Returning to P&O

[Grandad John]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Totally agree.  Very rarely do we eat out, however yesterday we did because today is my birthday.  Despite lots of other offerings both my husband and I went for the home made pie option, him traditional steak and ale and myself chicken and chorizo.  Both served with mash (well they called it creamed potatoes) a selection of root veg and cabbage.  

 

As you say a good pie is a wonderful thing.

Happy birthday Megabear, wishing you good health and equine success.

[zap99]

30 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Not sure which menus you were viewing, but IMO they were the classy ones I remember, which are far superior to the current ones.

On our first Britannia cruise in the Caribbean.  I had skate wings in brown butter. I always order that now, when it's on the MDR menu.

[Interestedcruisefan]

22 minutes ago, Bill Y said:

Yes fish and chips, fish served plated with a garnish of five chips then silver service of root vegetables, once everyone had been serves you could ask for more chips. But in them days the waiters had less tables to cover and you did not spend ten minutes staring at dirty plates. When they first went fully plated the service was terribly slow presumably due to the reduction of staff,

Not only that on the newer ships the galleys and the restaurants themselves can be designed with fully plated meals service in mind

[Megabear2]

25 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Not only that on the newer ships the galleys and the restaurants themselves can be designed with fully plated meals service in mind

Never done a kitchen visit on the three new ships but on Azura I was surprised how much is still done by hand and baked/roasted in proper ovens.  The Executive Chef who led my tour had just swapped from Aurora and informed me size/number of covers made absolutely no difference.

[yorkshirephil]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

 

 

By the way, where has venison gone? I'm very partial to venison and apart from in the Limelight Club it's disappeared since the pandemic, even on Cunard I struggled to find it. 

We had venison stew on QE in June this year, very nice too, it was repeated once that I noticed where I had it again

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Never done a kitchen visit on the three new ships but on Azura I was surprised how much is still done by hand and baked/roasted in proper ovens.  The Executive Chef who led my tour had just swapped from Aurora and informed me size/number of covers made absolutely no difference.

Lots better and more efficient ways in kitchens/galleys now to keep fully plated food warm (if it's hot food) and chilled (if it's cold food) for staff to collect it to be delivered

 

Would be absolutely staggered if the ships galleys aren't designed to maximise the efficiency of serving fully plated food ready to eat. Knowing that's the plan when they design the galleys fro MDR and also the restaurants for MDR

 

Compared to the days of taking out unfinished plates accompanied by serving trays for staff to serve veg from etc

 

Totally different logistics and totally different operation really. Albeit may be the same meal beings served very often in the end

 

With the more modern way of doing things far more efficient in so many ways 

 

Come to think of it wouldn't the old MDR meals mean every course had the same veg?

 

If being served at the table?

[Megabear2]

8 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Lots better and more efficient ways in kitchens/galleys now to keep fully plated food warm (if it's hot food) and chilled (if it's cold food) for staff to collect it to be delivered

 

Would be absolutely staggered if the ships galleys aren't designed to maximise the efficiency of serving fully plated food ready to eat. Knowing that's the plan when they design the galleys fro MDR and also the restaurants for MDR

 

Compared to the days of taking out unfinished plates accompanied by serving trays for staff to serve veg from etc

 

Totally different logistics and totally different operation really. Albeit may be the same meal beings served very often in the end

 

With the more modern way of doing things far more efficient in so many ways 

 

Come to think of it wouldn't the old MDR meals mean every course had the same veg?

 

If being served at the table?

This was in 2018 on Azura in the Caribbean.  Plated food was being served then.  The kitchen was very modern and surprisingly compact.  I doubt very much it has been changed as it would cost a fortune.  Interestingly that kitchen provided food for everywhere bar Epicurean- presumably because that had it's own one although I can't say for sure.

 

Perhaps they'll bring back the kitchen tours.  You pay for it but you get a very substantial lunch with wine after the tour.  If they do I volunteer you to investigate Iona and Arvia's kitchens!

