Review of The Salty Dog

My husband and I just returned from a 7 day Pacific Coastal on the Crown Princess. We received an invitation from the Maitre'd who we enjoyed on a previous cruise to attend the "soft" opening of the new Gastropub. This will only be offered on the Crown, Ruby and Emerald and was in the Wheelhouse Bar. There will be a cover charge of $19 which I felt is very reasonable. You get to choose 3 plates but between my dh and I we sampled 4 dishes. There is a complimentary appetizer of bread sticks with beer-cheddar fondue (a bit on the rich side) but we also got another appetizer of fries with 3 dipping sauces with a prosciutto/salad. I must say the presentation and servers knowledge of the dishes were outstanding. We sampled the Spicy beef short ribs ( not to spicy), lobster mac & cheese (could have used a little more lobster) the charred asparagus & toasted haloumi cheese and the roasted cauliflower which was not our favorite. Somehow the flavors did not jive well with cauliflower (imho) We thought everything else was delicious! And then came desserts:eek:which were amazing! I had the lemon posset ( like a custard) with a pistachio crunch and dh had the coffee & doughnuts, both were wonderful! I hope all my pictures can do this pub some justice. We were so grateful to be invited to this new venue!

So sorry for the sideways pics...this sort of thing is really not my forte:(

Thank you for sharing, and I was able to tilt my laptop sideways to see just fine. Was it three selections per person? The servings seem tiny so I sure hope that is the case.

Yes, it's 3 per person....

Thank you for sharing, and I was able to tilt my laptop sideways to see just fine. Was it three selections per person? The servings seem tiny so I sure hope that is the case.

Who was the MD?

are drinks included in that price?

Personally doesn't appeal to me-no gourmet here. Others may have a different opinion. Go enjoy it!

Looks very nice. We are on the Ruby in November. Will it be open by then?

Neville Saldanha...really wonderful!

Who was the MD?

no drinks included with this

are drinks included in that price?

I think it starts in December..but not really sure

Looks very nice. We are on the Ruby in November. Will it be open by then?

So, any word if the Pub Lunch will still be offered in the Wheel House Bar?

Edit: OK, saw the other posts on this subject. Looks like that sinse the GastroPub is a dinner event and the Pub Lunch is, obviously lunch, probably still an option. As far as happy hour, it would seem that it is early enough to not be affected by the new event either. We will be on the Ruby in January, so, I guess we will find out for sure then.

My husband and I just returned from a 7 day Pacific Coastal on the Crown Princess. We received an invitation from the Maitre'd who we enjoyed on a previous cruise to attend the "soft" opening of the new Gastropub. This will only be offered on the Crown, Ruby and Emerald and was in the Wheelhouse Bar. There will be a cover charge of $19 which I felt is very reasonable. You get to choose 3 plates but between my dh and I we sampled 4 dishes. There is a complimentary appetizer of bread sticks with beer-cheddar fondue (a bit on the rich side) but we also got another appetizer of fries with 3 dipping sauces with a prosciutto/salad. I must say the presentation and servers knowledge of the dishes were outstanding. We sampled the Spicy beef short ribs ( not to spicy), lobster mac & cheese (could have used a little more lobster) the charred asparagus & toasted haloumi cheese and the roasted cauliflower which was not our favorite. Somehow the flavors did not jive well with cauliflower (imho) We thought everything else was delicious! And then came desserts:eek:which were amazing! I had the lemon posset ( like a custard) with a pistachio crunch and dh had the coffee & doughnuts, both were wonderful! I hope all my pictures can do this pub some justice. We were so grateful to be invited to this new venue!

Thanks for posting. Here's another way to post your photos. I use the site Photobucket.com and post the IMG code here and then you see you photo. Here's one photo to give you an idea. You can post 6 photos on one page.

Try Photpbucket...It's easy to use.

Tom:)

Is this available every night?

Does the Wheelhouse lounge look the same or has it been changed?

I assume when the speciality restaurant is being used, the Lounge is unavailable for others?

The menu doesn't appeal to me. I think the price is over priced IMO.

Thanks for posting. Here's another way to post your photos. I use the site Photobucket.com and post the IMG code here and then you see you photo. Here's one photo to give you an idea. You can post 6 photos on one page.

 

 

Try Photpbucket...It's easy to use.

 

Tom:)

Thanks! I have to do that!

So, any word if the Pub Lunch will still be offered in the Wheel House Bar?

