The Catch By Rudi-Popularity?

[grimace95120]

Good day all.

I have spent the last few days booking specialty restaurants on my upcoming Enchanted Cruise. Thanks to the new Premier, these are all included so I’m trying to take full advantage of this offer.

 

What I have seen, and this is just my personal observation, is that The Catch by Rudi is extremely underutilized/under booked.

Every single day of my cruise (Sept 21 Canada New England) , The Catch has availability at every time slot starting from 5pm. Sabatini’s, and the Crown Grill on the other hand, seem to only be available after 8pm, if at all

 

Is Rudi just not popular with cruisers? I know that’s a broad-brush statement, but it seems really out of balance with the other two. I personally love fish (more than beef actually) so for us this is a great opportunity ( although it feels like we might be dining in an empty restaurant at this pace 🙂 ).

 

I’ve seen quite a few video review that, for the most part, give Rudi a positive review. Taste in food is very personal, but just curious if this community has any insight as to why Rudi seems to be the “ odd man out” on the specialty circuit?

 

Thanks !

[Justpackingmybags]

It’s a much newer addition than Crown Grill or Sabatini’s. I’ve only had the chance to eat there twice and I much preferred it to the others. It’s heavier on fish/ shellfish on the menu, but meat is also available. The presentation is imaginative too. I personally find the amount of food at both Crown and Sabatini’s is far too much, but that’s so subjective. 

[JimmyVWine]

There are still a lot of people who subscribe to the view that if they are going to pay extra for a special meal, there had better be a big slab of beef involved.  

[grimace95120]

6 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

There are still a lot of people who subscribe to the view that if they are going to pay extra for a special meal, there had better be a big slab of beef involved.  

that was certainly me in my "younger days" 🙂 . If I was to eat that big slab of beef now , my gut would revolt lol 

[suekel]

I love Rudi's and so does my meat eating husband.  He said the filet he had at Rudi's on the Majestic was better than any filet he's had in the Crown Grill.  And I get my shrimp/salmon/scallops.  I have it booked next month on the Sun.  

[JimmyVWine]

17 minutes ago, suekel said:

I have it booked next month on the Sun.

Me too.  

[Mud_Shark]

Our daughter and son-in-law also preferred The Catch to the crown grill.  My wife and I also enjoyed it.  There is a surf and turf option.  There are obviously more cuts of beef available at the crown grill, but there are better kinds of fish at Rudi's.  I actually am in the minority, preferring Sabatini's first, Crown grill second, and Rudi's third, but all three are great so it's not a disappointment to do any of them.

[voljeep]

25 minutes ago, suekel said:

I love Rudi's and so does my meat eating husband.  He said the filet he had at Rudi's on the Majestic was better than any filet he's had in the Crown Grill.  And I get my shrimp/salmon/scallops.  I have it booked next month on the Sun.  

 

6 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Me too.  

#us-october

[pedirn]

We are not sure about booking it due to trying Rudi’s restaurant on HA Rotterdam.   We were very disappointed in it.   Now I know it is a different restaurant but it is the same  well known chef using his recipes.

[Jnsplace1]

I have booked it, because my honey likes shellfish, and while I cannot eat it, I can enjoy the other things on the menu just fine.  (sensitive, not allergic).  Meanwhile, I cannot book at Sabatini’s at all that week, figure they must be doing something to it.  So it's Crown, Catch and MDR for dinners unless something else catches our eye.  🙂

[grimace95120]

28 minutes ago, pedirn said:

We are not sure about booking it due to trying Rudi’s restaurant on HA Rotterdam.   We were very disappointed in it.   Now I know it is a different restaurant but it is the same  well known chef using his recipes.

Hi here, was it the quality of the food you were disappointed in, or the recipes or ???

[JStar]

We have loved Rudi’s. If it’s available on a ship we are sailing it would be my number 1 choice.

[mtnesterz]

 

5 minutes ago, grimace95120 said:

Hi here, was it the quality of the food you were disappointed in, or the recipes or ???

The word got around about The Catch that while the service is excellent and seasoning the food is just someone following directions in the kitchen, the preparation tends to being overcooked, which for not good for seafood.

Princess is banking on the tactic that people will pay extra, either for the name on the restaurant, or the show, meaning a place like 360, Britto, Butcher's Block.   Hey, if that's what you like and want, go for it. To us it's facade and we won't buy into it anymore. It's just not worth it considering we've already paid for dinner in the MDR.

[arizonaperson]

@grimace95120 from The Live from’s and other cruise critic threads, I would say The Catch by Rudi is pretty popular and much enjoyed ,but with that comes -food is very subjective. But great that you were able to reserve the specialty restaurants you desired.

Edited August 22 by arizonaperson

[Boku]

Like some others we also prefer Crown Grill to The Catch.  We weren't impressed with The Catch on our Sky Princess cruise earlier this year, the steak and lobster were overcooked and in our opinion the service was rather ostentatious. The Crown Grill was excellent and we would definitely book again.

Edited August 22 by Boku

[azbirdmom]

We noticed the same thing prior to our July cruise on Discovery.  I thought that perhaps that when they switched the venues for Sabatini's and The Catch that they didn't flip the reservations.  But I found out that there was a glitch and there were plenty of reservations available for Sabatini's once we boarded.  We didn't eat at The Catch on that cruise but had done so a couple of months prior on the Enchanted.  I thought it was very good, my DH thought it was just ok.

[Cruise Raider]

We absolutely love the Catch by Rudi .. best specialty restaurant onboard on the Majestic and Discovery.  My DH orders the filet and lobster tail and we ask for a plate of the concerto pasta to split (with or without the seafood additions) and lobster for me.  The Majestic does a better job with the pasta, though.  I am not a fan of red sauce with seafood and much prefer the wine sauce they make on the Majestic. 

Sabatini’s would be my third choice between the 3 specialty restaurants.  
 

[grimace95120]

Thank you all for the varied, informative and unbiased responses. I appreciate everyone's purview.

7 nights, 3 restaurants...... looks like we will have plenty of opportunity to sample the best of all !

[1025cruise]

In my case, the menu at Rudi's just doesn't appeal to me (not really a seafood eater). Same for Sabatinnis. Not going to spend the money on a restaurant where there is only 1 item I might order.

[dog]

No availability for the Catch on my cruise.

[pedirn]

16 hours ago, grimace95120 said:

Hi here, was it the quality of the food you were disappointed in, or the recipes or ???

Mostly quality.  Everything was blah.  My husband had Denver Sole and I had Grilled Seafood .  Both overcooked.  Also I am gluten free and very few options available not like steak house or Italian.

[JimmyVWine]

7 hours ago, pedirn said:

My husband had Denver Sole

No wonder he didn't like it.  Denver Sole is even worse than Kansas City Halibut or Cheyenne Swordfish!  🤣

[Sunwanabe]

Our group booked Rudi on our spring Enchanted cruise. It was packed the evening we went.

I hope it stays as the food and service was superb. Personally my new favorite for Princess specialty dining to date.