master chefs dinner

[lazey1]

Would someone please describe a master chef dinner. We have been on 5 HAL cruises, the last in 2004 and don't recall any mention of this. Jane

[Two if by Sea]

We sat down to an appetizer already before us, but we had no napkins. Just as we were wondering if we should use the tablecloth, the lights dimmed, Savannah Rye's voice appeared on the loudspeaker announcing Master Chef's Dinner, and a troupe of waiters (and ship's dancers) appeared, dancing in to Waltz music, bringing in napkins that they deposited, in time to the music on our laps -- just in time to save the tablecloths from ruin.

During the salad course, they came in again juggling bell peppers.

And at the very end they had a parade of non-baked-alaska.

I thought it was all rather silly, but harmless -- and my 8-year-old loved it.

[sail7seas]

I don't think they do it on Vista ships..... at least we have never seen it done there. We've seen it on "S" and "R" class ships.

[jtl513]

All of the waiters are dressed in chef's hats and jackets, and paper chef's hats are provided for passengers. I can never keep mine on, and waiters keep coming by and "helping" me by putting it back on ... for a few more seconds. The menu is limited compared to normal nights.

I thought it was all rather silly, but harmless -- and my 8-year-old loved it.Maybe that's IT ... it's part of HAL's attempts to be "family friendly"!! :D

I don't think they do it on Vista ships..... at least we have never seen it done there. We've seen it on "S" and "R" class ships.We didn't have on the Amsterdam on our Apr/May Panama transit. But - possibly that was because we were the first cruise following the GWV, and about 1/3 of the crew was new. (Not to HAL, but to the ship. Both our waiter and assistant had just started their contracts.) I think the MC night is fading fast. BTW we did have a Dutch Night WITH hats!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Which group plays the music varies from ship to ship.

The crew staff and dancers from the production shows led the waitstaff in the dance routines. The lead singer from the cast did the opening song. It was the only time she sang. Since she was on the steps, halfway down, many people didn't even know that she was singing.

When we entered the dining room there was already a Parker House with various seeds on top on the butter plate which was under your chef's toque and menu. The menu was a special cut out showing a spatula, cork screw, rolling pin, chopping knife and big spoon.

Then we had the Ballet Service. This was the only time we had a singer. The waitstaff entered both levels of the dining room to the tune of "Swan Lake". The assistant waiter held the try of napkins while the waiter placed them in our laps. The crew and cast had to help out here in some sections as there weren't enough waitstaff to quickly get the napkins to everyone.

Act 1 - Once again the waitstaff, crew and cast entered the dining room carrying the Chef's Amuse Surprise -- mushroom mousse with asparagus en bouche. This was a tiny empty puff pastry with a tiny dab of mouuse on top.

After those dishes were cleared away, the waitstaff. crew and cast again assembled in the hall and entered the dining room to begin Act 2 -- The Swing Service. The crew and staff "mixed" the salad in HUGE salad bowls to music -- waitstaff get throwing in fake tomatoes, peppers, etc -- some of the waitstaff tried to juggle the peppers -- very funny. Show Salad Spectacular: menu said that we were to have assorted baby greens, pepper rings, mushrooms, scallions & cherry tomatoes with a honey mustard dressing. What we actually got was a tomato stuffed with the assorted baby greens, enoki mushrooms with chopped up onion, scallions and peppers sprinkled on top and the honey mustard dressing drizzled over everything.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Then the waiters came around and took our orders for the Starters and Entrees.

Starters:
1.Dialogue of Alaskan Salmon Tartare with avocado: cold smoked, pickled and chipotle-hot-smoked salmon with lime-avocado-tomato sauce. DH had this -- loved it the first segment. 2nd segment -- it was mostly BIG chunks of onion and very little salmon.

2.Golden Baked Brie in Phyllo Dough served with a cinnamon-spiced apple cranberry compote -- have had this many times in the past -- love it -- it was excellent the first segment -- not completely heated through -- brie -- wasn't even melted a little bit.

3.Lobster Bisque sensuously smooth classical shellfish soup enhanced with aged French cognac and whipped cream. We both have had this in the past -- it's okay -- not one of our favorites.

