HAL MDR Food

[qoap24]

I am currently booked on my first HAL cruise on NS in June. I have cruised before mainly with NCL and a couple on RCCL. Although I love cruising on NCL, their MDR food is not the greatest (IMO). In 2016 I cruised with RCCL and only ate in their MDR and enjoyed most of our meals. Not that it was the best food I had ever had, but for cruise line food, it was good. 

 

So here is my concerns/questions, after reading many post here on CC, I see that many people that cruise with HAL a lot, do not eat in the MDR, instead eat in the speciality restaurants which is what we always do on NCL. Do you eat in the speciality restaurants because you want a quiet more intimate dinner or is it that you find the food in the MDR to be such a low quality, that you just cannot do it? And is it really that noisy in the MDR? 

[OlsSalt]

HAL main dining rooms are lovely, low key and very efficient serving very nice, varied, creative options. Particularly on the smaller older ships. Often can be waste of money to go to the speciality dining rooms - quality is variable. If you want the best  MDR experience, try late fixed dining, which is in the smaller upper dining room - again on the smaller ships. ,

[Jilltoons]

I have never been on a Holland America ship either.  We will be on the Nieuw Amsterdam this April.  I saw the Specialty Restaurants and thought it would be fun to do two of them - (Tamarind and Canaletto).  We felt that since these particular restaurants had their own international specialties that we enjoy, it would be fun.  We decided to not do the Pinnacle grill because we have enjoyed the Steakhouse on Carnival, but we didn't have these other specialty restaurant choices.  So we will eat in the Main dining room OR the buffet on the other nights.  We have signed up for the 8:00pm dining, also we want to eat with groups of people.  We enjoy the fun and conversation of eating with large groups.  I know this doesn't give you an idea of how the food will be, but we are like you, going on Holland America the first time.  I know for me - no matter what - I get to have an amazing vacation and never have to cook all week - how can that be bad 🙂

[TAD2005]

17 minutes ago, Jilltoons said:

I have never been on a Holland America ship either.  We will be on the Nieuw Amsterdam this April.  I saw the Specialty Restaurants and thought it would be fun to do two of them - (Tamarind and Canaletto).  We felt that since these particular restaurants had their own international specialties that we enjoy, it would be fun.  We decided to not do the Pinnacle grill because we have enjoyed the Steakhouse on Carnival, but we didn't have these other specialty restaurant choices.  So we will eat in the Main dining room OR the buffet on the other nights.  We have signed up for the 8:00pm dining, also we want to eat with groups of people.  We enjoy the fun and conversation of eating with large groups.  I know this doesn't give you an idea of how the food will be, but we are like you, going on Holland America the first time.  I know for me - no matter what - I get to have an amazing vacation and never have to cook all week - how can that be bad 🙂

By your post, it appears that you have 2 dinners booked in Tamarind and Canaletto, and the other nights you will be eating in the Lido or MDR.   But you have the 8:00 pm main, fixed seating in the MDR booked at a large table.   One note... you should inform the matre'd of the nights that you will be dining in the Lido or the specialty restaurants.   Occasionally, extra seating from As-You-Wish dining is needed, and they will seat extra guests upstairs in the fixed dining area.   They appreciate the heads-up when you won;t be using your reserved seating in the MDR. 

[Jilltoons]

Thank you for the suggestion.  You are right that would be helpful for people who have anytime dining.  We will do that for the two nights that we have made reservations in the specialty restaurants.  

[mcrcruiser]

The food quality is great in the MDR   . Like the OP said it would be a waste of money to  have dinner in a specialty restaurant .  Canaletto  is ok but we have had better in a land based Italian restaurant 

 

 

[danb35]

I sailed on Oosterdam last week.  My wife and I ate one dinner at Cannaletto, one at Pinnacle, and the rest in the MDR.  I thought the food in the MDR was good, as was the service.  Both (especially the food) were better at the specialty restaurants, and I'm glad we went to them--but it certainly wasn't a matter of our thinking we needed better food.

 

Now, this was my only cruise so far--I can't compare to other lines, other HAL ships, or even other sailings on this ship.  But I'd have been happy to eat in the MDR for the whole cruise.

