Jump to content

What land base restaurants woukd you compare the MDR to


Jareds_mommytoo
 Share

Recommended Posts

HAL's dining room food is so much better than Cheesecake Factory, or Applebee's. Certainly a lot better than Chili's. Maybe it could be compared to Outback, if you insist on comparing it to a restaurant chain. That's just the food.
Atmosphere and service, which are also important to the enjoyment of a meal, are closer to a much more upscale restaurant. There are some nice local restaurants that are similar to HAL when looked at from that angle.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's like a nice, higher end wedding reception, that somehow allows you to order off a menu. I think it's very good, but it is mass produced, so it lacks the polish and quality that you might find at a classy restaurant in your town. But I'm not knocking it by any means. This is the struggle faced by any MDR on a medium to large-sized ship. HAL does it better than most. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I attended a national conference with my company last week at the Renaissance Hotel in Austin, Texas. We had buffets for breakfast and lunch and it was some of the best banquet food I have had at any hotel I can remember. One morning they served Eggs benedict over a piece of beef brisket  and a buttermilk biscuit. They were delicious and the yokes under a warming light were still runny, no idea how they did that.  On our last HAL cruise it was next to impossible to get runny eggs yokes on my eggs benedict, I sent them back so many times I gave up.  The dinners for the 100 of us at the conference were served sit down and over all it was 4 star in quality. The food we had at this hotel was better than anything I can remember on a cruise ship. I would give HAL a 3 star rating most nights in the MDR and 2 star on others more like an Applebee's. You can't expect much more on the $16 or less per person per day food budget I have been told HAL has for its cruise ships.

Edited by terrydtx
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

Pictures are worth a 1000 words sometimes.  These are all room service schlepped from the MDR kitchen.  I would agree with banquet food if it was in New Orleans specially chosen for a wedding.  Hard to put a label on it.  First  two pics Oosterdam dining room.  The others from Rotterdam last month.   For the most part very flavorful. 

 

 

MDR chicken croquette.jpg

MDR Cod with lobster sauce.jpg

carpaccio 21819.jpg

chicken date kebabs 22019.jpg

Crab topped filet.jpg

dinner 22019.jpg

Gala dinner 22119.jpg

rigatoni 21819.jpg

SJ dinner 21619.jpg

Veal roast 22219.jpg

 

Thanks, now I'm starving all of a sudden! :classic_dry:

 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Banquet food at a hotel.  Definitely not what we would chose if we were going out to dinner at home.

 

Sadly, we do not think that the food is up to the same standard as the place settings.  It is not just HAL either.

 

Describing  their gala dinner as a five course gourmet meal as gourmet is a bit of a stretch.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, iancal said:

 

Describing  their gala dinner as a five course gourmet meal as gourmet is a bit of a stretch. 

if you count an extra lobster tail as one of the courses, you will now be charged $10.  The food quality and selections in the MDR is not something I would seek out for a land restaurant, but for a cruise it is just acceptable.

Edited by terrydtx
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great thread.  A banquet is the best comparison.  But even a few years ago it was much better.  Better quality and better selection. We used to look forward to going.  It is a nice venue with good people that is now over crowded and hastened.  We avoid it MOST ALL THE TIME NOW.  Recently went on the Prinsendam and went for the gala night.  The gray mystery meat that was filet was this half inch tall, a round patty about the size of McDonalds hamburger.  The hamburger would have been better. Everyone I saw looked the same. I was embarrassed.

 

I would NEVER go to a restaurant like the MDR on land.  How about you??????

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Jareds_mommytoo said:

I was trying describe the food quality of the main dining room so someone, i would was thinking like the Cheesecake Factory quality. Not quite the KEG in canada .  

 

I would compare it to catered food at a wedding reception.  That's pretty much how I describe any cruise ship MDR.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The food, to me, is more like a business conference banquet at a mid-range hotel, like a Sheraton or Marriott.  Not as "fancy" as a wedding banquet.

One can take just about any quality of food, put it in a faux-fancy environment, and make it seem "gourmet."  Witness the Big Mac and McNugget fest at the White House for the Football National Championship banquet...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Mosaic said:

 

I would NEVER go to a restaurant like the MDR on land.  How about you??????

 

Probably not, but to risk repetition, a restaurant "on land" is not really the same category. When at home we are not on a large floating hotel carrying us from place to place with a thousand (or four!) other travelers, all of whom have to be fed at roughly the same time daily. Regulations are also very strict for food service at sea. Chefs on mass market lines can't just go down to the local market and see what's fresh and in season that day. There is really no way that any of the restaurants I frequent on land could deal with such a challenge....  

