Chops Grille - Legend of the Seas Royal Caribbean (March 2013)

Chops Grille - Royal Caribbean Legend of the Seas

Chops Grille is a speciality restaurant on Royal Caribbean ships.  Chops is modelled after the traditional American steakhouse.  On the revitalized Legend of the Seas, Chops is located on the highest deck of the ship, with good views.

The Mariner of the Seas, now sailing out of Asia, also has this speciality restaurant.

The Voyager of the Seas does not have the Chops Grille, at least not yet.  However, Royal Caribbean has announced that the Voyager of the Seas will be in dry dock first half of next year.  I fully expect the Voyager of the Seas to get Chops Grille after her revitalization!  

The flat screens with lots of information (including menus) have been installed on the revitalized Legend of the Seas.

A picture of an empty table on embarkation day.

It looks like a typical upscale restaurant, with dark woods complimented by light beige accents.  The attire is smart casual.   There is a coverage charge to dine here.  On this cruise, we had purchased the Chef's Dining Package, which included Chef's Table, Chops Grille and Izumi.

We were given a generous portion of freshly baked warm bread to start.  Don't indulge too much, as there was a lot more food to come!

The warm bread was really good, and I was hungry as we had just came back from a long shore excursion day.  I must have ate too much of the bread.....

I forgot to take a picture of the menu, however, I understand that the menu is almost the same fleetwide.  Over time, the cruise line may make some changes.  Here is the link to the US menu.
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/ChopsGrille_Menu_Eng.pdf

The idea of dining at Chops is that you get a good 3-course meal.  You can choose an appetizer, main and dessert.  In reality, it is often the case that your server will allow an additional starter, i.e. we ordered 3 starters for the both of us.  Just ask nicely. :)

Appetizers - We had three.

First, this was an Oyster appetizer which was delicious. I realized this appetizer wasn't included in the US Chops Grille menu.

Second appetizer - I can't really remember what this was, but I think we took it on the recommendation of the server.  I think it may be have some smoked duck.

Third appetizer - this was the Crab Cake.  It was very good.

Main Course -  I had the filet mignon, on the advice of the server.  It was cooked to medium well.  It was still very juicy.

My wife took the jumbo shrimp.  Also very good.



We got to choose 3 sides to go with our main courses.  When we cruise, we try to avoid the carbs as much as possible.  Therefore, we chose veggies and mushrooms.

A closer view of the tomato.

A closer view of the steak.

We used our Crown and Anchor coupons and had two complimentary lattes.

Desserts - By this time, we were really full.  But we were still looking forward to the famous desserts.

Here was the Red Velvet cake.  It surely didn't disappoint.  The serving was huge!

Some chocolate cake, also very good.

Another good angle of the Red Velvet Cake.

We chatted with our server (from the Phillipines) and told her that our kids were being looked after by their grandparents on the ship, while we came here for the speciality dinner.  Our kind server offered to give us another portion of the desserts to takeaway, so that we can share them with our children!   Ultimately, we we couldn't even finish the original portions, we asked her to pack them to-go for us.

Here was out half-eaten desserts.


They were put nicely into a takeaway plate, together with extra forks.

Overall, it was a wonderful evening and we enjoyed the dinner very much.  Definitely, the food at Chops is better than the Main Dining Room onboard the Legend of the Seas.  Worth a try, if you are looking for better food and a more intimate dining experience.

Safe travels!

Legends of the Seas links:
1) Chef's Table on Legend of the Seas
2) Chop's Grille on Legend of the Seas
3) Izumi on Legend of the Seas
4) Diamond Club Lounge on Legend of the Seas
5) Park Cafe on Legend of the Seas

Celebrity Silhouette Links
Celebrity Silhouette 13N Med & Adriatic Seas Cruise Landing Page

Chef's Table - Legend of the Seas Royal Caribbean (March 2013)

Royal Caribbean Legend of the Seas Cruise Ship.  We boarded the ship from Marina Bay Cruise Terminal, Singapore.

Before the cruise, we had purchased the Chef's Table Package. Below the the Chef's Table menu, located in the Main Dining Room but cordoned off for some privacy.  Chef's Table was held every night, if they could get enough customers.

We decided to do the Chef's Table on Day 1 of the cruise.  This was our confirmed reservations, delivered to our Stateroom.  The meeting venue was at Schooner Bar.  They start with a round of champagne. We were only brought to the venue at about 7pm.

Chef's Table Menu for this sailing.  5 courses, paired with wine.  We were told that the Chef's Table would only open if they had at least 8 customers.  However, they opened it for only 6 that evening.  We were seated together with a group of four very bubbly ladies from Australia.



These were the wine glasses laid before us.  There would be plenty to drink tonight!

The Sommelier and the Chef.

Chef Rudy was from the Philippines.  He was giving his welcome speech!

The Sommelier introducing the breads.

They were nice, but don't eat too much of them!  The food was yet to be served!

First Course - Lobster and Alaskan King Crab Leg Salad

Sommelier was introducing the wine that was paired with the first course.

This was the Alaskan King Crab salad.  It was really good.

 When I looked up, I saw forks, spoons and knives.  Rather neat!

Second Course - Soup Trio

Sommelier introducing the wine that was paired with the soups.

 Three small servings of soup.  From the left, a nice mushroom soup.  The right was a green soup! It was called green pea bisque and it tasted nice, though unusual.  The centre was the beef broth - the weakest of the three, in my opinion.  Perhaps, in our Chinese cooking, we have tasted many good chinese style clear soups and hence this wasn't really up to mark.

Third Course - Chinese style Duck Roll.  The Sommelier was introducing the sake that was paired with this dish.

I realised that I didn't care very much for sake.  Oh well.


The Duck Roll was good!


As the evening went on, we all started to have our favorites, where the wines were concerned.  It was great that we could ask for more of our favorites, and basically not drink the wines that we didn't care for.  Good stuff!

Fourth Course - The Lamb! 

Usually, I don't take lamb.  But this was the best lamb I have ever tasted, and, I would like to have it again some day!  Truly exceptional.

 My wife didn't want the lamb, so they made some salmon for her.  The salmon wasn't bad, but wasn't exceptional either.

 More pictures of the lamb.

Dessert Time - The chef introducing the dessert.

It wasn't great.  We have had better desserts on board Royal.  Then again, it wasn't a disaster either.  Perhaps, by this time, we have had too much good food!

 There we have it, the Chef showing off his dishes.  (Including the chocolates!)

It was a wonderful meal.  In my opinion, it is definitely worth trying at least once, for the experience.  Beware that it is a long affair.  We start at 6:30pm in the Schooner Bar and we were done only at 10:15pm thereabouts.  A great evening, nonetheless.

Safe travels!

Legends of the Seas links:
1) Chef's Table on Legend of the Seas
2) Chop's Grille on Legend of the Seas
3) Izumi on Legend of the Seas
4) Diamond Club Lounge on Legend of the Seas
5) Park Cafe on Legend of the Seas

Celebrity Silhouette Links
Celebrity Silhouette 13N Med & Adriatic Seas Cruise Landing Page