New Chops Menu going fleet wide

[sonvoltken6]

Can you order more than one entree here included in the $35 up charge? For example if I wanted a seafood dish and a steak would they do it? (I understand if I get lobster or the prime steaks they cost more)

 

As an FYI, DW was allowed to order two chicken breast entrees as she is not eating beef right now. But it looks like the free range chicken breast has been replaced.

[Wilda]

I don't think RCI really understands what people are complaining about. They seem to have fixated on the baked potato and decided adding it back would fix the problem!:rolleyes: I have a copy of a newer new menu from my April cruise on the Navigator. There are still only two cuts of steak (Filet and NY Strip) on the menu...all they did was add a larger Filet and bring back the baked potato. Here's the entire list of entrees available without an additional charge...

 

Dry-Aged Prime Burger

Veal Chop parmesan

Fillet Mignon 9 oz.

Fillet Mignon 6 oz.

Grilled NY Strip Steak 12 oz.

Slow-Braised Short Rib of Beef

Roasted Organic Chicken

Grilled Branzino

Spicy Jumbo Shrimp

Snapper Veracruz

Everything Crusted Tuna

 

Combine the somewhat lackluster menu with the new décor (which I found very unappealing), and I predict Chops will struggle. IMO, $35.00 is steep if lobster and the better cuts of meat aren't included. If Chops is as empty across the fleet as it was on my Navigator cruise, where they were almost begging people to eat there, I predict it will end up replaced by something else in no time.:(

 

Completely agree. After many years of Chops and Portofino's/Giovanni's Table we will not return to Chops. The menu is lackluster and the choices for non-red meat eaters such as myself is relegated to plank salmon which is all show, no go.

[Ourusualbeach]

I sure wish Radiance would make an exception on the no crab cake......what a shame to be up in Alaska with all that fresh seafood and no crab cake on board. May have to research the best crab cake available in the Alaskan ports. Taking my Chops money and buying seafood ashore.

 

Rita's Cantina has been converted to a Rita's Crabshack on the Radiance specifically for her Alaska season. An entire restaurant of nothing but seafood including the crab cakes.

[OTownNick]

Great thanks! Wonder if it was the Twisted Fish in the Taku building. We ate there last time and loved their fish and chips. I just don't know if there's crab cake there. But we'll find out. :-)

 

YES, the Twisted Fish is where we ate. Don't know if they have crab cakes though.

[HB Cruiser]

We just got off the Freedom last Sunday and will tell you that it ain't what it used to be. Normally we enjoy Chops but we did not enjoy the new menu, the steak, or the mud pie. Largest change was the mud pie, it wasn't even close.

 

We will stay in the MDR from now on.

 

Tim

[Cheryl H]

Rita's Cantina has been converted to a Rita's Crabshack on the Radiance specifically for her Alaska season. An entire restaurant of nothing but seafood including the crab cakes.

 

Wow, I did not know that. Didn't they do that once before with the Seaview Cafe, before they removed it to make that area Samba's? Wonder how it is different from the Seaview Cafe. Thank you for the information. We'll check it out.

[Cheryl H]

We just got off the Freedom last Sunday and will tell you that it ain't what it used to be. Normally we enjoy Chops but we did not enjoy the new menu, the steak, or the mud pie. Largest change was the mud pie, it wasn't even close.

 

We will stay in the MDR from now on.

 

Tim

 

Did you order the Chops steak in the MDR? I hope it was still the same. What a disappointment about Chops.

[Cruisegirl6]

We were on the Allure a few weeks ago and only ate dinner at the specialty restaurants. We ate two evenings at Chops and both were just ok, definitely showing cutbacks, lack of the service of what we used to get and downgrade of quality. We did have the old menu which was nice but honestly, Chops isn't what it used to be...disappointing but probably better than the main dining room.

[OTownNick]

We were on the Allure a few weeks ago and only ate dinner at the specialty restaurants. We ate two evenings at Chops and both were just ok, definitely showing cutbacks, lack of the service of what we used to get and downgrade of quality. We did have the old menu which was nice but honestly, Chops isn't what it used to be...disappointing but probably better than the main dining room.

