Moderno Churrascaria: For Cavemen Only?

[MoCruiseFan]

32 minutes ago, Rob_H said:

Moderno has gone downhill during 2023. 

 

The salad bar (with sushi) is still great, but the meat is now of poor quality, poorly cooked, with long gaps where they don't circulate with any meat at all. 

 

On the smaller ships (we were on the Spirit, Star, Jade and Jewel in 2023) we're not going to go there anymore (unless we feel like having a good salad), we gave it many chances to do better.  We go to Cagneys again instead.

 

On one of those ships in 2023, the Moderno cook literally didn't know what he was cooking.  He'd send the servers out with "lamb" when it was beef, and so on.  Several times.  It because a joke when we had to keep correcting the names of what they were offering. We finished by asking for the fried "banana" which was delicious as always. 🙂

 

 

Literally? WOW!

[Grandmafreddie]

Pineapple ok better with icecream. Very easy to make at home. Meat fair  maderno on the bottom of my list for speciality restaurants 

[schmoopie17]

We're cruising on the Escape this September and we're going with two cruising virgins. (Well, they've been married 40 years, so maybe not exactly virgins. But then again, who knows...)

 

Anyway, they really want to try Moderno (and honestly, so do we, since we're Moderno virgins).

 

Now I'm wondering if we ought to steer them (and us) to a different venue for a meat fix. Cagney's is hit and miss. Le Bistro always seems to have great filets (as I've said before, Filet Mignon is French, after all).

 

Since it's their first cruise, and both are a bit apprehensive about cruising to begin with, we're trying to make it suck as little as possible.

[Distinctive-Destinations]

1 minute ago, schmoopie17 said:

We're cruising on the Escape this September and we're going with two cruising virgins. (Well, they've been married 40 years, so maybe not exactly virgins. But then again, who knows...)

 

Anyway, they really want to try Moderno (and honestly, so do we, since we're Moderno virgins).

 

Now I'm wondering if we ought to steer them (and us) to a different venue for a meat fix. Cagney's is hit and miss. Le Bistro always seems to have great filets (as I've said before, Filet Mignon is French, after all).

 

Since it's their first cruise, and both are a bit apprehensive about cruising to begin with, we're trying to make it suck as little as possible.

The experience alone is worth it, in my opinion. It’s sort of fun. Besides the chicken is cooked to temp obviously, so if the meat (beef) isn’t to your liking that will be.

 

If it isn’t good, say something. I suspect some of the many rants on here could be avoided by just telling them your issues.

[MoCruiseFan]

I prefer my steaks and various cuts of beef prepared medium rare, NOT burnt to a crisp.  I guess I must have caveman blood in me according to the OP!  Enjoy gnawing on your shoe leather....

[cruiseny4life]

So...I'm blaming all y'all. One of our many weekend antics was going to Texas de Brazil last night (we took Monday off for a long weekend with each other). I started sending photos of yummy meat and potatoes au gratin to my husband on Friday. By Monday I broke him and I got my unlimited meats! 

 

If you don't want to read however long my post is...my husband does not ever want to go back and I'd go if offered, but probably won't send photo after photo to get him to go. Our experience last night reminded us that we had told each other the last time we went, that we wouldn't go again. That was probably two or three months ago, so naturally we forgot. Hopefully we don't forget a third time! 

 

I bring this up only because I keep hearing about NCL's Moderno not being up to snuff. At Texas, we stopped getting the filet as it was fatty, chewy, and gristly. The meats were all cooked medium rare even when medium was requested...well except that one time the sirloin came out well done. Each time, the sausages were very crispy and not in that good grill mark way. 

 

Service was excellent, though we tried to tip a trainee and were not allowed to. All-in, the cost was $150 for two people, which includes one Coke, two meals, and tip. I had the free tap water with ice.

 

I'd say, based on the reviews written above (good and bad), Moderno is providing pretty much the same exact dining experience as Texas de Brazil. Now to get to a Fogo to see if it's a step up. 

[Travelling2Some]

Like many older people, we can't eat a lot at one time so Moderno just wasn't a good fit for us, especially since meat is heavy. The concerned wait staff repeatedly urged us to eat more with the manager even getting into the act.  I know they meant well but it was pushy to the point that they were making us feel embarrassed and uncomfortable.  Just curious if anybody else had this issue?

[Ellis1138]

5 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Like many older people, we can't eat a lot at one time so Moderno just wasn't a good fit for us, especially since meat is heavy. The concerned wait staff repeatedly urged us to eat more with the manager even getting into the act.  I know they meant well but it was pushy to the point that they were making us feel embarrassed and uncomfortable.  Just curious if anybody else had this issue?

Geez, no. When we were done, the staff were all fine with that.

Honestly, with FAS, I might still choose Moderno for that salad bar and pao de quiejo and just have a few slices of picanha and fraldinha and still consider it a bargain. 

 

I'm worried about being on the Prima and Encore. I'm so used to choosing Moderno that I don't know what to choose when a ship doesn't have one.

 

[DaisyGoldberg]

I've found Cagney's disappointing in recent years, but some of our family isn't keen on Le Bistro, so Moderno is a good compromise for a group of people getting tastes of different things. It's a change of pace, not fine dining. Between the large buffet and the meat selections, it's kind of an upscale buffet variety meal. 

 

For those who love the pineapple, we were thrilled to find it offered as a late night snack at the back of the Jewel a couple of years ago. Not sure if they still have a mini late night buffet back there, but it appears that's where they sent all the ship's evening leftovers - there were soups from that night's dinner, etc.  It was a nice stop after a show, especially if you'd had a very early dinner and just wanted a little something more before bed. 

[MoCruiseFan]

[PATRLR]

15 hours ago, DaisyGoldberg said:

Between the large buffet and the meat selections, it's kind of an upscale buffet variety meal. 

I think that's a great way to describe Moderno.

[Andoria]

On 4/16/2024 at 12:14 PM, Travelling2Some said:

Like many older people, we can't eat a lot at one time so Moderno just wasn't a good fit for us, especially since meat is heavy. The concerned wait staff repeatedly urged us to eat more with the manager even getting into the act.  I know they meant well but it was pushy to the point that they were making us feel embarrassed and uncomfortable.  Just curious if anybody else had this issue?

I typically save a lot of room for dessert and I'm always asked by the waitstaff if there was a problem with my meal.