Chops Restaurant - Poor Food

[KCCruisin']

Morning all,

 

Just had my first evening meal on Adventure in Chops.

 

The service from the waiting staff was exceptional. The food was appalling.

 

I had the Tuna Tartar to start and it was very bland with a load of mashed avocado that tasted weird.

 

I left most of it and the waiter didn't seem suprised.

 

For my main I went for the grande seafood tower. (additional $19 surcharge on top of chops entry price).

 

Worst seafood I've tasted, the crab claws were tasteless - as were the clams, shrimp, mussels and lobster.

 

I tried one of everything but the last straw was the jumbo shrimp hadn't been deveined.

 

The sauces that came with the seafood was weird tasting too, taco/Marie rose/tartare (the tartare and Marie rose tasted the same but one was pink and one was white).

 

I raised the issue that it all tasted bland and as if it was frozen and just left to defrost and the waitress assured me it was all boiled up fresh.

 

As I had left pretty much the entire meal the waiter kindly knocked 10% off my bill, $1.90 off! Woohoo lol

 

I tipped the waiter $10...after all he didn't cook that crap.

 

Giovannis tonight...I hope to god that's better or I'll be on a liquid diet on this vacation.

You are right about the food in Chops. I just got off LOS and we had the 3 night dining package. I wouldn't do either Sabor, Chops or Giovanni's Table again. The Windjammer has better tasting food and there's no surcharge. The staff is fabulous in all the venues. The MDR was inedible.

[KeywestK]

Chops used to be consistently excellent. Then we had some pretty bad experiences and decided no more. Because we had OBC to burn up on Allure last December, we decided to go to Chops. It was outstanding! Had I paid the $49 pp out of my own pocket, I would not have complained. Food and service were both top notch.

[marci22]

We liked Chops on Anthem. It was a great deal for $15 pp. Not sure how I would have judged it at $42 pp.

[gerif]

Even way back when, before they changed the menus and Giovanni's was Portofinos, we always found the steak better at Portofinos.

Agreed. Always loved Portofino. They had a great filet. Of course, after a while they started downgrading as well - remove favorite items from the menu, etc.

[L454S]

We tried Chops twice, both times we were disappointed. Would not go back even for $20PP.

 

Tried Giovanni's and have been very pleased on several different ships.

[pgaedke]

I've had great meals at Chops, and bad meals at Chops. The last time we ate at Giovani's, were were rushed through our dinner, literally taking plates away as I was eating. It's hard to say. I've pretty much given up on MDR as it's loud, the food is not that great and dinner seems to go on forever. The Buffet is great at dinner! Not crowded, quiet, you can take as much or as little time as you want. The food is hot, a nice change of pace from MDR!

Food, more than anything else on a cruise ship, is subjective. Figure out what works for you, and then remember that you are blessed to go on such a trip!

[TrojanUSC]

Chops is an embarrassment. Poor quality seafood, bland steaks and absolutely zero creativity into the sides/accompaniments.

 

Giovanni's is pretty good. Izumi and Sabor are the best food on the Oasis-class ships now, with the exception of Park 150 and Chef's Table, where available.

[ResearchObsessed]

I purchased the two night option for $30. Glad I jumped on it - I don't think I will be too upset if our Chops experience isn't great for $15.

[Freehike]

Our past few meals at Chops haven't been great, but I have yet to have a bad one at Sabor.

 

To each their own.

 

 

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[HaileyJordan]

We were on the Oasis in May and ate at Chops 2 times. We had a great meal. We all really enjoyed everything.

[ravensbad]

Chops has been fantastic for us on the Serenade the last 2 years (4 trips over 2 cruises). Giovanni's (3 trips in 2 cruises) has been good, but not as good as Chops. Food is subjective.

[SojournUK]

Seems like it's not just me who has had a mixed bag of results on the ship.

 

To add insult to injury our Giovanni booking went pear shaped too.

 

Sat on time at 8pm (formal night).

 

Wasn't that busy. Another couple sat on a table next to us at 8:10.

 

By 8:20 they were on their second glass of wine but our waiter had disappeared. We left.

 

Eating in windjammer, big plate of garlic fried rice...nice.

 

Going to start eating on shore.

[katiel53]

I have to say my opinions of Chops and Giovanni's are pretty much the opposite of most. We sailed on Allure last month and had dinner at Chops three nights and once at Giovanni's. I was disappointed in the removal of the scallops appetizer from the Giovanni's menu and although I love pasta Carbonara, it was terrible there. One thing, and I'm sure it's my own fault, I didn't read that there was an egg on top of it. Any other time I've had the dish, the egg was mixed into the sauce. The dish was tasteless as far as I was concerned.

 

In Chops though, the onion soup, which is a fav or my family, was replaced with Lobster Bisque. It was really good and I also love the mushroom soup, but none of my family will eat either, so they were disappointed. Additionally, the scallop appetizer was also removed from the menu.

 

Our waiter was wonderful and we had the same one each time at our request. He recommended the bone-in rib eye steak to my son and he raved about it so much, that we all tried it the last night. It is new to the menu and was wonderful. I tried the tater tots one night and wasn't sure I would like them as they didn't sound so great and I knew I'd share with my family and none of them like any form of Swiss cheese. They were soooooo good and all 4 of us ordered them another night. My son loved the bacon appetizer and had it every time we were there.