 

Like most venues in different ships, service and quality could be hit or miss. It would be better to have more hits then misses though. I think there should be no misses on service ever. That's one thing that is easiest to keep consistent.

[HB Cruiser]

Did you order the Chops steak in the MDR? I hope it was still the same. What a disappointment about Chops.

 

No but it is still offered.

 

Tim

[HB Cruiser]

Like most venues in different ships, service and quality could be hit or miss. It would be better to have more hits then misses though. I think there should be no misses on service ever. That's one thing that is easiest to keep consistent.

 

We noticed the cutback on both quality and service. Chops was a definite disappointment.

 

Tim

[Cheryl H]

No but it is still offered.

 

Tim

 

Thanks for the info. I hope our MDR waiter has his track shoes on so he can run after my filet and bernaise. :-)

[skiiergirl]

We dined at Chops on AL on Saturday evening with the new menu. Service was very slow. We have mixed feelings on the new menu. We actually like having more choices that aren't steak. The first thing we didn't like was the new bread/butter. We miss the "red butter" as Mr Ski calls it. For appetizers we had the new bacon, the scallops, and the colossal shrimp. The bacon was yummy. The colossal shrimp has nice presentation but was too large and tough with little taste. The scallops were OMG AMAZING! I could have multiple orders of the scallops for the entree. I wanted to lick the plate! Mr Ski had the riblet dish and said it was ok. I had the veal chop and it was tasty...but not as yummy as the scallops. The sides definitely need help though. The mashed potatoes and asparagus were acceptable but nothing to write home about. The mushrooms needed seasoning to give them flavor. We definitely miss our old favorites...the lyonnaise potatoes and the green beans. We were glad to see new desserts as we have never been fond of the mud pie and were tired of the red velvet cake. We had one cheesecake and one liquid center chocolate cake with coconut ice cream. The cheesecake was good and we would order it again. The liquid center chocolate cake tasted more like something that should be in MDR....we would not order it again. On the other hand , the chocolate dessert in Samba earlier in the week was amazing!

 

We ate at 5 specialty restaurants on AL last week. While we enjoyed them we definitely can see cost reductions since our previous visits. Slower service, smaller quantities, fewer courses for the set course restaurants.

[OTownNick]

I don't think slower service equates to cost reductions! I think that's just the staff you got that time. Some staff are better than others, so that's hit or miss.

 

I prefer the new bread-pretzel bread was nice.

 

I agree on the desserts. Cheesecake was the only one I would order again. RCL just can't make the mud pie and RV cake as good as the ones they previously purchased. That is definitely an attempt at cost savings. They just need to get it right or change the desserts.

 

The seared ahi was awesome. Goat cheese salad woulda been better without the salad lol. Our service was fine. We had this on the EN and the price was still $30. Yay!

 

Oh- they still had the crab cake app. on our cruise. However this time it was a little undercooked but still yummy. They already took the Kobe beef burger off the menu on EN. Wasn't selling I guess.

 

Overall- steaks are still good. It's still a nice experience. I would eat there again. Just not every cruise (we cruise 5-7x/year).

[loyola00]

When dining in the Chops Grille or other for fee restaraunts are you limited to 1 entree or can multiple items be tried like the MDR?

 

My greedy hubby asked and I said one, but maybe I shouldn't assume anything.

 

From the previous poster I see there are a couple of la carte items at Chops.

[loyola00]

Nevermind I see where another poster asked and it is 10$. Kind of sad about the Parm potatoes.

[Clarea]

When dining in the Chops Grille or other for fee restaraunts are you limited to 1 entree or can multiple items be tried like the MDR?

 

My greedy hubby asked and I said one, but maybe I shouldn't assume anything.

 

From the previous poster I see there are a couple of la carte items at Chops.

Last time we dined at Chops, an extra entree was $10. It may be different now with the new menu. Multiple appetizers were no extra charge.

