Incredible menus served on the high seas during the golden age of travel
Jacqui Agate
04 October 2018
Cruise cooking through the ages
While you can still dine on sumptuous dishes on modern cruises, the elaborate menus of golden age liners were something extra special. From breakfast in bed to beluga caviar, we reveal the most amazing options served at sea through the 20th century.
Mouthwatering mains on SS Belgenland
Belgenland (1923-1935) was the glittering flagship of the Red Star Line, travelling between Europe and North America – and she had a menu to match her ritzy bar and lavish dining areas. High-profile passengers, such as Albert Einstein, could enjoy a seafood-focused menu featuring punchy clam cocktails and seared delice of sole. Those who didn’t favour the catch of the day could opt for rich foie gras, roasted plover or Vermont turkey smothered in cranberry jelly.
Sweet treats on SS Belgenland
Sweet-toothed diners would follow up their savoury courses with a delicate petit gâteau, spice-packed paradise pudding or Nesselrode ice cream – a rich, frozen pudding filled with chestnuts, dried fruit and liquor.
Breakfast fit for a king on SS Lapland
Another, earlier, Red Star Line ship, the SS Lapland (1908-1933) was smaller than SS Belgenland, but its culinary output was every bit as great. Breakfast was a belly-busting affair with kippered herrings, devilled mutton kidneys on toast, grilled Yorkshire ham and sizzling bacon. Eggs could be whipped up however guests chose, and there were a bounty of muffins and Indian griddle cakes for a serving of sweetness.
A luxurious lunch on SS Lapland
Lunch was equally lavish. The airy Verandah Cafe, with sweeping ocean views, was a delightful spot to dine, and typical first-class luncheon menus made the most of the water. Guests could feast on fried oysters, dressed crab, smoked eels, Bordeaux sardines and herring. Tapioca pudding, rhubarb tart and a cornucopia of cheeses would be waiting for dessert.
Oysters and lobster on SS Lapland
Dinner was served with an extra flourish, beneath the twinkling chandeliers of the cruise ship’s lavish dining room. Oysters appeared on most dinner menus, along with more seafood delights such as marinated tuna, halibut doused in lobster sauce and creamy salmon roulade. Later courses included hearty dishes like celery-fed duckling and grilled-to-order veal chops.
A la carte-style dining on RMS Titanic
RMS Titanic met a tragic fate but the “Ship of Dreams” had been built to impress in every aspect, and its menu was no exception. The à la carte restaurant, exclusively for first-class guests, was the vision of renowned Italian restaurateur Luigi Gatti. He enlisted top chefs and staff from his existing pair of sumptuous restaurants in London and menu highlights included caviar and Egyptian quail.
A ten-course feast on RMS Titanic
Those first-class guests who preferred to take their meal in the dining saloon would be met with an elaborate ten-course meal. Early courses included oysters and poached salmon with mousseline sauce (an egg-based sauce similar to hollandaise), while mains included filet mignon, squab and roasted duckling. Peaches in Chartreuse jelly and sweet eclairs formed dessert.
An early morning banquet on RMS Majestic
RMS Majestic was also owned by White Star Line, making her maiden voyage as a passenger ship some ten years after her ill-fated sister, the RMS Titanic. RMS Majestic would sail the seas between Southampton and New York until the late 1930s, serving a delectable array of dishes. At breakfast, guests were spoiled for choice with anything from lambs’ liver and bacon to cooked-to-order eggs on the menu.
A decadent lunch on RMS Majestic
If you weren’t still full from a morning feast, a generous lunch menu boasted poached cod, lobster, fillet steak and truffle ham, with assorted pastries to finish.
Turtle soup on RMS Majestic
A multi-course evening dinner was served to first-class passengers in an opulent dining room complete with columns and ceiling frescoes. The menu included vol-au-vents, little-neck clams and green turtle soup – the latter was a warming and luxurious dish made from turtle flesh, popular with the upper classes at the time. This was followed with rich meats like roasted grouse and abundant vegetables from French asparagus to marrow.
Breakfast in bed on RMS Queen Elizabeth
Cunard Line, still in operation today, was another liner to thrive through cruising’s golden age. A voyage on a Cunard ship was an exercise in luxury. Breakfast on RMS Queen Elizabeth (1945-1972) matched the other cruise ships of the day, with eggs all ways and kippered herrings, plus the added extra of ox tongue or pressed beef. If you didn’t fancy the breakfast room, you could have your morning meal delivered to your suite and enjoy it from the comfort of a plush bed.
Stews and curries on RMS Queen Elizabeth
The lunch menu was meat heavy with terrine, tenderloin steak, beef brisket, and veal and ham pie. A speciality was beef carbonnade, a hearty stew rich with onions, served with herby potatoes, while those after a fish dish could try poached brill or seared sea bass. By the 1960s, the ship offered dishes beyond the classic meat and two veg, with options such as zingy curried chicken served with steamed patna rice.
Celebrating in style on RMS Queen Elizabeth
More seafood graced the dinner menu, from cherrystone clams to crab-flake or lobster cocktail – but the liner really excelled itself when catering for special occasions. Christmas saw plates piled high with succulent turkeys, braised hams, herb stuffing and sweet cranberry sauce. At gala dinners, such culinary creations as baked clove ham with buttered asparagus and roasted potatoes were served.
American classics for lunch on RMS Queen Mary
The menus on the RMS Queen Mary (1936-1967), RMS Queen Elizabeth’s sister ship, were equally as inviting. Queen Mary sailed the Atlantic Ocean for around three decades, principally travelling between Southampton and New York. The North American influence could be seen at lunchtime when fried chicken, beef brisket and Digby Bay scallops joined a “London mixed grill” as well as grilled haddock to form a rather eclectic menu.