4.Oxtail En Crote - flavorful classical soup slow-simmered and served in a crisp pastry crust -- excellent both segments.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Entrees:

1.Tagliatelli with Roasted Chicken & Portobello Muchrooms tossed in olive oil and lemon cream.

2.Sauteed shrimps "Provencales" scented with Mediterranean herbs, tomato concassee', florets of crisp, tender broccoli and sticky rice -- you got 4 medium size shrimps -- some people ordered 3 of this dish in order to get more shrimp -- which sent the waiter into a tizzy since they were on a time schedule.

3.Apricot Glazed Salmon with Soya Garlic and Ginger Spalsh -- I have had this on other ships and love it. 1st segment -- excellent RED sockeye salmon -- 2nd segment -- pink salmon -- tasteless.

4.Duck Breast a l'Orange - the old time favorite, oven roasted until crisp amd served with a Grand Marnier sauce, braised red cabbage, pea pods, carrots julienne and William potatoes. DH had this the first segment -- excellent.

5.Whole Roasted Tenderloin of Beef on an earthy bed of calvados-spiked mushroom ragout, with vegetable bundle, braised onion & horseradish mashed potato. DH had this the second time -- beef was tough and fatty.

6.Wild Mushroom Strudel - selected forest mushroom spinach & feta cheese rolled in Phyllo dough and baked until crisp and flaky. Served with a Thai red curry sauce and a timbale of basmati rice.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Act 3 - The Final Service --- the waitstaff, crew and cast began to assemble out in the hallway around 7:15 for this. Then they came parading into the dining room carrying trays of Chef's Rudi's "Hat's Off" dessert. Some of the cast and crew members had bottles of fake champagne that when they popped the corks, some bottles sent out streamers aimed towards the chandeliers which also landed on the people and tables directly below. Other fake botles of champagne gave off smoke. We have had this dessert before. There is a small piece of cake resembling a peg that holds the chef's hat in place - the chef's hat is made out of white chocolate - chef's hat conceals a small amount of chocolate mousse. It was excellent the 1st segment. The second segment -- the cake was flavored in mint -- the mousse was flavored in mint. All you could taste was mint!! A lot of white chocolate went to waste. Many people could not (including us) break the hat up -- it was too thick in places.

[Two if by Sea]

Yeah, that was our menu exactly.

Do they do the same menu all the time for that dinner? Could get old fast for those of you who cruise a lot.

[MightyQuinn]

Do they do the same menu all the time for that dinner? Could get old fast.
You got that right! We've had the Master Chef din-din 3 times in the last year & and the menu was identical each time. The novelty has certainly worn off for us.

[Taxguy77]

You got that right! We've had the Master Chef din-din 3 times in the last year & and the menu was identical each time. The novelty has certainly worn off for us.
Sounds like a good nite to eat at a premium spot or the Lido.

[aliaschief]

Always are night to go to the Pinnacle Grill.

[LindaJ+]

I thought it was kind of fun but it was my first such experience.

[vbmom87]

It is a novelty, it is corny, but I looked it as a way to show our appreciation to the wait staff, who work so hard and do a great job. I do not doubt that HAL could come up with another way for the passengers to show their appreciation to the staff that everyone might like better. However, for now, this seems to be it.

[CoconutFish]

We have been through enough Master Chefs Nights to want to give the Lido a try for dinner instead.
Would anyone know what is served in Lido that night? The same limited menu as the dining room or ?
Thanks!

[MightyQuinn]

Sounds like a good nite to eat at a premium spot or the Lido.
Yup - that's a plan. Except the PG hasn't changed its menu for at least 7-8 years!! :(:( Copper 10-8 has posted a slightly different PG menu in his Eurodam blog, so here's hoping that they roll that out fleet-wide.....
We have been through enough Master Chefs Nights to want to give the Lido a try for dinner instead. Would anyone know what is served in Lido that night? The same limited menu as the dining room or ? Thanks!
I think the general rule of thumb is that the Lido serves 90% of what is offered in the DR on any particular nite. So for MC nite, the Lido would most likely serve a majority of the menu items posted earlier (#5-7). IMHO it's a pretty decent menu - what gets tiring is the "performance".

[Krazy Kruizers]

We did it 4 times -- now we just go to the Pinnacle.

