Dinner Menus - are the new ones finalized yet?

[CaptData]

Most places are closed after 1 am. But Room Service is open 24/7. The Cafe very late at night has a limited menu but does have pizza.

[elhenry]

How wonderful that the Indian vegetarian options are now part of the menu.

 

They were always available by special request: I ordered them last year on the Explorer as I am a vegetarian and an Indian food lover. Very tasty! We were a table of 12 and the waiter always brought out two entrees, even though I was the only vegetarian and the only one ordering. No raita or curries then, but plenty of naan....

 

el henry

[Cruise-Nut]

I'll tell you why... TIME!!!! While your waiter is in the kitchen re-plating your special request or waiting for a cook to do that... MY service is suffering for it...

 

A restaurant or cruise ship kitchen is run like a machine and timing is everything... a "wrench" like a special request throws off the rhythm... It's not a problem to do these things, but it does require some juggling of time and somewhere along the line, someone else is paying for that...

 

You have been watching to much Hell's Kitchen. I own 2 restaurants and it is not a problem. We want our customers to have what they want and be extremely happy with what they got just as I am sure RCCL wants with their customers. So people don't be afraid to order what ever you want and however you like it.

[Cruise-Nut]

You'd probably be surprised at the time involved... Minutes are like hours to a kitchen staff... and if the food is already pre-plated, something has to come off one of those plates and now a new plate has to be created to replace that one... TIME, RHYTHM...

 

Like I said, kitchens work like machines, assembly lines... and for someone to stop what they are doing to catch something like that, DOES take time... throws off the rhythm... someone has to leave their position to acquire something, or go to another part of the kitchen to do something, or check back to make sure it's happening and doesn't get forgotten... that takes time away from something else...

 

Until you've actually worked in a professional kitchen, you can't possibly understand the logistics and coordination involved...

 

AmyBear,

 

Where do you work? I want to make sure that I never go there because in my Professional Kitchens, I teach my people to adapt and overcome and give the customer whatever they want. That is how you grow your business and keep your customers coming back. I bet the restaurant you work at doesn't do too well with that attitude.

[MBeamTX]

You have been watching to much Hell's Kitchen. I own 2 restaurants and it is not a problem. We want our customers to have what they want and be extremely happy with what they got just as I am sure RCCL wants with their customers. So people don't be afraid to order what ever you want and however you like it.

 

Just curious - do either of your restaurants serve about 1,000 diners in a single seating?

[PhoenixCruiser]

Just curious - do either of your restaurants serve about 1,000 diners in a single seating?

 

That was my question as well, even up to 2,000 at one seating.

 

The plates are all made in advance, removing or adding items does take time and interrupts the entire process.

 

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[PhoenixCruiser]

AmyBear,

 

Where do you work? I want to make sure that I never go there because in my Professional Kitchens, I teach my people to adapt and overcome and give the customer whatever they want. That is how you grow your business and keep your customers coming back. I bet the restaurant you work at doesn't do too well with that attitude.

 

They serve Kobe steaks at $70 a pop, I think they do VERY well.

 

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[amybear912]

AmyBear,

 

Where do you work? I want to make sure that I never go there because in my Professional Kitchens, I teach my people to adapt and overcome and give the customer whatever they want. That is how you grow your business and keep your customers coming back. I bet the restaurant you work at doesn't do too well with that attitude.

 

Sales are good, despite the bad economy... The wealthy are still dropping $70 for a steak..And we're still on ressies only for Friday and Saturday nights, no walk-ins available... Yeah, we're doing just fine...

 

I think you misunderstood the gist of my post... I was posting in reference to someone else who couldn't understand why they get a second complete entree with veggies and all instead of just the extra protein piece they asked for... My point was that the servers probably do this to save time... And that time is a huge factor in speed of service and accuracy... In other words, that the waiter, rather than replating the entire dish, simply grabs an entire new complete plate... By doing this, the server probably feels they are saving time, which, they are... They're wasting food, sure, but they are saving time... And if it's early seating, they have a limited amount of time to feed over 1000 people, get them out, and set up for the next seating...

 

I'm not saying that is the right or a good way to do it, but surmising that that is probably how and why it happens... and then explaining the time factor from the server's perspective...

 

I don't work in a restaurant that mass-produces food... We cook to order.... Adapation in that regard is a bit different...

 

I'm sorry you jumped to conclusions or couldn't see that time factor as being a reason why that happens...

 

For what it's worth, I agree that adaptation to the customer's needs is always the priority and goal but I'm also a realist and know that there are inexperienced servers who take shortcuts (such as grabbing an entire pre-plated entree for the customer rather than re-plating that customer's dish)...

 

With YOUR attitude and inability to see beyond the reality of day to day service AND to realize the imperfections and lack of experience that some servers exhibit... I'm grateful to NOT be working with your kitchen... :rolleyes:

 

Perhaps next time, before you jump to such a conclusion, you might think back to your experience as a server and Chef (if you even are one, your post implies to me that if you are, you haven't been doing it for very long and probably aren't a "working" Chef) and try to surmise WHY staff does what they do, instead of assuming that someone like myself is lacking in service attitude...