A dinner menu with a French flourish on RMS Queen Mary
At dinnertime, influences came from the other side of the Atlantic. Francophiles could enjoy classic French cooking, including delicacies such as sautéed frogs' legs to foie gras. A light cherry soufflé was the star of the dessert menu.
Beluga caviar on RMS Queen Mary
Perhaps the most extravagant of all the dishes on this menu was the beluga caviar starter. Taken from the beluga sturgeon, this kind of caviar was, and indeed still is, one of the most expensive forms in existence (there are restrictions on its trade now, since the beluga sturgeon is sadly endangered). The presence of this delicacy on the menu was a mark of extreme luxury.
“Culinary art” on the Four Aces ships
The Four Aces were a quartet of cruise ships completed in the 1930s, promising to be among the finest liners ever to operate on the Atlantic. Proud adverts touted “cooking that is truly culinary art”, with grand dining rooms and swish cafés to boot.
A ten-course farewell dinner on SS Exeter
Perhaps the most elaborate of all the menus served across this quartet was SS Exeter's ten-course farewell dinner. It began with iced cantaloupe and a green turtle soup. Chicken à la Maryland – a crispy fried chicken dish with generous amounts of steaming gravy – and tenderloin steak were among the mains, with petit fours to finish.
A curated menu on SS Excambion
The farewell menu of the SS Excambion was smaller but no less impressive. It also began with turtle soup, plus Olympia oysters and trout plucked from British Columbia’s Fraser River. Filet mignon was served for the main course, paired with duchess potatoes and buttered peas. The menu also promised after-dinner coffee in the smoking room and “dancing to follow”.
Pleased as punch on SS Independence
Also by American Export Lines, the decadent SS Independence arrived later than the Four Aces, in 1951. The menu was studded with all the luxurious features of its predecessors: caviar, lobster, oysters and filet mignon. This ship also served a crowd-pleasing dessert of Lalla Rookh Punch – an alcoholic sweet treat involving vanilla ice cream laced with a glug of rum.
Elevated Italian cuisine on SS Rex
SS Rex, launched in 1931, was the sumptuous offering from Italian Lines, and the company breathed their Italian influence into the mouthwatering menu. At lunchtime, guests could opt for parma ham antipasti, followed by swordfish or red mullet. Other options were spaghetti all'Amatriciana (a red sauce made with tomatoes, pecorino and guanciale) or zampone (a stuffed pigs' trotter) doused in marsala wine.
Fine Mediterranean cooking on SS Rex
Dinner followed in similar style with more inventive Mediterranean-inspired dishes. Highlights included chicken florentine, foie gras and duck à l'orange.
More Mediterranean morsels on SS Conte di Savoia
The SS Conte di Savoia, also of Italian Lines, was smaller but no less glamorous than SS Rex – it operated from 1932 up until the beginning of WWII, during which time it was used for military purposes. As a passenger line, it served a delightful, Mediterranean-inspired menu. Lovers of Italian cuisine could indulge in risotto with Parmesan or veal escalope with white wine for lunch.
More Mediterranean morsels on SS Conte di Savoia
Elaborate farewell dinners included melon balls in marsala sauce, ravioli with rich ragù and poached dentex, a fish commonly found in the Mediterranean sea. Assorted cheeses rounded off the feast and sparkling Italian wine was free-flowing throughout.
Fancy fish dishes on MS Kungsholm
“One more ‘skål’” (a Scandinavian word for “cheers”) was the mantra of this fun-loving ship by the Swedish American Line, which ran from 1953 to 1965. Dishes made brilliant use of Sweden’s fantastic seafood: from the à la carte lunch menu, diners could choose from clam or lobster cocktail, a shellfish gratin or a fried fillet of plaice.
Fancy fish dishes on MS Kungsholm
Come dinnertime, there were more inventive fish dishes to sample. Options included a light shellfish salad (inspired by the Bohuslän region of Sweden) to start and mains such as rainbow trout meunière, in which the fish was floured and sautéed. Seafood potpourri (a thick fish soup) was another popular choice.
World food on SS President Cleveland
Launched in the wake of WWII, SS President Cleveland and SS President Wilson were among the most luxurious liners of their day. “Marvellous” food could be enjoyed in one of the chic dining areas or delivered direct to passengers’ state rooms. SS President Cleveland boasted a creative dinner menu with a mix of influences. Starters of sashimi and spinach soufflé sat alongside fillet of barracuda, guinea fowl with buttered asparagus and Macau-style sole with straw potatoes.
A New Year blow-out on SS President Wilson
The menus on SS President Wilson had similar flair and they pushed the boat out even further on special occasions. The liner welcomed in the New Year with caviar and jumbo frogs’ legs sautéed with almonds. The star dish was golden pheasant with Virginia ham, juniper berry sauce and sweet potatoes. A mandarin cocktail with “fine champagne” was on offer too.
Breakfast in style on SS United States
The stylish SS United States took to the seas in the early 1950s, sailing until 1969. Nicknamed the “Big U”, the gargantuan ship still holds the record for the fastest trans-Atlantic crossing. Its menu was something to write home about too. A mammoth breakfast menu included bananas and cream, and eggs came to order, topped with smoked salmon, capers or anchovies. The hungriest of passengers could opt for Finnan haddie (Scottish smoked haddock), hunks of beefsteak or sausages.
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