Allure of the Seas specialty restaurants

[Jeannine1026]

I am going on allure in March 2013 can i please have some feed back on the specialty restaurants.

[Kenlorz]

I am going on allure in March 2013 can i please have some feed back on the specialty restaurants.

 

Which sailing are you going on? We are going on our first cruise in March as well. Since this is my first cruise, I obviously can't give you feedback. I can say that I've heard Rita's

Cantina isn't known for their food...but the fiesta its worth the money just for the 3 drinks. I've heard great things about Giovannis, Chops, & Samba Grill. There are dining packages available for a combination of different restaurants that will save you a couple of bucks.

[volunteer cruiser]

I was on the Allure in May and experienced Samba Grill and Chops. Both were very good and worth the extra surcharge. The nine different meat options at Samba were excellent and the steak options were cooked to our liking. Our server asked how we liked ours cooked before bringing it out. We had 6 PM reservations because my 10 year old niece and nephew were with us. They are picky eaters and thoroughly enjoyed it trying new foods like octupus from salad bar and meat. My nephew almost never eats anything more than chicken fingers and plain pasta. We all enjoyed the Brazilian dancer she came out twice with costume change while we were there. I was surprised that Samba was not full and busy. Captain Johnny and other officers were eating in Samba that night as well. As for Chops, the service was great, food tasty, and every table full. We had 8:00 reservations and did not have to wait but as soon as one table was empty it was cleared and new guests seated. I would eat at both again. Be sure to make reservations as soon as they come available. I had all my cruise details planned out before boarding and had a very relaxing vacation.

[M&JfromSDL]

We sailed on Allure in November of 2011. I was a big fan of the speciality restaurants to the point that I would probably skip the main dining room on the next Allure/Oasis cruise.

 

We ate at the following speciality restaurants:

 

150 Central Park: A very interesting experience. Service was great, food was very good. After doing it once we would probably not do it again. $$$ Though the cucumber/basil martini was out of this world. I don't know. After looking back at the pictures maybe we would treat ourselves.

 

 

Samba Grill: We would easily do Samba again. Food was wonderful as was the service. Just don't fill up at the salad bar. :-) If you are a meat lover, definitely check this out.

 

Chops: We skipped it due to a poor experience at Chops on Radiance.

 

Giovanni's Table: I could eat here everyday. In fact, if we do Allure again we will eat here more than once. Food is great and sitting out on Central Park is a treat.

 

 

Johnny Rockets: I think of Johnny Rockets as mall food. Not sure I would go on vacation and pay extra to eat there. To each his own.

 

Rita's Cantina: We tried to reserve a space for their Cantina party and were unable to because it was prebooked. This is one part of the cruise we regret missing. We walked by while the party was going on and it looked AWESOME!

[ncyankee]

Sailing on Sunday --- will report back next week as we plan to eat at all the specialty restaurants. We don't plan to enter the MDR or windjammers.

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I cruised on the Allure of the Seas in September 2011 and had dinner in both 150 Central Park and Giovanni's Table. 150 Central Park has a set menu and I must admit that some of the items on the menu were a little unusual (and not something that I would ordinarily order). However, all of the food was excellent (and the service and presentation were outstanding). Giovanni's Table has a totally different atmosphere (it is informal), but the food and service were wonderful. I did not try any of the other extra-charge restaurants, but I greatly enjoyed both of these.

 

The Allure of the Seas is an incredible ship. :) Have a great cruise.

 

Chuck

[Bellalago Breeze]

We have been on Allure twice and have eaten at all the specialty restaurants, except the Chef's Table. We'll do that one when we are again on Allure in September. DH & I thoroughly enjoyed all the restaurants, including doing 150 Central Park twice to experience both menus.

 

Rita's fiesta was so much fun! The food isn't great, but the drinks and party more than made up for it.

 

Don't forget to try the tapas at Vintages. That was our biggest surprise and we raved about it for weeks! It's well worth the money.It's the perfect lunch on a sea day.

 

If you have any more questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

[M&JfromSDL]

Don't forget to try the tapas at Vintages. That was our biggest surprise and we raved about it for weeks! It's well worth the money.It's the perfect lunch on a sea day.

 

If you have any more questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

 

Great point. We discovered Vintages on the last night of the cruise. What a great place. If you are even slightly into wine, it's a fun place to spend a few hours. It totally transports you from the craziness of the ship. We highly recommend.

