Dining at specialty restaurants on the Norwegian Pearl

[Kdgisgr8]

I am wondering which of the specialty restaurants on the Norwegian Pearl are the ones to visit? I have 3 nights to book and I want to book it at the best ones!

Thanks!

[TheTruth79]

I only tried Cagney's on the Pearl. We only went there because our friends had a anniversary and they had the dining package. I would say, not worth it. It was nothing special.

[NLH Arizona]

I've been to both Cagney's and the Teppanyaki restaurant on the Pearl and both were excellent. Also been to La Cucina and was satisfied.

Edited June 12, 2016 by NLH Arizona

[bluesea777]

Specialty restaurants are subjective!! And it's crapshoot.

 

Same cruise we dined in La Cucina, we thought it was so-so, but we overheard other saying it's great. But on different cruise we found La Cucina excellent.

 

Same cruise another time, we dined in East Meets West (Asian) we found food great but we heard other saying it's not to their liking.

 

Moderno - we liked it on some cruises but not quite so on others.

 

Ditto with other restaurants.

 

Our faves are Cagney's and Le Bistro.

[Cubechick]

Le Bistro tends to be the most consistently good across the fleet (IMO).

[SuperCrewBear]

I was on Pearl for the May 5-15 Alaskan cruise. We ate at every venue they had over those days. It is definitely subjective but Cagney's was my favorite. When eating at each specialty restaurant I tried to get something that represented the type of food they specialized in - French, Italian, etc. Cagney's did not disappoint me at all and I'd have ate there again if I knew then what I know now. I also give good marks for Teppenyaki - though I wasn't wild about their Miso Soup. (I've had it far & wide (including many trips to Japan)...I know what it should taste like) Moderno, Le Bistro and La Cucina were average at best - their food wasn't any better than anything I had in one of the MDRs. We ate at Lotus Garden twice and enjoyed it both times - with my meals I had sushi from the bar and it was very good. I also thought O'Sheehan's was very good - excellent fish & chips and their Buffalo wings were some of the best I've had anywhere.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[GeezerCouple]

We LOVED Le Bistro on rhe Pearl, about 1.5 yrs ago.

(and we loved it again on the Sun about 1-2 weeks ago)

 

The filet there is the best we've had in any venue on NCL. (They gave a teensy portion of Bearnaise sauce, so we just kept asking for more, 'til they "got it".)

 

The Coq au Vin was a sleeper. *Classic* flavor, and so tender.

(If you don't have Specialties included every night, then choose this item for the cash price, as it's much less expensive.)

 

They also had great Creme Brulee.

(But NOTE: On the Sun recently, I could have sworn that the Creme Brulee custard was made from packaged vanilla pudding, just with the regular glazed/burnt sugar topping... not the same. Something was "off", and the flavor was just a bit too familiar. So was the "film" on top, if the glaze lifted off... Oh, and the second time I got it on the Sun...... there was a big lump, as if the powdered pudding mix hadn't been fully, well, mixed. :( )

 

Others rave about the mushroom soup, and DH loved it.

But I don't like "unusual" mushrooms, and I absolutely hated that soup. One taste was one taste too many.

 

We didn't like La Cucina and never returned (it was really not nice), and found the meat tough in Cagney's (ditto on the Sun recently).

[MoxieBride]

As many others have said, this is all very subjective.

 

My husband & I just got back from a 7 day Alaska on the Pearl, and we found the food, overall, to be excellent.

 

We dined at La Cucina, Le Bistro, Teppanyaki, and Cagney's.

 

Le Cucina was very good - pasta was prepared al dente, produce was very fresh, salads were well dressed, and we loved dessert!

 

Le Bistro was our favorite. We don't eat a lot of french cuisine at home, bc it's so rich, but it was my birthday so the calories don't count. That's how that works, right? We enjoyed the onion soup, escargot, fruits de mer (seafood in puff pastry) and lobster tail. They are featuring Veuve Cliquot right now, so we had a few glasses of that too.

 

Cagney's was my husbands favorite. He had the Tamahawk steak and I had the lobster tail. We loved the mac and cheese, truffled fries, and asparagus.

 

Teppanyaki is the most fun, for sure. The chefs are all entertaining and very skilled. The food isn't amazing - it's pretty basic habachi. I like the fried rice most of all. Skip the desserts, they are nothing special.

