Restaurant Recommendations on NCL Prima

[AgentMalt]

On the NCL Prima leaving Southhampton, UK on June 23.  We have a two night specialty dining package.  Wanted to get some recommendaitons on the best restaurants to select.

 

Thanks

[sharonann24]

I just booked Cagney's, Onda and Le Bistro for our October cruise.  We ate at Cagney's and Onda on the Prima this summer and liked them.  I have been at Cagney's and Le Bistro on the Breakaway and enjoyed them.   We are not sushi folks and the Japanese restaurant is just too much food.  But Hudson's, which is the main dining room is also a pleasure.  We have done breakfast lunch and dinner there.  Not as fond of the Commodore Dining Room.  The Locale is good for lunch and we also liked the Indulge Food Hall.  I will never get to Los Lobos if we are traveling with my father since he does not like Mexican!  LOL.  

[BirdTravels]

24 minutes ago, AgentMalt said:

On the NCL Prima leaving Southhampton, UK on June 23.  We have a two night specialty dining package.  Wanted to get some recommendaitons on the best restaurants to select.

 

Food is subjective. We would pic Cagney’s and Le Bistro. 
 

As much as we wanted to love the new restaurant Palomar, we’ve eaten there 4 times and have been disappointed 4 times. 
 

We ate at Nama sushi once and thought it was really, really bad. 
 

Onda, Lobos, and Food Republic are ok. 
 

We love eating in the complimentary Indulge Food Hall. 

[ngrund]

Last year on Prima, we ate at Lobos, Onda and Le Bistro.

 

All were great, what cuisine is your favorite- French, Mexican or Italian? If you go to Onda, and are thinking of ordering the chicken parm, just get one to share.

 

 

 

[PhillyTravelBug]

We did Onda (which was great) and teppanyaki (which was good, but done with it). Our last specialty one we chose was Los lobos and was extremely surprised at how good it was. So glad we did it.

[seemoreroyals]

Another vote for Los Lobos on Prima.  One of the best meals we have ever had on any NCL ship and we have eaten at just about every specialty diner they have over the years.  The quac and queso we got as appetizers were outstanding.  Chips and hot sauce were abundant and tasty.  The service and the entire meal exceeded expectations from beginning to end.  

 

For a second specialty dinner I would go with either Cagneys, Onda, or the Japanese habachi place.  I agree with Bird on Palomar.  We ate there and were severely underwhelmed.

[Seas2mountains]

We are on the same sailing on the Prima.

 

We recommend Onda, Los Lobos, Cagney's and Le Bistro based on our past recent experiences with these restaurants on other ships.

 

 

[PSU78]

We enjoyed Onda, Le Bistro, and Cagney's in that order. Unfortunately, Palomar was disappointing. Indulge Food Hall is great for lunch or a casual dinner to avoid the buffet.

[RunBikeCruiseDC]

7 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

 

As much as we wanted to love the new restaurant Palomar, we’ve eaten there 4 times and have been disappointed 4 times. 
 

 

So odd, Palomar was my favorite!  But I'm a fan of seafood.  

[Liljo22]

Onda.  Best restaurant on the ship.

[Sand and Seas]

We loved Onda and Los Lobos on Prima.  Palomar was a huge disappointment for us.  (Enjoyed Ocean Blue on other ships more.)

  

And, hopefully, they will add Indulge Food Court to more ships🤞

[KKB]

16 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

Another vote for Los Lobos on Prima.  One of the best meals we have ever had on any NCL ship and we have eaten at just about every specialty diner they have over the years.  The quac and queso we got as appetizers were outstanding.  Chips and hot sauce were abundant and tasty.  The service and the entire meal exceeded expectations from beginning to end.  

 

For a second specialty dinner I would go with either Cagneys, Onda, or the Japanese habachi place.  I agree with Bird on Palomar.  We ate there and were severely underwhelmed.

I second Los Lobos.

I gave DH the 1st pick for our specialty dining & he chose this. 
I balked--LOTS of great MX at home.

 

OMG it is one of the top 3 meals we have ever had on a ship!!

We also did Cagneys which was great (as always) & Onda (it was good, if unmemorable).

We also skipped Palomar after lots of mediocre reviews.

[Candy Apple 12]

20 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

 

Food is subjective. We would pic Cagney’s and Le Bistro. 
 

As much as we wanted to love the new restaurant Palomar, we’ve eaten there 4 times and have been disappointed 4 times. 
 

We ate at Nama sushi once and thought it was really, really bad. 
 

Onda, Lobos, and Food Republic are ok. 
 

We love eating in the complimentary Indulge Food Hall. 

 

16 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

Another vote for Los Lobos on Prima.  One of the best meals we have ever had on any NCL ship and we have eaten at just about every specialty diner they have over the years.  The quac and queso we got as appetizers were outstanding.  Chips and hot sauce were abundant and tasty.  The service and the entire meal exceeded expectations from beginning to end.  

 

For a second specialty dinner I would go with either Cagneys, Onda, or the Japanese habachi place.  I agree with Bird on Palomar.  We ate there and were severely underwhelmed.

 

16 hours ago, PSU78 said:

We enjoyed Onda, Le Bistro, and Cagney's in that order. Unfortunately, Palomar was disappointing. Indulge Food Hall is great for lunch or a casual dinner to avoid the buffet.