[Interestedcruisefan]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

This was in 2018 on Azura in the Caribbean.  Plated food was being served then.  The kitchen was very modern and surprisingly compact.  I doubt very much it has been changed as it would cost a fortune.  Interestingly that kitchen provided food for everywhere bar Epicurean- presumably because that had it's own one although I can't say for sure.

 

Perhaps they'll bring back the kitchen tours.  You pay for it but you get a very substantial lunch with wine after the tour.  If they do I volunteer you to investigate Iona and Arvia's kitchens!

We did one on RCL with a great meal at the end

 

I'm just assuming that Iona and Arvia have had kitchens designed to work with fully plated food and have all the latest options to keep that fully plated food as hot and fresh as possible whilst it's awaiting collection 

 

This is mass catering in huge numbers

 

 

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

We did one on RCL with a great meal at the end

 

I'm just assuming that Iona and Arvia have had kitchens designed to work with fully plated food and have all the latest options to keep that fully plated food as hot and fresh as possible whilst it's awaiting collection 

 

This is mass catering in huge numbers

 

 

Unfortunately my Arvia experience says not good at keeping breakfast hot. Dinner was okay but breakfast often lukewarm and took forever to come.  Never had cold breakfast on the other ships. I recall the discussion about fried eggs on Azura when we did the tour and a couple of the guys demonstrated their technique- very, very impressive!

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Unfortunately my Arvia experience says not good at keeping breakfast hot. Dinner was okay but breakfast often lukewarm and took forever to come.  Never had cold breakfast on the other ships. I recall the discussion about fried eggs on Azura when we did the tour and a couple of the guys demonstrated their technique- very, very impressive!

That's different though. Having the galleys designed for it and the plan to make it happen stil has limitations and won't always work

 

Same as in the old days when getting people all served whilst their food remained hot didn't always work

 

 

[elmsliebev]

3 hours ago, AchileLauro said:

P&O can be a bit hit or miss when it comes to cooking venison and game dishes.

The worst dish that I have ever eaten on all of the cruises we have taken with P&O was wild boar sausage. Now I've eaten wild boar dishes numerous times both at home and in France and always enjoyed then, but on this occasion the sausages were truly bad. I would go so far as to say that they were inedible.

On the other hand a spatchcock partridge dish that we had on board some years ago was probably one of the nicest meals that I have ever eaten on a cruise. The Chefs definately got that dish right.

We regularly eat venison at home so are quite fond of it. On the odd occasion that we've had it on a cruise in various forms it's been O.K. but not brilliant.

 

I tried grouse for the first time on a cruise a few years ago. Nothing wrong with the cooking or presentation just not to my own personal taste. Still it was very nice to have the opportunity to try something new to me.

 

I had excellent pheasant on Oriana in the past, and oh, that port-infused Stilton 😀

[terrierjohn]

5 minutes ago, elmsliebev said:

I had excellent pheasant on Oriana in the past, and oh, that port-infused Stilton 😀

The port infused stilton now looks like something the cat coughed up, IMO not something I want to try.

Edited September 25, 2023 by terrierjohn

[elmsliebev]

2 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

The port infused stilton now looks like something the cat coughed up.

to be fair, Stilton isn't the prettiest of cheeses! I didn't know they still did it. We're on Azura next week so I'll look out for it. 

[Fionboard]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

The port infused stilton now looks like something the cat coughed up, IMO not something I want to try.

Yes, stilton balls!

[Son of Anarchy]

On 9/20/2023 at 11:19 AM, JeanieC,Aston said:

As for Crows Nest,,,on all ships,,is somewhere to go for a sleep.

Same with Anderson’s.

 

Six of us played Avocado Smash in Andersons last month.  Woke everyone up!

 

A few days later, we played Cards Against Humanity in there.  Cleared the place out.