Izumi Hibachi or Chops Grille

[Kevin C]

We've booked a 3 night cruise on FOS in January. Since it's only three nights, we will probably only do a specialty restaurant one night. We can't decide whether we want chops or hibachi. Thanks for your input.

[Ampurp85]

I personally find Chops to be lackluster, it is slightly worse than an average steakhouse on land. I often find that everyone's steak taste better than chops and their sides leave a lot to be desired when it comes to flavor. But hibachi is also just hibachi. If I was doing FOS I would do Giovanni's Kitchen, the steak is better imho. 

[recogneyes]

My preference would be hibachi for two reasons - firstly, you can have chops on most of Royal's ships vs hibachi being only available on some.  Secondly, you get the built in entertainment factor with hibachi assuming your chef puts on a good show (which has been our experience)

[barjpoe]

Yes, on the sides at Chops. Mostly all starch base. I do like hibachi for the entertainment. Yes, Gionvannis' Table is still on Allure (not KITCHEN), I think the steak is better then
Chops.  You forgot 150 Central Park that would be my choice: bread/roll(out of this world), Beef Tenderloin for 2-yes, & of course the Fried Cheese Cake, I also like the Pumpkin soup - presentation .

[Ampurp85]

1 hour ago, barjpoe said:

Yes, on the sides at Chops. Mostly all starch base. I do like hibachi for the entertainment. Yes, Gionvannis' Table is still on Allure (not KITCHEN), I think the steak is better then
Chops.  You forgot 150 Central Park that would be my choice: bread/roll(out of this world), Beef Tenderloin for 2-yes, & of course the Fried Cheese Cake, I also like the Pumpkin soup - presentation .

OP is on FOS aka Freedom, so my reply was based on that. 

[Ryan79]

Chops is highly overrated. It’s about on par with Applebees as far as the quality (or lack there of) of the meat. I would choose Izumi because of the entertainment factor as well. It’s a much more enjoyable experience than Chops. My kids are 100% carnivores when it comes to steak and didn’t care for it either.

[JFCruise]

50 minutes ago, Ryan79 said:

Chops is highly overrated. It’s about on par with Applebees as far as the quality (or lack there of) of the meat. I would choose Izumi because of the entertainment factor as well. It’s a much more enjoyable experience than Chops. My kids are 100% carnivores when it comes to steak and didn’t care for it either.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/menus/chops-grille-menu-sample.pdf

According to their sample menu, their Rib Eye and their NY Strip is USDA Prime. That is the top grade in the US, and one that I'm pretty certain Applebee's doesnt serve. Are you expecting Waguy or something at a Royal Caribbean cruise?

[Ryan79]

5 hours ago, JFCruise said:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/menus/chops-grille-menu-sample.pdf

According to their sample menu, their Rib Eye and their NY Strip is USDA Prime. That is the top grade in the US, and one that I'm pretty certain Applebee's doesnt serve. Are you expecting Waguy or something at a Royal Caribbean cruise?

It can say Prime all day long, but I actually cook Prime steaks on a regular basis and those are poor quality steaks they serve at Chops. I’ve had much better Choice grade steaks from a grocery store. If you happen to think they are “top grade” then more power to you! Again, they are Applebees quality AT BEST. Lastly, how come you didn’t give your personal opinion of their steaks? Have you even had them and still think they are “top grade”?

[Zacharius]

18 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

Chops is highly overrated. It’s about on par with Applebees as far as the quality (or lack there of) of the meat. I would choose Izumi because of the entertainment factor as well. It’s a much more enjoyable experience than Chops. My kids are 100% carnivores when it comes to steak and didn’t care for it either.

Maybe I've had unusually good experiences on my five or so visits to Chops...but I have always found my steaks fairly good. I get the opportunity to visit a LOT of really high end steakhouses around the world for business dinners/meetings, which are of course much, much better than Chops, but that's my way of say that I am no stranger to phenomenal steaks but have always enjoyed by Chops steaks. Of course, being on vacation tends to skew tastes a bit (most things seem to taste a bit better on vacation). 

