WHY Indian Food ?

[ducklite]

I would say it is a cost saving measure. Most Indian food contains ingredients which are inexpensive to source (notice the word "most" at the beginning of the sentence) and many people think of it as something exotic (they obviously don't live in Iselin or South Brunswick) so it offers a perceived wow factor to the average Joe and Mary Middle-America cruiser. Cheap and exciting, win-win for the cruise line.

[capncarp]

Let me first apologize for not reading 19 pages of responses.

 

IMHO, the reason Indian is chosen is because of Staff. Most of the staff is from Indian and Philippines (1,000+ people on a large cruise ship), including the cooking staff. So, if they are making food for staff, it is easy to scale it up a little more to offer a "vegetarian" dish for the customers. Plus, the cooking staff, being from India, is likely to have Indian food as one of the better (authentic) cuisines they make.

Dear richmke: it's a pity you hadn't gone back and read many of the prior posts; while at first the party who is being discussed had several "me-too" responses, but after that shock at the tone and color of the conversation had ebbed, the overwhelming (and I'm not exaggerating--I counted) wave of responses were neutral, eat-and-let-eat at least, and rather positive and enthusiastic in support for the rest. Myself included. Very few of those who expressed a positive opinion of Indian food seemed to post much in the way of derogatory statements about _other_ styles and cultures of cuisine. Except perhaps the poor, overcooked, dessicated and carbonized hotdogs and hamburgers, which had a VERY few VERY loyal defenders.;)

Do go back and peek at the conversations, for your own edification. And the Ignore button is quite handy for dealing with posters who in your opinion have nothing valuable to contribute.:cool:

[capncarp]

So, back to the thread: anyone have an experience recently while cruising with Indian cuisine? Good? Bad? Why/why not? :)

[richmke]

Dear richmke: it's a pity you hadn't gone back and read many of the prior posts; ...

 

I was getting that impression. The purpose of my post was to give a possible insight on "why Indian" vs any other vegetarian fare. With a lot of staff from India, it make sense that Indian is the chosen style.

 

So, back to the thread: anyone have an experience recently while cruising with Indian cuisine? Good? Bad? Why/why not?

 

I was on the Glory about a month ago. Once I figured it out, I started ordering Indian as a 2nd entree. Some nights it was quite good (awesome curry dish), some nights, not so great (have no idea what it was). Another table mate did what I did, and he had a similar response. I didn't feel bad not eating what was not so great.

 

I have no idea if it was "authentic" or not. All I really care about is: How does it taste to me? A nice steak as the main entree, and a nice spicy Indian side dish - I'm a happy guy.

[brianlojeck]

Lots of Indian kitchen staff, and the mixture of vegetables, meat, and sauce means the dish will sit for a long time but remain serviceable without drying out our getting soggy like Italian food.

[capncarp]

Lots of Indian kitchen staff, and the mixture of vegetables, meat, and sauce means the dish will sit for a long time but remain serviceable without drying out our getting soggy like Italian food.

One of the bonuses of Indian food is that it improves over time, as the spices reach their full flavor bloom. This makes leftovers even better, which is why we cook up a couple of meals' worth. Usually, it reaches peak flavor by day three.

And "leftovers" is not a bad word in our house.

[tinkr2]

Every cruise i am on , there is an excess of nasty burgers and meat loaf and mashed potatoes. Why can there there not be more interesting food? Thank heavens for the indian cuisine.

[brianlojeck]

One of the bonuses of Indian food is that it improves over time, as the spices reach their full flavor bloom. This makes leftovers even better, which is why we cook up a couple of meals' worth. Usually, it reaches peak flavor by day three.

And "leftovers" is not a bad word in our house.

 

Indian food never lasts long enough to be leftovers at my house.

[capncarp]

Indian food never lasts long enough to be leftovers at my house.

I've turned several of my co-workers on to Indian food by hauling a container of leftover tadka dal or mattar paneer or palak paneer in for lunch along with some naan or rice and leaving a fragrant halo around the lunchroom microwave. "Mark's got Indian food again!" is the battlecry.:)

[paulajoy]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Indian food. My heart broke when I learned that the separate Indian restaurant outside on the Carnival Magic, would now be a Guy's Burger Joint!!! Grrrr I find hot dogs and hamburgers so boring and lacking in flavor or creativity. I think having a separate area for Indian food was a great idea. There was a long line there everyday. I went for lunch there three times! You can get a burger anywhere, anytime. Indian food is a treat.

[dediva63]

Please save the daggers.

