Another Food Review (Specialty and not so specialty)

[Breezey]

Just off the May 1st sailing and agree with everyone, one awesome ship. Since I will post a detailed review in the cruise reviews section, I wanted to share our food perspective since it is such a part of the overall cruise experience. Somewhat in order of where and when we ate. Sorry if I get too detailed.

 

Central Park Cafe (free)

Breakfast - only had breakfast there once. Choice of about 4 bagels (kind of like lenders), 3 cream cheese varieties, veggies, smoked salmon. Didnt really pay attention to other items during breakfast but based on our regular lunch visits, assume all great.

 

Lunch - Wonderful build your own (ok actiiually you tell the servers what you want and they build it for you in a large bowl. Choices of cucumber, tomatoes, shredded carrots, olives, onions, chopped egg, salad shrimp, cubed turkey, ham, and tuna plus a different cheese each day (feta, boconcini) and various dressings. A popular spot, alway busy. The roast beef sandwich that everyone speaks of is delicious - essentially two thick slices of freshly cut meat. There are varied veggie and meat paninis (well not the typical panini bread I am used to) grilled to order, a few packaged sandwiches, choice of soups and packages of potato chips and sun chips. They have an espresso bar ($) and varied tasty desserts that change each day. One of our favorite places for lunch.

 

Giovanni's ($15 per person)

Had our first night's dinner here. Lovely room and while I made reservations in advance, the place was pretty empty (suspect since it was Day 1). Service was wonderful, food was very good but not fantastic. We shared a duck breast salad over rosti with arugula and portobello mushroom. All delicious except the duck breast was way overcooked. Caprese salad was delicious, tomatoes were very fresh. We then shared gnocchi with lamb ragu which was supposed to have roasted root vegetables (not sure where they were). Tasty enough but gnocchi were pretty heavy. I had the shrimp scampi, two huge pieces, one tasted fresh, the other not so much. My husband had a very tasty sea bass. Desserts included were tiramisu and I had panna cotta. Both just ok.

But.....I have to say it though, the music in that place is bad. We are in our mid 50's and Dean Martin is even before our time. Come on Andrea Boccelli, Josh Groban, the 3 Tenors, etc etc do Italian well. Change the music! After the 3rd Dean Martin song I thought I was going crazy.

 

Solarirum Bistro (free)

Had most of our breakfasts and dinners here. It's their more healthy buffet choice. Breakfast - included wonderful cut up fruit including fresh watermelon, cantelope, honeydew, papaya, pineapple) and pieces of fruit like apples, bananas and pears. There were bagels, english muffins, low fat, low sugar muffins, wonderful multigrain breads, some type of scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, turkey sausage and more. Coffee was pretty good too.

Lunch - included a salad bar with both veggies and protein. Some hot dishes including a fish usuallly. The desserts were great. Loved the florentines and sugar free peanut butter cookies!

 

Samba Grill ($25 per person)

Not fully booked either. Well here is where I differ from recent reviews. The concept is great. They transform the solarium from a casual eating place by day to a lovely white linened restaurant in the night. The indoor seating area is airconditioned so did not experience any problems with the sun and heat others refer to. Ok so if you are a meat lover, and if the meat the night you are eating is cooked to your liking, a wonderful experience. Essentially you start with a salad bar which is really terrific. There are 4 types of tapenades/hummous and very thinly sliced toasted baguette which are yummy. A nice variety of cold seafood salads, a chilled salmon, and a few other very good choices. You are offered a choice of two soups (we declined knowing there was major meat to come). Meats include filet mignon, skirt steak, bacon wrapped chicken, beef rib, lamb chops and chirozo (sp?) sausage. You can have as much as you like (we did one go around of the servers only). This is accompanied by fried plantain, french fries, corn on the cob - yikes so overcooked, grilled veggies and 3 dipping sauces for the meat (actually two sauces and one bowl of sea salt) as all the meats are lightly salted with no other spices. If you are not a meat eater, this is not the place for you as other than the chicken (which was very good) and the salad bar there are no other choices. On the day we went, I found all the meats way too overcooked for me but enjoyed the experience. Have a caprinha (they make this wonderful drink very well there!)

 

Izumi ($5 cover charge and then you pay based on what you eat. Most sushi rolls are $5 each)

Another great service experience and I had an incredible Sake Martini!! wow.

We had vegetable tempura - very good and 3 different sushi. Two from the menu including Crisp Spicy Tuna (yum!!), box salmon and crab (good) and one I ordered not on the menu a Dynamite Roll. Buyer beware if you order a special roll they charge you twice as much as their basic rolls. Plus I have had dynamite rolls in many restaurants and Izumi made it up. We ate it, it was good but not worth twice as much as others that are only $5! Green tea is free and comes in a lovely huge tea pot. I would have gone back for lunch just to have the Crispy Spicy Tuna again.