 

Overall, I would say that the food on the Pearl is fantastic. I don't think you can go wrong with any of it.

[asubaru]

I agree with you. It varies by ship and, also chef(s). I had a very good meal at Cagney's on the Epic and way below average meal at Cagney's on the Escape. My meal on the Escape at Le Bistro was way better than on the Epic.

 

One the worst meals I have had (anywhere) was on the Epic @ Teppanyaki. It was a painful 3 hour ordeal and I will never go to another on any ship. Closed minded of me? You would of had to experience it to understand!

 

Crap shoot is a good description. My expectations are lowed when cruising. I am not complaining; I don't cruise for good food, but if I get something really good, I am very happy :-)

 

I don't usually recommend restaurants because, IME, the food and service are varied and inconsistent.

 

Specialty restaurants are subjective!! And it's crapshoot.

 

Same cruise we dined in La Cucina, we thought it was so-so, but we overheard other saying it's great. But on different cruise we found La Cucina excellent.

 

Same cruise another time, we dined in East Meets West (Asian) we found food great but we heard other saying it's not to their liking.

 

Moderno - we liked it on some cruises but not quite so on others.

 

Ditto with other restaurants.

 

Our faves are Cagney's and Le Bistro.

[Anet01]

We dined in Cagneys 2 times, Moderno, Teppanyaki, and La Cucina each once on the Pearl a few weeks ago. They were all great. We were pleasantly suprised with La Cucina, we skipped it last year on the Getaway due to others feedback, but had it the last night, and wished we had dined there another night, but it was too late.

[ssaito1]

If you're a meat eater, then Moderno is a great choice! I loved it on my Pearl cruise a few weeks ago and the guy sitting in the table behind me was having a joyous out of body experience with the meat selection. I also liked Cagney's and their selection.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Kdgisgr8]

I appreciate the info! Obviously opinions are varied so there is not a clear favorite! Ha!

[kboltwkreations]

Le Bistro was my favorite- Had the french onion soup, fruits de mer (was to die for!), and escargot. All very rich and elegant.

 

Cagneys came in 2nd; shimp cocktail was great, potato soup was better than the wedge salad, and I had a ribeye that was just ok. Dining experience was wonderful though, and wine was great that night.

 

Moderno was a very close favorite behind Cagneys as the salad bar presentation was wonderful. Only a few of the meats were impressive but all were good. Best I had were the chicken legs and the grilled pineapple.

 

La Cucina was just ok in our book. I had the carbonara which was great compared to the other dishes on the table, the pesto pasta, and the lasagna which looked inedible. Brushetta here was fabulous though.

 

Did not have teppanyaki, but heard wonderful reviews. We have a teppanyaki place right by our house at home and eat there all the time so just wasnt what we were looking for on vacation.

 

Worst meal we had was at Indigo.

Edited June 14, 2016 by kboltwkreations

[asubaru]

As many others have said, this is all very subjective.

 

My husband & I just got back from a 7 day Alaska on the Pearl, and we found the food, overall, to be excellent.

 

They are featuring Veuve Cliquot right now, so we had a few glasses of that too.

 

<snip>

 

 

Thanks for your input. Questions: how much was it a glass and would they allow the UBP

credit of $15? On the Escape it was $23 and they refused to give me the credit. It's one of my favorite champagnes.

[dmdgrn]

I've not been on the Pearl before, however, I've cruised Sky, Epic, and Spirit. My favorite, and excellent on each of those ships was Le Bistro followed by Moderno and Cagneys.

[SuperCrewBear]

I am wondering which of the specialty restaurants on the Norwegian Pearl are the ones to visit? I have 3 nights to book and I want to book it at the best ones!

Thanks!

 

You didn't say WHEN you were going - I'm assuming you've already been. But... I was on Pearl Alaska May 5-15 and we ate at each of the extra cost restaurants. The only one I'd have done a second time was Cagney's - my steak was very good. Teppanyaki was okay but no better than any other Japanese steakhouse I've been to on dry land. The sushi at the Sushi Bar was good. Otherwise...the rest were average at best - nothing extraordinary. The no extra cost meals were fine enough for me. I particularly liked food at Lotus Garden. O'Sheehan's had the best chicken wings I've ever had - I had those more than once.