What is it with the Indian food on the buffets? Our last cruise had it on the tables for lunch almost everyday. Sorry It's nasty ! We were on Carnival for 5 days. I can understand one day. But 4 out of 5 Come on! And it looks like NCL also has it on there buffet. I just can't take another cruise filled with Curry ...I hope they don't serve in morning noon and night.

Am I the only one who doesn't like it ??

Please tell me I will only see it 1 day on my next trip? (ncl-jewel)

 

Thank you for bringing this topic up. I just go off the Explorer of the Seas and they devoted an entire section to just Indian food. Which started out small but then moved over to take over all the other areas of the buffet. By day 7 I had a hard time finding something that wasn't Indian Cuisine. It would have been a better fit for the buffet to have a build your own salad bar. Is it too much to ask for the cruise lines to alternate and not just cater to a single type of food every day? How about a veggie stir fry, Cheese enchiladas, etc.

 

I am from the San Francisco Bay Area and we are known for our diversity. I love ethnic food and could live on the food from my local taqueria. However, I happen to live above a family who cooks nothing but Indian food. After a while I don't know how they can even stand the smell of curry, it is that strong. It was very potent on board the ship as well.

[TBone2K]

Thank you for bringing this topic up.

 

Actually, the topic was brought up 5 years ago if you look at the date on that post that you quoted. Anyway, there has already been lots of discussion on your issues if you read back through the last few pages, you'll find some agree with your opinion.

[gotscrapz]

I am a vegetarian but I despise Indian food and so it is very irritating the vegetarian option on the Magic in the MDR every night it Indian:(

[Lyndaharve]

As Brits we love our Indian food, we love spicy meals, and couldn't think of a cruise without having it at least once for lunch, in fact my hubby and his friend have it most days for lunch, we find on Celebrity the buffet is superb and caters for all nationalities so the variety is there for sure, from Italian, Mexican you name it even Jamaican Jerk (which I asked for them to prepare and they were delighted) so I find having Indian food no problems for the people who don't like on the Celebrity line, it caters for all likes! :):):)

[capncarp]

Thank you for bringing this topic up. I just go off the Explorer of the Seas and they devoted an entire section to just Indian food. Which started out small but then moved over to take over all the other areas of the buffet. By day 7 I had a hard time finding something that wasn't Indian Cuisine. It would have been a better fit for the buffet to have a build your own salad bar. Is it too much to ask for the cruise lines to alternate and not just cater to a single type of food every day? How about a veggie stir fry, Cheese enchiladas, etc.

 

I am from the San Francisco Bay Area and we are known for our diversity. I love ethnic food and could live on the food from my local taqueria. However, I happen to live above a family who cooks nothing but Indian food. After a while I don't know how they can even stand the smell of curry, it is that strong. It was very potent on board the ship as well.

 

My sympathies; the idea is to have access to new and interesting foods, not be crowded out and oppressed by one particular aspect.

 

And I can commiserate with you on the intensity of certain spices under certain preparation conditions: DW and I were test-firing a couple of Indian recipes for a large dinner party. We had heated (too hot) a skillet with vegetable oil in it, and then added a fair dollop of mustard oil. Oops. We cleared the kitchen door in 3 seconds, having barely time to turn off the burner and run through the "mustard gas" cloud to fresh air outside.:eek: It took a while to get our tears to stop flowing and our noses to stop running. So, Yes, Indian food can be quite intense.

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

Can't wait for our next cruise to get some authentic Indian food, the stuff round here stinks and I don't mean literally. I make a better curry at home than they do in the local restaurant. It's the one thing I miss from back home but with the help of Patels grocery store we are in heaven. Even my OH who didn't like curry that much when we met wants the curry hotter, I have it upto Madras for now. (I like hotter)!

 

You can keep your hot dogs, burgers and pizza, give me a bit of spice any day of the week!

Edited July 20, 2016 by CELTICGIRLCRUISER

[capncarp]

Can't wait for our next cruise to get some authentic Indian food, the stuff round here stinks and I don't mean literally. I make a better curry at home than they do in the local restaurant. It's the one thing I miss from back home but with the help of Patels grocery store we are in heaven. Even my OH who didn't like curry that much when we met wants the curry hotter, I have it upto Madras for now. (I like hotter)!

 

One hint on choosing an Indian restaurant: if other Indians are eating there, chances are good the food is decent--kind of like the truckdriver/diner theory;). To my and my DW's experience, if it is as good or better than they can make at home, they'll come to eat it at that restaurant.