[rkacruiser]

Off the Nieuw Statendam on January 20th and for the first time on HAL I found the MDR food at dinner to be very good to average.  Some menu items did not appeal to me.  Some dinners were very good and some were disappointing.  There has been tinkering with recipes since my December/January cruise on the Zaandam.  For example, the sauce for the Escargots on the Zaandam was much more tasty than what was prepared on NS.  That "tinkering" may have extended to other items as well.  My MDR breakfasts and lunches were excellent.  Noise or crowding was not an issue on either deck of the MDR.

 

I dined at the Pinnacle Grill, Tamarind, and Sel del Mar.  Tamarind was good, Sel de Mar was excellent, and I have decided that the Rib Eye I ordered at the Pinnacle Grill will be the last piece of beef I order there.  The grass-fed beef that they serve there lacks the superior Sterling Silver Beef that they once served and which is still served at the Crown Grill on the Princess ships.  Many of the other PG items are delicious and I can recommend the Pork Chop and the seafood stew.  Usually the Lamb Chops are excellent, but even on my second visit to NS's PG, the chops lacked the lamb flavor that I expect.

 

Sailing on NS in June, there will probably be a new Executive Chef in the galley and his tweaks to the menu items may improve the preparations and taste of what the excellent Stewards serve.

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Food is subjective.

 

There are many people who love the dining room food.

 

We don't -- JMO.  When HAL started cutting back -- food in the main dining room became poor compared to what we eat at home and in restaurants -- again -- JMO.

 

Thus we eat only in the Pinnacle Grill and in the Tamarind restaurant on ships that have this specialty restaurant.  We do not care for the Canaletto.

[NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope]

Haven't eaten in specialty dining, but both husband and I prefer HAL MDR's food over NCL MDR's food.

 

[kazu]

While we do some specialty dining and Cellar Master Dinner, etc., our primary spot is the MDR, main seating.

 

Food can be not just subjective but change from ship to ship and even cruise to cruise.

 

But, if it helps, I’ve cruised NCL, and I used to cruise it a lot.  We stopped when the MDR went way down hill.

 

Based on my experiences, I think you will find HAL’s food much better.  

 

There are some nights when the menu doesn’t ‘grab me’ and we will look for an alternative possibly, but overall the MDR food is quite decent.

 

Caveat - I have not been on the N Statendam.  I tend to go on smaller ships while they are around (not for long).  But, reports on live threads have sounded quite decent.

 

Hope this helps.

[Radbooks]

I was on the N Statendam over Christmas and New Year's and found the MDR food to be excellent. We ate in Tamarind once, but all other dinners were in the MDR.  But, food is so subjective.

[RuthC]

Food is always subjective, but I have to say I eat in the dining room most evenings, and I have never left hungry. Food there is not nearly as good, or varied, as it was years ago, but it is well past 'edible'. If there's nothing on the menu that interests me, the 'always available' menu is fine.

I do enjoy the Pinnacle about once a week, just for a change of pace and the steaks, but not at all because the dining room isn't satisfactory. It is.

[Daisyloo]

We have always found the food in the MDR on HAL to be good to excellent and have always enjoyed our meals there.  There are many choices that change each night, and the "always available" choices also.  Chances are you will find something that appeals to you.  We  usually dine a few times in the specialty restaurants on each cruise, not because the food in the MDR is sub-par, but because we like the experience of the different cuisines, especially the Asian food in the Tamarind.  

[qoap24]

Thank you all for your replies. I was starting to worry about the MDR. As I do realize food is subjective, I was still worried that the MDR would be so loud that I couldn't hear myself talk hahaha. And I was pretty sure that the MDR food has to be way better than NCL MDR (again IMO). I also realize that most cruise lines are cutting back, but NCL's MDR food started to remind me of something one could buy out of the frozen food section at the grocery store that only cost .99 . Which really makes me sad because the first couple of times I cruised with them, I loved the MDR. 

 

I know that no matter what we will not starve, just wanted to see if I needed to start looking more into the speciality restaurants. Thank you again. 

[grsnovi]

Been cruising w/HAL for a while. We usually eat lunch on embarkation day in MDR. We typically eat breakfast in the Lido. We will always eat at least once in Tamarind if on a ship with one. We usually eat dinner in the MDR. The food there is just fine. We usually opt to share a table so we typically will engage in conversation with those at our table - possibly this contributes to a noisy dining room but I don't think it has ever been >THAT< noisy. Early on we would eat in the PG but we haven't in a while. Sometimes we'll order room service for a breakfast. Sometimes we'll get a burger at DIVE IN.

