Butcher's Block - would you like a side of vegetables to go with that cow?

Butcher's Block is also a new restaurant concept for Princess Cruises from their partnership with famed butcher Dario Cecchini. During our cruise, it was still the old serving style of seating everyone at shared tables. Big presentations of each course were made to the restaurant as a whole and then servers came to your tables to offer pieces off a big platter to put on your plate. The courses were presented to showcase all the different cuts of meat that come from the cow. The default cooking doneness is medium rare which is why Dad was hesitant to try this restaurant. They have become more lenient since the restaurant's opening and will allow you to specify a doneness preference. The only drawback is that you have to wait for a server to come back around with the platter of well done meat whereas there was plentiful platters going around with the medium rare meat. The whole dining experience is drawn out due to the course presentations so having to wait even longer for well done meat was frustrating.

Since our visit, Princess has slightly changed the style of this restaurant so that it's more about family style platters brought to your table of each course versus a few pieces given to each person from one tray by the server.

Disclaimer - we wanted to catch the Dome show this night and after a while of slow service beyond the doneness issue, we gave up on having the last course and dessert in order to make it to the show. Unfortunately, one of the acrobats in the early show had been injured and the rest of the Dome performances for our cruise were cancelled. Better safe than sorry and completely understandable. I heard later that the acrobat was not too seriously injured, left the ship in the next port, and is doing better now.

The Butcher's Block reservation starts with everyone gathering at the kitchen window to hear the butcher's presentation about the meat cuts and the courses. Small glasses of a chianti are offered as well as bread and butter as we stood listening to the speech. Then the servers encourage everyone to fill the tables on down the line sitting with strangers at tables for four or six. Our would be tablemates asked to be moved when their group of three was asked to sit with us at a table for four so we ended up having a table to ourselves. Thanks for the four place settings worth of bread all for us guys!

Each table had a water carafe and a bottle of chianti so you could refill your glasses as you wished. Each place setting started off with two slices of rye bread in a little paper bag and a drawn out diagram of the cow allowing you to reference which part of the cow you're currently eating. Little bowls of olive oil and butter were for the bread while the third bowl was full of salt. The crew explained that they never seasoned the meat and have left the bowl there for you to add as much as you wish.

All of the meat in these pictures is cooked medium rare.

First course

Second course

Third course:

Cannelloni beans for a change of taste:

Fourth course:

A little meat break for some grilled veggies:

Above: Carrots, asparagus, and zucchini. 

Below: Mushrooms, spinach, caramelized onions

Fifth Course:

The baked potato that was originally the only vegetable offered in this dinner experience. You still only get the provided butter for the bread and the little bowl of salt to season the potato however. 

Sixth Course:

I'm glad to see that Princess changed their format for table service in this restaurant. There were a few tables I watched get offered extra meat routinely and others were ignored. Now each diner can have as much as they wish. Would we dine here again? I think for us it was worth trying but not worth repeating.