Review of the NEW Steakhouse Menu - Magic 1/13 Sailing

Greetings,

Was on the Carnival Magic last week, and wanted to share my opinion of the steakhouse. Understand this is the opinion of my wife and I, and may not be your experience. We pick a night to do the steakhouse on every cruise, and it is something we always look forward to. This cruise we took my 12 year old daughter who was celebrating her milestone (25) cruise.

Steakhouse Cooking Demo:

We attended the demo (we enjoy it for a non crowded mini lunch on first sea day). Menu here has not changed. Mushroom Cappuccino, Mushroom Spinach Salad, Chicken w/ Potato Hash and Truffle Mac & Cheese, and Tiramisu. This was awesome as always, but expect we may see this menu change soon.

Steakhouse Review:

We had a 5:30pm reservation. We noticed they had a bunch of 5:30s and didn't stagger. Service seemed to suffer as a result. Magic has the smallest steakhouse of the fleet, so this may contribute. Not only did it take time to get started (its intended to be a relaxed experience), it was hard to get water glasses refilled.

There was no meat presentation (knew this) nor was there the salt/seasoning presentation we have seen others mention. When asked they said that Magic doesn't do that.

Bread:

We have really liked the previous selection (Rosemary focaccia bread or Brioche served with a tomato confete, butter, or eggplant confete). The new selection is Sea Salt Pinwheel or some type of very thin cracker type bread served with butter and a spinich dust butter. We considered this to be an epic fail vs. the old. Had we not had the old, the review would be it was bland and not noteworthy.

Compliments of the Chief:

This evening was Parmesan Our Way. This included a parmesan crisp and a dab of creamy parmesan. The crisp was awesome, the dip was very strong. The compliments are always an adventure.

Starters:

We ordered the Stuffed Mushrooms Caps (Awesome!), Heritage Berkshire Pork Belly (Fatty and not very good), Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (Same as it has always been - very good), and a special request of the chief arranged for ahead of time: a bowl of mushroom cappuccino (amazing!). Due to the arrangement of tables, we were immediate next to another party of three, and chatted with them. The smoke presentation from the oysters was cool and fragrant (they said taste was awesome). Also heard good things about the Risotto. Noticed the Spinach/Mushroom salad is no longer the same as the cooking demo, but told was good.

Entrees:

At our table, we ordered the Spice-Rubbed Prime Rib Eye Steak (Great), a Spice-Rubbed Filet Mignon (Great), and the Broiled Lobster Tail.

The lobster was over cooked and stuck to the shell. It also was VERY dark. I refused it and the chief came out. He told me they all would look like that since they were substituting warm water at the moment. He recommended we try the Wagyu. This came out a short time later. Presentation is a steak cut into strips (5) in my case. This was honestly tasteless and not remarkable. It really wasn't as flavorful as the flat iron steak from the dining room. Compared to the wagyu beef I had at a dimond lunch, it was aweful. When the chief came by he found it pushed to the side, and I was helping my wife with her ribeye. He took it back.

Sauces & Side Dishes:

The bernaise sauce was different and had a strong flavor to it. The Chimichurri was new to the menu and was AWESOME!

The baked potato, medley of mushrooms, and wasabi mashed potatos were good as always. The garlic rapini had a very strong flavor to it that we didn't care for. The mac n' cheese was a normal (unremarkable) yellow cheese sauce (nothing like the amazing truffle mac n' cheese we normally special order from the cooking demo). This day they were out of Onion Rings.

Desserts:

We learned that if one person at the table orders "Art at your table" everyone must. Fortunately the table beside us ordered it and saved us that mistake. The chief comes out and creates a design with 3 sauces on a cutting board. He then carefully places two cookies per person and several wrapped & unwrapped pieces of candy. In the middle is a larger which sphere that contains some type of cake and icecream. The table beside us found the cookies unedible, and candy unremarkable. The contents of the sphere was ok, but they said they wouldn't do it again.

So then we ordered dessert: Chocolate Sphere (nothing exciting), Apple Tarte (Ok), and my daughter ordered an old favorite of hers from the children's menu: Nuetella Pizza w/ the flavor of the day icecream (Peaches & Creme). Did we not have memories of the Cheesecake and Chocolate sampler these new desserts would have just been mediocre, but when you have the perspective of comparision - its a huge disappointment.

I will share that when the bill came, the Steakhouse manager came and appologized once again about the entree issues. She indicated that she had changed my daughters cover to a child in compensation. (Kids menu is under 12, and is limited). Basically she dropped the cost $20. She said it was easier to do that than to discount my meal. I thanked her and paid the bill.

Final Thoughts:

After it was over, my wife and I thought back and decided we may think twice about a steakhouse dinner. Hopefully Carnival here's about the areas of disappointment from those that dine, and make changes (they did this well with American Table). If they pivot and make some changes, we'll take a second look. We had eaten in the same steakhouse with most of the same staff just months before under the old menu. Different as day and night.

Others will have different opinons. I think some might have been one night issues, but others were not. I look forward to your thoughts below.

