Royal Caribbean Specialty Restaurants Review Part 2: Jaimie’s Italian, Chops Grille and Izumi

In the previous post, I wrote about Wonderland, which is arguably the best specialty restaurant on Quantum the of the Seas. Today, I’m going to share my experience at the three other restaurants that are not included in your cruise fare, namely Jaimie’s Italian, Chops Grille and Izumi.

Jaimie’s Italian
Jaimie’s Italian by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver requires no introduction. It hit in the headline when its UK business collapse in 2019, but that did not affect outlets in other countries including those on sea.

It has a more petite menu of British interpretation of casual Italian food compared to its counterpart onshore at The Forum, Singapore. That’s not a bad thing given the food quality here is much better in my opinion.

There’s a cover charge of around SGD 58 for dinner, lunch is slightly cheaper but has an even smaller menu. The fee covers everything on the menu except drinks and there’s no limit to the number of items you can order.

During the New Year Cruise to Nowhere in Singapore, I wasn’t expecting too much from Jaimie’s Italian but was genuinely surprised by how delicious the food was. The pasta was freshly made, cooked to perfection (al dente to my liking). All of the dishes that we ordered turned out to be good.

Pro tips: Try the calamari and meat plank. Tell the waitress to cut down the portion to half of your group so you can try more stuffs.

Meat Plank – mix of cured meat, cheese, olive and pickles. Portion shown is for one person.

Black Truffle Arancini – crispy risotto ball.

Perfectly cooked Calamari.

All the appetisers that we tried. We requested the kitchen to prepare everything for one person so we can try more items.

The mains – Lamb Chops Scottadito and Prawn Linguine

Prawn Linguine with a dash of cheese.

Aglio Olio – the pasta was cooked to al dente.

Macaroon, which was not in the menu.

Pavlova – the portion was huge, we could barely finish it.

Tiramisu.

Interior of the restaurant.

Chops Grille – American Steakhouse

Chops Grille is a classic upscale American steakhouse that serves USDA Prime beef. Dinner here will cost you around SGD 78, which covers most of the item on the menu except for the seafood tower and lobster entrées. Lunch is priced at half of dinner albeit most of the pricier steaks are off the menu.

During my trip, I’d dinner twice at Chops Grille thanks to the Unlimited Dining Package. If you are paying for the full cover charge, it’s still worth it if you are eyeing on one of the dry-aged USDA Prime steaks.

Based on my experience, the NY strip is a better bet compared to the bone-in ribeye as there’s a chance that the latter would be overcooked as it is thinly cut.

Overall, the food here is good and you can expect good, intimate service.

If you’ve a show to catch, do let the waiter know and they will gladly speed up the service.

Pro tips: Order the Prime NY Strip over Bone-in Ribeye. Grilled Black Pepper Bacon is a must try.

Nothing colossal about the Colossal Shrimp Cocktail.

Jumbo Lump Crab Cake. This was definitely bigger than a typical crab cake.

Couldn’t go wrong with The Wedge.

USDA Prime Bone-in Ribeye.

The mains – Steak and the Broiled 1 1/2 Pound Maine Lobster. The latter cost USD 21 on top of the cover charge.

Cheesecake.

Grilled Black Pepper Bacon.

Charred Beef Carpaccio.

Lobster Bisque.

Prime NY Strip. This USDA Prime cut was thicker and juicier than the Bone-in Ribeye Steak.

Apple Pie.

Izumi – Japanese Restaurant

Unlike the rest of the specialty restaurants, Izumi has an ala-carte menu, so you can’t really order as much as you want without burning a whole in your wallet. With the Unlimited Dining Package, my partner and I were able to pick one appetizer, two entrees and one dessert. We also asked for complimentary miso soup (chargeable for ala carte) and the waitress gladly obliged. The bill for our lunch would have come up to around SGD 80 per person without the Unlimited Dining Package.

Overall, the food here is below average for its price. The Japanese food here is quite Americanized, and please do not expect high-quality ingredients.

Nothing that we ordered impressed us – it felt like another trip to a fast-food Japanese sushi franchise. That being said, I I would pick to dine at Sushiro over Izumi any day of the week.

Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura.