Pinnacle Grill Prime Steaks ????????

[Billthekid]

We just finished a Holiday Cruise on NS.  One night we went to the Pinnacle for dinner.  My wife and I ordered the 8 oz Filet ordered Medium.  It was flavorless, difficult to cut because it was not tender, blackened on six sides, and lacked any moisture.  The baked potato was hard and not cooked.  The server and manager apologized and offered a lunch the next day for our troubles.  We expected a prime steak at dinner and the steak served was nowhere close to that quality.  So I looked at the menu again and nowhere does it mention the steak grade, be it prime, choice, or utility cut.  The lunch listed a Prime Loin cut and that steaked lacked flavor.  It did not mention USDA Prime, just a prime loin steak.

Then I started to look at images of previous Pinnacle menus and noted the Double R Ranch (previous provider) steaks were choice cuts.  Then another menu mentioned a USDA Prime Delmonico steak, and then the Delmonico steak was just listed without the USDA Prime terminology.  

So the question is should we expect a prime steak or a choice cut when we go to the Pinnacle?   And when it is listed on the menu, is it USDA inspected prime , Or HAL's defined prime cut?

[DaveOKC]

I am an ex-grocer and do not think that HAL uses Prime beef.  My guess is Choice.

[Blackduck59]

The HAL description states that they use "28 day wet aged USDA Prime steaks". I'm afraid it's pretty hard to tell a "Prime" steak from "Choice" once it's cooked. It is after all about marbling. Keep in mind that a poor cook can destroy even the best cuts of meat. If you have a problem with the steak the time to do something about it is after the first bite. You are paying extra for a superior meal over and above the meal you already paid for in your fare. I'm afraid Filet Mignon is a very over rated cut in my opinion, while it should be tender it is very lean so cooking it as far as medium may make for a drier steak. Remember people fat is flavour and a prime steak is all about quality marbling.

[Ka Honu]

8 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

... Remember people fat is flavour and a prime steak is all about quality marbling.

I don't think I want to know how you found that out.

 

Jus' sayin'...

[cbr663]

I have never found the steaks served in the PG to taste great.  My go-to order is the pork chop.

[Shalandara]

13 hours ago, Billthekid said:

 It did not mention USDA Prime, just a prime loin steak.

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  And when it is listed on the menu, is it USDA inspected prime , Or HAL's defined prime cut?

Although probably not on your cruise (since it originated in the US and was probably stocked from there) when HAL is stocking from foreign ports I am thinkin that the meat acquired will not have been put through USDA certification since they are not (by definition) US ports. And as such they cannot/willnot put USDA inspected as text on the menu for legal reasons.

[sambamama]

Did you enjoy your cruise at all? From your posts, it doesn't sound like it. 

I've eaten at the Pinnacle many times. My go to is the lamb chops , which are amazing! But if I go twice, I get a rib eye, and they have always been good. Every baked potato there has been fine unlike the Main dining room, where I have had a few that were not cooked all the way. I've had tough steaks there, but that didn't surprise me. I do think the steak quality has dropped a bit over the years. 

[CruiserBruce]

24 minutes ago, Shalandara said:

Although probably not on your cruise (since it originated in the US and was probably stocked from there) when HAL is stocking from foreign ports I am thinkin that the meat acquired will not have been put through USDA certification since they are not (by definition) US ports. And as such they cannot/willnot put USDA inspected as text on the menu for legal reasons.

I don't think HAL sources meat from foreign ports. I think their food needs to meet US standards.

[Shalandara]

7 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

I don't think HAL sources meat from foreign ports. I think their food needs to meet US standards.

Interesting.  I guess then fish is a different matter (thinking about the local catch listed on menus recently). Or do they have a USDA food inspector on board? Or at foreign ports?

[CruiserBruce]

12 minutes ago, Shalandara said:

Interesting.  I guess then fish is a different matter (thinking about the local catch listed on menus recently). Or do they have a USDA food inspector on board? Or at foreign ports?

The "local catch " may not be as local as you think it is. They don't have an inspector on board.

 

Keep in mind food standards in Europe and some other advanced countries are the same, or better than the US.

[3rdGenCunarder]

23 minutes ago, sambamama said:

Did you enjoy your cruise at all? From your posts, it doesn't sound like it. 

I've eaten at the Pinnacle many times. My go to is the lamb chops , which are amazing! But if I go twice, I get a rib eye, and they have always been good. Every baked potato there has been fine unlike the Main dining room, where I have had a few that were not cooked all the way. I've had tough steaks there, but that didn't surprise me. I do think the steak quality has dropped a bit over the years. 

 

Yes, lamb chops are my Pinnacle choice, too. They serve them with a bean puree, but I asked them to leave off the beans and had a side of mashed potatoes instead. 

[Real NHDOC]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

I don't think HAL sources meat from foreign ports. I think their food needs to meet US standards.

Hahahahahahahaha

[regnig]

1 hour ago, Ka Honu said:

I don't think I want to know how you found that out.

 

Jus' sayin'...

It is a fact and common knowledge. That is why those folks that cut away each and every bit to the fat can find their steak lacks all of it's flavor. 