We had one experience on the Magic and agree the steakhouse is quite small. This was before the menu change so we had our usual favorites. We enjoyed half off on a lovely bottle of wine. We do the surf and turf and had the usual lobster, but the steaks weren't quite as good. With your review and others, I'm thinking we won't go back.

This is horrible news! Will the steakhouse on all the ships now be equally bad? I really look forward to that lobster, and would be mortified if it came out of the kitchen like that!

Thanks for sharing and it's just another Carnival disappointment.

We had an amazing supper at the steakhouse on the Magic on NYE. It was packed and I worried we made the wrong choice.

It was amazing. 6 of us, all loved every aspect of our meal, the service and the experience. We had a wide range of entrees, everyone talked all week for the rest of the cruise about how much we enjoyed it. Sorry to hear you guys didn’t have the same experience.

This is horrible news! Will the steakhouse on all the ships now be equally bad? I really look forward to that lobster, and would be mortified if it came out of the kitchen like that!

The lobster 2 weeks before this was perfect.

Thanks for the review. We will be on the Breeze in 2 weeks and will eat at the steakhouse once as per our new tradition (this is only our 3rd cruise but we count it as a tradition!). Anyway, we were absolutely amazed with the food on the Breeze and Valor so hoping all will be good again.

Thank you for your review.

Keith

Does anybody have a copy of this new menu? I am only finding the old one online.

We ordered just about everything mentioned in the original post from the new menu on Vista last month and it was all incredible! Planning multiple steakhouse visits on the next cruise.

Greetings,

 

 

 

Was on the Carnival Magic last week, and wanted to share my opinion of the steakhouse. Understand this is the opinion of my wife and I, and may not be your experience. We pick a night to do the steakhouse on every cruise, and it is something we always look forward to. This cruise we took my 12 year old daughter who was celebrating her milestone (25) cruise.

 

 

 

Steakhouse Cooking Demo:

 

We attended the demo (we enjoy it for a non crowded mini lunch on first sea day). Menu here has not changed. Mushroom Cappuccino, Mushroom Spinach Salad, Chicken w/ Potato Hash and Truffle Mac & Cheese, and Tiramisu. This was awesome as always, but expect we may see this menu change soon.

 

 

 

Steakhouse Review:

 

We had a 5:30pm reservation. We noticed they had a bunch of 5:30s and didn't stagger. Service seemed to suffer as a result. Magic has the smallest steakhouse of the fleet, so this may contribute. Not only did it take time to get started (its intended to be a relaxed experience), it was hard to get water glasses refilled.

 

 

 

There was no meat presentation (knew this) nor was there the salt/seasoning presentation we have seen others mention. When asked they said that Magic doesn't do that.

 

 

 

Bread:

 

We have really liked the previous selection (Rosemary focaccia bread or Brioche served with a tomato confete, butter, or eggplant confete). The new selection is Sea Salt Pinwheel or some type of very thin cracker type bread served with butter and a spinich dust butter. We considered this to be an epic fail vs. the old. Had we not had the old, the review would be it was bland and not noteworthy.

 

 

 

Compliments of the Chief:

 

This evening was Parmesan Our Way. This included a parmesan crisp and a dab of creamy parmesan. The crisp was awesome, the dip was very strong. The compliments are always an adventure.

 

 

 

Starters:

 

We ordered the Stuffed Mushrooms Caps (Awesome!), Heritage Berkshire Pork Belly (Fatty and not very good), Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (Same as it has always been - very good), and a special request of the chief arranged for ahead of time: a bowl of mushroom cappuccino (amazing!). Due to the arrangement of tables, we were immediate next to another party of three, and chatted with them. The smoke presentation from the oysters was cool and fragrant (they said taste was awesome). Also heard good things about the Risotto. Noticed the Spinach/Mushroom salad is no longer the same as the cooking demo, but told was good.

 

 

 

Entrees:

 

At our table, we ordered the Spice-Rubbed Prime Rib Eye Steak (Great), a Spice-Rubbed Filet Mignon (Great), and the Broiled Lobster Tail.

 

 

 

The lobster was over cooked and stuck to the shell. It also was VERY dark. I refused it and the chief came out. He told me they all would look like that since they were substituting warm water at the moment. He recommended we try the Wagyu. This came out a short time later. Presentation is a steak cut into strips (5) in my case. This was honestly tasteless and not remarkable. It really wasn't as flavorful as the flat iron steak from the dining room. Compared to the wagyu beef I had at a dimond lunch, it was aweful. When the chief came by he found it pushed to the side, and I was helping my wife with her ribeye. He took it back.

 

 

 

Sauces & Side Dishes:

 

The bernaise sauce was different and had a strong flavor to it. The Chimichurri was new to the menu and was AWESOME!

 

 

 

The baked potato, medley of mushrooms, and wasabi mashed potatos were good as always. The garlic rapini had a very strong flavor to it that we didn't care for. The mac n' cheese was a normal (unremarkable) yellow cheese sauce (nothing like the amazing truffle mac n' cheese we normally special order from the cooking demo). This day they were out of Onion Rings.

