(Mostly Food) Review of Breakaway, April 10-17, 2016…

I notice you pointed out the wings were frozen as if that's bad. Personally, by halfway through a week-long cruise, I wouldn't touch the chicken if I didn't think it'd been frozen, but that's just me. I'm relieved that they freeze it, or it would be dangerous to eat.

No argument from me here! Actually, it sounds like pretty much everything is frozen and they have some kind of state of the art defrosting system that doesn't dry the food out. (The process takes two days.) But what I wish would happen (although I understand because of volume; apparently the wings are about *the* most popular item on the entire ship) is that after defrosting the wings, *then* they would bread them (rather than freezing it, breading and all.)

Thanks for the food review! Love the specific reasons why you liked something and didn't. We haven't been on the Breakaway but we have eaten at the "now for free" noodle bar on the Star and the Dawn and agree with you on the quality. It was nice for a change but nothing spectacular. We normally stay in a suite but haven't had the experience of the Haven yet. We can swing the price of a suite but the Haven pricing is just a bit too rich for our budget. I am really looking forward to experiencing the Haven restaurant one day though so fingers crossed it will happen!

No argument from me here! Actually, it sounds like pretty much everything is frozen and they have some kind of state of the art defrosting system that doesn't dry the food out. (The process takes two days.) But what I wish would happen (although I understand because of volume; apparently the wings are about *the* most popular item on the entire ship) is that after defrosting the wings, *then* they would bread them (rather than freezing it, breading and all.)

Absolutely agree with this.

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I mentioned on another thread that the Chef’s Table didn’t happen on the last two Breakaway cruises and from what the Executive Chef in the Haven said, it sounds like by the end of the month, it is going away (fleet-wide). I can see why no one would sign up for it because it isn’t anywhere on the web site that I can see. They do have a table with the menu out on the first day (when you can sign up for the other specialty restaurants.) The price is $109 now so I’m not sure it would be worth it. (The chef said that even at that price point, it wasn’t a money maker for NCL. I might disagree with this since they aren’t using ingredients like wagyu beef, foie gras or osetra caviar.)

But if you want to try and recreate what *was* on the Chef’s Table menu, the star of the show was a veal chop. I can’t imagine it being any different than the one served in Cagney’s (which was excellent BTW; just BIG! I have always thought of Chef’s tables as more of a tasting menu with smaller portions.) The sea bass course sounds similar to the sea bass (with the saffron broth) again served in Cagney’s. And the ahi tuna is served at Wasabi. The tartlet sounds very similar to what was served in the Haven with the beet and arugula salad and cheese is cheese. (If you look, you will find them on various menus including the MDRs.) I think the amuse and the dessert were unique to the Chef’s Table menu but otherwise, after thinking more about it (and I wanted to do it on my cruise), I’m not sure the Chef’s Table in this incarnation is worth the asking price.

OK, I need to close this thread out. So here were my five fave (and five not-so-fave) things I consumed during my week on the Breakaway:

FAVES (in no particular order):

- The Delmonico steak in Ocean Blue. For some perspective, when we were in NYC the night before embarkation, we ate at Le Bernardin (a three-star Michelin restaurant) and had among other things, real Japanese Wagyu beef. And I personally thought the Delmonico was better. Or better than pretty much any other steak I have ever had.

- Short ribs in the Garden Café. Yup, I said it, something from the buffet. I will say it again that if you want something reliable in the buffet, look for the stewed or braised meats. At least up to a point, the flavors seem to only get better the longer it is in the sauce or broth it is braising in.

- The seaweed salad in Teppanyaki. Very refreshing, the right amount of ginger and sesame oil in the dressing. (A little too much of either or too much dressing and this turns into a mess but at least on our night, they definitely got it right.)

- Peroni beer at the Haven bar (although I would assume it is available everywhere.) Italy is known for great wines but they also do a great beer! (Moretti is another Italian beer that is available on board, also very good.)

- Challah French toast in the Haven Restaurant. Like I said earlier, addictive. The French toast in the buffet didn’t quite measure up (maybe because it was sitting for too long under a warming lamp and the bread used was different.)

- HONORABLE MENTION: Corned beef hash from O’Sheehan’s (corned beef hash is another one of those guilty pleasure whereby *anytime* I see it on a menu, I *must* order it and this was very good with a couple of perfect poached eggs on it.)

NOT FAVES:

- First and foremost, the breakfast potatoes (everywhere!) The breakfast potatoes were overpowered by onions and bell peppers. Yucko! And what they called “hash browns” (even in the Haven) were hard little discs of inedibility. What would be so hard as to get (even frozen) grated potatoes like you get at every other diner (i.e. Denny’s) in the world? Someone please give me Frank Del Rio’s (is that his name?) cell phone# so I can demand this (and I swear I will cancel my next cruise if he does not get back to me immediately. Or not...)!