[Loreto]

We are 5* Mariners and find MDR cuisine just fine!  The always available choices are good, especially the salmon.  We enjoyed 2 free nights in the Pinnacle Grill in December on the Eurodam, and both experiences were terrible.  We have rarely had a good experience in any Pinnacle.  Both nights it was anything but an intimate dining experience.  On the other hand, the Tamarind was fantastic, and we dined there twice.  DH said we should have eaten there every night!  

We have never been unhappy with the MDR on any ship.

 

Karen

[Caribbean Chris]

I’ve had the occasional not-great entree on HAL (and other lines), but my overall impression from the past ten years is high marks for the MDR. The menu has interesting international choices, but it also includes simple, well-prepared things that I enjoy very much, like the turkey dinner, king crab legs, or hot fudge sundae.  I find the service to be consistently gracious and professional, and the setting less crowded and quieter than some other cruiselines.

[terrydtx]

IMHO, HAL's MDR is better than  most mainstream cruise ships we have been on, better than I can do at home and better than most land restaurants. The service and food presentation is also excellent in the MDR.  Considering the ships chefs are preparing meals for thousands of passengers the MDR is way better than any large banquets I have ever attended on land.

 

I found Celebrity to be very disappointing and agree with the OP NCL has very good specialty restaurants but extremely poor MDR food. I also think the PG is way over rated and not worth the extra fee, however the Tamarind is fantastic, on the N. Amsterdam we had the best meals of any cruise in the Tamarind. Remember food ratings are very subjective and we all have different tastes.

[AncientWanderer]

On our recent cruises, we have found meals in the MDR to be inventive, beautifully plated, and delicious.  We do like to mix things up by having the occasional meal in a specialty restaurant, but we thoroughly enjoy MDR.

[Jimbo59]

12 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Food is subjective.

 

There are many people who love the dining room food.

 

We don't -- JMO.  When HAL started cutting back -- food in the main dining room became poor compared to what we eat at home and in restaurants -- again -- JMO.

 

Thus we eat only in the Pinnacle Grill and in the Tamarind restaurant on ships that have this specialty restaurant.  We do not care for the Canaletto.

The italic font you use is difficult to read. Maybe switch to a regular font?

Edited February 7, 2019 by Jimbo59

[Jimbo59]

The is also a separate vegetarian menu. Just ask your waiter for it.

[Walfam]

We were completely underwhelmed by dinners in the MDR last March in the Carribean on the NA.  And it took an entire two hours, every night, because it seemed our table was at the  end of the serving route of each course.  The horns or bells were ringing, trying to clear us out at 7:45 for the later seating.  Yeesh! Not our fault! 

 

 One of the people in our group said MDR food was much better the summer before, on their Alaska cruise on the NA, and noticed the difference. Same ship.  Same seating time. Perhaps a classic example of YMMV depending on staff, time of year, etc?

 

If it is that mediocre and slow on our upcoming cruise (different ship) I'll probably want to go to the Lido and get it over with in far less time.  Ah, the adventure of travel!

[terrydtx]

3 minutes ago, Walfam said:

We were completely underwhelmed by dinners in the MDR last March in the Carribean on the NA.  And it took an entire two hours, every night, because it seemed our table was at the  end of the serving route of each course.  The horns or bells were ringing, trying to clear us out at 7:45 for the later seating.  Yeesh! Not our fault! 

This is one of many reasons why we always do the Anytime Dinning, we can eat when WE want and no hurry up to clear the room for the next seating.

[fatcat04]

We are on NA now and the food has been great. We usually eat in the mdr and this cruise is no exception. We had the best crab cakes I have ever had in the mdr two nights ago. If it has been a big excursion day then we just pop into the lido. We did that last night. Roast suckling pig, Caribbean spiced lamb chops, crispy pork belly all in the lido.. I have no complaints. 

We did Pinnacle and indulged in the caviar service. My filet was perfection, tender to the point of being able to cut it with a fork.

We will do Tamarind tonight for the first time. 

I am sure there have been some cut backs but nothing too big, at least not to us.