Honest reviews on MDR beef dishes?

[sjb317]

I have always enjoyed the beef tenderloin and short ribs in the MDR.  Probably my two MDR favorite meals.

 

The worse steak I ever had, cruise ship or land, was a NYstrip in Chops on Harmony.  The first thing the waiter said to me was check it and see if it is ok, it looked strange to him.  It was gray looking and inside was bloody.  He took it back, returned with it about 15 min later, inside was now just pink but the whole steak had a strange texture to it, kind of mushy in places. I gave up.

 

150 Park has excellent filet but the Lobster Thermidor was maybe two bites of very tough, dry  lobster.  The waiter was bringing out a second plate to everyone so there were two more bites.😂. The bread in 150 is to die for!

 

Sherri🙂

[baelor]

@sjb317 Thanks for the info!  Sorry to hear about the NY strip (grey & bloody--yuck).  We will avoid the Lobster Thermidor at 150 CP.  I prefer my lobster grilled/steamed without cheese or dairy anyway.

[LB_NJ]

2 hours ago, baelor said:

Our party is sailing for the first time on RC (or ever) on the Symphony, and we have a 3-night specialty dining package.  The "obvious" answer to my title question is "try them and see," but we can't because we need to decide what nights to book specialty dining and this is our first time cruising.  There are a couple nights where the beef dish on the MDR is the main/only appeal for us, so any insight is appreciated.  The dishes we are curious about are:

 

Slow-roasted prime rib (potato croquette, broccoli, and horseradish au jus)

Roasted beef tenderloin (mashed potatoes, asparagus, and a rich morel mushroom sauce)

Braised beef short rib (Cab reduction, roasted root veggies, mashed potatoes)

Beef stroganoff (paprika-mushroom sauce, linguine)

New York strip steak (herb butter/green peppercorn sauce, baked potato, seasonal veggies)

 

We know that food is "subjective," but we would still appreciate your insight on the above.  Especially pretty basic stuff:  Was the beef super fatty?  Was it over- or under-done?  Was it seasoned?  Were the sides seasoned?  Were they pure mush? etc.

 

We are also aware that preparation/quality depends on the ship/trip.  But we have to make decisions on some basis, so...

 

We sailed on Anthem in February and the MDR food was consistently poor.  This was our first sailing since COVID and the food was worse then we had on the 2 other Royal cruises we have gone on.  Even the food in a specialty restaurant we tried was not great.  FYI, the prime rib was a disaster.

 

We are going to try one more cruise on Royal this year and if the food is not better we will NEVER sail on them again.

[baelor]

Just now, LB_NJ said:

We are going to try one more cruise on Royal this year and if the food is not better we will NEVER sail on them again.

Sorry to hear about the prime rib.  What other lines do you sail (that you think have good food)?

[LB_NJ]

13 minutes ago, baelor said:

Sorry to hear about the prime rib.  What other lines do you sail (that you think have good food)?

 

Pre-COVID I thought Royal food in MDR (Empress and Grandeur) was good (not 5 star but good) and also specialty dining was good (definitely better then MDR but still not 5 star) so I am not sure if any of my pre-COVID opinions are still valid.  Besides Royal we have sailed Cunard (not Grills), Princess, and Oceania.  Oceania was far and away the best food however I thought Princess and Cunard (in the MDR, didn't like the buffet) were OK. 

 

So pre-COVID I never had any serious complaints about dinner in the MDR of the cruises we have been on.  I am waiting to see if that one cruise on Royal was just an unfortunate one-off experience or if Royal has just gotten very poor and I have to give up on them as a vacation option.

[baelor]

9 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

Besides Royal we have sailed Cunard (not Grills), Princess, and Oceania.  Oceania was far and away the best food however I thought Princess and Cunard (in the MDR, didn't like the buffet) were OK. 

Thanks!  I will keep that in mind.  Given that those lines are all definitely pricier than RC, I am happy the food is better!

[LB_NJ]

8 minutes ago, baelor said:

Thanks!  I will keep that in mind.  Given that those lines are all definitely pricier than RC, I am happy the food is better!

 

As I said all of my experiences were pre-COVID so can't say for sure if they are still true.

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, baelor said:

Thanks.  I think our inclination at this point is to skip Chops and opt for 150 CP, Wonderland, and a third restaurant (maybe either Jamie's or Hooked).

I have not yet tried 150 CP but plan on doing on my Oasis sailing this summer.       

 

Wonderland is one I feel everyone must try at least once.     For the last several years my Husband kept saying he didn't want to go down the rabbit hole, but I finally took him for his Birthday on March 31st and we both enjoyed the food and the presentation.      They also have the short rib which hubby enjoyed and we shared an extra plate of the halibut - that was delicious.    I had the Branzino with crispy bread, which was also very good.   

 

We like Jamies but we prefer Giovanni's when available.    Hooked is good too.     

 

Have you considered the hibatchi at Izumi?

[baelor]

Just now, Sunshine3601 said:

Have you considered the hibatchi at Izumi?

We have--I would be down, but not sure if the rest of the group wants the surcharge.  I also admit that I would be eyeing the sushi the whole time, which I love.  I like teppanyaki and do not get to go often, so Izumi is definitely on my list (even if we do not get to it this cruise).