[XBGuy]

The USDA grading scale for beef is all about fat marbling.  From ask.usda.gov:

 

USDA Prime has abundant marbling (flecks of fat within the lean) which enhances both flavor and juiciness. USDA Choice has less marbling than Prime but is of very high quality. USDA Select is very uniform in quality and normally leaner than the higher grades. It is fairly tender, but, because it has less marbling, it may lack some of the juiciness and flavor of the higher grades. The protein, vitamin, and mineral content of beef are similar regardless of the grade. Retail stores may use other terms different from USDA grades.

 

The last sentence seems to give retail stores, and that would include grocers, restaurants and cruise lines, the freedom to call anything they want "prime" regardless of whether or not it was "USDA prime."

 

Also, as has been stated in previous posts, uncaring preparation can ruin any grade.

[acruisingcouple]

Pinnacle Grill was the worst meal we had on the Rotterdam.  The steak had absolutely no flavour whatsoever.

 

The Wasabi encrusted beef tenderloin in Tamarind was far better than the tenderloin at PG.

[rbelshaw]

3 hours ago, cbr663 said:

I have never found the steaks served in the PG to taste great.  My go-to order is the pork chop.

 I ordered the pork chop a few months ago. I had already given up on the steaks. Chop was overcooked and dry. I did not even bother to send it back - just tipped the waiter, suggested that he have the chef call me if he wanted to learn how to properly cook pork, and walked out.

 

 

[cbr663]

34 minutes ago, rbelshaw said:

 I ordered the pork chop a few months ago. I had already given up on the steaks. Chop was overcooked and dry. I did not even bother to send it back - just tipped the waiter, suggested that he have the chef call me if he wanted to learn how to properly cook pork, and walked out.

 

 

 

I am not surprised.  During our November cruise on the Koningsdam our lunch in the PG was so poor that we cancelled our future reservations.  My wife's pavlova was so dry that when she tried to break into it it nearly flew off the plate across the dining room.  Luckily she caught it.  My entree was served cold and it was impossible to get our waiter's attention to have the issues corrected.

[Mosaic]

Your steak should have been sent back.  They should have been good, period.  We often get the Filet and it is usually very large and very good.  Personally I have had a few hundred Filet's out at restaurants, lol.

[Billthekid]

4 hours ago, sambamama said:

Did you enjoy your cruise at all? From your posts, it doesn't sound like it. 

 

We cruised with HAL over 25 trips.  Each time some of the enjoyment has been stripped away, little by little.  On this cruise, for example, The Pinnacle food was terrible, the arrival of Santa was marred by the absence of a verbal exchange with Santa, the Mariners Luncheon was not conducted, wine tasting on the last day, lack of interaction with officers and staff, ship activity limited to sales pitches, and the ports were just shopping stops with beach activity.  After each cruise, I question what I experienced and appreciate input from fellow cruisers.  If they are experiencing the same thing, maybe it is not me after all.  HAL continues to erode the joys of cruising.  To answer your question, We did not enjoy this Holiday Cruise, but we did enjoy all our previous festive Holiday cruises.  

[Daisyloo]

6 hours ago, Ka Honu said:

I don't think I want to know how you found that out.

 

Jus' sayin'...

 Ah, the power of punctuation! 

[Daisyloo]

It is not only HAL that has seen a drop in quality in their steak house.  We ate in the Crown Grill on Princess recently. It is Princess' version of the Pinnacle.  The steak my husband had there and the lamb chops I had were both dry and tough.(ordered medium rare).  Service was terrible too.  I think they were very short staffed, so the staff had no chance to do a good job.  

 

[Blackduck59]

17 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

. Remember people, fat is flavour and a prime steak is all about quality marbling.

I'm so sorry for my feeble punctuation. I humbly apologize, it seems I failed elementary school like so many others on these boards. Sorry teacher I'll try to do better.

Oh, by the way the statement still stands, Fat is Flavour. I always laugh when I am at the butcher shop and I see Barbie looking at the steak case, they check the price (more expensive is better right?). So they are looking at the Delmonico Steaks (the most expensive in the case) and the next words out of their mouth is "could I have the lean ones please". The counter person just looks at them, and gets them the worst steaks in the case. I'm sure they couldn't understand why the steak was probably a little chewy and dry and short on flavour. I bought the expensive ones honey, you must have done something wrong when you grilled them.

[CNSJ]

I found the Double Cut Pork Chop to be excellent and at times have ordered the King Salmon or Halibut to mix things up.  The NY Strip has always been close to perfect.  I have found that I always give a restaurant at least two tries and if a steak is not to my liking, they will prepare another.

 

[POA1]

On the Nieuw Statendam a few weeks ago, we had the tenderloin with lobster ravioli (me) and DW had the dry aged Delmonico. My entrée was the house specialty. DW's carried a $25 supplement. The regular steaks are wet-aged, 28 days. All the steaks are USDA Prime.

 

We both ordered medium rare steaks and that's exactly what we received. (I guess I'll have to go back to taking a photo of my meat after I cut it. You know, for "proof of cook."🙄)

 

 

The food, the service, and the overall experience were excellent. I sometimes wonder if we're on the same ship. I'm really torn for our upcoming cruise. I hate to order the same thing again, but it was amazing.

 

[mawvkysc]

@POA1 what are the lobster dumplings like? I generally prefer ribeye to tenderloin but the dumplings might entice me to order that.