[Mac303]

Our first visit to chops was in 2005, on the Enchantment of the Seas, the service, astmosphere, selection, was just what you would expect at a fine steakhouse, the charge at that time was $20 per person.

 

In the past few years the whole experience has changed, it doesn't feel like you are in an upscale steakhouse any more.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Mac303

[Donut23]

Just back from the Radiance in Alaska. Chops was empty-----old menu. There were 3 tables of guests and 2 tables of officers .

 

If the new menu cannot pull people in it does not look like clear sailing for Chops.

[Folk Singer]

I can't read it either, but it's good to know we can still get a baked potato :D

 

 

:):):)

[ksuds]

Just off the Enchantment and had dinner in Chops. I can say, the only thing I really enjoyed was the Filet I ordered. All my favorite appetizers were gone, and the one's I ordered were just so so.

 

The place was empty every day. There are freshly baked cookies on the menu that have a 15 minute wait. I ordered them and they told me they didn't have any cookies. The mud pie was good though.

 

The guest service managed said that prices were going up to 35.00 in a couple weeks. If it wasn't for my BOGO the first night, I don't think I would go back. Based on occupancy, a lot of others are the same.

[marci22]

Just off the Enchantment and had dinner in Chops. I can say, the only thing I really enjoyed was the Filet I ordered. All my favorite appetizers were gone, and the one's I ordered were just so so.

 

The place was empty every day. There are freshly baked cookies on the menu that have a 15 minute wait. I ordered them and they told me they didn't have any cookies. The mud pie was good though.

 

The guest service managed said that prices were going up to 35.00 in a couple weeks. If it wasn't for my BOGO the first night, I don't think I would go back. Based on occupancy, a lot of others are the same.

 

I guess that's why they are having the kids' prices and other booking promos for these specialties. Too bad they can't just provide a quality experience.

[going2cruz]

How can they call themselves Chops and pass themselves off as a steakhouse if there are more entrees that are fish and chicken than red meat? The menu looks a lot like the MDR with the same sort of upcharges we are experiencing there, too. Just raise the price of cabins and keep the menus in all the venues true to what people have come to expect.

 

Why would an American go to Chops for a hamburger and pay $35 for the privilege? I guess this is in keeping with RCI's new Asian marketing emphasis? It might fly on ships in the Orient where beef is a luxury but not in the Caribbean where Carnival gives you free gourmet burgers based on a top chef's recipes...with as many ribs and lamb chops as you can down in one seating.

 

It's like the Royal CEO is saying, "Please try Carnival again since they are now introducing new, better engineered ships which are dependable and exciting...and offer a lot of what Royal used to provide from our kitchens but are now going to be upsale items on my ships."

 

RCI may be upgrading its entertainment with Broadway plays and aqua shows, but they have obviously surrendered when it comes to food. It wasn't until I saw the menus for Quantum that I realized that the white flag had been waved and RCI had handed over its spatulas to Celebrity for safe keeping.

 

It looks like a lot of us might want to start looking elsewhere to see what's available. It's a shame because we were blown away by Allure and it's culinary choices and would have returned to do all the Oasis class ships even though they pretty much are all forced to go only to the same ports because of their size.

 

Well, competition is just growing with some of the European lines test marketing in the US. I look forward to seeing what real gourmet dining can taste like. Bet Celebrity is up to the challenge. RCI not so much?

 

 

Guess I'm not going to Chops next month, I only like Porterhouses or T-Bones.....don't look to Carnival for answers.....Celebrity was pretty nice this past spring.

[Kcjarvis]

We miss the "red butter" as Mr Ski calls it.

 

I love the red butter also!!!!! HAHAHA I know you guys had a great time on Allure. Regards to Mr Ski :-)

[skiiergirl]

I love the red butter also!!!!! HAHAHA I know you guys had a great time on Allure. Regards to Mr Ski :-)

 

We did have a great time! He says "Hello" back!

 

Hugs!