The 10 Safest Dishes To Order From Room Service & 10 We'd Advise Passing On
Hotel Room Service Hits And Misses
Room service is undeniably convenient, especially if you're tired after a long flight or are checking in late, but most people can probably agree that the food tends to be lackluster. It's important to keep in mind that, no, you aren't at a five-star restaurant, but there are still ways to ensure a tastier meal. Here are the 10 safest room service choices that are more reliable, and 10 we'd recommend avoiding to be safe.
1. Club Sandwich
A common room service menu item, club sandwiches are one of the more reliable dishes you can get because they're hard to mess up and taste delicious. The combination of toasted bread, sliced meat, lettuce, and tomato also doesn't give you any reason to worry regarding the quality of the food or the chef's ability to prepare it.
2. Burger and Fries
As one of America's favorite foods, you don't have to go to a fancy restaurant to get a good burger, which means, you should be able to get a decent one from room service too. It's the kind of dish that's designed to be assembled quickly, which means it'll still reach your room while it's piping hot and fresh.
3. Grilled Chicken With Vegetables
For those who want something bit healthier and balanced, grilled chicken with veggies tends to be a safe bet.
You already know vegetable sides aren't flashy so you're not expecting much, and as long as the chicken isn't horrendously over-cooked and is seasoned, it'll offer you a decent, protein-rich meal.
4. Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza
When melted cheese meats tomato sauce and dough, it's hard to get wrong. Even mediocre pizza isn't all that bad! Which is why something as familiar as pizza is never something you have to worry about when ordering from room service. Just pick one with your favorite toppings and you're good to go.
5. Pasta With Tomato Sauce
Pasta served with a traditional tomato-based sauce is simple and doesn't require much skill to get right. Not to mention, it's most likely to get to your door still in tact, unlike delicate cream sauces which are risky because they can separate when they sit for several minutes. Another hack, simply choose a sturdier pasta shape like penne or rigatoni if you’re concerned about noodles becoming tangled or overcooked.
6. Chicken Noodle Soup
If you've been through a long day before coming back to your hotel room, you might be craving something heartwarming and comforting. Chicken noodle soup comes in clutch during these moments, and as you likely grew up even enjoying canned versions, you know it can't be worse.
https://kaboompics.com/ on Pexels
7. Breakfast Omelet
As a breakfast dish served everywhere from restaurants to buffets and hotels, omelets are the kind of thing you learn to enjoy wherever you are.
The dish is basically made of eggs stuffed with tasty fillings like cheese, ham, mushrooms, or peppers which makes it's naturally delicious, so you can expect something at least decent.
8. Pancakes or French Toast
Two beloved American breakfast foods, pancakes and French toast are the kind of dishes that are easy to please. Even if served plainly with some maple syrup, they're still tasty! They'll easily survive the trip up to your room, and besides, these foods are meant to be soggy when covered in its toppings, so you don't have to worry about the texture being ruined before it reaches you.
9. Caesar Salad With Dressing on the Side
Considering that Caesar salad doesn't need to be cooked, it should be a quick and easy dish to order from room service. It might take longer to get to your room than to assemble it! As long as the dressing is flavorful and the croutons are served on the side so they're still crunchy, you can't mess it up.
10. Chocolate Cake or Cheesecake
For the sweet tooths out there who can't resist a delicious dessert, we'd argue that cakes and cheesecake are usually a safe bet at hotels. These tend to maintain their flavor and texture well in comparison to anything that needs to be fried or frozen, and honestly, even being served a delicious storebought one would be fine.
1. Eggs Benedict
As a dish that requires precise timing and skill, eggs benedict is definitely a risky choice. There are too many things that could go wrong, with the eggs not poached well, the English muffin turning soggy by the time it reaches you, or being served a broken hollandaise sauce. It's too fancy a dish to get at a typical hotel.
2. Nachos
Nachos seem like an easy dish to make and serve, but more often than not, they turn out to be disappointments from room service. You usually don't get enough toppings, are served stale chips, or feel scammed out of the value not matching the price. It's better to save your money on something more reliable.
3. Fried Calamari
This beloved appetizer needs to be avoided when ordering room service because it's the kind of dish that needs to be eaten soon after leaving the fryer to maintain its crisp coating and tender center. Steam trapped inside a covered room service container will quickly soften the breading, and the squid just becomes rubbery as it sits.
4. Ice Cream Sundae
It's true that ice cream sundaes are hard to mess up, especially when hotels are likely serving storebought varieties you know will taste good, but the problem with this dessert is timing.
Unless you can absolutely guarantee that your sweet treat won't turn into a puddle by the time it reaches your door, you're better off with something that'll hold up better.
Josephina Kolpachnikof on Unsplash
5. Steak
As much as you might be craving a good steak, it's not the kind of dish you want to order from room service. The meat often comes without being seasoned well, the sides are disappointing, and you might not get the cook and temperature that you asked for. Better to save this for a fancy restaurant when you know the money will be worth it.
6. Loaded Baked Potato
A loaded baked potato can become surprisingly unappealing after sitting for a while under a covered tray. Sour cream, cheese, butter, and bacon may melt together while the potato skin loses its firmness, and there's honestly no guarantee that your hotel will be loading up the toppings as much as you'd like them to.
nobleseed nobleseed on Unsplash
7. Fish and Chips
Fish and chips depend heavily on crisp batter, hot fries, and proper ventilation so nothing turns soggy and unappetizing. But sadly, inside a closed room service container, the steam can soften both the fish coating and the potatoes within minutes.
8. Avocado Toast
Let's be honest. Avocado toast is hardly ever worth the price when you're not making it at home yourself.
Not only is it overpriced, but the dish declines pretty quickly from the moment it's assembled, with the topping beginning to darken and the toasty bread turning soggy.
9. Soufflé
Soufflés are delicious and luxurious desserts, but they're also highly sensitive to time, movement, and temperature, none of which work in its favor during room service delivery. It may begin to collapse before the server has even reached the elevator!
10. Raw Oysters
It's safe to say that if you ever see raw oysters on a hotel menu, something about it just seems dangerous. This dish requires very careful temperature control that we're not sure anyone should be risking. After all, do you really want to get the stomach bag from a bad plate of poor oysters on your trip?
