I just finished a two week cruise on the Oceania Riviera, boarding in Hong Kong and exiting in Kobe, Japan. The terminus of the cruise was actually in Tokyo, but having been there less than a year ago to see the cherry blossoms bloom, and also since for me any vacation in excess of two weeks quickly becomes drudgery, I got off the boat four days early. Having heard about luxury cruises, we had decided over a year ago to give one a try. However, as I found, while the food on the cruise excelled, the remaining overall experience trailed otherwise trailed every other cruise I had ever taken. But this posting only looks at the wonderful buffet items on the trip, although it nowhere near covered the price differential over other cruises. Here are the more interesting things that showed up in the buffet over a two week period.
Salmon loaf
Five hour slow cooked lamb shoulder
Gnoochi in pesto sauce
Swedish meatballs
Chocolate mole short ribs
Spanish seafood stew with giant shrimp
Spanish tortilla
Rare roast beef salad
Taiwanese shrimp
Runny fried cheese
Oxtail salad
Oysters Rockefeller
New York strip loin
Thai chicken
Veal scallopini
Pork and duck loaf
Baby squid toast
Black cod
Veal stuffed with chard and pistachios
Curry giant shrimp
Noodles in duck broth
Lobster pad thai
Rack of veal
Mixed mushroom h'ors d'oeuvres
What a humongous pot of cumin fried rice!
Butternut, spinach and feta cheese pie
Single spoons of fried tofu
Tamarind salmon
Russian salad
Fancy egg rolls
Chinese pork belly in the carvery
Chinese desserts including tapioca and sticky rice
Giant Asian skewer bbq
Chicken dumplings
Mushroom tarts.
Zucchini cheese crisps
Always hamburgers and pizza at lunch, which were very good. Plus rib eye, sirloin and other grilled meats available in the nightly buffet dinner.
Sardinian seafood stew with pasta balls
Probably my favorite buffet dish of all, pineapple chili red snapper
Venison medallions
