Pinnacle Grill or Rudi's Sel De Mer on Koningsdam

[albingirl]

13 hours ago, RuthC said:

Much as I loved my dinner and the service in Rudi's, I was only happy there because I especially liked the entrée that was on special that night. I always find something to love in the Pinnacle, and service there has been impeccable. Lately I have been craving a dinner there. 

Any ship restaurant will depend on who is the executive chef that cruise, and how the cooks in the galley are. That can vary a great deal, but I have never been unhappy in the Pinnacle. 

Agree 100%. I've raved about the Canaletto, but on another sailing, same ship, it was a very different experience.

[DaveOKC]

Rudi's without a doubt!

 

[hbsurfcitycruiser]

Personally Rudi's would be my choice. But I love both restaurants. If I were you I would look over both menus. Pinnacle leans more towards traditional steakhouse options which are awesome. I love Rudi's but I am huge French food fan and a seafood fan. 

[loveandpeas]

10 hours ago, BigMattT said:

We prefer Pinnacle for lunch more than dinner.

How do you get a Pinnacle lunch? You can't book ahead, right?

[highland cruiser]

We were on the Koningsdam in January.  Dined in both the Pinnacle and Rudi's.  Excellent meals and service at both.  The dover sole was outstanding.  

I agree with others that you should look at the menu of both and make your decision from there.  

Lunch at the Pinnacle is a favorite for us.  Almost skip dinner when we have lunch there!  Almost!!

[BigMattT]

48 minutes ago, loveandpeas said:

How do you get a Pinnacle lunch? You can't book ahead, right?

Correct. Book at any dining venue podium after boarding. (Sometimes it shows up in Navigator available to book once onboard… but oddly it showed for the wrong day during our last cruise, so I would stick with speaking to someone standing at a restaurant podium.)

 

Sometimes there’s an extra dining reservation podium setup in the atrium outside Ocean Bar on Pinnacle ships after boarding.

[Florida_gal_50]

4 hours ago, cbr663 said:

 

When we dine is speciality restaurants we tend to select those items that we can't typically get at home.  This means we rarely select a steak at the PG.  We had the pork chop and jumbo scallops and both were really good.  I noticed quite a few other patrons were also selecting the pork chop.  

 

Appearance wise the sides were a little disappointing but as others have stated, we left feeling very satisfied.  The waiter in the PG made an error in our deserts and thought we were sharing the chocolate soufflé and forgot that I had ordered the cheese plate.  It didn't take long to receive my order though.  One thing I have learned when travelling is you have to roll with it.  🙂

 

I really enjoyed the rack of lamb in Rudi's and my DW enjoyed her catch of the day which was halibut.  I had the calamari and my wife escargots and both were good.  The pureed cauliflower was really smooth - so much smoother than we make at home and it has now presented me with a challenge to replicate it at home. 🙂

 

I will say though since returning from the cruise we have discussed cruising moving forward and we feel that with CO we most likely will forgo evening speciality dining.  Rudi's present a wonderful environment and good food yet as you and I have discussed on another thread, us Canadian's are paying over $80 each to dine there and that is in addition to our already paid for meal elsewhere.  Our next cruise we will try lunches in the PG and stick with CO for all breakfasts and dinner meals.

 

BTW - I did notice that they were grilling steaks in the lido.  They weren't grilled to order, but they were grilling as they were serving them from the line.  After this cruise we have decided that we avoid the lido for lunches.  Just too much activity and commotion for us.

I may have to try the califlower again.  I tried it once and didn't enjoy it but that was years ago.  I didn't enjoy Rudi's the first time I tried it and it took me a few years to go back.  I do go to club orange for almost all my breakfasts.  For dinner I think it's really good and do go less to specialty.  I wish it was open at lunch.  I really don't like the lido.

[bluesplayer]

Rudi's if you like seafood and French menu.  Pinnacle if you are more of a steak and potato person.  I agree with checking out the menus.  Have had many excellent Pinnacle dinners and one not so great.  Been to Rudi's once and it was really good!!

[cbr663]

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I may have to try the califlower again.  I tried it once and didn't enjoy it but that was years ago.  I didn't enjoy Rudi's the first time I tried it and it took me a few years to go back.  I do go to club orange for almost all my breakfasts.  For dinner I think it's really good and do go less to specialty.  I wish it was open at lunch.  I really don't like the lido.

We wish CO was open for lunch also.  We both gave that feedback to HAL on our reviews.  We have both agreed that while CO is not like X's Blu (thank-you), it did make the cruise experience much more enjoyable.

[mcrcruiser]

Koningsdam in December .We were on for 12 days . The Executive  Chef was Indian  .We used ionnacle for lunch on a sea day .Ur was ok as a meal .The best part was the waiter 

 Tamarind for some reason was not as good as Tamarind was on a earlier ,pre covid Eurodam cruise ;which was amazing  ,The best one was Canaletto  ,out of this world