[amybear912]

You have been watching to much Hell's Kitchen. I own 2 restaurants and it is not a problem. We want our customers to have what they want and be extremely happy with what they got just as I am sure RCCL wants with their customers. So people don't be afraid to order what ever you want and however you like it.

 

 

I don't have time to watch Hell's Kitchen... I WORK in a restaurant and have for years... DH is a Chef, and has been for years.... I'd be willing to guess that you were still in diapers when DH was in culinary school many, many years ago... just a guess...

 

You need to read very, very carefully... I know it's hard, but try it:rolleyes: ... but as I indicated, it's not a problem, but it DOES require juggling... If you don't think it does, then your kitchen has issues... or your service staff does...

 

Let me guess... you're one of those fellas who thought it would be cool to own a restaurant... How many kitchen years have you got under your belt??? Any??? Where did you do your training????

[sherry7]

The new menus sound good...after only 5 cruises I was getting a bit tired of the previous ones.

 

I did notice a complete lack of any lamb entrees. Wonder why? It must be a cost cutting move. I'm not a big fan of lamb, but DH will certainly miss it.

[sailor05]

I'm on the AOS in August, which is a 7 night cruise. Am I to assume that it will most likely have menu's 1-7 as posted?

 

As far as ordering more than one item, I'm glad see that others do it. I'd almost rather make a meal out of just appetizers and desserts. I'm not a seafood eater, and find that I don't eat much of the entrées when on board.

[joan_al]

This shows 8 days of menu - as of May/Jun 2008

 

Deleted in quote to save space

 

Albert Ross that has to be the best post I've seen in a long time. Thank you Albert

from Albert Bruno

[sicsinohio]

Thanks, Albert! We will be cruising in October-November and I look forward to trying some of the new dishes.:p

[scrapycruiser]

Will the new menus be on the Sovereign of the Seas ? Are they on there now ?

[alwalaska]

Sure did....at first I went back to double check. Have to give them credit for changing the type of pasta though.......ziti, penne, spiral:rolleyes:

 

Thanks to those who took the time posting the menus.

 

As someone else mentioned, it was part of the always available menu before. Has anyone had this? Is it good?

[01Sweetpea]

Thanks for posting these! I had alredy decided whihc night DH & I were goint to Portofinos, now I'm going to have to look at the new menus and make a decision.

[CanTex]

If they were to re-combine entrees and sides from the pre-plated options to meet a special order, don't you think they're going to just toss out the leftover items from the original plates? In other words, just as much is going to get wasted -- they might as well bring it all out to you. And the waiters are not going to have the time to deal with fixing fancy food presentation with all this shuffling around.

[hcat]

Is curry an economical dish like pasta?

I see lots of them both on the menu...rice, pasta--carb heaven! I did not know they are so popular... I hope the curry dishes do not send out aromas all over--

 

I am happy enough to see my usual fare but the salad & appetizers & soups are combined--I would always want at least two ( salad & appetizer) & then my main dish with no starch & dbl veggies! As long as I can get that I am happy...

[sherry7]

As someone else mentioned, it was part of the always available menu before. Has anyone had this? Is it good?

 

I've seen (but not tasted) the "old" pasta dish...the one that was always on the alternative part of the menu. On one of my cruises, one of my tablemates was a vegetarian and ordered this a couple of times during the week, when she didn't like the vegetarian dish being offered. It didn't look like anything special, and I noticed that the 2nd time she ordered it, she asked for extra sauce...it looked awfully dry the first time. She complained that it wasn't very good...but then again, she complained about every dish she ate. :rolleyes:

[elhenry]

I ate nine days of "pre-ordered" Asian vegetarian (i.e. curries) They were not strong and none of my 12 tablemates complained. I loved them. And on my ship, the last thing they were was dry...

 

el henry

[stanford's girl]

Sending my thanks out to Albert Ross!!:D :D You did an outstanding job of typing these up and all of us here at CC appreciate it.

[reggierail]

Thanks for posting the menus. :D

 

I'll be on Serenade for 15 nights.

 

I wonder if they have different menus every night or will

have some do-overs?

 

Reggie :D

[aqhacruiser]

Double that Thank You!!!:D

 

I just copied this link to post for you but I see you found it! LOL I knew you'd be interested in the menus:D

[Javalava]

The menus look great. I just have a quick question for Albert.....was this an Alaskan cruise? It seems that many of the fish choices were Alaskan salmon, Alaskan Scrod, Alaskan catch of the day. I'm just wondering if it will be the same for a Caribbean cruise.

[alwalaska]

Thanks for posting the menus. :D

 

I'll be on Serenade for 15 nights.

 

I wonder if they have different menus every night or will

have some do-overs?

 

Reggie :D

 

I think there are 14 menus (could be 12 or 13) and then they start to repeat.