[JFCruise]

12 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

It can say Prime all day long, but I actually cook Prime steaks on a regular basis and those are poor quality steaks they serve at Chops. I’ve had much better Choice grade steaks from a grocery store. If you happen to think they are “top grade” then more power to you! Again, they are Applebees quality AT BEST. Lastly, how come you didn’t give your personal opinion of their steaks? Have you even had them and still think they are “top grade”?

It's not about what I say - Prime is a USDA regulated term, and is based on the level of marbling (aka quality) of the beef. It is heavily inspected and IIRC, only about 1% of the beef produced in the US gets the grade.

https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2013/01/28/whats-your-beef-prime-choice-or-select

I have never eaten at Chops, so I can't give my opinion on their steaks. I personally think eating steak in a steakhouse (land or otherwise) to be an inferior experience to what I can cook at home. But I can tell you that to label something as Prime, it has to be top grade beef. If not, they might be in legal trouble. Your problem might be with the seasoning or their cooking method. The beef, however, is not 'Applebees quality'. Unless Applebee's actually sells Prime beef, or Wagyu or something along those lines.

I did, however, recently had the filet at Giovani's Table - which isn't advertised as Prime either on the Chops or the GT menu as Prime - and I have absolutely no complaints.

[Ampurp85]

@JFCruise I want to point out just a small flaw in your argument. Considering that the inventory for cruise ships can come from all over the world, the meat ratings on the menu have to be taken with a grain of salt. ........which is exactly the only thing Chops seasons their steak with. Having eaten at Chops on at least 8 different ships, I can say the quality of the steaks is closer to Applebee's than an actual steak house. But Applebee's, at least in Chicago/NY, has okay steak. 

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, JFCruise said:

I did, however, recently had the filet at Giovani's Table - which isn't advertised as Prime either on the Chops or the GT menu as Prime - and I have absolutely no complaints.

Wife and I enjoy the filet there as well and we've also never eaten at Chops.

[JFCruise]

34 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

@JFCruise I want to point out just a small flaw in your argument. Considering that the inventory for cruise ships can come from all over the world, the meat ratings on the menu have to be taken with a grain of salt. ........which is exactly the only thing Chops seasons their steak with. Having eaten at Chops on at least 8 different ships, I can say the quality of the steaks is closer to Applebee's than an actual steak house. But Applebee's, at least in Chicago/NY, has okay steak. 

If they are sourcing beef from all over the world, then the menu should at least reflect what they are actually serving. I just posted the sample menu off their website, but it might be different in different sailings. I'd be interested in seeing if this changes in salings from elsewhere - which it should because 'Prime' isn't a word that can be thrown around for giggles.

Edit: I used the app to check the menu for Chops in Enchatment (currently sailing in Europe) and it doesn't only say Prime; it says USDA Prime. So Royal Caribbean is either being extra dumb and lying, or actually sourcing USDA-rated beef en Europe too.

If by 'quality of the steak' means the taste/textura/whatever then...yeah, sure, let's remember that Chops is not exactly a luxury place. It's not like they are dry-aging their beef.

[FloatyBoaty]

I flew home from Australia in March with an employee of the USDA specializing in beef that was out in Brisbane doing inspections. He flies all over the world. I'm absolutely not saying that he was out there labeling beef as Prime, just saying that there are USDA employees out making the rounds.

[Ampurp85]

@JFCruise My point was the ratings don't mean squat. Quality of the meat just has to meet the standards. The cut and preparation are what matter. 

Only two options hold that certification and I am sure they use them in every ship, but most people get the filet which isn't that great. 

[JFCruise]

@Ampurp85 - as far as beef quality, the USDA ratings matter a whole bunch. As I said above -  you can't complain that Chops serves "Applebee's quality beef" when Chops serves Prime and Applebee's use Select (https://www.applebees.com/en/menu/steaks)

You can complain about the seasoning or the cooking method, or the sides, or the sauces. But as far as beef quality - which is the initial argument - Chops demonstrably serves higher quality beef than Applebee's.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Wasn’t there a post here a while back claiming that Royal was using un-rated beef ?  There’s a term for it but I can’t recall the term.  I’m not claiming it’s true….just that I read something about un-rated beef not too long ago.

