Dry-Aged Prime beef in Chops -- AND -- Chops Grille California Vineyards

I agree with Bob. Im not too kind to Chops anymore but I highly recommend Giovannis Table. It was one of the best dining experiences ever for me. If steak is what you want, MANY report the filet in Giovannis to be better than the filet at Chops as strange as that may sound.

I agree with Bob. Im not too kind to Chops anymore but I highly recommend Giovannis Table. It was one of the best dining experiences ever for me. If steak is what you want, MANY report the filet in Giovannis to be better than the filet at Chops as strange as that may sound.

I have heard that too. However, here is what I wrote in my notes from my 2 visits to Giovannis earlier this year on Serenade:

Giovannis

Ate here twice too. I had the steak for an entree one night and the chicken for the other night. That mozzarella appetizer (bread, cheese, prosciutto, and dijon mustard) was awesome. Everything we ate here was great and I am not a fan of "fancy" Italian. My only wish would be for them to have lasagna for dinner too. Well worth the money. The filet mignon was VERY good but doesn't touch the Chops porterhouse.

Again, MY opinion.

:)

I am one to think that the experience of any restaurant is to also include one's attitude, temperament, and anxiety during the visit, no matter where you go to enjoy a dinner. A slow greeting to a dinner by the waitstaff can set the tone of the overall experience including the taste of the food served.

NY strip is my favorite steak I had the upgraded strip and it wasn't worth the extra $.As a matter of fact I couldn't even eat more than half of it it was not good at all. The next night I got the regular one and I enjoyed it so much more. My wife ordered the filet and it was awesome.

Thx all Guess we'll decide once on board. I'm sure wherever we go will be just fine.

I have heard that too. However, here is what I wrote in my notes from my 2 visits to Giovannis earlier this year on Serenade:

 

Giovannis

 

Ate here twice too. I had the steak for an entree one night and the chicken for the other night. That mozzarella appetizer (bread, cheese, prosciutto, and dijon mustard) was awesome. Everything we ate here was great and I am not a fan of "fancy" Italian. My only wish would be for them to have lasagna for dinner too. Well worth the money. The filet mignon was VERY good but doesn't touch the Chops porterhouse.

 

Again, MY opinion

 

:)

We were on Oasis two times this year and there was not a porterhouse available for the base cover charge.

DH and just experienced the Chops California Vineyard dinner on the Indy and were very pleased. The wines highlighted were from the Wagner family of wines, and ones we were already familiar with. The Belle Glos Pinot Noir is one of our favorites, our number choice is Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon ... both were served at the dinner (with multiple pours if requested.) There were four wines in all but I don't recall the names of the other two (I think the Chardonnay may have been Mer Soleil Select.) The food was excellent, as was the service. It was a highlight of the cruise.

I have a shellfish allergy and the chef was most accommodating, serving an alternate selection which paired equally with the wine.

We also ate in Chops on a "regular" night and although it was good, it wasn't great.

If you like wine, and enjoy an upscale dining experience, $75 for the Vineyard dinner is certainly worth every penny (much more so than the $95 Chef's table, which was cancelled on our sailing due to lack of interest.) The wines were not bottom of the barrel, but good solid choices from Wagner. I only wish they would have served Conundrum, my favorite white blend from them.

Hope this helps ...

Sharon

We were on Oasis two times this year and there was not a porterhouse available for the base cover charge.

The dry aged porterhouse is an additional charge. That is what I had.

The dry aged porterhouse is an additional charge. That is what I had.

OK, so it cost about $59.00 ($39.00 cover plus about $20.00) for their "Something Special" offer. In my opinion, not worth the money. I had the add on strip steak and it was tough. As I wrote earlier, in my opinion, since the menu change the food and service have gone down hill.

Thanks

 

I had no idea that they offer that meal only once/sailing. That definitely changes things - as I had hoped to book in for St. Thomas night, however it only shows as available on embarkation day... 7:30 pm. I assumed it was owing to my late booking status (and the preferred days were already spoken for).

 

Our "least planned" evenings are typically the first and last night of the cruise... odd to offer this on the first night - almost like they don't want to fill the seats!

 

Tom

We are sailing on a 5 nighter so I'm not sure if will offer the wine dinner is offered more than once on your sailing. If you go on the cruise planner and do a mock reservation then you will be able to tell how often it's available.

DH and just experienced the Chops California Vineyard dinner on the Indy and were very pleased. The wines highlighted were from the Wagner family of wines, and ones we were already familiar with. The Belle Glos Pinot Noir is one of our favorites, our number choice is Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon ... both were served at the dinner (with multiple pours if requested.) There were four wines in all but I don't recall the names of the other two (I think the Chardonnay may have been Mer Soleil Select.) The food was excellent, as was the service. It was a highlight of the cruise.

