RESTAURANTS on the DAWN

[mlang]

We are sailing on the Dawn in a few weeks. Could someone please tell me about the retaurants on the ship and which ones are the best. Which ones do you pay for. Thanks you

[johnql]

Here's how the dining venues break down on the Dawn:

 

Included, no reservations required

Aqua (main dining room)

Impressions (main dining room)

Venetian (main dining room)

Garden Cafe Buffet

Bimini Bar & Grill

Blue Lagoon - 24/7 eatery

Pearly Kings Pub - Fish & chips, shepard's pie

Ondeck BBQs

Late night snacks served in the casino

Room service - 24/7

 

Specialty Restaurants - included, reservations required

La Trattoria - Italian

Salsa - Tex-Mex

 

Specialty Restaurants - surcharge, reservations required

Bamboo - 3 eateries in 1 - Asian fusion restaurant / sushi / Teppanyaki

Cagney's Steakhouse

Le Bistro - French

 

I would recommend any of the specialty restaurants - surcharge or not. In order of preference, I would say: Le Bistro (great filet mignon, wonderful mushroom soup, scrumptious chocolate fondue); Cagney's (excellent steaks); Teppanyaki (Benihana-style restaurant - very tasty entrees, fun food-preparation show); Bamboo (tasty Chinese food); Salsa (enjoyable food, great location overlooking the main atrium, usually with live music being performed); La Trattoria (not bad, a cordoned-off area of the buffet at night). Never tried the sushi.

[mlang]

Thank you

[KeystoneCruiser]

I was on the Dawn in June and I have been on the Star (sister ship with almost exact same restaurants) twice.

 

My favorite of the free restaurants (Venetian, Aqua & Impressions) is Impressions. Smaller venue, thought we got better service there. Most seats have a great view out the window. Venetian is just too large for me.

 

Of the specialties: I reccommend Cagney's (especially the first night...less crowded) and LaTrattatoria. (Cagney's has a surcharge, LaTrattatoria does not.)

 

Don't forget the Blue Lagoon on Deck 7. A quick service place serving hot dogs, hamburgers, potatoe skins, french fries, Macaroni & cheese, etc. Great place for a quick bite any time since it is open 24/7.

 

Hope this helps.

[BeachBumMama]

You'll need 2 weeks of sailing to hit them all! The others have answered your question, I just wanted to say have a good time trying them all.

 

I had to edit to put in a recommendation for Salsa. It's free but you need reservations and we loved this one.

[suzequ]

Have to agree about Impressions -- it was the only "Main" Restaurant that we felt we got good service in at dinner. The Venetian at breakfast and lunch is wonderful with great service, by the way.

We tried all the Specialty restaurants last March, except La Trattoria (husband's family is Italian -- nothing can compare with his mom's cooking).

We ate at Cagney’s twice and had steak as good as Shula’s, Morton’s or Ruth’s Chris (all of which we’ve tried many times). Esmerelda and Simone were exceptional in their service as well and made my daughter’s 12th birthday celebration a treat. We ate at Le Bistro once and enjoyed the food and the incredible atmosphere. I think the “un, deux, trois” revealing of your main course was trite and hokey. On the other hand, my DH and DD felt the chocolate fondue was out-of-the-world. We tried the Teppanyaki room twice and enjoyed the experience, although one evening seemed very smoky. When they opened the door to the Promenade, I think severla walkers thought the room was on fire (lol)! We also tried Bamboo’s main room twice and were amazed they were not more crowded. The food was exceptional; the Chinese Chicken salad was truly special. Jerome, one of our waiters, got the dressing recipe from the chef for me; I can’t wait to try this at home. Jerome and Mao were exceptionally helpful and had great suggestions; Nestor entertained us on our last evening with napkin sculptures and toothpick tricks. We also tried Salsa’s; it was a disaster. It was understaffed or overbooked or both. After waiting 15 minutes for a waiter, the Maitre D’ took our order. But because we didn’t appear to have a waiter, everything arrived when he could get free to get it for us. Our drinks came first, my DD’s lemonade took much longer. The food was wonderful (tapas, ribs…), but nothing is worth waiting that long for. My daughter had finished her pasta long before our meal arrived. We finished our entres an hour and 40 minutes after arriving and, though we wanted to try dessert, didn’t consider staying for dessert because we didn’t want to wait another 45+ minutes for it.

To sum up – when you are paying extra, the service and food are very good to exceptional. When you are eating in the main dining rooms or “free” specialty restaurants the food choices are limited (main dining rooms), of average to very good quality and the service is poor to very good.