[happy cruzer]

Who posts a dishonest review?

 

Thanks for all sharing their "honest" ones.  Will know what to expect.

[baelor]

3 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

Who posts a dishonest review?

Good point.  I should have perhaps used "candid" instead!

[topnole]

28 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

Who posts a dishonest review?

 

Thanks for all sharing their "honest" ones.  Will know what to expect.

The competition?   Happens all the time in lots of industries.  

[Rogueperson]

Sometimes, the inconsistencies just do not make sense.  What's great on one ship, may not be so hot on another ship.  Shoot, you can have inconsistencies on the same ship, if not the same cruise.

 

Case in point.  On my last Enchantment cruise, we did Chef's table.  There is a filet Mignon dish on the menu.  This SHOULD be the best steak you can get on the ship.  My Filet was amazing and delicious.  My wife's, which was cooked the EXACT same way, had no flavor.  They looked identical, but one was great, and the other, not so much.

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, baelor said:

Slow-roasted prime rib (potato croquette, broccoli, and horseradish au jus)

Roasted beef tenderloin (mashed potatoes, asparagus, and a rich morel mushroom sauce)

Braised beef short rib (Cab reduction, roasted root veggies, mashed potatoes)

Beef stroganoff (paprika-mushroom sauce, linguine)

New York strip steak (herb butter/green peppercorn sauce, baked potato, seasonal veggies)

 

All excellent on both legs of our B2B cruise (13 and 20 March) on the Explorer.

[smokeybandit]

2 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

 

We are going to try one more cruise on Royal this year and if the food is not better we will NEVER sail on them again.

Well you're welcome to go pay a lot more money for better food on other lines.

[george35]

What ships are the resturants "HOOKED" on??

 

george35

[Ozark_Kid]

4 hours ago, baelor said:

Thanks.  I think our inclination at this point is to skip Chops and opt for 150 CP, Wonderland, and a third restaurant (maybe either Jamie's or Hooked).

We really enjoyed Hooked on Symphony.  3 of 4 liked Jamie’s.  We went to Jamie’s again on Harmony and I think we are done with Jamie’s.  Chops was ok but like you, I am a beef snob and I rarely enjoy a ribeye more than my own.

We enjoyed Wonderland enough that we did it again on Harmony.  The waiter will visit before serving to get an understanding of what you like and what to stay away from.

[LB_NJ]

17 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Well you're welcome to go pay a lot more money for better food on other lines.

On the last cruise I thought some on the meals were Denny's quality.  Service was good but food was not.

[SeattleAl]

Question: I have a cruise on Ovation coming up in August and tend to order a beef dish if available. This thread has been helpful. We're planning on eating in the MDR...BUT will have an 18 month old with us, so Windjammer is a fall back option if the boy isn't up to a more formal environment. Are any of these beef dishes available in Windjammer?

 

Thanks!

[firefly333]

7 minutes ago, SeattleAl said:

Question: I have a cruise on Ovation coming up in August and tend to order a beef dish if available. This thread has been helpful. We're planning on eating in the MDR...BUT will have an 18 month old with us, so Windjammer is a fall back option if the boy isn't up to a more formal environment. Are any of these beef dishes available in Windjammer?

 

Thanks!

Not exactly the same. They have a carving, might be a roast pig. They do a  minute steak medium now, used to do it a couple different not all medium. Too rare for me so now I have to wait for tor them to cook it more. Its smaller and I just cut off anything not perfect. Just right for me. 

 

The poblano soup in Mdr has chorizo and roasted corn in it. Its plain pepper soup in the WJ. 

 

Every night we had a different theme in WJ. Some like island night, southern or Mexican. 

[squadron]

5 hours ago, baelor said:

Thanks!  Sounds like the stroganoff dislike is pretty widespread...

Stroganoff is a Russian dish - probably why dill pickle pieces  which seems to be unpopular.

[baelor]

3 minutes ago, squadron said:

Stroganoff is a Russian dish - probably why dill pickle pieces  which seems to be unpopular.

Yeah, but my understanding is that the standard Russian preparation does not have pickles (but can have mushrooms).  I did a bit of digging and found out that the Finnish version is the main one with pickles!

[loman]

I used to have my steaks medium - well many years ago. Then i went with medium . I now order them medium - rare . 

The change in flavour is huge . 

 

Dont disregard the lamb chops and lamb shanks , as they are very good also.

[baelor]

12 minutes ago, loman said:

I used to have my steaks medium - well many years ago. Then i went with medium . I now order them medium - rare . 

The change in flavour is huge . 

I agree--my steak/pork/fish is all medium rare; ground meats are medium.  Except chicken.  

 

12 minutes ago, loman said:

Dont disregard the lamb chops and lamb shanks , as they are very good also.

I won't--I love lamb!  And goat, but I have not seen that on the menus.

[smokeybandit]

51 minutes ago, baelor said:

I agree--my steak/pork/fish is all medium rare; ground meats are medium.  Except chicken.  

 

I won't--I love lamb!  And goat, but I have not seen that on the menus.

Goat appears in the WIndjammer for lunch occasionally.