NCL Escape Restaurant Ranking (my opinion)

[Elsammo46]

Hi All!

 

I recently returned from an Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Escape and really found the food to be quite standout. So I figured I'd share my personal restaurant rankings with you all. Note, I wasn't able to go to Cagney's, Food Republic, or the Tapas bar so those won't be included here...

 

8: O'Sheehan's Bar & Grill: I was excited for this one before the trip, so maybe my high expectations skew my opinion here, but I found it to be quite underwhelming. Both hamburgers I got here were pretty dry and the service was just okay. It was very convenient and the desserts were great though.  

 

7: Garden cafe: Hard to rank a buffet anywhere on a list like this because you really get what you make of it. I would eat here for breakfast on port days and lunches when I had things scheduled before and after. Definitely wins for convenience factor, but, like I said, its difficult to judge it as a whole. I enjoyed all the food I had here with the apple cobbler topped in caramel sauce being a standout favorite...I could eat that stuff all day no joke. 

 

6: MDRs (Manhattan Room/Taste/Savor): These were a bit hit or miss. While I had fantastic meals in Taste and Savor with their breakfasts and appetizers really hitting the mark in particular, my dinner at the Manhattan Room was probably my worst of the trip. I got the NY Strip there and it took everything I had just to get my knife through it. However, the meal ended well because the tiramisu and bananas foster were exquisite (can you tell I like dessert)? 

 

5: Moderno Churrascaria: Loved the different options at the salad bar here, however I may have shot myself in the foot and filled up on the Caesar salad and cheese board I made for myself as I wasn't even able to get through the entire selection of carved meats before I had to relent and turn my card from green to red. I found all the meat selections to be great, especially the Picanha. If I could do it again, I'd wait on the salad bar until after I've had me fill of the main course. Definetly use a dining package credit here. Not sure if tis quite worth the nearly $60 cover charge. 

 

4: Le Bistro: French food is definitely not for everybody, but its always been one of my favorites. This place did not disappoint. I'd honestly go back for the steak tartare alone it was that good. I also ordered the French Onion soup, escargot, beef Rossini, and a vanilla crème dessert topped with meringue. All were fantastic. The setting was one of my favorites on the ship as well, very plush and intimate surroundings really made it feel luxurious. I might add that you will definitely want a seat inside unless you want your fine French dinner to be interrupted by sounds of the casino located one deck above and the smell of secondhand smoke. I'll also say that the service here was top-notch, easily the best I had on the ship. 

 

3: La Cucina: Italian food is another one of my favorites, so I was looking forward to this place as well. I ordered the Pasta Carbonara and it was incredible! The cur pork in the dish was some of the best I had ever tasted. Even though this restaurant was located on a relatively busy thoroughfare on the ship (near some elevators), it never felt as if I was taken out of the experience the restaurant was meant to provide. The flickering candles, iron chandeliers, and metalwork panels gave it that classic upscale Italian dining feel. I ended the meal with a tiramisu and cafe latte, both of which were great!

 

2: Teppanyaki: This place was just a lot of fun, our chef who cooked our meal was engaging my table really played into his routine (which always makes it better). I sat with a great couple from Canada and a wonderful family from Athens, Georgia (GO DAWGS!). I love hibachi styles restaurants on cruise ships because they force you to meet new people and that's great as a solo cruiser especially. The fried rice and grilled seafood I ordered were amazing! The jumbo shrimp in particular was a favorite for the entire table (wish he had made more lol). We all ate until we couldn't any more. Be sure to come with empty stomachs, you won't be disappointed. 

 

1: Bayamo: This was a last-minute reservation I made while I was onboard (I booked most of the other reservations a couple weeks in advance) and I'm very thankful I did. I'll just cut to the chase, I'd book another Norwegian cruise for this restaurant alone. The surf-and-turf platter I got was some of the best food I've ever eaten. The filet was cooked to a medium-rare perfection and the lobster tail was exquisite. I understand why people pay so much for this combination now. Beyond that, it isn't often that I rave about the pre-meal bread that you get at restaurants, but the stuff I got here was something else. The bread was buttery and topped with sesame and poppy seeds and was a prefect precursor to my hands-down favorite meal of the trip. 

 

Let me know where you agree/disagree, thanks for reading and happy cruising!

[CaptainBazz]

My #1 would be Cagney's...their steaks are always excellent. Followed by Le Bistro, the lamb was excellent...next would be Ocean Blue/Bayamo and then La Cucina. For lunch it has to be O'Sheehans...the Coney Island hot dog...rueben sandwich...fish and chips and chicken wings were always excellent. Didn't like Moderno's...salad bar was mediocre at best and the meat was just ok...no vegetables or potatoes!

Garden cafe was only used for breakfast and I found it to be great...lots of choice. Never tried Teppanyaki.

Overall the restaurants were excellent and have been on all NCL cruises we have done.

[rabadipscavern]

This just got me so excited for my first cruise on the Escape! Thank you!!!

[dexddd]

We thought Food Republic was tops although we had best Haven dining experience of all of them.

[alanstarr]

19 hours ago, Elsammo46 said:

 

6: my dinner at the Manhattan Room was probably my worst of the trip. I got the NY Strip there and it took everything I had just to get my knife through it. 

 

 

 

I'm on the Escape right now, and tried the NY Strip in the MDR last night. Same result - it was so gristled that I couldn't even cut through it. I actually gave up and left, grabbed food in the buffet instead. Thought I might have just gotten unlucky, but I guess that's the norm, which is too bad. 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

I've ordered steak in the MDR exactly one time.  Nuff said.

[Biffire]

We have eaten at Moderno a few times. I really like the salad bar, and have also eaten too much and not taken full advantage of the meat courses. We are actually skipping it on our July cruise.  Always a great meal and plenty of food at the hibachi place. We usually rotate through the specialty restaurants. We get two free and 2 more for our Latitude status. I don't recall ever getting a bad meal at the MDR. We use the buffet for breakfast and lunches usually. We rarely eat dinner at O'Sheehans, often we use it for snacks of 4th meals. We will be doing the Italian, French, Hibachi, and Cagney's on this trip.

[Double Jack]

Thanks for taking the time to write a thorough, well thought out review.

 

[BirdTravels]

The best food on the Escape is Pinchos Tapas. 
2. Le Bistro
3. Bayamo

4. Teppanyaki

5. Monderno
6. La Cucina 

7. cagney’s (Last place)

 

Last time we were on the Escape, the General Manager had the Cagneys manager chasing us down on the ship to apologize how poor the food quality and service was. That trend is common across the fleet. 

[UKstages]

i had a bad cagney's experience (food and service) on the breakaway in december, but recently - on the gem - cagney's was fantastic. conversely, moderno was great on the breakaway, but the food and service at moderno on the gem was substandard.

[BirdTravels]

Cagney's on the Encore a couple of weeks ago. This 16 oz Rib Eye was ordered Medium Rare, cam to the table Medium Well and was just not a nice cut of meat. 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Cagney's on the Encore a couple of weeks ago. This 16 oz Rib Eye was ordered Medium Rare, cam to the table Medium Well and was just not a nice cut of meat. 

 

That's a Rib Eye?!  Yikes!!!!

[MSUjohn]

19 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The best food on the Escape is Pinchos Tapas. 
2. Le Bistro
3. Bayamo

4. Teppanyaki

5. Monderno
6. La Cucina 

7. cagney’s (Last place)

 

Last time we were on the Escape, the General Manager had the Cagneys manager chasing us down on the ship to apologize how poor the food quality and service was. That trend is common across the fleet. 

i have been to Cagney's once and just once with my father. i don't see what all the hype is about.