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Which specialty restaurant do you recommend on Jewel?

Susie51

By Susie51,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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kdzkatz

kdzkatz

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DD29 and I will be on Jewel in Nov. We thought we would try a specialty restaurant for the first time. Which one do you suggest and what is the extra fee?

 

We have been on 5 NCL cruises to Alaska and have had very minimal experience in the specialty restaurants. We decided to get the UDP so we could try them all. If we went to one and did not care for it we could simply get up and go to another one without having to complain and try to get a refund. I doubt that would happen as we are very easy going but that is just one reason. We also like to graze more than sit down for a huge meal. This way we can eat a small meal right when they open then later before they close we can eat another small meal at another restaurant. Once we get back from our cruise we will be able to share our opinion of all the specialty restaurants on the Jewel (except for sushi which we don't care for and is only offered a discount with the UDP).

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sdmike

sdmike

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We like all kinds of food: steaks, Asian, Mexican, Italian, French, seafood. Thank you for the link. I am interested in personal opinions also.

 

If the thread goes long enough you'll probably get an equal number of votes for each place :) Here's my view though, and ranked based on what I hear overall

 

LeBistro - probably the most formal, and arguably the best food. People say the steaks are better than in the steak house too. I've never eaten there

 

Moderno - Excellent salad bar (usually shared with Cagneys) and great selection of meats in this brazilian steak house. We've eaten twice on different ships and loved it both times. Go hungry, leave in a meat coma

 

Cagneys - NCL's steak house. Used to be the top choice, but seeing more and more "disappointment" posts. Not many, but more than I used to

 

Teppanyaki - Really good food, prepared in front of you like Benihana. I didn't eat there because we have them all over here locally. The busiest of all the restaurants (limited seating, high demand)

 

ChinChin - Mixed reviews. If you really like Chinese food, not a bad option

 

La Cucina - Generally "Olive Garden" quality Italian food. Cheapest of the specialty, I believe. People say the pizza is really good, but the rest is so so. Nothing you can't get at any local restaurant.

 

hope that helps

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Susie51

Susie51

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If the thread goes long enough you'll probably get an equal number of votes for each place :) Here's my view though, and ranked based on what I hear overall

 

LeBistro - probably the most formal, and arguably the best food. People say the steaks are better than in the steak house too. I've never eaten there

 

Moderno - Excellent salad bar (usually shared with Cagneys) and great selection of meats in this brazilian steak house. We've eaten twice on different ships and loved it both times. Go hungry, leave in a meat coma

 

Cagneys - NCL's steak house. Used to be the top choice, but seeing more and more "disappointment" posts. Not many, but more than I used to

 

Teppanyaki - Really good food, prepared in front of you like Benihana. I didn't eat there because we have them all over here locally. The busiest of all the restaurants (limited seating, high demand)

 

ChinChin - Mixed reviews. If you really like Chinese food, not a bad option

 

La Cucina - Generally "Olive Garden" quality Italian food. Cheapest of the specialty, I believe. People say the pizza is really good, but the rest is so so. Nothing you can't get at any local restaurant.

 

hope that helps

 

Thank you for the details.

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NLH Arizona

NLH Arizona

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How much does an Unlimited Specialty Dining card cost for a week on Jewel? How soon can we buy them? We sail on Nov. 29. 2014.

$119 - you can purchase it now, just go to your reservation on line and it should be under dining. You'll be able to make your reservations 45 days prior to your sailing.

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toyotaford

toyotaford

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We are currently on The Jewel. We ate at Moderno last night and was very disappointed in the service. It was extremely slow. We have eaten at Moderno on several ships since they have opened them including 3 previous times on the Jewel and have never experienced this problem. Our reservation was at 6:30. We were seated promptly and served drinks and invited to the salad bar. The salad bar was very poorly stocked. There were 8 of us. Two of the types of lettuce were completely out and there was enough in the 3rd bowl for 2 of us to get some. Several other items were very low to the point you didn't want to get any for fear of looking selfish. We didn't fret over the salad bar because everyone was more interested in the meat. It took forever to bring out the first course. There were great lapses of time between each course. We were not served the cheese bread so ask for some and eventually did get some. When we asked to have one of the bread plates refilled we were told there was no more available. Definitely not typical of service we have received in Moderno in the past. We usually eat there a couple of times on a cruise but will pass this time. The new venue was very nice and roomy. I assume these issues are just growing pains and will be worked out soon. The food quality was good.