 

Edit: OK, saw the other posts on this subject. Looks like that sinse the GastroPub is a dinner event and the Pub Lunch is, obviously lunch, probably still an option. As far as happy hour, it would seem that it is early enough to not be affected by the new event either. We will be on the Ruby in January, so, I guess we will find out for sure then.

We did the Pub lunch. They had it in the Crown Grill on this cruise

Is this available every night?

 

Does the Wheelhouse lounge look the same or has it been changed?

 

I assume when the speciality restaurant is being used, the Lounge is unavailable for others?

 

The menu doesn't appeal to me. I think the price is over priced IMO.

Yes, the Wheelhouse looks the same. Not sure of all the logistics..if its an every night offering or not. I would think you could still go to the lounge whether or not you're dining there.

So, with the addition of this, Lobster Grill, Crab Shack, Fondue, etc, seems like Princess is going the NCL route of many "fee" dining options. They all seem to be just revenue centers to me. Guess I'm just a cheapo ;)

We were on the Crown on the ten day Mexico trip Sept/Oct. Had the pleasure of being one of four couples invited for a full dress reshersal run of the Salty Dog Gastoppub. The others were either officers or Princess officials. The only request was that we write a review of food and service. They did not have the specialty whiskeys but were coming for the next week. The service was top notch. Hotel general manager and Matre D came over a few times to see how we liked it. We thought the food was fantastic. The appetizers wonderful. The deserts beyond good. All of the entres we tried were very good. There are ten or twelve choices. We each picked three different ones so we could share the variety. We liked the choices available. The waiter even had a nice little book of pictures of all the entres so you could actually see what they looked like. Unless one wants steak I would go to the Gastropub over Crown grill especially for the variety. It is an upscale environment as well. Samir-the host- and our waiter - Kathleen - were outstanding. If anyone goes say hi to them for us. Larry & Pam

We were on the Crown on the ten day Mexico trip Sept/Oct. Had the pleasure of being one of four couples invited for a full dress reshersal run of the Salty Dog Gastoppub. The others were either officers or Princess officials. The only request was that we write a review of food and service. They did not have the specialty whiskeys but were coming for the next week. The service was top notch. Hotel general manager and Matre D came over a few times to see how we liked it. We thought the food was fantastic. The appetizers wonderful. The deserts beyond good. All of the entres we tried were very good. There are ten or twelve choices. We each picked three different ones so we could share the variety. We liked the choices available. The waiter even had a nice little book of pictures of all the entres so you could actually see what they looked like. Unless one wants steak I would go to the Gastropub over Crown grill especially for the variety. It is an upscale environment as well. Samir-the host- and our waiter - Kathleen - were outstanding. If anyone goes say hi to them for us. Larry & Pam

We had the same wait staff and they were wonderful! We weren't asked to do a review, but I chose to take the pics and tell them I would. They were happy to hear that.

The name, The Salty Dog, put me in mind of a New England seafood restaurant. This was not the menu I envisioned.

We were on the Crown on the ten day Mexico trip Sept/Oct. Had the pleasure of being one of four couples invited for a full dress reshersal run of the Salty Dog Gastoppub. The others were either officers or Princess officials. The only request was that we write a review of food and service. They did not have the specialty whiskeys but were coming for the next week. The service was top notch. Hotel general manager and Matre D came over a few times to see how we liked it. We thought the food was fantastic. The appetizers wonderful. The deserts beyond good. All of the entres we tried were very good. There are ten or twelve choices. We each picked three different ones so we could share the variety. We liked the choices available. The waiter even had a nice little book of pictures of all the entres so you could actually see what they looked like. Unless one wants steak I would go to the Gastropub over Crown grill especially for the variety. It is an upscale environment as well. Samir-the host- and our waiter - Kathleen - were outstanding. If anyone goes say hi to them for us. Larry & Pam

I would expect service to be top notch with the ship's officers and Princess officials in attendance.

I do not see much for vegetarians on the menu.

Thank you so much for posting about this! DH are on the first cruise post dry-dock of the Emerald and are eager to try out this and SHARE.

Thank you for the posting. I won't be going, but maybe others will like the offerings and the dining room will be less crowded. Just not my cup of tea.

Candi

I also want to thank you for sharing. This is definitely interesting to me, but the one question I have is whether the bar/lounge area will remain open in the evening for people who do not wish to dine at the gastropub. The Wheelhouse has always been our favorite pre-dinner venue for a cocktail and chat.