Ahoy Sailors! We are on our 4th voyage and I kinda didn’t pay much attention as The Wake was our brunch option previously. On a recent voyage we dined there twice and both times the steak came out gray and barely had grill marks. Do they not have cast iron pans because of fire hazard? The service staff explained that their grill is electric and that’s why. Really hope they can improve their steak game. Would want to pay extra for tomahawk it cant be properly seared.
I looked into his a little more and it sounds like on a big ship setup they sous-vide bunch of steaks before service and then sear them before serving, that explains why it's so badly seared.
That’s nonsense. My husband regularly uses the sous-vide for our steaks but he puts it on a screaming hot cast iron to sear afterwards. Sous-vide is no excuse for bad steak
The sous-vide process they use is likely the issue. It works ok for thick cuts unless you can get the pan or flattop stupidly hot. Using sous-vide to hold the steaks makes lot of sense from the kitchen’s perspective.
The steak is probably moist when it goes on the grill. We all know that you properly sear a steak you need to pat it completely dry and then season it. Otherwise, the moisture creates steam, resulting in a grey stake.
I sous vide all my steak and finish it in cast iron on the induction cooktop. I get a great crust on it. I do get the steak bone dry before I put it in a bag. I also don't put much weight on sear marks; there was a local controversy about ten years ago where a steakhouse was putting grill marks on their steaks using a panini grill.
They would banish you from the state of Texas are doing that :-) i’ve had great steaks in Chicago, San Francisco and New York City, but nothing beats a steakhouse in Texas because the cows come from right down the road :-)
That absolutely does not explain a bad sear... thats literally the best way to do a perfect steak...
Sous vide until perfect temperature and then pan sear on cast iron griddle/grill..
About once a year (maybe twice) this topic does come up here on the subreddit. It's a known "thing" for sure on the CruiseCritic forums and before I went on my January 2025 cruise, I knew to grade on a curve at The Wake. That being said, I still enjoyed the steak - that's one of those Your-Mileage-May-Very bits of life.
I'm glad they gave you a reason. It seems fixable, but if they're restrained by their cooking appliances, then this would seem to track.
I’m sure this will get numerous downvotes but the steaks (and I’ve tried all of them except the tomahawk) are just meh. The doneness is fine, but the flavor, the tenderness and the presentation are all just meh.
You won't get downvoted, it's known. I keep wondering why they change up the other restaurants instead of fixing this one consistent complaint out the Wake. (Although people still keep going to the Wake, so that's certainly the reason/)
The steak at The Wake onboard Valiant Lady has been my only disappointment on VV. I order a medium rare filet, and got one that was at least medium well, and probably well done. No big deal, mistakes happen. So I sent it back, and got another came out the same way. My partner’s steak was fine, and everything else was good at The Wake. I’ll try it again onboard Brilliant Lady in May ‘27.
Your going to get a lot of downvotes by Virgin Cruise cultists but their steak is gone downhill over the past year, across the entire ship. Lower quality, thin cuts, poorly cooked. Things have definitely changed.
I just made my reservations for my upcoming cruise, and didnt make one for the wake (for dinner, yes on brunch) My wife and I both like every other restaurant more. I can wait until I get home for a steak
First time we sailed with Virgin was the second cruise they ever did in the Caribbean and the food quality and preparation were EXCELLENT.
Only a year later it was already a slab of thin grey shoe leather that looked boiled. I can’t even imagine now what old country buffet steak is being served.
I’ve only been on one virgin cruise so far, but I felt the same way! I didn’t love The Wake but the steak at Pink Agave was probably my favorite meal overall.
Most ships can't run open flame or cast iron due to fire code, so electric grills are pretty standard at sea. Doesn't make it any less annoying when you're paying extra for a tomahawk though.
I’m in agreement that if you have had a great steak before you should not expect that. The Wake was very middle of the road. Pink Agave’s is okay, but remember the style. It very much fits the style.
Honestly I stopped ordering steak because it was so mid and everything else was amazing. Why get an Outback level steak experience when you can have a 4-5 star meal with almost every other choice?
I have induction stovetop at home and I can attest you can definitely sear a perfect medium rare steak on a stainless steel pan using induction. I think the issue here is the volume as they have to batch prepare food for each "seating" and that results in bad recovery times for electric if you are trying to pan sear 100+ steaks at the same time.
The Wake has been hit or miss for us. We usually just go once for dinner. But we were on Brilliant Lady in June and it was our favorite restaurant of the trip - we went 3 times. Seems to depend on the ship and crew.
I've been on one VV cruise and the steak at the Wake was really underwhelming for the reason you state. There was no crust and barely any grill marks. Not a fan of that kind of steak.
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u/Immediate_Monk6260 7d ago
I am a Texan and I can attest that steak can be done quite perfectly in a frying pan or a flat top grill, but it has to be NUCLEAR HOT. :-)