 

Chops Grille ($25 per person)

One word WOW. Place was packed and for a reason. Everything was perfect. I had an incredible shrimp and crab cake, mostly seafood, hardly any filler and lightly breaded. YUM! My DH had a great salad. I had the petit filet mignon, medium rare and it came out perfectly! Husband had the rib eye (with a bone thought that was a rib steak) We shared a baked potato (they are gynormous), grilled cremini mushrooms and leeks (yum) and onion rings (ok ok not necessary but ok). We both said the best steaks we have had. I would have booked to go back another day but we were literally overdoing it with beef all week.

 

MDR (free)

We ate in the MDR twice for dinner. After the first night I would have happily cancelled the 2nd night. We had free time dining. It was hectic although service was great, food options sounded great but fell short in taste. It was banquet hall dining. And after the ambiance in the specialty restaurants it just was disappointing. Perhaps if we hadnt experienced the specialty restaurants before we may have had a different experience. For example, panko coated cod, had about 2 inches of panko on it which needed to be spooned off, cod was dry. The second night was formal night, lobster tail was huge but so salty and tough from overcooking. Baked potato with prime rib (yes beef ago) was tiny and clearly not cleaned very well - they need baked potato pointers from Chops.

 

Miscellaneous Eating :)

 

Dog House - went there twice. First time we were looking for coney island hot dogs but they were out of them so we had Austrian (veal dogs). Eh. Found the buns heavy and a bit stale, and was disappointed that they didnt have hot peppers and only packaged yellow mustard. A few days later had the Coney Island (kosher style beef) Same eh. A hot dog needs fresh buns and spicy mustard IMHO

 

Promenande Cafe - only went for snacks including a fantastic mozzarella, tomato and pesto sandwich on a great bun. Heard their desserts were terrific, we didnt have any.

 

Donuts - never saw them, never missed them.

 

Sorrento's - ok while the pizza is not the best, good enough for an afternoon or late night snack. There are about 4 choices of already made ones, we didnt bother with personal pan made to order as we wanted something quick.

 

Cupcake Shoppe ($)- We shared one, and sorry but it was the heaviest cupcake I ever had (and not in a good way). Save your money.

 

Windjammer - had breakfast there once, that was it. Busy busy. Eggs are all premade so while the concept of a omelet is nice, sitting there for who knows how long did not make for a tasty omelet. The blueberry pancakes were tasty though. Solarium was a much better spot for us for breakfast.

 

Starbucks ($) - woo hoo. Sorry I did it almost everyday. I need my daily latte.

 

Champagne Bar - ok not a place to eat but they do include a nice tough. If you order a drink early evening, they give you a small plate of canapes, late night we got a small plate of chocolate covered strawberries and cookies. A nice unexpected touch to a wonderful bar with terrific service.

 

And the best for last......THE CHEF'S TABLE ($75 per person including wine pairing)

Wanted something different and special for our last night. Am so so glad we saved it and did it. 16 (usually 14) of us met in the library and met by a waiter with champagne for us all. We were then escorted through the concierge lounge to their second level to a large table set for us all. The table included name cards for each of us and a printed menu of our meal to come and the names of the guests around the table. In addition in front of us were 5 different Riedel wine glasses ready to be poured with each course (and they were very very generous pours). The overall experience, from service to food, to the company (a wide range of people from all over became wonderful dining companions as the evening progressed) was special. Our menu included Smoked Duck Salad; Soup Trio of butternut squash, tomato consomme, lobster corn bisque; serrano ham wrapped dover scallops; roasted veal tenderloin with potatoes, wild mushroom confit and truffle glaze; flourless roasted hazelnut chocolate cake with ice cream and then petit fours. For each course, the chef explained how the prepared the various items, the sommelier explained the wine and his choice and both answered any of our questions. The experience was truly incredible. At the end we were each given an apron and a RCI cookbook from the various restaurants on their fleet. As a FYI, two of our tablemates really enjoyed the meal but suggested they preferred 150 Central Park (they went twice in the week, we didnt make it).

 

This ship provided such a range of food choices, covering many tastes, you will not be disappointed. Oops unless you are looking for great breakfast room service. Their choices are so limited we didnt bother.

[avanti]

We went here on first night. The boards here say its a great way to start cruise.. Not really ! $20 pp for 3 margaritas or beer and a bunch of fried food. Plus the margaritas were weak. In our opinion..skip it! Plus no one even got wild or crazy! I think they were too tired from flying that day!

[goodvig]

I wanted to add that one of my favorite dining experiences of our cruise last month was wine and tapas at Vintages! We ordered five or six different tapas and loved everyone of them! I especially needed a "lighter" meal option after stuffing myself for the previous four days/nights at the other dining options!

 

I will also add that I am not a picky eater and I'm not overly critical of food but for the first time on our RCCL cruise - both my husband and I commented on the poor quality of the food in the MDR. I've heard folks complain about it in the past and I've never really understood it as I don't expect the MDR to be a five star dining experience just due to the number of meals they put out each night - BUT...this cruise seemed especially below standards than anything I remember in the past...especially when it came to the desserts. If it wasn't for our fabulous waiters (we enjoyed them sooo much) we probably wouldn't have eaten there at all!