[Erik101]

I agree with many here on regarding Giovanni's, Chops and 150 Central Park so I'll give my opinion on two restaurants that have not been mentioned:

 

1) Chef's Table - my favorite specialty restaurant. It's pricey at $95 per person but to me, well worth the experience! Dinner is reserved for only 14 people and length of dinner is about 3 hours. You meet at the library where they greet you with champagne, then lead you to the dining room. Dinner is a 5 course meal with wine pairing. Ever watched Top Chef? That was the concept that this dinner reminded me of. The chef presented each dish, talked about how it was prepared/cooked and then the sommelier explained which wine paired best with each meal. And it was delicious! The favorites were:

 

-The Soup Trio: Sunchoke Cream, Asparagus Consomme and Tomato Soup with Basil Foam.

- The Tenderloin: the chef used black truffle spaetzle, asparagus and a port wine reduction.

 

I highly recommend this restaurant! By the way, we were each given a menu with our names on it, a cookbook and an apron that has the Chef's Table logo.

 

2) Izumi for lunch - limited sushi menu and I don't know what the menu looks like at dinner but I'm guessing there are more choices. It was good overall but nothing to write home about. I've had better sushi at my hometown.

[BillOh]

My thoughts run pretty much along the lines of Volunteer Cruisers, but I will add that we added Samba as an afterthought while on board. Had a good time in both Samba and Chops.

[maxs mom]

If you are going to eat at the specialty restaurants, be sure and take advantage of the Specialty Restaruant Package. It is much cheaper.

[Big_G]

May 13th cruise

 

Rita's Fiesta was a party. The food was OK. The drinks were great and the atmosphere fun.

 

Chops wasn't great. The New York strip was tough and the filet wasn't very tasty. It wouldn't stop me from trying it again. The service was outstanding and the desserts great.

 

Izumi was great but it's a la carte and you can get carried away.

 

Samba Grill was great. Some of the meat was a little over seasoned but the filet was noticeably better than chops.

 

We did the MDR three nights and two of those nights the service was excellent and so was the food. Darwin is an outstanding and entertaining waiter. The third night we had a different waiter who never introduced herself, rushed us through, and was MIA during most of the meal. We found it to be uncharacteristic of any other experiences we've had in the MDR of any ship or line.

[RealDeal]

I'm probably in the minority here but will provide my feedback. Was on the Allure 5/27 & went to Chops. The only thing I liked were the filet & baked potato. The side, appetizers & even desserts (though gorgeous) were just OK. Had a certificate for a free dinner for 2 from my TA and absolutely would not pay for it...the only thing better than MDR was the filet. Sure, the atmosphere is nice, etc, but we're foodies & it's all about the food for us.

[m@rm@r]

If you are going to eat at the specialty restaurants' date=' be sure and take advantage of the Specialty Restaruant Package. It is much cheaper.[/size']

 

Hi to all. :)

I kindly ask if you can explain how the package restaurants.

You can use both lunch and dinner and all themed restaurants?

Booking of restaurants must be made when you buy the package?

Thanks a lot in advance :) and sorry for my english.

[DonnaMarieNJ]

I have a "free" dinner for 2 voucher for one night - which restaurant should we choose, and what would be the best time?

 

Any suggestions?

 

The remaining nights we will be eating in MDR.

[Clarea]

I have a "free" dinner for 2 voucher for one night - which restaurant should we choose, and what would be the best time?

 

Any suggestions?

 

The remaining nights we will be eating in MDR.

I'd probably choose Giovanni's Table. I like the variety of food offered.

[shipshape sam]

We enjoyed Samba's. Ate there twice and it had a nice relaxing out door feeling. I also enjoyed somewhat unlimited meat.;)

 

On our sailing of Allure, we tried all speciality restaurants including the Chef's Table, which was great too!

 

Only one we had any issue with and again, it could be just our sailing or us or ..., was Chops. The steak was kinda tough and the lighting was dark.

[shipshape sam]

Sailing on Sunday --- will report back next week as we plan to eat at all the specialty restaurants. We don't plan to enter the MDR or windjammers.

 

We did that and it was an enjoyable experience.

 

Don't forget Chef's Table if you can. It is expensive, but we had lots of wine flowing throughout the whole meal. As I recall, it was limited 14 people with the Chef coming out at each course to explain what he was going to do.

[DonnaMarieNJ]

I just read the fine print - it is only good for certain restaurants on sea days, and cannot be booked until on board.

 

The voucher is only good for Chops Grille, Portofino, Giovanni's Table, Sambra Grill or Solarium Bistro.

 

It cannot be used at 150 Central Park, Johnny Rockets, Izumi, and Chef's Table.

 

I can understand the pricey restaurants - but Johnny Rockets? Why, I wonder?