 

11 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

We loved Onda and Los Lobos on Prima.  Palomar was a huge disappointment for us.  (Enjoyed Ocean Blue on other ships more.)

  

And, hopefully, they will add Indulge Food Court to more ships🤞

Wow, four posters don’t recommend Palomar. I was thinking of trying it on my upcoming cruise. I wanted to try the sea bass, my favorite fish. Anyone care to comment more specifically as to why you were disappointed with Palomar? 

[Sand and Seas]

1 hour ago, Candy Apple 12 said:

 

 

 

Wow, four posters don’t recommend Palomar. I was thinking of trying it on my upcoming cruise. I wanted to try the sea bass, my favorite fish. Anyone care to comment more specifically as to why you were disappointed with Palomar? 

I thought the menu looked interesting, but the best dishes we had were had were the Greek salad starter and a couple of the vegetable side dishes.  I ordered the Lobster (upgrade) and it was disappointing.   My husband (not a seafood lover) had a bland steak.    Service wasn't good.

(Much better service & flavors at Onda & Los Lobos.)

[dexddd]

Bird said it best that subjective and can also vary table to table night to night.  Our Prima Los Lobos was lackluster at best.  We have several places around home much better.  I will say the churro tower pretty good.

 

I'd go one for Food Republic.  Usually not busy, service and food good.  I'm guessing it will be discontinued.

[schmoopie17]

@AgentMalt I see you just joined CC yesterday. Welcome to the world of dissenting opinions.

 

As you've already seen, opinions of the food on NCL (including the Specialty Restaurants) varies wildly. This is what usually happens when people ask for food recommendations on CC.

 

My advice (for what it's worth) is to try whatever style food/restaurant YOU like. Forget what others say, as everyone's taste is different. Honestly, in all the NCL cruises we've taken, I can positively say I do not recall ever having a bad meal in a Specialty Restaurant...and we've tried all of them.

 

I think you'll be fine with whatever choice you make. If not, it's not the end of the world. There's always another one to try.

 

 

 

Edited June 8 by schmoopie17

[seemoreroyals]

5 hours ago, Candy Apple 12 said:

 

 

 

Wow, four posters don’t recommend Palomar. I was thinking of trying it on my upcoming cruise. I wanted to try the sea bass, my favorite fish. Anyone care to comment more specifically as to why you were disappointed with Palomar? 

 

Our group of four ate at Palomar on Prima this past December.  My wife and our friends wife both had the sea bass.  I had red snapper or some other type of fish dish I cannot recall exactly.  All three of us were in agreement that there was no flavor.  It was really bland.  Our waitress seemed put upon when I asked for some salt.  

 

It's a seafood place.  They should have great seafood.  In our case it was not.  I hope they find a way to make it better.  On a related note the best seafood I may have ever had on a cruise ship was at Los Lobos on the same cruise a couple of days later.  It was full of flavor.  So, if you decide to give Palomar a whirl proceed with caution.

[debenson0723]

Highly recommend Onda but it is so.much.food. Also had a good meal in Los Lobos (and I am from the Southwest where Mex is a dime a dozen). One of our group doesn't even like Mex and he was happy with the meal. Did not care for Los Lobos on the Encore but Prima was much better (and yes, different chef, different expereience),  Don't forget the Churro tower!

[Candy Apple 12]

2 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

 

Our group of four ate at Palomar on Prima this past December.  My wife and our friends wife both had the sea bass.  I had red snapper or some other type of fish dish I cannot recall exactly.  All three of us were in agreement that there was no flavor.  It was really bland.  Our waitress seemed put upon when I asked for some salt.  

 

It's a seafood place.  They should have great seafood.  In our case it was not.  I hope they find a way to make it better.  On a related note the best seafood I may have ever had on a cruise ship was at Los Lobos on the same cruise a couple of days later.  It was full of flavor.  So, if you decide to give Palomar a whirl proceed with caution.

Ugh…Sea bass is what I would have ordered. I agree that a seafood place should have great seafood. Maybe I’ll give Los Lobos a try. It seems to be getting good reviews on this thread. 

[mking8288]

Palomar - baked whole sea brass for 2, use 2 dining vouchers or 1 set of Platinum coupons ... 

 

 

 

 

Give it a try 👍

 

Edited June 9 by mking8288

[dexddd]

On 6/8/2024 at 7:38 PM, mking8288 said:

Palomar - baked whole sea brass for 2, use 2 dining vouchers or 1 set of Platinum coupons ... 

 

 

 

 

Give it a try 👍

 

How was the grilled lemon?

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

How was the grilled lemon?

It was fine, a matter of time before bean counters will provide packets of lemon juices to squeeze instead, me think.   

 

Going thru old NCL food photos on the Linux server at home, thinking about these, now that even 3 to 4 pieces of greasy onion rings are gone ... 

 

 

Can't say I'll missed the Cagney oysters, you probably recalled it used to be 6, then 4 oysters and then just 3 little ones.  Glad we are spreading our wings soon, about 80 days out.  

 

Staycation this year, really ... not even flying or land trip (of course, this "heat dome" isn't helping to popular domestic, summer attractions.  

[AgentMalt]

Thank you for all the input.