Chops Grille is an American steakhouse and also Royal Caribbean’s hallmark restaurant where one can savour the best of land at sea. It is one of the few specialty restaurants onboard most of Royal Caribbean cruise ships which means guests can dine here at an additional charge.
Alternatively, you can do like what we did – buy an Unlimited Dining Package – so we could dine at any specialty restaurant without limits. *Most Recommended*
I was so looking forward to dining at Chops Grille as I had heard so much good things about it. The moment we boarded the cruise ship, I couldn’t wait to make a dinner reservation for the first night, lol.
Service
The service at Chops Grille was topnotch. We were served with so much warmth and hospitality that it made us feel like distinguished guests.
The waiter who was assigned to look after our table, Jose, was truly one of the best. Very experienced and professional. And he took great care of us throughout the meal, making sure we were happy with the food and that our glasses were never empty.
Thank you, Jose, for making our dining experience amazing.?
Menu
The menu was a straightforward one with a selected range of appetisers, soups, signature mains, sides (to accompany the mains) and desserts.
Click here for Chops Grille sample menu.
If you have specific dietary restrictions, you may wish to know that gluten-free, lactose-free and vegetarian options are available. Just need to ask your waiter. And for those who don’t consume red meat, fret not as there are also chicken and seafood mains to choose from.
Started the meal with bread and butter
A service staff came by with a basket of assorted bread so we could take our pick. We chose the pretzel roll and onion bread which were served warm and fresh. Both tasted really good with the salted butter.
The following dishes were what we ordered over two nights of dinner at Chops Grille.
Appetisers
Colossal Shrimp Cocktail
The shrimps were fresh and crunchy. Taste wise, it was quite ordinary but it was still a good, refreshing starter to have.
Jumbo Lump Crab Cake
With chipotle aioli. I can never resist crab cakes whenever I see them on a menu after tasting one of the best ones at PS Cafe. Of course I had to order this Jumbo Lump Crab Cake too. This crab cake was packed full of crustacean flavour with every bite. Not bad.
Grilled Black Pepper Bacon (must order!)
This was no conventional processed or cured bacon but slow-cooked Berkshire pork in a sweet and spicy glaze. This was one of the most outstanding dishes we had at Chops Grille, which really blew our minds. Imagine digging into an elevated version of roast pork with a delicious caramelised crust. The meat remained moist and juicy and the seasoning was totally on point.
We requested for an extra serving to share but Jose gave us one each instead because he knew one would not be enough, lol. And true enough, we polished both plates off effortlessly!
Soups
Wild Mushroom Soup
Scented with white truffle oil and chives. This hearty soup had a very strong mushroom flavour. Texture was creamy and rich but not in a overly cloying way.
Lobster Bisque
With brandy, tarragon cream. Ample seafood flavour and it didn’t taste fishy at all. Wished there were some chunks of lobster meat to give it a contrasting texture as it was a little dull. Preferred the mushroom soup to this.
Signature Mains
Prime NY Strip (must order!)
A 12-oz. full-flavored USDA Prime cut, with a slightly firmer texture than a ribeye. Very huge piece and beautifully cooked.
We requested for ‘medium’ and we got what we wanted. Perfectly seared on the outside. Wonderfully moist and tender on the inside. The charred surface was divine.
Rack of Lamb (must order!)
Tender oven-roasted rack of lamb, seasoned with thyme and rosemary. This lamb rack was my favourite as the meat was super tender and juicy. Even more tender than the steak. It wasn’t gamey tasting at all and the herbs really brought the flavour to another level. I can certainly eat this every day if there’s no such thing as cholesterol, lol!
Filet
9 ounces of lean, midwestern beef. Supposed to be their most tender cut but it wasn’t so. Maybe because it was too lean so it came out a little dry. It was done perfectly medium as we wanted it but the meat was quite chewy. Unless you like this kind of texture, otherwise go for the Prime NY Strip instead!
Sides (served in shareable portions)
There were a total of eight sides to choose from:
- Gruyere Cheese Tater Tots
- Creamed Spinach
- Grilled Jumbo Asparagus
- Mac & Cheese
- Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
- Sauteed Mushrooms
- Truffled French Fries
- Salted Baked Potato
We had the tater tots, spinach and mushrooms to share. Loved the tater tots as they tasted like handmade ones and not from a packet. Mushrooms were nicely seasoned. Spinach was sauteed and not creamed so it was a little underwhelming.
As we were quite full by then, we weren’t able to finish these sides even though we requested Jose to give us smaller portions.
If you have a huge appetite, then go for the sides. Otherwise, I would suggest just focusing on the appetisers and mains.
Desserts
Warm Molten Chocolate Cake
Chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream make one of the best combinations! Even better when one is hot and one is cold. Rich, chocolatey, fudgy – heavenly.
Warm Apple Pie a la mode
Very homemade style. I found it a little too heavy for my liking – anyway I’m never into such apple pie. Hubby loved it though as the crust wasn’t thick and it was packed full with filling. Went very well with vanilla ice cream too.
Mango Sorbet (must order!)
Their mango sorbet was the best! In fact, you can get it at the main dining rooms and other specialty restaurants too so it’s not exclusive to Chops Grille only.
Very refreshing. Not too sweet. Intense flavour of mango. It made the perfect ending to the meal.
Final Thoughts
All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed the food and the entire dining experience at Chops Grille. There wasn’t anything that we weren’t happy with. Even for those dishes that were a little lacklustre, they weren’t that bad too so overall standard and quality were excellent. If this was a steakhouse on its own, I would be happy to dine here whenever I have a craving for steak or lamb. And the Grilled Black Pepper Bacon is definitely worth coming back for!