An Elegant Start to the Day – RMS Berengaria First-Class Breakfast Menu, 5 August 1927

Elegant Breakfast Menu From Friday, 5 August 1927 on Board the RMS Berengaria of the Cunard Line Featured an Extensive Array of Offerings Including Calf’s Liver - Piquante Sauce, Boneless Codfish—Cream Sauce, Mutton Chops, and a Wide Variety of Cereals, Fruits, Eggs and Omelettes, Cakes, Bread, and Beverages. | GGA Image ID # 154c5289c6

🍽 Review & Summary – RMS Berengaria Breakfast (5 August 1927)

Onboard the RMS Berengaria, Cunard’s flagship of the 1920s, even breakfast in First Class was a display of abundance and refinement. This menu of 5 August 1927 reveals a table laden with fruits, cereals, meats, fish, breads, and sweets that few hotels ashore could match. It offered both the hearty cooked fare preferred by English travelers and the lighter fruit-and-cereal style increasingly popular with Americans.

Unlike the simpler offerings of Tourist Third Class, here we see the full power of Cunard’s kitchens—from grilled meats and liver in piquant sauce to Scotch oatcakes and Swedish bread, all served in a dining room known for its elegance.

Explore the lavish First-Class breakfast menu of the RMS Berengaria (1927), featuring calf’s liver in piquant sauce, boneless codfish in cream, Force cereal, Sally Lunns, Triscuit crackers, and an unmatched selection of breads and fruits—a true taste of transatlantic luxury.

🍳 Featured Entrées of the Day

Two dishes stand out as likely specialties of the morning:

Calf’s Liver with Piquante Sauce – A French-inspired dish, lightly sautéed calf’s liver paired with a tangy, savory sauce. Its sophistication marks it as a highlight, not something one would find in lower classes of service.

Boneless Codfish with Cream Sauce – A rich and comforting seafood entrée, offering refinement and substance for those who preferred fish at breakfast.

Both dishes balanced elegance with practicality: liver for those seeking a robust start, codfish for a gentler but flavorful option.

Fruits

• Grape Fruit
• Oranges
• Apples
• California Figs in Syrup
• Compote of Prunes
• Baked Apples with Cream

Cereals

• Oatmeal Porridge -- Cream of Wheat -- Fresh Milk
• Force Whole Wheat (Flakes)
• Puffed Rice
• Breakfast Bran
• Post Toasties
• Corn Flakes
• Post's Bran Flakes
• Grape Nuts
• Shredded Wheat

Fish

• Boneless Codfish—Cream Sauce
• Fried Lemon Sole
• Kippered Herring

Eggs and Omelettes

• Eggs Fried, Turned and Boiled
• Poached Eggs on Toast
• Shirred Eggs—Portugaise
• Scrambled Eggs on Toast
• Omelettes Various

Entrees

• Calf's Liver - Piquante Sauce
• Chicken Hash
• Smoked Beef in Cream

Grill

• American and Wiltshire Smoked and Pale Bacon
• Cumberland Ham
• Cambridge Sausage
• Mutton Chops
• Devilled Beef Bones
• Potatoes— Mashed, French Fried, Steamed Jacket
• Cold Meats Assorted
• Spring Onions
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber Radishes

Cakes

• Griddle and Buckwheat Cakes—Maple Syrup
• Waffles

Various Breads

• White and Graham Rolls
• Toast
• Hovis Bread
• French Toast
• Cottage Loaves
• Vienna Bread
• Pulled Bread
• Toasted Muffins
• Scotch Oat Cake
• Corn Bread
• Currant Buns
• Sally Lunns
• Swedish Bread
• Triscuit
• Parkerhouse Rolls
• Soda Scones
• French Crescents

• Marmalade
• Preserves

• Tea—Ceylon, China and Blended
• Coffee
• Cocoa
• Horlick's Malted Milk
• Buttermilk

⭐ Special & Engaging Items

Devilled Beef Bones – Strongly seasoned leftover beef rib bones, roasted and spiced, providing a rustic but flavorful dish.

Shirred Eggs—Portugaise – Baked eggs with a garnish in the Portuguese style, likely involving tomatoes, onions, or paprika.

Cambridge Sausage – An English pork sausage with sage and pepper, noted for its leaner, well-seasoned character.

Sally Lunns – A light, slightly sweet English yeast bun, often toasted and buttered at breakfast.

Swedish Bread & Hovis Bread – Specialty loaves: the former a sweet rye or cardamom-spiced bread; the latter a dense wholemeal bread, marketed as healthy.

Triscuit – A relatively new Nabisco wheat cracker (introduced in 1903), offered here as part of the bread selection—showcasing American influence.

📜 Unusual or Potentially Confusing Items

To a typical American diner in the 1920s, a few names may have raised eyebrows:

Force Cereal – A toasted wheat flake cereal, once hugely popular but now defunct. Marketed with the slogan “Sunny Jim”.

Shirred Eggs – Eggs baked in a flat dish, unfamiliar to many Americans accustomed to fried or scrambled eggs.

Devilled Beef Bones – A bold, spiced preparation of leftover rib bones, more common in Britain.

Sally Lunns – Sweet yeast buns not widely known outside Britain.

Cambridge Sausage – Regional English sausage, milder than American breakfast sausage.

🥐 Variety & Balance

The menu shows balance and intention:

Fruits – From baked apples with cream to Californian figs in syrup, guests had both fresh and preserved options.

Cereals – A mix of hot porridges and branded cold cereals (Force, Post Toasties, Shredded Wheat, etc.).

Fish & Eggs – Both plain preparations and more elaborate sauces offered choice for varying tastes.

Grill Meats – Bacon, ham, sausage, mutton chops, and even spiced beef bones for heavy appetites.

Breads & Cakes – An extraordinary range: rolls, loaves, scones, waffles, oatcakes, buns, crescents, and more.

Beverages – From traditional tea and coffee to Horlick’s Malted Milk and buttermilk.

This balance ensured that passengers could fashion either a light Continental-style breakfast or a substantial English one.

💡 Engaging Detail

One of the most engaging elements is the bread selection—fifteen distinct varieties, ranging from simple toast to international specialties like Swedish bread, Parkerhouse rolls (Boston), and soda scones (Scotland). This was not merely sustenance—it was a culinary tour of the Atlantic world.

Equally fascinating is the mix of old-world and new-world products: Force cereal and Triscuit represent the rise of industrial American foods, while Sally Lunns and Cambridge sausages keep the British tradition firmly on the table.

Page 1 of Carte du Jour Menu Items from the Breakfast Menu from 5 August 1927 on board the RMS Berengaria of the Cunard Line. | GGA Image ID # 156dfafd1c

Page 2 of Menu Items from the Breakfast Menu from 5 August 1927 on board the RMS Berengaria of the Cunard Line. | GGA Image ID # 156e0b9b9a