ireney32 Posted March 18 Report Share Posted March 18 Hi everyone, I'm going on my first ever cruise on Symphony OTS and was wondering how people have been finding the food served in the MDR, whether specifically on Symphony or any Royal Caribbean ship. Suggestions on what dishes you've liked and/or disliked would be appreciated, thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAYNO Posted March 18 Report Share Posted March 18 (edited) . Edited March 19 by WAYNO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanHardlyWait Posted March 18 Report Share Posted March 18 57 minutes ago, ireney32 said: Hi everyone, I'm going on my first ever cruise on Symphony OTS and was wondering how people have been finding the food served in the MDR, whether specifically on Symphony or any Royal Caribbean ship. Suggestions on what dishes you've liked and/or disliked would be appreciated, thanks in advance! Food and taste is subjective. Now nobody else needs to say it. That being said, I find the MDR food bland. Eatable, but bland. French Onion soup is a favorite of mine. tingtang 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWhoWaits Posted March 18 Report Share Posted March 18 When we started cruising, I would have described the MDR meals as bordering on fine dining. Now, I liken them to somewhere between "not quite as good as I would make at home" and "I believe I could get pretty close to that if I had ready access to the ingredients" depending on the dish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaMG Posted March 18 Report Share Posted March 18 2 hours ago, ireney32 said: Hi everyone, I'm going on my first ever cruise on Symphony OTS and was wondering how people have been finding the food served in the MDR, whether specifically on Symphony or any Royal Caribbean ship. Suggestions on what dishes you've liked and/or disliked would be appreciated, thanks in advance! If you haven't seen it already, you might like to take a look at my recent recap blog from our Symphony cruise last month. I cover our evening meals in there, with pics. I hope it helps and you have a wonderful cruise. WAAAYTOOO, tingtang and OCSC Mike 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan79 Posted March 18 Report Share Posted March 18 It’s hit or miss by sailing and even within the same sailing. I’ve had great meals one night, only to have a bad one the following. There is no consistent answer, because the product isn’t consistent. If you happen to have a bad experience, there are other free meal options available that you can make a straight line towards. Even a meal at Playmakers or the pub isn’t a bad option and much cheaper than specialty dining, in my opinion OCSC Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ireney32 Posted March 19 Author Report Share Posted March 19 5 hours ago, FionaMG said: If you haven't seen it already, you might like to take a look at my recent recap blog from our Symphony cruise last month. I cover our evening meals in there, with pics. I hope it helps and you have a wonderful cruise. Hi Fiona, I read your live blog and found your photos and ratings very helpful, thank you for that! I actually posted my question with your post in mind, to see if other people may have tried different dishes. FionaMG 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 I've never had a bad meal in the MDR. Some weren't the greatest, but never bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 Like others have said, it’s subjective & varies from night to night, ship to ship, etc. Lasagna was not very good on Allure in October but surprisingly good on Wonder last night as an example. I usually enjoy the Indian food. The chocolate hazelnut cake & chocolate molten cake (very similar) have become recent favorites of mine & my wife’s. Opinions can’t hurt but I’d order whatever looks appealing to you & if you don’t like it you can always order something else or get food from somewhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biaggio Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 I find they use too much salt, especially in the French onion soup. HeWhoWaits 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barjpoe Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 1 hour ago, Biaggio said: I find they use too much salt, especially in the French onion soup. My ankles can attest to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 As other said it is subjective. I think the MDR is mostly a miss and usually try to do specialty dining, which is also starting to be a bit of a miss. I personally hate French night but my last cruise I tried something different and enjoyed it. That is the great thing, you can try something else if you don't like something or visit the WJ. CanHardlyWait and OCSC Mike 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChessE4 Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 We may need to start emphasizing breakfast and lunch while downplaying dinner. That does leave more time for snacks, dancing, and shows. Not what we're used to, but we can adapt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWhoWaits Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 10 hours ago, ChessE4 said: We may need to start emphasizing breakfast The problem there is that the selection is very static. Same items every day gets old in a hurry. Sure, you can get different ingredients in your omelet each day, but that's "variety" like switching between beef and chicken on your soft taco at Taco Bell is "variety." I'm a big fan of breakfast and by the end of a week-long cruise I start pining for a bowl of Froot Loops or Cap'n Crunch (neither of which is one of my go-to cereals) just for something different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 11 hours ago, ChessE4 said: We may need to start emphasizing breakfast and lunch while downplaying dinner. I have done this for a while since we’ve never been MDR fans. I’d rather make a few stops at ELF or WJ or Park Cafe during the day (mostly ELF) and I don’t care that I’m not super hungry for dinner (unless we have specialty dining, then I save room). ChessE4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 13 hours ago, ChessE4 said: We may need to start emphasizing breakfast and lunch while downplaying dinner. That does leave more time for snacks, dancing, and shows. Not what we're used to, but we can adapt. I think this is actually an interesting strategy. We are pretty "traditional" diners and really never considered just snacking through the day and ignoring dinner altogether....but as we begin cruising more often, I think this might be a direction that we will trend. I absolutely love breakfast. It is my favorite meal of the day so I will never be able to skip breakfast....but we are early evening diners anyway, so the thought of having a biggish snack at, say, 3 or 4:00 and then skipping dinner entirely, is actually something that we could do, easily. I may give this a try on our upcoming extended EX combo. OCSC Mike and ChessE4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riley Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 19 hours ago, barjpoe said: My ankles can attest to that. Feel free to ask the first night for low-salt preparation options - your waitstaff and the kitchen will do their best. Some soups and sauces can't be adjusted but the chef can limit salt in many dishes and it's not an unusual request. As someone who has to limit sodium, I order dinner the night before through our section's head waiter and am always pleased with the results, including getting off-menu options when there's something that simply cannot be adjusted... my fall-back is a steak with a lot of pepper but no salt, a baked potato and whatever steamed or roasted veggies they have available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordell1 Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 MDR food should not be compared to a good restaurant because the meals are not cooked to order. The meals are cooked in mass and menu choices reflect that. They are more correctly compared to banquet food that would be served at an awards dinner or wedding. I think they do a good job overall but there are definitely some things that are a miss for me. I wish there was more variety to the menu's so that those of us who cruise regularly get some fresh choices. Gilley and ChessE4 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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