 

In short, dining at sea is different. Just as you wouldn't expect to find your cabin at sea as spacious as a nice (equivalent) hotel room on land.  It's a different experience. 

 

By saying this I'm by no means trying to excuse terrible food or service. That shouldn't happen. But I also feel that "dinging" a cruise line for not providing the same quality of fare as your favorite restaurant on land (where you probably don't eat every night) isn't really fair. 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just my take...

We've been really happy with HAL food during this past year or so.  They seem to finally have taken a leap in recipe development to where they are using new and different ingredients in tasty and eye-appealing ways.  

 

I wonder if people who are unhappy with the current offerings are hankering for the old style of excellent meat, potatoes, butter, cream style of cooking.  I also miss that, but do embrace the new, lighter style, with different cuts of meat and different, more sustainable fish.  

 

Obviously food preference is personal.  I just don't want it to seem that everybody thinks HAL food is "banquet lite."

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

Just my take...

We've been really happy with HAL food during this past year or so.  They seem to finally have taken a leap in recipe development to where they are using new and different ingredients in tasty and eye-appealing ways.  

 

I wonder if people who are unhappy with the current offerings are hankering for the old style of excellent meat, potatoes, butter, cream style of cooking.  I also miss that, but do embrace the new, lighter style, with different cuts of meat and different, more sustainable fish.  

 

Obviously food preference is personal.  I just don't want it to seem that everybody thinks HAL food is "banquet lite."

 

Been sailing HAL for 10 years and totally agree with this - menus have gotten more innovative, flavorful, greater variety of ingredients, artful presentation, more international. Used to be a strictly meat and pototoes line with over-large portions.  

 

HAL food for the entry price, is very nice. And they keep things interesting for longer cruises too - I believe they operate on a 21 day menu cycle before they start repeating things.  We would call ourselves "foodies" and love dining well.

 

On HAL ships we expect to eat something in this large ship's dining room setting, and are not disappointed with the choices. But it is not fine dining, nor was it ever expected to be fine dining. It is good dining and we save the special dining treats for onshore. 

 

One regret - the loss of the lovely  gold and blue-banded dinnerware and now having to deal with rimless plates where the knife or  fork easily falls into the sauce until one pays more attention to this quirk.. 

 

And for the most part we prefer the MDR over any of the other speciality restaurants, other than Tamarind. 

Edited by OlsSalt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

Been sailing HAL for 10 years and totally agree with this - menus have gotten more innovative, flavorful, greater variety of ingredients, artful presentation, more international. Used to be a strictly meat and pototoes line with over-large portions.  

 

No, actually, you missed the best of HAL's cuisine, if you've only been cruising HAL for 10 years. The offerings before that were NOT "strictly meat and potatoes".  I guess you'll have to trust me on that.

 

The food  declined steadily from the lateish 2000s and has only recently started to improve. 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, VennDiagram said:

 

No, actually, you missed the best of HAL's cuisine, if you've only been cruising HAL for 10 years. The offerings before that were NOT "strictly meat and potatoes".  I guess you'll have to trust me on that.

 

The food  declined steadily from the lateish 2000s and has only recently started to improve. 

Agreed the dinners on HAL have declined (by a lot) over the years, but am not so sure they have started to improve. It seems that on every cruise I have to resort to the 'always available' menu more and more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, RuthC said:

Agreed the dinners on HAL have declined (by a lot) over the years, but am not so sure they have started to improve. It seems that on every cruise I have to resort to the 'always available' menu more and more.

 

We were, overall, satisfied with the food in May (Noordam) and December (Eurodam).  I think I ordered from the Always Available once on each of those cruises.  It's not like it once was (years and years ago) but to us, seems to be improving a lot from the nadir they hit on the Zaandam in the early 2010s.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, VennDiagram said:

 

No, actually, you missed the best of HAL's cuisine, if you've only been cruising HAL for 10 years. The offerings before that were NOT "strictly meat and potatoes".  I guess you'll have to trust me on that.

 

The food  declined steadily from the lateish 2000s and has only recently started to improve. 

My guess is that "Continental" would have been the common menu thread.  Even on land, there are few French or Continental restaurants anymore.  Menus are much more international now, and probably healthier for that.  I do miss that old style of gourmet cuisine.  As I'm reminded every time I devour the perfect HAL escargot.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wedding food? Banquet food? I have never been to a banquet or wedding that offered a choice of three soups, three salads, six main dishes, a cheese plate, a fruit plate and ten or so desserts.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...