Oh, and in case you aren't aware of it, Bolst's curry powder can be obtained through Amazon, if it isn't available in your local Indian grocery store:).

Keep working on OH--you know they're there when you feed them vindaloo and they want it hotter!:eek: You know it's well-spiced when you start sweating, and turning bright red, and you're loving every minute of it!

Edited July 23, 2016 by capncarp

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

One hint on choosing an Indian restaurant: if other Indians are eating there, chances are good the food is decent--kind of like the truckdriver/diner theory;). To my and my DW's experience, if it is as good or better than they can make at home, they'll come to eat it at that restaurant.

Oh, and in case you aren't aware of it, Bolst's curry powder can be obtained through Amazon, if it isn't available in your local Indian grocery store:).

Keep working on OH--you know they're there when you feed them vindaloo and they want it hotter!:eek: You know it's well-spiced when you start sweating, and turning bright red, and you're loving every minute of it!

 

Absolutely, the more ethnic locals in an Indian restaurants equals a good sign of things to come.

 

Problem for me is I am originally from Scotland and don't know if it is down to nostalgia but it's hard to find anything as good as the curries I had growing up. I love spice but it has to have lots of taste too and yes when you start sniffing you know it's a good one!!

 

Oh now you have me craving:D

[Oppalopa]

Please save the daggers.

What is it with the Indian food on the buffets? Our last cruise had it on the tables for lunch almost everyday. Sorry It's nasty ! We were on Carnival for 5 days. I can understand one day. But 4 out of 5 Come on! And it looks like NCL also has it on there buffet. I just can't take another cruise filled with Curry ...I hope they don't serve in morning noon and night.

Am I the only one who doesn't like it ??

Please tell me I will only see it 1 day on my next trip? (ncl-jewel)

I agree

[Lyndaharve]

Were there no other foods on the buffet then? As celebrity serve every day, but not a problem as there are numerous other dishes to chose from which keeps most folk happy. As my husband and friend love their curries well that's them sorted and my friend and I will have a salad or some other dish from the buffet station, I dont like Burgers and fries or any other fried food but wouldn't begrudge the people who do like this sort of unhealthy food. If carnival only serve curries please accept my apologies but to people who love and have grown up with curry they need their fix!

[Sandy_Peter]

I really don't mind Indian food as they have the best options when it comes to varieties of Vegetarian food. Also, many people prefer to go vegetarian on a cruise as it keeps their tummy sane. So I guess that's one of the reasons.

That being said, I love well cooked burgers on a cruise!

[TBone2K]

...I just go off the Explorer of the Seas and they devoted an entire section to just Indian food. Which started out small but then moved over to take over all the other areas of the buffet. By day 7 I had a hard time finding something that wasn't Indian Cuisine...

 

You make it sound like there was no other choice. I will point out for the benefit of others that most RC ships have two "sides" in the Windjammer and the food is sometimes different between the two. So worth checking out if you can't find what what you want. We'll see in a few weeks.

 

One thing to note is that RC Explorer is doing an Alaska itinerary. Last time we went to Alaska there were a higher number of Indian and Chinese passengers. Speaking with someone from the ship, they said they adjust the buffet to accommodate those people.

 

(Hmm, now if they offered some combined Indian and Chinese cuisine... It's called Hakka style for those who don't know it... Really good stuff.)

[tinkr2]

I always feel like posting, why is there so much fast food and fattening food? it would be like me being irritated that there was burgers fries, mac and cheese and meatloaf EVERY SINGLE DAY:D

I love the Indian food.

[cruiseelady]

I LOVE Indian food, my favorite ethnic cuisine. That's part of the reason why I really enjoy cruising on NCL, they have Indian food in the buffet for lunch and dinner.

[capncarp]

Can't wait for our next cruise to get some authentic Indian food, the stuff round here stinks and I don't mean literally. I make a better curry at home than they do in the local restaurant.

Rereading your post brought up a question: Have you gone up to the owner/cook in said Indian restaurants and asked them if they would serve _this_ to their parents? Then tell them that you want "home-cookin'", not what tasteless slop the local "gora" (that's the Indian equivalent of "goyim" or "you ain't from 'round here") would accept. You can say that spice isn't that expensive. Then tell them not everybody in the US has dead tastebuds or noses, and some people can appreciate _real_ Indian/Pakistani/Sri Lankan flavors. If you get under their skin, you might get results.:cool:

BTW, have any of the lines started to serve pickle with their Indian buffet, yet? <wipes away a little bit of drool>:o