Coffee at meals

[VintageCCG]

On 7/1/2019 at 11:13 AM, Host Hattie said:

Dessert wine with dessert surely ?!

 

Sweet with sweet?? That's a bit much.
 

That's kind of the point of the bitter coffee ... to offset the sweet of the dessert.

 

Then maybe some port or brandy after that, along with a cheese plate.

[roscoe39]

On 7/2/2019 at 3:13 AM, Host Hattie said:

Dessert wine with dessert surely ?!

i like your thinking Hattie

[tv24]

We order espresso and latte after lunch.  It's free and OK, but probably comes out of a machine.

[navybankerteacher]

On 7/4/2019 at 2:10 PM, peter pan said:

We also prefer coffee with our dessert.  Our family from South Jersey always had coffee with dessert.  They once commented to me that above the Raritan River (Central/North Jersey) it was impossible to get coffee with dessert.  It was always served after.  Interesting.  Guess it depends on where you live.

Bottom line....your cruise, your choice.

Yes, rivers have always been lines of demarcation as well as watercourses. In Connecticut, it is customary to support the Yankees if west of the Connecticut River - and virtually mandatory to root for the Red Sox if you are an east-banker.

[navybankerteacher]

On 7/5/2019 at 6:30 AM, ToadOfToadHall said:

 

An Aussie blending in ? That must be a first !! 😂 

Oh, I think they try - but are rarely able to pull it off.

[BigMac1953]

15 hours ago, VintageCCG said:

 

Sweet with sweet?? That's a bit much.
 

That's kind of the point of the bitter coffee ... to offset the sweet of the dessert.

 

 

Strange as it may seem, but a sweet dessert wine or champagne actually does not taste sweet when accompanying dessert.

[Harley52]

On 6/30/2019 at 5:15 PM, Ynox said:

Yep. I always get a couple of espressos after dinner.

Espressoes after dinner, geez, I would be awake all night.

[frankp01]

On 7/6/2019 at 2:00 AM, tv24 said:

We order espresso and latte after lunch.  It's free and OK, but probably comes out of a machine.

Yes. As I recall from our galley tours, it's an automated, push-button espresso/cappuccino machine. 

[naturelovergirl]

Coffee ✨with✨ dessert fans here 

Black coffee... DH puts sugar in his... but I am a purist 

[LittleFish1976]

On 7/7/2019 at 12:36 AM, navybankerteacher said:

Oh, I think they try - but are rarely able to pull it off.

 

For what it's worth, we find you noticeable also!

 

[Ynox]

On 7/7/2019 at 8:45 PM, Harley52 said:

Espressoes after dinner, geez, I would be awake all night.

I'm a software guy. I'm pretty much fuelled by caffeine!

[frankp01]

18 minutes ago, Ynox said:

I'm a software guy. I'm pretty much fuelled by caffeine!

 

I'm mostly retired now, but was a developer. So I was fueled by caffeine, too. I still dose up heavily in the AM.. Usually 2 or 3 big mugs. 

[Bigmike911]

On 7/6/2019 at 1:00 AM, tv24 said:

We order espresso and latte after lunch.  It's free and OK, but probably comes out of a machine.

Quite possibly an espresso machine?

[tv24]

41 minutes ago, Bigmike911 said:

Quite possibly an espresso machine?

Probably not the kind you would find in a specialty coffee store.  The flavor is more like you would find from a machine in an airport lounge.  Acceptable but not great.

[Neuhoftraveler]

Not to go too far off topic, but the ultimate in cross-cultural course-sequencing differences must have been our experience in Reims a couple of years ago.  Two prix-fixe menus were offered, one five-course and the other four-course.  For the latter, one would choose either the fish or the meat, not both as provided on the five-course.  We each ordered the four-course version.  Mrs. Neuhoftraveler opted for the fish, I for the meat.

