, my taste buds do not distinguish between farm raised fish, wild Atlantic fish, or wild Pacific fish.  

 

One exception to my above statement.  Mussels from Prince Edward Island are in a class by themselves according to my taste buds.  I like Mussels from wherever, but, the P.E.I. Mussels are special.  

[MisterBill99]

10 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Maybe it's because I live In Ohio--far removed from any body of salt water--but, my taste buds do not distinguish between farm raised fish, wild Atlantic fish, or wild Pacific fish.  

 

 

Personally, I prefer the farm raised salmon to anything other than king salmon, which is very pricey. But I like my salmon cooked medium-rare, nice and translucent inside. Very difficult to get restaurants to cook it the way I like it, and almost impossible on cruise ships.

[CafeBruno]

9 hours ago, RGEDad said:

OK - I just have to ask:

• Why do you not eat farm raised Atlantic Salmon, but it is OK to eat farm raised Idaho rainbow trout??
• And why would it be "Disrespectful" to the Atlantic Salmon fish and fishermen??

Many people in Washington and Oregon refuse to eat farmed Atlantic salmon, for a couple of reasons at least. Fish farms in the Puget Sound and Canada have caused a lot of environmental damage, like pollution from antibiotics, pesticides, extreme waste concentration, and diluting the wild Pacific salmon gene pool due to escapes. Many people won't support them for this reason alone. Although taste is subjective, myself and many people in the NW find farmed Atlantic to be vastly inferior to wild salmon in taste and texture, as well as knowing that artificial coloring and other chemicals are used in growing and producing Atlantic salmon. We are admittedly spoiled here, because we are able to get fantastic super fresh local or Alaskan salmon in season, so many of us are definitely salmon snobs. 

 

One time I hosted a dinner for 15 local Native American leaders at the Space Needle in Seattle. All these leaders, like most in their Tribes, were fishermen and descendants of fishermen for generations, and salmon is is still a staple subsistence food. The dinner special that night was salmon - but none of the Tribal leaders ordered it. Surprised, I asked a couple of them why they didn't order it. They told me that when they entered the restaurant, they could tell by the smell that they were cooking frozen farmed Atlantic salmon, rather than the wild Pacific salmon they harvest. They didn't have to say anything else, I understood their objection to farmed Atlantic salmon.  

[RGEDad]

On 11/15/2021 at 7:25 PM, jeh10641 said:

Most of the Atlantic salmon sold here is farm raised. Out of respect for the fish and the fishermen, I will not eat farm raised salmon. I always ask if it farm or wild. If the server does not know, I ask for them to find out from the chef. If there is hesitation, I will not order it.

 

I also love Idaho rainbow trout most of which is farm grown but that is okay with me.

 

9 minutes ago, CafeBruno said:

Many people in Washington and Oregon refuse to eat farmed Atlantic salmon, for a couple of reasons at least.

CafeBruno: Thank you for your explanation. I guess I misread the respect for the fish as I though he was referring to the Atlantic Salmon, not the NW pacific salmon & fishermen. I do recall some time ago watching a documentary on the issues with fish farm practices.

 

Still leaves open the question to jeh10641 as to why it is OK to farm raise and eat the Idaho trout - do they not have the same Issues???

[jeh10641]

Cafe Bruno,

Thanks for the great answer as to why we prefer wild salmon. I had worked for a book publisher that had published a book on the "wild" versus "farmed" salmon.  You boiled down hundreds of pages into a couple of paragraphs.

 

RGEDad,

Farm raised trout do not affect the wild population as do farm raised salmon. I have eaten both farm raised trout and fresh caught wild trout and find no appreciable difference in taste or texture. Nor do farm raised trout affect the ability of fishermen to catch wild salmon.

 

Jim

[papadave]

Sorry for responding to the post when it is so far removed from the original topic, but I feel like I need to chime in.

 

Farmed trout can be raised in what are essentially concrete pools like a swimming pool in fresh water without any risk of impacting on the wild population.   They could, in theory, be raised in a desert if water was pumped in.   Farmed salmon, however, are not truly isolated from the wild population in that they are raised in netted areas but in water that flows to where wild salmon live.    Everything in the farmed salmon operation (feed, antiobiotics, fish waste) can migrate into the wild salmon's environment.   If a farmed salmon escape through a hole in a net and joins the wild salmon it can reproduce with the wild salmon or be eaten in the wild.

 

If you have the opportunity to visit Long Island, you may want to go to the trout hatchery in Cold Spring Harbor, NY, which is open to the public.   There you can see a farmed trout operation close up.   

Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery & Aquiarium | Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery & Aquiarium (cshfishhatchery.org)

 

As for the original post, catch of the day or similar designation is a common menu listing on menus at fine restaurants everywhere.  It allows the chef to procure the best fish available.    My recommendation, when you are on a cruise ship, is to try unfamiliar fish if it is offered, as you can always ask for a different main course if you find what is presented unappealing.    My personal practice is to order something I am unfamiliar with, if I don't like it I will briefly explain that I was trying to broaden my palate, but would like to quickly change for something else, then ask what is ready to serve, so that my tablemates don't have to wait for me to eat a main course after they are done with their main dishes.   There is usually something that can come out very quickly, even if it is on the kid's menu.

[MisterBill99]

On 11/20/2021 at 4:20 PM, papadave said:

As for the original post, catch of the day or similar designation is a common menu listing on menus at fine restaurants everywhere.  It allows the chef to procure the best fish available.    My recommendation, when you are on a cruise ship, is to try unfamiliar fish if it is offered, as you can always ask for a different main course if you find what is presented unappealing.    

 

Yes, restaurants on land list market fish on the menu, but they also reuse the same menu every day and go to the fish market regularly and don't know what they will get. Cruise ships, on the other hand, print new menus every day and know exactly what is in the galley to prepare that night. So there really is no similarity. And using that logic, why don't they also say "market steak" (which one local restaurant we like)? They list the specific cut that is being served. And many people like some types of fish but not others. Knowing which type is being served might help them decide whether to do specialty dining that night, especially with them reducing the number of nightly menu choices. And most importantly, I've never seen this done on any other cruise line. 

 

I assume that the person who posted earlier that they were going to ask about the change while on board never did. I'll be on in 10 days and will definitely ask.

[Florida_gal_50]

As I recall onboard they did list the exact fish on the menus on the koningsdam but I wouldn’t swear to that.  I ate at specialty restaurants 11 days of 14.  I don’t know why you think they print menus every day.  I’m pretty sure they were reused.  I used my phone most of the time.

[luvteaching]

We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam twice  in 3 weeks and I had the "market fish" a number of times. These were Alaska cruises and fish was being purchased in the ports so what was served that evening or the next depended on what was available in Juneau and Ketchikan (not sure on Sitka). 

Karen

[MisterBill99]

On 11/22/2021 at 7:38 AM, Florida_gal_50 said:

As I recall onboard they did list the exact fish on the menus on the koningsdam but I wouldn’t swear to that.  I ate at specialty restaurants 11 days of 14.  I don’t know why you think they print menus every day.  I’m pretty sure they were reused.  I used my phone most of the time.

 

Just wanted to mention that I asked the hostess at the MDR on Rotterdam last night, and she told me that they print new menus every week, since some items change from week to week. Yet they still do the mystery fish  (which is what I've been asking the waiters about each night). Then I asked a couple of MDR managers why they're doing it, and they claimed they may get different fish, but I ate at Rudi's the other night and even  THEIR fish of the day was loaded in Fort Lauderdale. So I have yet to find a good answer. And contrary to an earlier answer, no it's also not so they can switch the fish they use if they run out during the evening service. 

 

So I still have no idea why they're doing it, but will mention it in my survey comments.

[FlaMariner]

Whatever the "market seafood" was, I usually got it on our Rotterdam cruise in October...and each dish was delicious.  

 

So we would look at the menu on the TV before heading to dinner and are only question was "what's the seafood today"?

 

Why they are doing it?  I'll ask next week when we are on the NA.  I bet it is so that have maximum flexibility to use what they have....Makes sense. 

[Florida_gal_50]

2 minutes ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

Just wanted to mention that I asked the hostess at the MDR on Rotterdam last night, and she told me that they print new menus every week, since some items change from week to week. Yet they still do the mystery fish  (which is what I've been asking the waiters about each night). Then I asked a couple of MDR managers why they're doing it, and they claimed they may get different fish, but I ate at Rudi's the other night and even  THEIR fish of the day was loaded in Fort Lauderdale. So I have yet to find a good answer. And contrary to an earlier answer, no it's also not so they can switch the fish they use if they run out during the evening service. 

 

So I still have no idea why they're doing it, but will mention it in my survey comments.

So if they print them once a week why don’t they know what the fish is then?  Surely they don’t provision at the last minute. I would take anything I’d hear onboard with a huge scoop of salt.  It’s like a toy doll where they have a pull string.  Seattle programs the staff to say certain things to a wide array of questions.  Pull the string and you get a canned answer.  By the way not once did I say for sure that’s why they they had menus done the way they did.  It was a guess.  You offered  no guess so I guess my guess was closer than yours.