The AYCE buffet restaurant on the Celebrity Reflection, Oceanview Cafe served up a great variety of…read moredifferent food. If you ever wanted to sample small portions of dishes that you were afraid to waste if you didn't like, this is the place
On our 8 night cruise, we ended up eating here 7 times: 1 (L), 2 (B), 4(L), 5(L), 6(L), 7(L), 8(L). It is located at the rear of the ship on deck 14. Hours are what you would expect for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, though it can change based on port schedule. Even when it is closed, one can still enter parts of the dining area for the views and peace/quiet
It is first come, first serve inside and can quite full (i.e. hard to find an open table) during breakfast, lunch, and early dinner. That being said, it was pretty empty later at night when guests were either sitting down for sit-down dinners or attending a show.
Some highlights:
- they had congee for breakfast! And had a very large selection of toppings to add on top. We only tried breakfast once here, but wish I had tried other times. And congee is something that is not offered in the sit-down restaurants.
- the use of gas grilling to get that smokey flavor is very prevalent on this boat, including the buffets. The selection of grilled vegetables was excellent, and very tasty.
- there were multiple times when some sort of seafood rice dish was served. It could be paella or jambalaya or risotto. Invariably, the rice could be too mushy, but the size of the seafood pieces were quite good...so enjoyed eating it.
- I never really got into the Asian Indian portion of the buffet. Many of the dishes, I didn't know what they were (madras burgh masala, bendi masala...and I didn't follow my own advice about trying different things. Indian cuisine can play havoc on my stomach.
- The selection of freshly cut fruit was always there, and good to bring back to the room. Pineapple, cantelope, honeydew...all in spear form and lots of watermelon slices, all ripe (though the watermelon could be over ripe).
- The carving stations had some unique items, past the standard roast beef or even prime rib. They had stuffed pork belly (porchetta) and it was prepared very well..the outside skin was super crisp.
- They do have theme nights: French, Italian, Caribbean. But in most cases, it was a little underwhelming. For example, they had coq au vin during French night, and it wasn't very good. The seafood bouillabaisse had a decent amount of seafood that night though. And on that night, they also had grilled mackerel,..have not seen that before on a cruise (it's a very stinky fish to grill).
Simply put, this buffet had a lot of different dishes that I've never seen in a buffet before. Any many of those dishes were only in one spot in the buffet, and often once they ran out, that could be it. I made that mistake with the braised ox tail stew...took a little to sample, and by the time I came back, they were gone. If this was on land, they could easily charge $30+ a person for the quality and variety presented. That being said, like other cruise buffets, they don't serve much independent seafood (no crab legs and shrimp mountains here) and they do not have sushi at all.
It was very hectic inside during busy times, having to carefully walk crowded lines, and always trying to figure out if the dish you want to try, has a queue or if the nearby line is for something else. Thus, I completely understand why a lot of people will just go to the sit-down restaurant (Opus), where the food comes to you. But if you are in a hurry, trying to eat at a weird time because of an onshore excursion, or you just want to try a variety of food without wasting, Oceanview Cafe couldn't be beat.