 

The differences I posted were between my January cruise on Allure and the one from last month. I am sailing again in January and I know we will go to Chops at least 3 nights again. I hope that the rib eye is still on the menu as well as the other things I so enjoyed.

[oracer]

Just got back from the Harmony of the Seas, ate second night at Chops and had a bad experience. They overbooked the 2nd night because of any issue on Royal IQ, so had a full restaurant and a lot of people waiting. Appetizers where good, but all steaks done incorrectly. Only 2 of 10 peoples were somewhat correct. Complained to the manager and he promptly took the charge off our bill and booked us free at 150 Central Park. The experience at 150 was completely great, food and service was impeccable.

 

We will not go back to Chops on future meals. I heard a lot of complaining on the ship that week.

[bouhunter]

Chops is an embarrassment. Poor quality seafood, bland steaks and absolutely zero creativity into the sides/accompaniments.

 

Giovanni's is pretty good. Izumi and Sabor are the best food on the Oasis-class ships now, with the exception of Park 150 and Chef's Table, where available.

 

As stated here several times, food opinions are so subjective. We felt Izumi was bland and showed no creativity.....;p

[oracer]

Interesting, food at the Izumi Hibachi on Harmony was one of the best meals we had. We went for lunch ($39) and for the table of 8, no one had a bad experience, food was done very well (hard to get Filet Mignon medium rare for any hibachi style).

[BillOh]

Well I am glad we didn't try Chops

 

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I had a very good meal at Chops on Adventure in May, of course I didn't go to a Steak House and order Sea Food. I won't defend Chops too much. I've had great meals there on Navigator, Freedom Twice and Adventure. It was only so-so on Allure and Oasis.

[ckfred]

We've only been to Chops once, courtesy of our TA. It was very good (Freedom in July of 2014). The service was great, but we were the only people in the place until halfway through our entree.

[SojournUK]

I hope that the rib eye is still on the menu as well as the other things I so enjoyed.

 

As you know I was in Chops on day one and the waiter had a few things he said we're not available that were on the printed menu. One of the items was the bone in ribeye, they said they have ribeye but only boneless. Must be a supplier issue as it was day one, hard to believe they'd sold out.

[Rogueperson]

On my first cruise on Jewel in 2009, I went to both Chops and Portofinos. It was my first Royal Caribbean cruise. I had such a great experience on Carnival and thought that it would be the same kind of thing. Wrong. The Chops food was mediocre at best. It was dressed up to look good, but when you ate it, there was no flavor whatsoever. Portofinos was the same way. dressed up to look great, but there was no payout for the dinner. I've had several other incidents on that cruise, and unfortunately, Jewel of the Seas ranked as WORST CRUISE on my list.

 

If i didn't have an open mind, I would never sail Royal Caribbean again after that cruise experience.

 

8 years later. I've been on 5 other Royal Caribbean cruises. And there was no repeat of the Jewel experience. Food at Chops on the Independence, Grandeur and Anthem were immensely better as well as Giovanni's on Grandeur and Independence. To this day, I can't understand how Jewel had dropped the ball so bad. I was told anecdotally that many of the crews' contract were up after that cruise, so they may have been on "cruise control" before they went home. As for the bad quality food at Chops and Portofinos? I can only attribute that to poor supplies. Regardless of the cause, off-cruises happen, and that was one of them. In general, they've all hit fairly high marks.

[Richst48]

We were on Liberty 2 weeks ago and ate in Chops twice. The food was wonderful both times. They have a new menu. I had the 14oz bone-in ribeye. I'm from Texas and I can honestly tell you that was one of the best steaks I have ever had!

[KAP622]

I just got off the Indy of the Seas and Chops was not good. French fries and tater tots on the menu. Really?? I was really disappointed. Never again.

[depplep]

Chops hasn't been the same since they changed the Mud Pie.

[DT1304]

I have eaten at Chops 3 or 4 times, and had a great meal each time. On Radiance and on Explorer.

 

On my last cruise I bought a dining package, so ate at Giovannis. It was probably the best meal I had all cruise.

 

I will be buying another package on my next cruise and going back to both.

[wilmingtech]

Morning all,

 

I had the Tuna Tartar to start and it was very bland with a load of mashed avocado that tasted weird.

 

I left most of it and the waiter didn't seem suprised.

 

For my main I went for the grande seafood tower. (additional $19 surcharge on top of chops entry price).

 

Worst seafood I've tasted, the crab claws were tasteless - as were the clams, shrimp, mussels and lobster.

 

I tried one of everything but the last straw was the jumbo shrimp hadn't been deveined.

 

The sauces that came with the seafood was weird tasting too, taco/Marie rose/tartare (the tartare and Marie rose tasted the same but one was pink and one was white).

 

I raised the issue that it all tasted bland and as if it was frozen and just left to defrost and the waitress assured me it was all boiled up fresh.

 

As I had left pretty much the entire meal the waiter kindly knocked 10% off my bill, $1.90 off! Woohoo lol

 

I tipped the waiter $10...after all he didn't cook that crap.

 

Giovannis tonight...I hope to god that's better or I'll be on a liquid diet on this vacation.

 

I don't think I could ever pay 30$ pp for a specialty restaurant. Unless we had OBC to blow. On this trip we have coming up we paid 30 each for the BOGO (15 per night). I guess we will have to try and get into Jamies first and hope they can swing us into wonderland. I'd got with any of the three though.

 

On another note, my father (who was a chef) always said - "Never order seafood from a steakhouse and never let your mother cook your steak"

 

-Sean