Silja Serenade is a cruise ship mainly trafficing Stockholm-Helsinki via Mariehamn. The ship can host 2500 passengers. One might expect a breakfast restaurant on such a place to be very noisy. We had paid a little bit more in order to book seats at a smaller restaurant named Tavolàta. While not the biggest breakfast place on the ship, Tavolàta can still cater for over 100 passengers. Nevertheless the atmosphere is pleasantly quiet.
The buffet is very well structured. When entering one gets a good overview of what is served and congestions can be avoided. A tea drinker might get nervous when not being able to spot tea bags. Never mind, after entering, a waiter takes care of you and asks if she can bring a glass of sparkling wine as well as coffee or tea. And what you get is real tea, no tea bags here.
There is a good supply of cold dishes, fresh vegetables and well prepared hot food. Furthermore a good selection of local delicacies, vegan dishes, gluten-free and lactose-free items as well as sugar-free jam. If you want to make yourself blintzes with smetana and red caviar, go ahead. The bread is fresh and the supply of pastry modest. We appreciate that. Often breakfast buffés can overwhelm with sweets making it more like a a pastry shop.
The staff is very nice and attentive.
Anything on the negative? Apart from small selection of oranges there was no fresh fruit. To the dismay of one of the reviewers no peanut butter was served. But with everything else being excellent that failure can be overlooked. We give this place 9.5/10. (With thanks to Peter & Eva Stein)