Majestic- Bistro Sur La Mer and Harmony worth it?

[seagunthera]

I love a good speciality restaurant but have not been to either of these.  Honest opinions, please (food, ambiance, etc.).

[CineGraphic]

We felt that Harmony was not a good value for Americanized Chinese Food.

Once & done for us.

[Jeter02]

I've eaten at Sur la Mer and I actually loved it. I went most recently in December on the Enchanted. I'm an early diner went right when they open at 5:30 had a table by the window and it was extremely quiet on the first night of embarkation. I found the food to be amazing!!!! As with anything it's all based off of preference definitely review the menus.

[LACruiser88]

We have tried La Mer twice on the Majestic (in November and December), we loved it! 

 

We tried Harmony in December, food waa so-so.  Our granddaughter said it reminded her of Panda Express...

[pkt1976]

I have had Harmony twice and Sur la Mer once and very much enjoyed both. I plan to go to both on my upcoming cruise as well. The duck salad and lemon chicken at Harmony were my favorites,, and the mango dessert 

[shipsealand]

Harmony disappointing.  My reference point is live in LA where have many Chinese restaurants and my folks used to own a Chinese restaurant.  Hopefully Princess will have their cooking staff learn from some of the really good restaurants and not from a celebrity chef.

[shipsealand]

Try the noodle bar on deck 16 which is much better and is no additional charge.

[Mike45LC]

10 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We tried Harmony in December, food waa so-so.  Our granddaughter said it reminded her of Panda Express...

Panda Express -- such high praise for a Specialty Restaurant!  I guess we'll be at Crown Grill again.

[suzyed]

13 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We have tried La Mer twice on the Majestic (in November and December), we loved it! 

 

We tried Harmony in December, food waa so-so.  Our granddaughter said it reminded her of Panda Express...

We loved La Mer too!  We went twice on the Sky!

[esstheman]

4 hours ago, shipsealand said:

Harmony disappointing.  My reference point is live in LA where have many Chinese restaurants and my folks used to own a Chinese restaurant.  Hopefully Princess will have their cooking staff learn from some of the really good restaurants and not from a celebrity chef.

I'd heard something about how Harmony was no longer associated with Richard Chen, although the Princess website still has him listed.  The menu has dramatically changed since the restart....

[cheeseclan]

We were on majestic in November.  Sur La Mer was outstanding.  Best dinner of whole cruise.  Service outstanding.

[mtnesterz]

The Harmony menu changed when it shifted from sailing Asia to the west. The old menu was like dining in a really good Chinese restaurant in L.A.'s Chinatown or nearby Monterey Park. My guess is they thought it would be too challenging for the mostly non-Asian passengers. Or that the ingredients would be hard to source. I wonder what Richard Chen thinks of a restaurant with his name attached being compared to Panda Express. Does he know, or care?

[CineGraphic]

3 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

Does he know, or care?

 

With contracts the way they are, Princess probably had to get him to approve any/all menu changes.

 

[PasadenaDave]

We found Sur Le Mer to be meh!  We have three very good French restaurants nearby.  Sur le Mer was salty food and not worth it.

 

I will offer the caveat that we are good cooks and don’t use salt in our cooking.  We are critical of meals we pay for and judge them against our own cooking.

 

Princess dining to us is less than impressive.  We do like the coffee bar with treats and the soft serve station.  We also liked Alfredo’s 

[Kineticoh20]

We have eaten in dozens of specialty restaurants. On our most recent Majestic cruise we actually left during meal at Harmony as it was truly awful.  Sur La Mer was disappointing also. Missed not having a Sabatini's.

[cruise.gal]

On 1/24/2022 at 7:36 AM, pkt1976 said:

I have had Harmony twice and Sur la Mer once and very much enjoyed both. I plan to go to both on my upcoming cruise as well. The duck salad and lemon chicken at Harmony were my favorites,, and the mango dessert 

Yes...at Harmony the mango dessert is very good.

[wcflats]

Majestic in December..went to harmony..agreed with cine..meh.  Wanted to try sur la mer just didn’t get there.  Next time for sure.  Ok 

[mlgb]

I can't eat mussels. It appears that the lobster bisque appetizer is "garnished" with one. Often when they do this they are using "seafood mix" in the broth. Anyone know if this is true?

 

Looking at the menu, I am not  impressed. It certainly doesn't compare to  Le Bistro on NCL Bliss (a la carte but included in a specialty dining package).  

 

Also, to use Princess $100 OBC for Specialty dining, so I need to wait until I am on board to reserve?

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2022 by mlgb

[suzyed]

On 1/25/2022 at 12:58 PM, PasadenaDave said:

We found Sur Le Mer to be meh!  We have three very good French restaurants nearby.  Sur le Mer was salty food and not worth it.

 

I will offer the caveat that we are good cooks and don’t use salt in our cooking.  We are critical of meals we pay for and judge them against our own cooking.

