Needing a Chefs Table review

[Herby]

I will be on Jewel of the Seas and wondering if the Chef's Table is worth it. Any insight?

[fenton04]

We have enjoyed it on Rhapsody, Adventure, Enchantment, Navigator, Vision,, Voyager, and the Serenade.  If you love wine well worth it.  We look at the culinary courses as icing on the cake.   

[Herby]

15 minutes ago, fenton04 said:

We have enjoyed it on Rhapsody, Adventure, Enchantment, Navigator, Vision,, Voyager, and the Serenade.  If you love wine well worth it.  We look at the culinary courses as icing on the cake.   

So the wine is included with the courses?

[klfrodo]

8 minutes ago, Herby said:

So the wine is included with the courses?

A lot of various wines. Royal is great about this. They have a Sommelier who explains the wines, and why it is paired with that course. And Yes, the wine is included in the price.

[Deeliteful]

I did Chef’s Table on the Jewel on the T/A in November. Whilst I thought the food was fabulous I didn’t enjoy most of the wines and did not enjoy our “Sommelier” at all ! Talked more about himself more than the wine and not convinced the wines were great quality either.

 

Just my opinion.

Edited January 7, 2023 by Deeliteful

[fenton04]

Six course dinner with 5 wines and a cocktail for dessert.  Back in the day a dessert port was served.  I miss that.  

[livingonthebeach]

I tried it for the first time in 2019 on Empress (pre-pandemic and before she was sold). Did it again on Freedom in 2021 during the restart.  Both times were excellent!  The menu was exactly the same. I wouldn't do it a third time unless the menu changes.  If you're lucky to get the sale price, then it is totally worth it!

[njkruzer]

We've done Jewel and Anthem since the restart.  Both in private venues and we love it.  Small group of no more than 16.  Love it.

[seaandsea]

On 1/7/2023 at 12:58 PM, livingonthebeach said:

I tried it for the first time in 2019 on Empress (pre-pandemic and before she was sold). Did it again on Freedom in 2021 during the restart.  Both times were excellent!  The menu was exactly the same. I wouldn't do it a third time unless the menu changes.  If you're lucky to get the sale price, then it is totally worth it!

Do you mind sharing what was on the menu?

[goldfish65]

On 1/7/2023 at 1:36 PM, Deeliteful said:

I did Chef’s Table on the Jewel on the T/A in November. Whilst I thought the food was fabulous I didn’t enjoy most of the wines and did not enjoy our “Sommelier” at all ! Talked more about himself more than the wine and not convinced the wines were great quality either.

 

Just my opinion.

x2 though I did not find the food to be fabulous. Royal can't seem to get a decent sear on beef, most of the time. Glad I did it just for the experience. It was fun to dress up and table-mates were pleasant. Wines were not special, you can find them in most any supermarket. I left most of mine, but admittedly I am a wine snob. The "sommelier" was a senior waiter from Chops. When asked if the Cabernet Sauvignon was 100% Cabernet or a blend, he answered "oh, It's 100%!" as though having other varietals in the blend made an inferior wine. We didn't hold that against him, and tipped in cash, he was a hard worker and he really tried, just don't expect to learn much about wine. 

 

I can't remember everything that was on the menu....an amuse bouche, there was a chilled scallop/vinaigrette-type appetizer, a fish course, Filet Mignon, and desert was a large hollow chocolate globe with peanut butter and ice cream inside, I believe. 
 

Edited February 4, 2023 by goldfish65

[livingonthebeach]

2 hours ago, seaandsea said:

Do you mind sharing what was on the menu?

Scallop Carpaccio
Smoked Tomato Soup
Maine Lobster Salad
Roasted Branzino or
Grilled Filet Mignon
Truffle Potato Purée
The World - dessert from Wonderland (big chocolate ball with hot chocolate poured over it) delicious!!!!

[njkruzer]

We really enjoy Chef's Table. Did it New Year's eve 21-22 on the Jewel. Understand there are no choices, it's a fixed menu.   Saying that, at least a day in advance we inform them of food alergies/restrictions and they are very accommodating.   The evening can last 2-3 hours, or more. Limited to 16 people.  New wine with each course. Chef explains each course.

[Sea Dog]

Here are some of my reviews. We love the Chef’s Table.

 

 

Another one.

 

 

[Seville2Cabo]

1 hour ago, livingonthebeach said:

Scallop Carpaccio
Smoked Tomato Soup
Maine Lobster Salad
Roasted Branzino or
Grilled Filet Mignon
Truffle Potato Purée
The World - dessert from Wonderland (big chocolate ball with hot chocolate poured over it) delicious!!!!