The Pinnacle menu hasn't changed since we first experienced it on the Rotterdam in April 2003 when it replaced the Odyssey.

Just a few months before that we were on the Amsterdam and the Pinnacle hadn't been started yet.

[lazey1]

thanks for all your replies, sounds like fun the first time maybe not to be repeated to often. Anyone know if they are doing this is on the Eurodam? Did this replace the dutch night with the paper hats? We rather enjoyed having our wait crew sign the hats. Jane & Gary

[cruisegirl06]

Yes, it seems to have replaced Dutch Night. I must say I much prefer Dutch Night.

My main issue with Master Chef is that the show compromises service greatly. Our servers seemed so rushed and overwhelmed on Master Chef night (probably because they had to perform), while most of the audience would probably prefer better service without the show.

[MightyQuinn]

Yes, it seems to have replaced Dutch Night. I must say I much prefer Dutch Night.
Maybe it depends on ship & length of cruise? On the Rotterdam last spring, we had both Master Chef & Dutch Nite on the same sailing.

[brucory]

was held on the Oosterdam on our May sailing... (It does happen on vistas too)...

It was a little inconvenient as everyone had to arrive at the set time and the menu was limited/inflexible...

We would prefer the regular evening dining... :D :D :D

[Krazy Kruizers]

Maybe it depends on ship & length of cruise? On the Rotterdam last spring, we had both Master Chef & Dutch Nite on the same sailing.

You were lucky -- we haven't seen Dutch Night in at least 4 years -- and we have been on quite a few different ships.

[Krazy Kruizers]

was held on the Oosterdam on our May sailing... (It does happen on vistas too)...

It was a little inconvenient as everyone had to arrive at the set time and the menu was limited/inflexible...

We would prefer the regular evening dining... :D :D :D

No Dutch night on our 19 day Westerdam cruise this past April/May.

[brucory]

No Dutch night on our 19 day Westerdam cruise this past April/May.

Nor did we have the Dutch night... We had the Master Chef's dinner...

[MightyQuinn]

You were lucky -- we haven't seen Dutch Night in at least 4 years -- and we have been on quite a few different ships.
Wow.....maybe we were lucky. We had Dutch Nite on the Rotterdam last spring & just last month on the Prinsendam. We really prefer it to Master Chef so I hope our luck continues!:)

[RedmondCruiser]

Dutch night seems to have faded away. Actually I prefer Dutch night to the Master Chefs dinner. We have gone to the Pinnacle or the Lido on Master Chefs night so I do not know how they handle it with Any Time Dinning.

[kayden]

For my first time on a cruise, I chose to spend the one night in the dining room at the Master Chef's dinner. The menu was just as someone posted above. I had the Lobster Bisque with the Tenderloin Beef and the beef just melted in my mouth. :)

The entertainment was great and kept me smiling. But since everyone was served at relatively the same times, it took 1.5 hours to complete the whole meal. I had somewhere to go so I left shortly after eating the Baked Alaska...which was delicious by the way!

[KenM]

I have mixed feelings about this. Yes it is novel and for those who have never experienced it - great one time...

Personally, I like a quality meal/nice wine with table conversation and excellent service.
They should let you know in advance to allow time for other quality dinner arrangements.

[marle7]

Since I'm highly allergic to mushrooms, based on that menu, I'll be looking for another place to eat on Master Chef night!

[Hoyaheel]

They should let you know in advance to allow time for other quality dinner arrangements.

I thought the last time I was on HAL, I found out in advance by reading the dining room menu earlier in the day (I love to do that--but my husband hates it, so I can't tell him what's on the menu--he likes to be "surprised":rolleyes: ) I was actually coming to the board to see if they still do this (note the Master Chef's meal on the menu in front of the dining room)

[JerseyJaguar]

They should let you know in advance to allow time for other quality dinner arrangements.
They let us know the previous night about it, because they had to have the open dining people commit to a time, plus they changed traditional late dining time to accommodate running late in early dining.

It worked the best as far as being able to see the whole entertainment show before the meal (we had late dining and supposedly could see the entertainment before dinner but it was never over before we were supposed to be in the dining room except the night dinner was later).