[Ampurp85]

27 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Wasn’t there a post here a while back claiming that Royal was using un-rated beef ?  There’s a term for it but I can’t recall the term.  I’m not claiming it’s true….just that I read something about un-rated beef not too long ago.

Yes, I remember that.

[Ampurp85]

2 hours ago, JFCruise said:

@Ampurp85 - as far as beef quality, the USDA ratings matter a whole bunch. As I said above -  you can't complain that Chops serves "Applebee's quality beef" when Chops serves Prime and Applebee's use Select (https://www.applebees.com/en/menu/steaks)

You can complain about the seasoning or the cooking method, or the sides, or the sauces. But as far as beef quality - which is the initial argument - Chops demonstrably serves higher quality beef than Applebee's.

The USDA rating matters but it is again dependent on the cut. This rating applies to two steaks, the most popular steak for Chops is the filet, which isn't rated and similar in quality to Applebee's. You stated you have not eaten there and are only going off the menu description. I have eaten there and the quality of something can be ruined by the preparation. I will leave it at that. 

[JFCruise]

2 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

The USDA rating matters but it is again dependent on the cut. This rating applies to two steaks, the most popular steak for Chops is the filet, which isn't rated and similar in quality to Applebee's. You stated you have not eaten there and are only going off the menu description. I have eaten there and the quality of something can be ruined by the preparation. I will leave it at that. 

A couple of different points:

a) It doesn't matter if the filet is the most popular steak. The other 2 cuts are Prime (which is a higher grade than Applebee's), and - at worse - the filet at Chops is the same grade as Applebee's. However, I would assume that the filet is Choice, not Select.

b) I don't have to eat there to be able to know about meat grading and how quality affects it. I also know that lying on the menu can lead to legal trouble so I tend to believe the menu.

c) The quality of the meat can't be ruined. It comes from how the cattle was treated. You can definitely ruin a steak. I said as much above. You can also just not like the way they prepare the steak at Chops or elsewhere, but that's totally subjective. My only argument is against this point from the OP:

Quote

It’s about on par with Applebees as far as the quality (or lack there of) of the meat.

Which is objectively false. Since the quality of the meat is judged by a third party (the USDA).

d) Does Applebee's even have filet? Doesn't seem so from their menu: https://www.applebees.com/en/menu/steaks

[Xaa]

Here's the thing @JFCruise.  The poster didn't and isn't obligated to use USDA ratings in their evaluation.  On the @Ryan79 scale, which likely includes evaluation at the point of service and consumption, it is rated equal to Applebee's.  He doesn't find it enjoyable even if it were rated USDA Superstar Double Power.  He is not alone in that evaluation.  His evaluation is the only thing that matters or is important in his choice.  His experience may be of value to others while some people may have an experience different than his.

I enjoy Chops myself.  I don't think of it as a great steakhouse.  I do enjoy it a bit more than Applebee's but the ambiance plays a part in that for sure.  If Chops were local to me, I would not be dining there unless the prices were reduced because I don't find it a comparable experience to other options in that range.  Onboard, I like to stop there.

[JFCruise]

@Xaa - During the whole discussion, it felt like the argument was about the actual quality of the steak, not the preparation/taste/texture/whatever. Those are 2 different things.

Of the OP or anyone doesn't like the steaks at Chops, it's fine. It's their own evaluation. If they find it more pleasurable to eat steaks at their local Chillis or Applebee's or local steakhouse - that's fine. I'm not saying Chops is a great place to eat (never been there, can't evaluate).

But at times, there were arguments that Chops did not source Prime beef, which by account of their menu and the legal implications of using that word, I can be confident that at least 2 of their 3 steaks are Prime and not 'comparable to Applebee's'.

I probably get a bit carried away and hijacked the original intention of the thread. I apologize and shut the hell up now.

[Xaa]

No worries @JFCruise.  I interpreted the complaints as quality judged through their own eyes and experiences vs the actual grade of beef.

While words may have precision, sentences and paragraphs are seldom precise so this can certainly happen.

[Ampurp85]

I think @Xaa put it well.

But to explain it, I read @JFCruise as saying since the meat is rated it must be good quality. To me quality is all encompassing, which includes how it is prepared. Hence me responding that way.