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newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

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DD29 and I will be on Jewel in Nov. We thought we would try a specialty restaurant for the first time. Which one do you suggest and what is the extra fee?

 

Regardless of the ship, here are our choices:

 

We always do Le Bistro (our favorite) followed by Modernos. Then on the lower end, price wise the Asian restaurant. Le Bistro and Modernos are $20 per person right now and the Asian restaurant is $15. I know a lot of people love Cagney's but I would put it behind our 3 favorites. I think it is safe to say, they all have positives and negatives, but Le Bistro, overall seems to be the most popular. I think it has to do with Le Bistro being their first specialty restaurant, dating back, maybe 15 years or more. The least favorite seems to be the Italian restaurant, but it is still a matter of personal choice. I am shocked to hear someone complain about the service and the salad bar at Modrnos. Maybe it was a bad night, but I certainly would have complained. I will also add, we think Cagney's is getting a little bit too pricey and our service on the Dawn was just so so: not bad enough to complain about, but not top of the line either.

Edited by newmexicoNita
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toyotaford

toyotaford

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Regardless of the ship, here are our choices:

 

We always do Le Bistro (our favorite) followed by Modernos. Then on the lower end, price wise the Asian restaurant. Le Bistro and Modernos are $20 per person right now and the Asian restaurant is $15. I know a lot of people love Cagney's but I would put it behind our 3 favorites. I think it is safe to say, they all have positives and negatives, but Le Bistro, overall seems to be the most popular. I think it has to do with Le Bistro being their first specialty restaurant, dating back, maybe 15 years or more. The least favorite seems to be the Italian restaurant, but it is still a matter of personal choice. I am shocked to hear someone complain about the service and the salad bar at Modrnos. Maybe it was a bad night, but I certainly would have complained. I will also add, we think Cagney's is getting a little bit too pricey and our service on the Dawn was just so so: not bad enough to complain about, but not top of the line either.

As I stated in my post we are hoping our experience in Moderno was just growing pains as a result of the new larger location. It was not at all indicative of our previous visits. There were definitely more people dining there than we had seen on previous visits. We probably won't give it another shot on this trip but won't be afraid to try it on our return cruises. We ate at Cagney's last night and the food was excellent as usual.

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gardiner41

gardiner41

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Another option seldom mentioned is the Jazz Brunch.

IT is typically offered only on the last sea day and is not a part of the UDP.

IT is $15.00

It is held in Le Bistro and you must reserve your table but can not do that until you are on the ship.

 

We did this on the Jewel in January and it was our Favourite on board experience.

IT is from 11:00 until 2:00 (I think )

 

Service is excellent, atmosphere very good and food is very good.

They have a nice Jazz band playing and there is a self serve buffet of pastries, deserts and other brunch items AND you order what you want off the Menu.

Everything from Eggs Benedict to surf and turf. You can order as many courses as you want and take as much time as you want.

 

We are brunch people so we stayed for about an hour and half - 2 hours we had our self served choices, listened to the band. Ordered an eggs benedict to share. then each ordered our main course . I had the surf and turf it was EXCELLENT and the Eggs Benedict hollandaise sauce was the best I have ever had.

 

Everyone we talked to who did the jazz brunch said it was their favourite on board experience. A bunch from our CC rollcall did it (separate tables) and we all felt it was the best thing we did. And we did a LOT of the activities (Martini Tasting, special meals etc etc)

 

If you like a nice relaxed meal with some great music this will be a great choice for you. When you get on board you will see tables set up to sign up for it..if not then just ask at the courtesy desk.

 

As far as the others go.

