Best and worst food on Celebrity buffet

[cruiser61262]

Don't miss the Eggs Benedict and fresh squeezed orange juice from the  Oceanview bar (not the  OJ at the beverage station).   I agree with people that the desserts at the buffet are not my style. They look good but they are pretty tasteless.  I would rather save my calories for a frozen drink by the pool 😇.

Thank you for starting this thread.  I've enjoyed reading the replies.

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[thebutlerdidit]

25 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

Forgot to mention that my husband loved the fish in the fish & chips at the buffet on our January sailing on the Equinox. That is saying something because he is kind of a fish fry snob, coming from an area that has MANY great fish fries available.

I would love fish & chips! How often do they offer them, and would it be during lunch or dinner hours?

[thebutlerdidit]

On 2/8/2022 at 3:57 PM, Chanbre said:

Watch the Ocean View Cafe's evening meal entry in the dailies. They often have specials (they had them on our past cruises). Often the special would celebrate the recent port stop. We have had Russian caviar in St Petersburg, German sausages in Warnemunde, lovely fish from some ports.

Yes! We hit the buffet one time when they were featuring island cuisine such as jerk chicken. They had coconuts that they would place a straw in so you could sip the coconut milk. When the coconut milk was gone, you could bring your coconut to the servers and they would halve the coconut so you could scoop the coconut meat with a spoon. It sort of tasted  like a very light and silky panna cotta. 

[sunseeker551]

The pizza on the Reflection a few weeks ago was delicious. Several people we spoke with felt the same. It's not typically something we eat at the buffet, but I got one piece for my husband & I to share as I walked by the station one day at lunch and ended up going back for more. Unfortunately we discovered it late in our cruise. I'm not sure if it's the same on all Celebrity ships but I hope so.

[ORV]

2 hours ago, lyndarra said:

One day I would like to find chocolate ravioli.

I believe they have that on Oceania in the Toscana Italian restaurant. 

 

Do they still have the Chocolate Pot on the Celebrity buffet? I love that for dessert. 

[JamieLogical]

2 hours ago, YesICruise said:

I would love fish & chips! How often do they offer them, and would it be during lunch or dinner hours?

It was lunch offered fairly late in our 9 day sailing, iirc.

[Cruising89143]

If the crew is serving then we will try the buffet. Other than that we shy away from the buffets. Have witnessed too many nasty things in thirty-six years of cruising. 

[dgoz]

On 2/9/2022 at 6:47 PM, cruiser61262 said:

Don't miss the Eggs Benedict and fresh squeezed orange juice from the  Oceanview bar (not the  OJ at the beverage station).   I agree with people that the desserts at the buffet are not my style. They look good but they are pretty tasteless.  I would rather save my calories for a frozen drink by the pool 😇.

Thank you for starting this thread.  I've enjoyed reading the replies.

.

Is the OJ at the Oceanview bar the same as the orange juice at the spa cafe?

[asnaleah]

The crew was serving on Silhouette, I hope that continues! Avoid the Mexican, the pizza is good, salad bar good, and the Indian food is usually terrific. I agree with the OP about the desserts. Save your calories.

[dgoz]

Is the gelato that much better than the ice cream that it is worth paying extra for?

[Edinburghgirl1]

I think the desserts are the worst thing. They look amazing but usually have little taste. 

[talljules1]

I love a good go round the buffet (hubby is less of a fan and prefers table service), and the Oceanview is excellent.

 

Love the omelet station / eggs station for breakfast, along with kippers, bacon, sausage. Lots of nice fruit. Fresh OJ from the bar there (or Clamato). Makes for a great start to the day. Also love the caesar salad and salad stations. The curries are good.  We rarely eat in the buffet for dinner.

 

Glad we're not the only ones who think the cakes look good but taste of very little/nothing.  We call them "Little cakes of disappointment". (The ones at Cafe al Bacio are much nicer!). I'd also avoid the fish and chips.  Don't get me wrong, the batter is crisp, but the fish always seems flavourless to me. Whilst I am grateful that they offer gluten free pizzas, I tend not to bother with them - the bases are always so cakey/doughy.  A real shame, as there are excellent GF pizza bases out there.  These few "dislikes" are indeed few - most of it is great.

