Is the food in the buffet the same as what is served in the dining rooms?

[CruizinSusan70]

On 4/27/2023 at 6:27 PM, EDVM96 said:

That's patronising. Please call it mystery curry.

Is that anything similar to mystery date?

 

[Paula_MacFan]

15 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Food to feed that many people in one service is most certainly not cooked to order.  Preparation begins much earlier in the day considering the amount of food they need to feed most of the ship for MDR dinner.  If anything it's plated to order.

Agree with this 100%!  Anyone who has done the galley tours knows they prepare the food way in advance and it's plated with covers.  There is no way they are 'preparing to order' for hundreds of people in the MDR.  

 

I also find it interesting that somehow the MDR food is supposedly so elevated but the buffet is slop -- when they are being prepared by the same staff led by the same chef.  

[brisalta]

On 4/30/2023 at 1:07 PM, Paula_MacFan said:

Agree with this 100%!  Anyone who has done the galley tours knows they prepare the food way in advance and it's plated with covers.  There is no way they are 'preparing to order' for hundreds of people in the MDR.  

 

I also find it interesting that somehow the MDR food is supposedly so elevated but the buffet is slop -- when they are being prepared by the same staff led by the same chef.  

 

It would depend on the executive chef whether the food was cooked ahead of time or to order.

[brisalta]

13 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

It would depend on the executive chef whether the food was cooked ahead of time or to order.

 

@DallasGuy75219 You may laugh but it really depends on the executive chef. Some years ago the Grand Princess had a world class executive chef and he put the time and effort in to train the people working below him in how to efficiently cook to order. (He left to run his own fine dining establishment on land). Other executive chefs may take the lazy route and not bother to train the staff to perform anything other than batch cooking.

Getting back to the Grand when the world class executive chef was running the galleys it may have taken longer for food to come from the kitchen but it was really high quality.

Once he left the Grand meal times  in the MDR were different and the food appeared much more quickly at the table but the food was of lesser quality.

Note I have taken a tour of the galley on the Grand with the aforementioned executive chef.

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, brisalta said:

 

@DallasGuy75219 You may laugh but it really depends on the executive chef. Some years ago the Grand Princess had a world class executive chef and he put the time and effort in to train the people working below him in how to efficiently cook to order. (He left to run his own fine dining establishment on land). Other executive chefs may take the lazy route and not bother to train the staff to perform anything other than batch cooking.

Getting back to the Grand when the world class executive chef was running the galleys it may have taken longer for food to come from the kitchen but it was really high quality.

Once he left the Grand meal times  in the MDR were different and the food appeared much more quickly at the table but the food was of lesser quality.

Note I have taken a tour of the galley on the Grand with the aforementioned executive chef.

Key words being "some years ago."  Not going to happen for the MDR on any mass market line with today's staffing levels. 

Edited May 5, 2023 by DallasGuy75219

[caribsun]

On 4/29/2023 at 8:59 PM, donaldsc said:

Even if the food is the same, the food in the MDR is cooked to order and is fresh.  The buffet food has been on the steam table for nobody knows how long.

 

DON

No way is the food in the MDR cooked to order. 

[brisalta]

1 hour ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Key words being "some years ago."  Not going to happen for the MDR on any mass market line with today's staffing levels. 

 

Some years ago was 2018.  He left towards the beginning of 2019.

 

[CruizinSusan70]

3 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

@DallasGuy75219 You may laugh but it really depends on the executive chef. Some years ago the Grand Princess had a world class executive chef and he put the time and effort in to train the people working below him in how to efficiently cook to order. (He left to run his own fine dining establishment on land). Other executive chefs may take the lazy route and not bother to train the staff to perform anything other than batch cooking.

Getting back to the Grand when the world class executive chef was running the galleys it may have taken longer for food to come from the kitchen but it was really high quality.

Once he left the Grand meal times  in the MDR were different and the food appeared much more quickly at the table but the food was of lesser quality.

Note I have taken a tour of the galley on the Grand with the aforementioned executive chef.

But it's a moot point since the guy is no longer with Princess and it seems like none of the other ships in the fleet are currently doing things with the high standards that he brought day in and day out.

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, brisalta said:

 

Some years ago was 2018.  He left towards the beginning of 2019.

 

So before the post-restart staffing reductions and not relevant to OP's question about current foodservice.

 

You made my point. 

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, caribsun said:

No way is the food in the MDR cooked to order. 

I can't imagine it is.  Plated to order, sure, but if I order the meatloaf, I don't think they are back there in the galley baking one just for me.  

[brisalta]

5 hours ago, Kay S said:

I can't imagine it is.  Plated to order, sure, but if I order the meatloaf, I don't think they are back there in the galley baking one just for me.  

 

So Rudi has introduced meatloaf to the menu...seems like a definite downgrade.

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, brisalta said:

 

So Rudi has introduced meatloaf to the menu...seems like a definite downgrade.

I was talking about the MDR, not Rudi's, and yes, there has been meatloaf in the MDR.

[brisalta]

55 minutes ago, Kay S said:

I was talking about the MDR, not Rudi's, and yes, there has been meatloaf in the MDR.

 

Rudi is in charge of all the MDRs on all Princess ships.

Rudi Sodamin is the head of food service at Princess. He was put in that position last year. He changed the menus. I actually saw some youtube videos with him demonstrating cooking. In the videos he seemed to take great pride in burnt food.

Edited May 6, 2023 by brisalta

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, brisalta said:

 

Rudi Sodamin is the head of food service at Princess. .

Would that be the same as Executive Chef?