 

I have a shellfish allergy and the chef was most accommodating, serving an alternate selection which paired equally with the wine.

 

We also ate in Chops on a "regular" night and although it was good, it wasn't great.

 

If you like wine, and enjoy an upscale dining experience, $75 for the Vineyard dinner is certainly worth every penny (much more so than the $95 Chef's table, which was cancelled on our sailing due to lack of interest.) The wines were not bottom of the barrel, but good solid choices from Wagner. I only wish they would have served Conundrum, my favorite white blend from them.

 

Hope this helps ...

Sharon

Thank you do much for taking the time to review the Chops wine pairing dinner. I was hoping it was going to be similar to our Chef's Table experiences. We love the Caymus Cab (2011) and hope they are serving that specific year; the 2012 was a major disappointment. You are right about the Mercedes Soleil and the dessert wine is a TBD. I can't believe Chef's Table was cancelled on your sailing. We've dined with another couple for a total of 4 sitting at the giant table. We are looking forward to this experience.

And food opinions (including my own) should be taken with a huge amount of skepticism. I generally suggest people to just try it themselves and form their own opinion. (even though I gave an opinion earlier)

 

We were eating dessert at Giovannis on our last cruise and the wife, myself, and a guy sitting behind my wife all had the same dessert. The guy behind my wife was complaining about it and saying it was inedible and terrible. I thought to myself "are you friggin kidding me?". That dessert was to was awesome times 10. That just confirmed for me that some people's opinions are going to be polar opposite of your own and for reasons you may not agree with. :)

Which dessert, pray tell?

I've taken to ordering the ahi tuna at Chops. I still like the atmosphere, and we have never had bad service (some servers are awesome, some competent and some need improvement, but nobody has been bad). There are other venues for steak, including Giovanni's and Samba Grill.

I don't think that I would book the wine dinner until onboard so I could verify the wines. The Chef's Table used to have wonderful wines to go with inventive and delicious food. The food is still all that, but the wines are for the most part mediocre. At our last table they served sake as one wine course and the dessert wine was excruciatingly sweet. They would pour as much of any of the wines as anybody wanted, but none of them was a standout.

OK, so it cost about $59.00 ($39.00 cover plus about $20.00) for their "Something Special" offer. In my opinion, not worth the money. I had the add on strip steak and it was tough. As I wrote earlier, in my opinion, since the menu change the food and service have gone down hill.

Did you complain? In this instance, I would not expect to pay for a disappointing steak. We took up the 1st night deal at Chops on the Legend. While the staff tried, they were short 2 people so we waited 45 minutes before we received water, predinner drinks and bread. In the end, we had most of our wine and a course comp'd with heartfelt apologies from the waiter and the hostess. BTW we are not picky people and never complained in the MDR.

Just back off the Radiance last week. Chops was, without a doubt, the worst meal we had on this cruise. I certainly wouldn't want to add insult to misery by spending more for their upgraded steak offerings.

OK, so it cost about $59.00 ($39.00 cover plus about $20.00) for their "Something Special" offer. In my opinion, not worth the money. I had the add on strip steak and it was tough. As I wrote earlier, in my opinion, since the menu change the food and service have gone down hill.

For me on Serenade it was $30 + $21 upcharge or $51. However, I ate in specialty restaurants during the cruise and got 30% back from a promo. So it costs me $35.70 for the dry-aged porterhouse. Also, since I paid for the upcharge steak they let us choose another entree to share and we got those humongous grilled shrimp.

So for me personally, it was well worth it and cheaper than going to any steak house on land.

Obviously my opinion is different than yours. :)

Which dessert, pray tell?

 

Trying to find the name of it but it the meantime here is a picture (not mine):

It is the one in the metal dish with the big spoon. :)

Edit: It is tiramisu. Although it does not look like the standard cake like presentation of tiramisu, it was awesome. :)

Speaking of complaints, I forgot we overheard another one in Chops:

A lady at a nearby table was with a group of around 10. She was having dialog with the waiter:

Waiter: "You don't like the scallops?"

Lady: "I don't think these are right. These do not look like scallops."

Waiter: "Have you had scallops before Mam?"

I look at see the scallops are untouched.

Lady: "No, I've never had scallops before but I know they don't belong on these shells. Take them away please."

The scallops were served on a shell for presentation and were just fine.

I am sure she later claimed the scallops were "inedible" after never taking a single bite.

People LOL

Did you complain? In this instance, I would not expect to pay for a disappointing steak. We took up the 1st night deal at Chops on the Legend. While the staff tried, they were short 2 people so we waited 45 minutes before we received water, predinner drinks and bread. In the end, we had most of our wine and a course comp'd with heartfelt apologies from the waiter and the hostess. BTW we are not picky people and never complained in the MDR.

We are not picky people either, and yes, we did complain to the host and on our post cruise survey.