- The prime rib in the Haven. The actual meat was OK (albeit HUGE) but rather than being accompanied with au jus, there was a ramekin of some brown mystery goop. (I really don’t like fake gravies; meat should either be able to stand on its own or with its own juices, not something that is so congealed that a spoon will stand up in it. I know, first-world problem…)

- Pretty much anything on the red wine “by the glass” menu. I had hopes that the rioja (a crianza) would be OK but it wasn’t. (I suspect that once the bottle was opened, it doesn’t get sealed properly.) The only red wine by the glass (we are not white wine drinkers) that we liked was the Malbec. (Believe me, I tried them all!) Otherwise, it was wine by the bottle (and I will say that there were quite a few good selections.)

- The potato chips that accompanied the otherwise excellent lobster roll in Ocean Blue on the Waterfront. Call them what you want but they certainly were not potato chips.

- The number of decaffeinated teas that were on the ship everywhere. My wife and I are hard core tea drinkers and were very happy to see English breakfast and Earl Gray and Darjeeling but upon closer inspection, the Darjeeling and Orange Pekoe were decaffeinated and yes, I can tell the difference! (Actually, since I am not a coffee drinker, I want my caffeine any way I can get it. To be honest, I really have no idea what a caffeine boost is but I still want it, particularly in the morning…)

So there. OK, coming up with five things I liked was really hard! (Didn’t mention the hot dog or the Indian food or the rack of lamb among other things.) And to find five things I didn’t like, I really had to wrack my brain and nit pick. More than anything, I guess this would speak to the quality of the food you can find on the Breakaway.

FINALLY: Some final random thoughts…

OK, some final food-centric thoughts on the Breakaway (and on NCL as well...)

First of all, if you want to eat well (and want to have an enjoyable food experience on the Breakaway), I believe you definitely can. If you are in the Haven, things immediately get easier. (Just get to know your Haven staff and they will take care of you.) If you have the dining package (no idea what it might look like tomorrow) but if you can go to some of the specialty restaurants, try them. Never had pork belly? Try it at Cagneys. Might need to pay a little extra but the Delmonico steak at Ocean Blue is IMO absolutely worth it. (Try the charred broccoli while you are at it. You will either love it or hate it but if you love it, I think you will remember it!) And Teppanyaki will be fun (if you let it be.)

But even if you choose to only eat in the MDRs and the buffet, you can eat well. I would suggest that if you are going to eat in the MDR, just decide on *one* of the dining rooms and for dinner, eat at the same time in the same section so that you will always have the same service team. Build a relationship with them and let them take care of you. I honestly think that they will.

Getting serious here, one thing I would say is that NCL is *not* particularly interested in courting the “foodie” cruiser. If so, among other things they would not have eliminated (or shortly will be doing so) the Chef’s Table. Or severed the relationship with Geoffrey Zakarian (Ocean Blue.) While other cruise ship lines have proud alliances with renowned chefs such as Jacques Pepin (Oceana), the Top Chef brand (Celebrity), Curtis Stone (Princess), Nobu (Crystal), Jamie Oliver and Michael Schwartz (RCCL), Guy Fieri (Carnival) and now even holy mother of Mary, Thomas Keller (Seabourn), NCL has, well, Jose Garces. (Sorry but how many people know who he is? (Iron Chef was cancelled three years ago and based on the menu at Bayamo, this isn’t anything I would go to.)

I guess if I were the king of NCL for a day, in order to “enhance” the food program on all of its ships, this is what I would immediately do:

- Create a partnership with McDonald’s. Families will love this so figure out how to make this happen.

- Create a partnership with a custom pizza place like Blaze or 800 Degrees. NCL needs better pizza. Let the customer build their own pizza (including people like me who want stupid stuff like pineapple and basil!)

- Eliminate either Moderno or La Cucina and add a Mexican restaurant. Or if nothing else, have a standing taco bar somewhere on the ship. And make it 24/7! (I mean, 2am and had waaaay to much to drink? Give me a carnitas taco, heavy on the pico de gallo and I will be an NCL customer for life!)

Whatever! Thank you all for listening. Feel free to ask any (food-related) questions and more important, happy cruising (and eating!)

RK

Will get getting on the Escape next month but not yet book. I love food review and I see indian food on the buffet. Cant wait!

Loved this review! And my husband says AMEN to the 24 hour taco bar. They should hire you as a consultant!

Will be trying our first Haven in June:D

- Create a partnership with a custom pizza place like Blaze or 800 Degrees. NCL needs better pizza. Let the customer build their own pizza (including people like me who want stupid stuff like pineapple and basil!)

Hello. My name is LrgPizza, and I am a Blaze addict.

I have eaten there AT LEAST once a week for over a year (since one opened near me). I had it last night. I had it Monday, too.

I just wanted to share that.

I'm all for a 24/7 taco option!

I recall seeing a YouTube video of an older NCL ship, maybe the Sky, where the Italian restaurant included complimentary walk-up counter service with specialty pizzas and a pasta station. The pizzas on display looked rather appealing, especially when compared to what's avail elsewhere.