 

After the soup was served, consumed, and the plates cleared, the server brought her fish.  Nothing for me.  I asked to have my meat course served immediately rather than simply sit and watch her eat, following which she would sit and watch me eat.  The server refused, as so did the owner/manager/front-of-house person:  "We cannot serve two courses at the same time."  This in a Michelin 1-star restaurant.  (Both fish and meat were pretty good, though.)

 

 

Edited July 21, 2019 by Neuhoftraveler

[Glenndale]

On 7/5/2019 at 10:26 AM, BigMac1953 said:

.............. Our sommelier then brings my bottle of port to wash the cheese down.

 

Do you purchase a whole bottle on board and have it put aside for you or do you bring it on board with you? Presumably you pay corkage?

I do enjoy a glass of port after dinner.

[BigMac1953]

11 minutes ago, Glenndale said:

Do you purchase a whole bottle on board and have it put aside for you or do you bring it on board with you? Presumably you pay corkage?

I do enjoy a glass of port after dinner.

 

I usually buy a bottle on day one, and occasionally am forced to buy another for the second week if the cheese is going down well!

 

Our sommelier, (most of them know us quite well) will bring my bottle and a glass after my main course, or pudding.

 

Stewart

[VintageCCG]

On 7/21/2019 at 6:46 PM, Neuhoftraveler said:

 

After the soup was served, consumed, and the plates cleared, the server brought her fish.  Nothing for me.  I asked to have my meat course served immediately rather than simply sit and watch her eat, following which she would sit and watch me eat.  The server refused, as so did the owner/manager/front-of-house person:  "We cannot serve two courses at the same time."  This in a Michelin 1-star restaurant.  (Both fish and meat were pretty good, though.)

 

 

 

To me, that is being unnecessarily pedantic and pretentious.

If your wife's fish is her main course and your meat is your main, then surely it is more "correct" to render that insignificant adjustment, rather than make the guests feel inconvenienced and potentially insulted.

There are valid reasons for following certain conventions at mealtime, but this seems like an ill-considered hill upon which to stand one's (the restaurant's) ground.

[bobg529]

On 7/4/2019 at 4:33 PM, Gwendy said:

I like my coffee with my meal.  Once in a French restaurant in Noumea I ordered my meal and coffee and asked for coffee to come straight away.  “Non Non Madame, only after meal”. Oh well when in Rome, or Noumea do as they do.

You 

 

[Radar boomer]

We enjoy the coffee after dinner with dessert, it always comes with milk. We ask for cream and this brings the coffee to an entirely different level,,I wish I could find cream like this at home for my coffee..

[cook68]

We dined Britannia on QM2 last year and after dinner when asked if we wanted coffee we asked if we could have a cappuccino and it was no trouble at all. For two night running I took a handfull of mints off the platter to have along with it and after that every night a plate full of them was popped on the table along with coffee with out ever having to ask again. 

[Jack E Dawson]

So lovetotraveltx, how did your voyage go? Was the coffee OK and what about your total experience. 

 

Jack

[Bell Boy]

10 hours ago, cook68 said:

We dined Britannia on QM2 last year and after dinner when asked if we wanted coffee we asked if we could have a cappuccino and it was no trouble at all. For two night running I took a handfull of mints off the platter to have along with it and after that every night a plate full of them was popped on the table along with coffee with out ever having to ask again. 

This is the beauty of having a dedicated table and the same waiter for the entire duration of ones cruise/voyage.

 

None of this freedom dining nonsense for me, being sent away with a bleeper and told to come back in about 40 minuets 

[navybankerteacher]

9 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

This is the beauty of having a dedicated table and the same waiter for the entire duration of ones cruise/voyage.

 

None of this freedom dining nonsense for me, being sent away with a bleeper and told to come back in about 40 minuets 

Precisely - and the more a line emphasises it, (a la NCL’s “Freestyle”) the worse it is.

[oskidunker]

On Princess the coffee is made from syrup unless you pay. Is this the case here?