Ranking EVERY Specialty Restaurant on Royal Caribbean: Best to Worst
Here it is, my ultimate rankings of all the Royal Caribbean specialty restaurants in one video. From worst to best, I’m comparing all of the specialty restaurants until we reach number one!
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32 Comments
What about Teppanyaki?
Izumi is easily #1, and you gave most the reasons when talking about it. I’ve taken new cruisers with me on 2 cruises and both times they all said they didn’t care for 150 and wanted to try hooked instead next time. Izumi is just the best time with a group, and way too much good food.
1 – 150 (Wish it were on all the ships!)
2 – Izumi Teppanyaki 2a. Sushi
3 – Hooked
4 – Playmakers
5 – Jamies/5a. Giovanni's Italian Kitchen
Matt, I couldn't agree more with you about Wonderland. Neat concept, even if they are 15 years behind the molecular gastronomy fad. But you cut right to the chase: The food just isn't very good. End of story. I've tried it 3 times on 2 different ships just to see if the meh food was a fluke. It wasn't. I'm also a super adventurous eater, so the odd bits here and there didn't phase me.
But what about Amber & Oak! :O
If you ever get a chance to sail on Spectrum of the Seas, I strongly recommend eating at The Hot Pot – it's my number 1 and it was an amazing experience – the staff were very helpful in recommending difference soup bases and sauce combos. It was such a great experience I considered going back had I not promised the MDR team already 😂 Sichuan Red was a very good experience, but I only recommend it if you're a foodie and don't mind experimenting with uncommon foods. The portions are big and are served family style.
I had the worse specialty dining experience ever at Chops on Harmony. Service was awful! It was 45 minutes before we got anything, 2 hours later, still no dessert. Orders were wrong, a hair in one dish, drinks not refilled. They ended up not charging us, but… no thanks. 150 Central Park was wonderful.
Matt, we have also eaten at EVERY specialty dining restaurant on Royal Caribbean across multiple ships with the exception of the ones specific to Icon class ships and the Mason Jar on Utopia. Our favorite is still 150 Central Park. Always the BEST! Wonderland was a one and done. Royal Railway is neat too but also a one and done. We skipped Mason Jar as I'm not a fan of that cuisine. Sabor was kind of a so-so TexMex. My wife did not like Jamie Italian although I thought the menu options were good. Chops Grill lately has been mediocre at best, so it is one we are skipping now. We enjoyed Samba Grill and I don't recall waiting very long at least when we went. Over I agree with some of your rankings.
I think you nailed it with the exception of 150CP as # 1.
I appreciate you putting your feelings about seafood aside and ranking Hookd as high as you did. It's truly an amazing restaurant.
I found 150 Central Park completely over rated, it was good but I much preferred Chops. I thought the food was good at Wonderland but smelled way too much like smoke to be enjoyable.
Good video. I agree with most of your rankings. Over my next 2 cruises, I have the following booked so far: Hooked, Giovanni’s Kitchen, Mason Jar (typically on embarkation day), 150 Central Park, Lincoln Park Supper Club. I still need to book Izumi.
150 clears no doubt.
The mason jar is severely underrated, sooooo good🔥
Johnny rockets is a worse version of guys burger joint, except you pay for it.
Hooked is the one place I miss the most. Playmakers is the most underrated. One tip: If you are on a ship with a Sugar Beach and have the UDP, you can get any of their ice cream flavors at Playmakers in the Touchdown Sundae. You just have to ask for it. Also, a Campfire Cookie with Butter Pecan is better than one with vanilla.
I agree on Chef's Table. Went on Oasis 2021 and took a picture of the menu. Just went on Independence, and it was IDENTICAL. Except for the wine of course. The food was good, but sad it was the menu on 2 totally different ships.
I had high hopes for Giovani's Kitchen, but the pizza was identical to Sorrento's.
I was on the Odyssey, which is a Quantum-class ship, and the fried cheesecake was available in the English pub!
RCLs Italian restaurants are better than Chops. Hands down, straight up.✌️😎. Their filet mignon is superior to Chops. 😁
Matt, Matt, Matt. You gotta show The Port Side BBQ some respect. It’s my main reason for sailing on Oasis.
My TOP 6
1. 150 Central Park – THE BREAD!
2. Chops – steak, mushroom soup, bread and crab cakes.
3. Portside BBQ – brisket
4. Hooked – crab cakes, lobster, cheesy rolls
5. Sabor – quesadilla
6. Mason Jar – the banana dessert!
I wanted to go on Royal Railway. But they won’t allow solo passengers to book it.
Was Teppanyaki not listed? I was considering it for my upcoming on Quantum of the seas.
This video is so misleading. It's not every specialty dining restaurant
Sichuan Red and The Hotpot are so good!
Not ranked or mentioned at all
Two things wrong about Icon class:
1. No 150 Central Park
2. They turned Giovanni’s into a mall food court restaurant. People can walk through the restaurant because it’s part of the Royal Promenade
That’s why paying for unlimited dining , yes it’s a lot of food but it’s better quality and service
Just don’t eat the whole menu
Pick what you like, they will work with with small changes on items
And get a feel what you like
And order that
150 Central Park is the bomb
The service is really good
Servers get promoted to 150 and they are there place there
If you want to see what real service can be on a mid tier cruise line, this is it
Portofino was our favorite and we were saddened when they went away.
#2 is Chops
#3 is Johnny Rockets
When we did Samba on Allure in Oct, 2024 they were constant. There was no asking us how we wanted our meat cooked. It was absolutely delicious, and I find it annoying that it's always on the bottom of your lists.
I really don’t like Chops, I would spend my money elsewhere, like Playmakers!
Teppanyaki is an awesome dinner experience, we’ve had a great time every time we eat there.
I never dreamed we’d agree on the top of this list. I LOVE 150 Central Park. The service and the food combined was magical. Izumi is a really close second. You can have the hibachi section but the sushi part is great. If I do another specialty dining package I’ll try to switch back and forth between the two.