We got the Bronzino AND and filet mignon.  

Have done it 3 times since restart and had a great time and enjoyed the food.  My only complaint was too many white wine.  We prefer reds

[Welly9]

We have enjoyed the Chefs Table twice, Loved both times!

Loved the wine selections which was paired and food was great. You meet and chat it up with the group that sits with you. 

Still friends with a few of them. We did one BC on the Jewel and one AC on the Symph.

 

 

[CyberTag]

We just did the Chef’s Table on the Navigator.  A lot of alcohol and food.  A before dinner cocktail, glass of wine paired with each dish, Branziano AND filet.  We were way too full by the time the filet came.  The dessert was to die for, but again I was too full to eat it.  Then, they brought us an espresso martini!  Well worth doing once, but I don’t think I’d do it again since the menu doesn’t change. 

[baelor]

9 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

We got the Bronzino AND and filet mignon.  

Have done it 3 times since restart and had a great time and enjoyed the food.  My only complaint was too many white wine.  We prefer reds

Fair complaint about the wine, but that also seems like a menu problem.  The menu you responded to accommodated red wines at the tomato soup course and the filet mignon course; everything else is normally paired with white.  Maybe not the World dessert, but we would be looking at dessert wines for that anyway.

[twangster]

15 hours ago, seaandsea said:

Do you mind sharing what was on the menu?

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/media-assets/pmc/content/dam/menus/en/chefdinner/CHEFDINNER.pdf

 

CHEFDINNER.pdf

 

This was identical to Chef's Table in December except the wines were different.  I imagine wines will change based on availability.    

[Seville2Cabo]

6 hours ago, baelor said:

Fair complaint about the wine, but that also seems like a menu problem.  The menu you responded to accommodated red wines at the tomato soup course and the filet mignon course; everything else is normally paired with white.  Maybe not the World dessert, but we would be looking at dessert wines for that anyway.

Chocolate Martini with Dessert

[BillsMafiaBabe]

We did the Chef's Table while on the Odyssey last week; the evening after spending all day on Coco Cay.  

It was very good and a great experience.  The Sommelier was fabulous.  They were very accommodating as my husband doesn't like scallops so he was given beef carpaccio.  We also had both the branzino and the filet and dessert was served with an espresso martini.  Absolutely enjoyed it and would do it again.  I can post pics of each course if you'd like.

Although...

Next time, I would probably pass on so many drinks on the island before that large of a meal with that many wines.

[Royal Fun]

We have never tried the Chefs Table. Are you able to choose the night? Is it held on more than one night, and does it normally sell out? TIA

[Seville2Cabo]

5 minutes ago, Royal Fun said:

We have never tried the Chefs Table. Are you able to choose the night? Is it held on more than one night, and does it normally sell out? TIA

Yes, we have had our preferred night sell out.  We have also been asked to move nights due to being oversold.  Although you can get a better price on the ship (we have the UDP), we still buy pre cruise to get our preferred night 

[nimbex1970]

17 hours ago, Royal Fun said:

We have never tried the Chefs Table. Are you able to choose the night? Is it held on more than one night, and does it normally sell out? TIA

We booked ahead of time to select our date and it does sell out at times (we waited until on the ship to book and it was full).

 

We went twice on a B2B, it's the same menu, and we just loved it. The best advice is to pace yourself and not have drinks beforehand.  The wine servings come with each course and although I can hold my own with alcohol, it was quite a bit served.  I passed on a wine or two the second time around.  The wine is not top-notch but does pare well. 

 

If it's in your budget, definitely try it once! We had a group of 16 and a group of 14, a wonderfully intimate way to meet interesting folks and discuss food.

[Hutcha]

We did it last year. It was good, but we wouldn't do it again. It seemed like the menu was just made up of offerings from the specialty restaurants. This was really apparent with  "The World" desert. We were just at Wonderland the night before, so this was disappointing.

 

The wines were good, but not great. Most retail for around $15-20. The last bottle served retailed for around $50.There are a lot of reds, but they will accommodate and and bring extra white if you prefer. Same on the food, they will make substitutions. 

 

It takes A LONG time. Our sitting was 4 1/2 hours!! It is dependent on the table. If it's a lively table, with a lot of conversations going on (ours was), it takes longer. Shortest time I've seen listed is 3 hours.

 

It's included for us on our upcoming cruise, and I think were going to pass. 

[sellwingri]

I absolutely love Chefs Table especially when it’s in a separate room next to Chops.  It’s not as private when it’s in the MDR on the staircase landing but still great.  I’m a wine person so I really enjoy the variety.