We had the Italian on the Jewel to celebrate DH 55th birthday. HE loves Italian so we went there.

 

He had the Lasagna and I had the fettachini.

I asked to have grilled shrimp added to it (It already had lobster) IT was WONDERFUL

The sauce was excellent pasta cooked perfectly and the shrimp were beautiful jumbo shrimp and there were large chunks of lobster.

It was my favourite Dinner that week.

Definitely NOT like Olive Garden, but equal to what we get when we go to nice Italian restaurants at home.

 

I can't remember what we had for appetizers and I had creme brule for dessert. it was also very good.

 

DH said is lasagna was excellent as well.

 

We easily pay 80-100 dollars for similar meals (no wine) where we live at fine Italian restaurants and this food was as good. So to us it was a great value.

 

We were on the Sky in April and ate at Cagneys all 3 nights (UDP) we chose to do this because the ship was a party boat and we knew we could have a nice quiet meal there.

 

That was our first time at Cagneys. We really enjoyed the appetizers. Especially the little chicken drumsticks, and the Oreo cheesecake desert was AMAZING

 

We both had steak the first night..it was good but to us not great ..we are Canadian and our beef here is a little different more flavourful. Nothing wrong with the steaks and they were cooked as we requested, just nothing to write home about. We both had the Fillet.

 

Second night DH had Ribs, which were quite good, again nothing spectacular I make better at home. But nothing wrong with them.

 

I had the lobster pasta, with a rose sauce instead of the sauce it came with. It was ok not nearly as good as what I had on the Jewel

 

Third night our waiter who now knew us and picked up quickly on our preferences and that we "knew a good steak" Asked if he could have the chef prepare a special steak for us that was not on the menu. IT was a blue Aged steak.

PERFECTION! So flavourful it was what we are used to at home for steak.

Unfortunately we had a big lunch and I was not able to finish it but it was a beautiful steak.

 

So...as food is very subjective, and in addition often depends on what one orders in the same restaurant, you will find many different opinions.

 

I am a foodie (which I am sure you picked up lol) and we enjoy fine dining at home regularly.

We enjoy NCLs food over all and though it is not always to our taste there is nothing ever wrong with it...except on the Sky the buffet was horrible..not up to NCL's standards at all But you will really enjoy the food on the Jewel. No matter where you choose to dine.

:)

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kcwingwalker

kcwingwalker

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We had the UDP on our Jewel cruise and tried just about everything. Certainly Le Bristo and Moderno were at the top of the list. Cagney's wasn't quite as good as I remember from past cruises. We found the food to be fine but not outstanding and the servers seemed indifferent.

 

What we did find surprising was La Cucina. The service was outstanding and the atmosphere was warm and welcoming. I ordered a salad and rib eye steak and it was excellent and actually better than Cagney's. We liked it so much that we went back a second time and the return visit was better than the first.

 

Loved having the UDP and would do it again.

 

:)

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gardiner41

gardiner41

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W

What we did find surprising was La Cucina. The service was outstanding and the atmosphere was warm and welcoming. I ordered a salad and rib eye steak and it was excellent and actually better than Cagney's. We liked it so much that we went back a second time and the return visit was better than the first.

 

Loved having the UDP and would do it again.

 

:)

 

I wonder if La Cucina is better than the other Italian on other ships. It was VERY good on the JEWEL

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Turtles06 Great Review Rare

Turtles06

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It's been several years now, but our dinner at Cagney's on the Jewel was one of the worst meals we've ever eaten, on land or sea. Just about every course was mediocre food, poorly prepared. When I see raves about dinner at Cagney's on here, I wonder if folks just don't have good steakhouses where they live...

 

Le Bistro --- total opposite. We ate there on the Gem and it was terrific. Wonderful food, great service. Can't wait to go back when we are aboard in February. We also enjoyed Teppanyaki, but for a "fancy" meal, it's Le Bistro.

 

Haven't been on a ship yet with Moderno, so I can't personally put that in the mix, but we're looking forward to it in February.

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