 

 

 

Desserts:

 

We learned that if one person at the table orders "Art at your table" everyone must. Fortunately the table beside us ordered it and saved us that mistake. The chief comes out and creates a design with 3 sauces on a cutting board. He then carefully places two cookies per person and several wrapped & unwrapped pieces of candy. In the middle is a larger which sphere that contains some type of cake and icecream. The table beside us found the cookies unedible, and candy unremarkable. The contents of the sphere was ok, but they said they wouldn't do it again.

 

 

 

So then we ordered dessert: Chocolate Sphere (nothing exciting), Apple Tarte (Ok), and my daughter ordered an old favorite of hers from the children's menu: Nuetella Pizza w/ the flavor of the day icecream (Peaches & Creme). Did we not have memories of the Cheesecake and Chocolate sampler these new desserts would have just been mediocre, but when you have the perspective of comparision - its a huge disappointment.

 

 

 

I will share that when the bill came, the Steakhouse manager came and appologized once again about the entree issues. She indicated that she had changed my daughters cover to a child in compensation. (Kids menu is under 12, and is limited). Basically she dropped the cost $20. She said it was easier to do that than to discount my meal. I thanked her and paid the bill.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts:

 

After it was over, my wife and I thought back and decided we may think twice about a steakhouse dinner. Hopefully Carnival here's about the areas of disappointment from those that dine, and make changes (they did this well with American Table). If they pivot and make some changes, we'll take a second look. We had eaten in the same steakhouse with most of the same staff just months before under the old menu. Different as day and night.

 

 

 

Others will have different opinons. I think some might have been one night issues, but others were not. I look forward to your thoughts below.

We ordered the art at your table and it was delish (Breeze)

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My husband and I were on the Magic last November, and I 100% agree with you on the bread. I have no idea what they were thinking there. It’s not just the fact that the rosemary focaccia bread was already my favorite part about the Steakhouse, it’s the fact that what they serve now is simply not good. Definitely an epic fail for whomever created the menu.

I disagree with you in regards to the desert, though. We had the Art on the Table and it was amazing. Although you didn’t have it, so I suppose I’m not disagreeing with you really since you can’t actually comment on something you haven’t tried. But, it’s very delicious and fun as heck! The candies and other little mini deserts are so different. Lots of new flavors that I’ll bet a lot of people haven’t tried before. I didn’t like all of them, but I am kind of picky with flavors to begin with. It had nothing to do with the quality, and the things I did like I very much enjoyed. The center main part was scrumptious. And again, just a ton of fun. I would highly recommend everyone trying it at least once.

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We agree. The new menu is very disappointing for us. No rosemary bread, crab cake, chocolate sampler or cheesecake were the greatest disappointments for us. Not sure if we we'll eat there next time and we always eat there the first night of our cruises. I really hope they bring back the old menu items.

Thank you for the review.

Keith

Sounds a little disappointing to me. We ALWAYS dine in the steakhouse at least twice during our cruises, and we LOVED the old menu. I was going to try the Wagyu steak but unsure now. May stick to my favorite..spice rubbed steak.

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I'm mourning the loss of the creamed spinach.

I am mourning the loss of the Beef Carpaccio and the escargot.

Sorry to hear the disappointment. We dined there twice on the 1/20 sailing. I totally agree about the bread and lack of good desserts. We didn't even order one as I like sweets but absolutely no fruit or anything like that near my chocolate. My husband ordered the waygu on the first visit and I didn't care for it. Glad I sampled it so I knew to order filet instead. My lobster was very good tho.

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Was the rib eye bone in?

Just saw the menu on line---18 oz rib eye! Who can eat that much?!?!?

We were on the vista and ordered the art dessert. I have to agree it was a one and done. Will not order that again.

This is horrible news! Will the steakhouse on all the ships now be equally bad? I really look forward to that lobster, and would be mortified if it came out of the kitchen like that!

Can't speak for the other ships but the steakhouse on the Valor was outstanding. Definitely worth the $35/person fee. Or maybe I'm just easy to please?

Was the rib eye bone in?

 

Just saw the menu on line---18 oz rib eye! Who can eat that much?!?!?

My 21 yo son would try

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Can't speak for the other ships but the steakhouse on the Valor was outstanding. Definitely worth the $35/person fee. Or maybe I'm just easy to please?

I agree 1000%. Steakhouse on the valor was excellent. We had Thanksgiving day dinner there and although they had a wonderful menu, we don’t regret missing the mdr that night. 35.00 was a steal.

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Can't speak for the other ships but the steakhouse on the Valor was outstanding. Definitely worth the $35/person fee. Or maybe I'm just easy to please?

Do all of the ships have the new menu at this time? On the conquest at the end of next month and am wondering which menu we will have.

Based on my understanding only Dream class and newer have the new menu so far. We are hoping for the old menu on Glory at the end of March.