 

Princess dining to us is less than impressive.  We do like the coffee bar with treats and the soft serve station.  We also liked Alfredo’s 

Sorry your experience was not up to snuff. You must have been on an off night.  We did not find anything salty and we do not add salt to our food (well maybe french fries).  We actually went twice and enjoyed the food and service!

[PasadenaDave]

28 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Sorry your experience was not up to snuff. You must have been on an off night.  We did not find anything salty and we do not add salt to our food (well maybe french fries).  We actually went twice and enjoyed the food and service!

C’est La vie.  We don’t cruise on Princes for the food, Viking on the other hand….

[loge23]

Ate at the Bistro Sur La Mer on our recent Enchanted cruise. 

There are four (4) entrees on the menu: a Filet Mignon, sliced Duck breast, a veal shank dish, and a sole fillet. The waiter talked us out the sole and the veal - the veal, he explained, is not like an Osso Bucco shank but, as he put it, a stew with small chunks of veal in it. Sounds odd.

Odd also was the escargot  appetizer. The escargot was minced and combined with breadcrumb to form little balls, which were deep fried. Note: There will a petit filet (mine was served perfectly and I was offered another) and traditional escargot served in the MDR over the cruise. 

We settled for the duck. It was good, but not any better than what we used to get in the MDR - and there was a duck breast offered in the MDR later in the cruises as well. I make a cracking Filet at home and we prefer to order things we don't usually make ourselves.

Having the beverage package, we opted for a glass of the excellent Santenay on menu - I should also note that the by-the-glass selection is paper thin, btw. Once again, the waiter almost begged me to "try the Bordeaux" instead. The bordeaux offered is a relatively inexpensive Phillipe Rothchild - good enough, but we wanted the Pinot Noir. Once we finally prevailed with our choice, he timidly reminded me that the Santenay was an upcharge ($1)! We knew that, and off he went.

We think the Bistro will probably go the way of Share, the short-lived Curtis Stone venture which we also tried once and wouldn't return. 

Save your $29pp. The meals in the MDR were all better than our experience at this ersatz Bistro. 

[DCThunder]

1 hour ago, loge23 said:

Ate at the Bistro Sur La Mer on our recent Enchanted cruise. 

There are four (4) entrees on the menu: a Filet Mignon, sliced Duck breast, a veal shank dish, and a sole fillet. The waiter talked us out the sole and the veal - the veal, he explained, is not like an Osso Bucco shank but, as he put it, a stew with small chunks of veal in it. Sounds odd.

Odd also was the escargot  appetizer. The escargot was minced and combined with breadcrumb to form little balls, which were deep fried. Note: There will a petit filet (mine was served perfectly and I was offered another) and traditional escargot served in the MDR over the cruise. 

We settled for the duck. It was good, but not any better than what we used to get in the MDR - and there was a duck breast offered in the MDR later in the cruises as well. I make a cracking Filet at home and we prefer to order things we don't usually make ourselves.

Having the beverage package, we opted for a glass of the excellent Santenay on menu - I should also note that the by-the-glass selection is paper thin, btw. Once again, the waiter almost begged me to "try the Bordeaux" instead. The bordeaux offered is a relatively inexpensive Phillipe Rothchild - good enough, but we wanted the Pinot Noir. Once we finally prevailed with our choice, he timidly reminded me that the Santenay was an upcharge ($1)! We knew that, and off he went.

We think the Bistro will probably go the way of Share, the short-lived Curtis Stone venture which we also tried once and wouldn't return. 

Save your $29pp. The meals in the MDR were all better than our experience at this ersatz Bistro. 

I ate at Sur La Mer on Enchanted in January and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The amuse bouche was very good, and frankly I liked the escargot in the little balls.  I didn't miss playing with the shells and the little tongs in the standard presentation.  I had scallops (perfectly cooked) served over orzo pasta with little peas and carrots in a butter sauce as a main.  Did you get the tuna tartare too?  That was also quite tasty.  I had a nice glass of Sancerre with the meal and a French 75 to start.  The only disappointing dish was the baba au rhum for dessert.  It was kind of meh. 

 

If you're on Enchanted, try to get "Princess" Leah as your server.  She's a marvel!  No cinnamon bun hairdo or golden bikini though.😄

[loge23]

2 hours ago, DCThunder said:

I ate at Sur La Mer on Enchanted in January and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The amuse bouche was very good, and frankly I liked the escargot in the little balls.  I didn't miss playing with the shells and the little tongs in the standard presentation.  I had scallops (perfectly cooked) served over orzo pasta with little peas and carrots in a butter sauce as a main.  Did you get the tuna tartare too?  That was also quite tasty.  I had a nice glass of Sancerre with the meal and a French 75 to start.  The only disappointing dish was the baba au rhum for dessert.  It was kind of meh. 

 

If you're on Enchanted, try to get "Princess" Leah as your server.  She's a marvel!  No cinnamon bun hairdo or golden bikini though.😄

I guess they change up the menu. There was no scallops, tuna tartare, or Sancerre by the glass on the menu we had.

The escargot in the MDR comes pre-shelled in a plate with indented cups - no tongs!