 

With that said - under par food that I didn't have to cook and clean up - is still really great food!!!!!

[Breezey]

Avanti

Rita's Cantina got such bad reviews lately, didnt even bother. Sorry you found out the hard way.

 

Goodvig

Glad you brought up Vintages. So wanted to go, had just run out of time. We met people who raved about it.

[Babyberger]

Breezey - thank you for this review! It is was exactly what I was looking for today :) I am so happy you loved the Chef's Table, we did it on Oasis and it as the absolute highlight of our cruise. As you said, it wasnt just the food and wine, it was the people and the overall experience! I am looking forward to doing it again on Allure!

 

I swear all the planning I do for our cruises seems to be around the food :eek: It's a good thing the ship is so long and I take the stairs a lot ;)

[BrianAlt]

Nice job. Good info.

 

Doesn't look like we disagree on much. :D

[Breezey]

Nice job. Good info.

 

Doesn't look like we disagree on much. :D

 

Hey it was your review that primarily helped me to choose where I was going to eat :)

[Cruising89143]

Goes to show that everyone has different tastes. We enjoyed Rita's. Went both to the Fiesta and had lunch or dinner there during the two weeks on board. Was it the best Tex-Mex that he have ever had? No and it wasn't the worst either. Drinks were not watered down at all from our experience. One can look at the menu and see that most of the food offered is fried food. Did not go here expecting to eat healthy.:)

[Smileeface]

Breezey, just wanted to ask you, is it the customary thing to tip at the specialty dining restaurants ontop of the extra fee paid to go??? I don't even remember what we've done in the past. I realize that if you have that very special wait staff that really goes above and beyond, or does a little something extra for your table, that you might want to. But is it expected normally? Trying to figure out what's the appropriate thing to do...

[neptune18]

Breezy, great review. Looking forward to the food on our July Allure sailing. Come on, though. Dean Martin is awesome.

[Breezey]

Neptune 18 - thanks. I know that I rely on these boards to get information so just passing it forward. Re Dean Martin, loved him in movies with Jerry Lewis but come on, wouldnt put him on the top of the list of Italian singers. :)

 

Smileeface - 15% gratuity is added to the bill but we did tip extra. Not much think $5 - $10 max depending on the restaurant. The service was outstanding.

[Daghis]

I would have gone back for lunch just to have the Crispy Spicy Tuna again.

If that's the item that I remember, I loved it, too. You would have been disappointed, though. We did go back for lunch on the last day and found that the Crispy Spicy Tuna wasn't on the lunch menu.

 

(Again, this is from memory. Whichever of the Signature Rolls that I really, really liked from dinner wasn't included in their lunch menu. I think it was the Crispy Spicy Tuna.)

[Host Faith]

Great review! Made me hungry! Thank you so much for sharing.

[BillOh]

Solarirum Bistro (free)

Had most of our breakfasts and dinners here. It's their more healthy buffet choice. Breakfast - included wonderful cut up fruit including fresh watermelon, cantelope, honeydew, papaya, pineapple) and pieces of fruit like apples, bananas and pears. There were bagels, english muffins, low fat, low sugar muffins, wonderful multigrain breads, some type of scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, turkey sausage and more. Coffee was pretty good too.

Lunch - included a salad bar with both veggies and protein. Some hot dishes including a fish usuallly. The desserts were great. Loved the florentines and sugar free peanut butter cookies!

 

 

Well said and for the most part this was good food. I do have to add though that Turkey Bacon is a crime against humanity! It was worse that shoe leather. ;)

[Breezey]

BillOh - I agree. You are right. I tasted a piece of the turkey bacon and it was like eating shoe leather. I do wish the Solarium would have switched up their salads a bit though and add a bit more protein to the mix.

Plus one morning, I asked if they had peanut butter (I like it on my muffins) and was told it is not healthy. Well yeah, the ones that are filled with hydrogenated oils and salt are not, but the natural ones are. But great service, someone got me some anyway :)

[evelynmonica30]

Wow, I too was on the sailing of May 1st, and I must agree the Chef's table was my absolute favorite, we had the same menu so I assume its the same menu through out the sailing, I have posted menu, pictures and reviews on my blog, http://www.twoculturescook.com/?page_id=22

Also Rita's cantina was not a bad experience for us, the food is not the best but the ambiance was nice, we had alot of fun!!! Also maybe because we sat at the bar, the drinks were pretty strong.

I also had breakfast at the solarium one morning and must agree that the bacon was horrible, did not enjoy the breakfast at all, I would skip breakfast there, but there are so many options available you will not be able to try them all!

[Beaferd]

Sounds to me like you are a food critic.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review.

 

 

Kirk

[Breezey]

Sounds to me like you are a food critic.

 

Haha. Nope, just a person who likes to cook and eat good food :) and sharing with others. Eating is a big part of the cruise experience (ok for us, anyways)