[Moby Jones]

17 hours ago, Edinburghgirl1 said:

I think the desserts are the worst thing. They look amazing but usually have little taste. 

 

 

I couldn't agree more. The displays with different colours and textures look fantastic.But there's very little taste. 

Last October we sailed on RCL's Anthem of the seas. That buffet was far larger than the Celebrity one despite only having 800 passengers onboard and had an absolutely enormous selection of deserts. I was expecting similar disappointment but they tasted as good as they looked! X could and should do a lot better IMHO. 

[awhfy]

Freshly made waffles with orange butter. 3 weeks till my next one!!!

[Von & John]

On 2/9/2022 at 2:06 AM, Bo1953 said:

A question I have, not to really hi-jack the thread yet here goes, is there a place on any ship which is not Luminae or Blu where one can expect to receive 'proper' wait service for breakfast as I do not really care for buffets, personally. LOL

 

The MDR is semi-buffet during breakfast.

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

 

Bo  --  are you defining the MDR as semi-buffet b/c the servers approach & serve pastries, juice, etc - without ordering?  Or have you actually experienced some buffet items that you had to get up & select for yourself?

[Bo1953]

2 minutes ago, Von & John said:

 

Bo  --  are you defining the MDR as semi-buffet b/c the servers approach & serve pastries, juice, etc - without ordering?  Or have you actually experienced some buffet items that you had to get up & select for yourself?

vj - pre-pandemic, the MDR had a mini-buffet set up and/or one could order other items from the menu...

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[drakes2]

On 2/11/2022 at 8:39 PM, asnaleah said:

and the Indian food is usually terrific

The Indian food on my recent Edge cruise was fantastic at the OV buffet.  Did not see it offered any night in the MDR. 

[Nado44]

Apex. Shrimp at the shrimp cocktail station on sailings ex-Athens in June 2021 were huge. They were sadly tiny on two sailings from Fort Lauderdale in November/December 2021.

[LGW59]

“Best” food in the buffet…is this a trick question?!?!

[ShelleyQT]

On 2/9/2022 at 5:26 AM, swjumbo said:

Please don’t. This thread is helping my insomnia.

 

I am LOVING this thread!!  We just booked our first Celebrity cruise after years of cruising NCL and Carnival before that, and I can't wait to see the buffet!

[LGW59]

10 minutes ago, ShelleyQT said:

 

I am LOVING this thread!!  We just booked our first Celebrity cruise after years of cruising NCL and Carnival before that, and I can't wait to see the buffet!

Well currently staff are serving in the buffet, IMO to really “see” the buffet, it has to be done when self serve is in action, until then they denied me of some great morning “entertainment “ while I enjoy my coffee.  Damn you COVID!

[Cruising89143]

26 minutes ago, ShelleyQT said:

 

I am LOVING this thread!!  We just booked our first Celebrity cruise after years of cruising NCL and Carnival before that, and I can't wait to see the buffet!

Carnival turned me off of buffets. Guys coming in from the pool shirtless, no shoes while dripping wet. Imagine seeing this person reach over to get food with hairy pits and bare feet. No thanks. Actually it turned me off to Carnival period. 

[Virgo61]

I agree with others about the tasteless desserts but if they have the English style puddings (Sticky Toffee especially) I do enjoy those.

[mac66]

Been on X twice this year. Ate in the buffet for b'fast a couple times and lunch quite often. On St. Patricks day they had meat pies which were basically pot pies. Very good. They also had fish and chips. The fish coating was very bready w/o much taste but the fish (cod) itself was very good.

 

I love omelets but the ones in the OC are pretty thin and just so-so.  Pizza is okay for what you get but not like real pizza.  I do like the  Mexican station. You can build a fajita, burrito to taste. They had chimachangas one day that were very good. Often times it seemed like the only thing appealing.

[Von & John]

21 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

vj - pre-pandemic, the MDR had a mini-buffet set up and/or one could order other items from the menu...

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

 

Thanks Bo  --  I don't recall that, except when they had a "special" holiday brunch 🙂

and...  Von Boyage....