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La Cucina


camper49
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La Cucina gets a bad rap on these boards for some reason.

 

I am a New York Italian who also does plenty of cooking on my own - who loves La Cucina. It is second only to Le Bistro IMO out of all of NCL specialty restaurants.

(Moderno is just gross overcooked dry meat - Cagney's so over rated cannot cook a medium rare steak on 4 tries - Teppanyaki - any on land Hibachi will be much better)

 

Yes they will have Lasagna -- but the real delights on their menu are the non "red sauce" dishes.

The Osso Bucco is to die for

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La Cucina gets a bad rap on these boards for some reason.

 

I am a New York Italian who also does plenty of cooking on my own - who loves La Cucina. It is second only to Le Bistro IMO out of all of NCL specialty restaurants.

(Moderno is just gross overcooked dry meat - Cagney's so over rated cannot cook a medium rare steak on 4 tries - Teppanyaki - any on land Hibachi will be much better)

 

Yes they will have Lasagna -- but the real delights on their menu are the non "red sauce" dishes.

The Osso Bucco is to die for

Totally agree with everything you wrote though I was disappointed when they took saltimbocca off the menu.

 

Took 3 tries to get a medium steak at Cagneys the last time I was there, first was way over cooked, second was raw, finally got it on they 3rd time but the rest of my party were finished their entrees by then.

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La Cucina gets a bad rap on these boards for some reason.

 

I am a New York Italian who also does plenty of cooking on my own - who loves La Cucina. It is second only to Le Bistro IMO out of all of NCL specialty restaurants.

(Moderno is just gross overcooked dry meat - Cagney's so over rated cannot cook a medium rare steak on 4 tries - Teppanyaki - any on land Hibachi will be much better)

 

Yes they will have Lasagna -- but the real delights on their menu are the non "red sauce" dishes.

The Osso Bucco is to die for

I’m so glad to see somebody else say this! I have no idea why people don’t like La Cucina. My grandmother is Sicilian, and I’m VERY picky about Italian food. I LOVE La Cucina. It’s consistently my favorite specialty restaurant, and almost always has the best service. I don’t understand the Cagney’s love at all on these boards. It’s fine, I guess. I’ve never had a terrible steak there. But for the most part, the sides are abysmal. They taste like TV dinner vegetables to me. I guess people don’t have decent quality steak houses at home??? Or even a Ruth’s Chris? I also am not a Teppanyaki fan. At all. I have much better hibachi at home. But I’ve gotten very off topic. They definitely have lasagna at La Cucina, but I totally agree that there are better options. Try the Osso Bucco. And the gnocchi!

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La Cucina gets a bad rap on these boards for some reason.

 

Yes they will have Lasagna -- but the real delights on their menu are the non "red sauce" dishes.

The Osso Bucco is to die for

 

I could not agree more and I too am originally from NY :)

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Our first dinner at La Cucina was seven years ago on the Jade. We thought it was awful, and skipped it on the bunch of NCL cruises we took between then and this past January/Feb on the Jewel. By this time, we were Platinum Latitudes, and got two free specialty dinners, which could be used at Le Bistro and La Cucina. Our pre-cruise plan was to eat both dinners at Le Bistro. But while we enjoyed our meal there, we thought the quality had declined. And so we decided to give La Cucina another try. We were glad we did. I can't even remember what we ate (other than that it was pasta), but it was a pleasant meal and a nice change from the other specialty venues.

 

Moderno is just gross overcooked dry meat

I could not agree with you more. Tried it several times on two ships -- dry meat! Totally overrated. When we had some freebies, we returned just for salad and dessert. But we're done with Moderno.

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LOL this reminds me of the Olive Garden debate at home......either love it or hate it rarely in between. I am not a huge fan, preferred the menu offerings a couple of years ago versus the last menu. Didn't care for the lasagna so the last time I had opted for one of the steak offerings. It was awesome, tender, perfectly cooked and seasoned for my taste. Service and seating was great near the waterfront...and for me who has very limited patience for being held "captive" to a 2 hour dining ...my issue... we were out of there in about an hour. But we were there when first opened. I would go there again.....but not for my home traditional Italian..

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Here's another vote for La Cucina from a NY Italian. On our last cruise we had dinner in specialty restaurants 8 out of 10 days on board. Once in Moderno, which we both disliked, once in Tepanyaki, which I always like, although my girlfriend can take or leave it, and 3 times each in Cagney's and La Cucina. Frankly I have always been underwhelmed at La Bistro. I'm a steak eater so I love Cagney's, and personally I really like LaCucina. I had the meat lasagna which was delicious. They also have a vegetarian lasagna on their menu if that's your thing. The second time I had the Rigatoni and meatballs, and found the meatballs to be excellent. The last night I had a steak. The steak in LaCucina is terrific, a perfectly cooked t bone. I also had the minestrone all three nights because I love it! Damn now I'm hungry![emoji6]

 

 

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I remember two of my in laws, both born and raised in Sicily. No matter what the occasion, when they got together to cook a family dinner there would almost always be two of each item since they disagreed on practically every aspect of the dish. Never bothered me since I learned to appreciate each style. I can't wait to try La Cucina and hope it is as good as many claim. In any case I will view it with an open mind and more than 70 years of the same dish being prepared in different ways..

bosco

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La Cucina gets a bad rap on these boards for some reason.

 

I am a New York Italian who also does plenty of cooking on my own - who loves La Cucina. It is second only to Le Bistro IMO out of all of NCL specialty restaurants.

(Moderno is just gross overcooked dry meat - Cagney's so over rated cannot cook a medium rare steak on 4 tries - Teppanyaki - any on land Hibachi will be much better)

 

Yes they will have Lasagna -- but the real delights on their menu are the non "red sauce" dishes.

The Osso Bucco is to die for

 

More or less agree with this but I have found the Osso Bucco to be hit-or-miss... to the point where it's been the very best I've had, and the very worst I've had... on the same cruise, four days apart! Any tips for making my Osso Bucco experience consistently excellent? When it's excellent, it is the best meal on the ship.

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Glad to see some folks coming to the defense of La Cucina.

 

We eat there once, if not twice, on every cruise. Never had a bad meal. I agree that the steak entrée is excellent. Also enjoy the osso bucco.

 

I guess due to the poor reviews we never find it crowded and the service has been outstanding. Hope too many decide to start going there. Might be hard to find a table next time.

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Last cruise on the Breakaway about a month ago, we ate twice at La Cucina. The first time was with a Platinum perk and the second time we paid for it. They were the 2 best meals we had on the entire cruise, much better than the one at Cagney's. The service was excellent and the food was delicious. You have to try the gnocchi, it was the best we've ever had, very light and the pesto sauce was outstanding.

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The MDR menu has items that change every night, and there are items that stay the same every night. Lasagna is one of the items available every night in the MDR.

 

That said, I had it at La Cucina once a few years ago before they redid the menu, and it was amazing.

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We always hit La Cucina and enjoy it. I like the Osso Bucco and also the Chicken Parma. Usually so much I can't finish it.

We were just on the Dawn and they still do not have chicken parm in La Cucina. We had the veal medallions marsala. Veal pieces were not as small as I expected. Not enough sauce. Ordered a side of spaghetti with oil and garlic to go with it.

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