Thanks again, RK - what a fantastic food review!!

I love food review and I see indian food on the buffet. Cant wait!

Don't know about the Escape but on the Breakaway, Indian food was available *every* day in the buffet at lunch. (Never went to dinner in the buffet so not sure if they had it then.) There was always some kind of meat curry (lamb, chicken, beef or pork, which I found a little odd), a couple of vegetable curries, rice, dal and roti or papadum. And one sea day (I think it was day six), Moderno had a full blown Indian buffet. (Pretty different than what was in the regular buffet; featured a number of regional dishes (seafood things) that I personally was not familiar with. They were good though!)

As long as you don't need your Indian food to be super spicy (chili-wise; things are definitely dialed back for the American palate), I think you should like the Indian food on board. (My wife is Indian and she thought it was very good!)

hello. My name is lrgpizza, and i am a blaze addict...

lol!

I'm all for a 24/7 taco option!

 

I recall seeing a YouTube video of an older NCL ship, maybe the Sky, where the Italian restaurant included complimentary walk-up counter service with specialty pizzas and a pasta station. The pizzas on display looked rather appealing, especially when compared to what's avail elsewhere.

 

Thanks again, RK - what a fantastic food review!!

They ought to do like Carnival in this aspect. They have a pizza station in the back of each buffet near the aft pool. It certainly wasn't the best pizza ever, but it was pretty good, it was 24/7 and stayed rather busy.

We usually eat there once or twice, part of our platinum perk, and I typically ordered bouillabaisse. It just came out sad look...

Couldn't agree with you more here. I probably should have put the bouillabaisse in my bottom five. Very disappointing.

As for a premium hotdog experience while cruising...

The hot dog really was good but I suspect it was just what I was craving at the moment. Nothing really premium, just a Nathan's Famous, nothing like your Épicerie Boulud or out here in Southern California we have the Dog Haus which have things like a turducken dog (yes, it is!)

I loved your food review. Thank you for sharing.

My favorite restaurant was Cagney's. The porterhouse was succulent.

I didn't care for the food in teppanyaki. Too much bland rice. Our chef was entertaining, fun. Once is enough for me. I wouldn't go back.

Moderno had some interesting themed lunch buffets on sea days. Indian. German. Oompah pah live music. Great beer.

Great review, very thoughtful and unbiased. Although we were on the getaway and not the breakaway our favorite dish of the week was the lobster in Le Bistro. We had it twice in Le Bistro and then in the Haven restaurant the night the chefs table was cancelled. The maitre'd apologized for the lack of interest and offered to get us "anything on the ship" and serve us in the Haven restaurant. We chose the lobster from Le Bistro for the third time, it was that good. (It wasn't a huge problem since we had the original "ultimate dining package", but it felt special having it in the Haven restaurant which had the old menu that didn't seem very good at the time)

... I probably should have put the bouillabaisse in my bottom five. Very disappointing. <snip>

Here, I found my photo of the bouillabaisse - looked/taste like they cooked it in ketchup - can't remember if there was 2 or 3 mussels w. very little meat content. Come to think of it, I think it was on the MDR menu one evening later in the week but needless to say, took a pass for it.

Is it just fish & shrimp nowadays ?? although, I don't plan to ordering that again @ LB.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64025118/2015%20NCL%20BA/IMG20150326_1843.jpg

Great Review! Thanks for the tips. Maybe some day we will stay in the Haven. I love how you broke this down. Was the outside seating very crowded? :) Jean

I didn't care for the food in teppanyaki. Too much bland rice. Our chef was entertaining, fun. Once is enough for me. I wouldn't go back...

First, thanks for the nice compliment! And I probably wouldn't go back again to Teppanyaki either (even though I also had fun.) I'm not sure if it was available on the ship but some sriracha or tabasco would have done wonders for the fried rice (or just about anything! I like it on scrambled eggs actually...)

Great Review! Thanks for the tips. Maybe some day we will stay in the Haven. I love how you broke this down. Was the outside seating very crowded? :) Jean

Thank you Jean! Definitely try and one day do the Haven. My taste buds are probably better than my math skills but for perhaps 2xs the cost of a mini-suite, you are getting close to a Haven Spa suite (which has all of the perks of the Haven PLUS you have access to the thermal spa which the other Haven guests would have to pay for.) Assuming NCL continues to do the four "free" promos, there is more value/cost savings here. And it is hard to monetize things like priority embarkation and disembarkation, reserved seating in the theater, access to the Haven restaurant and Haven lounge bar (they definitely do not skimp on the pours here!), priority tendering (I felt a little bad just going through a separate gate and by passing a *long* to reboard the tender on GSC. Well maybe not...) and having a butler and concierge (among other things.)

As far as "outside seating", if you mean at the buffet, no it wasn't crowded (although I would say that at least to this native Southern Californian, it was *bitterly* cold on the first and last two days of the cruise (the days at sea when everything felt more crowded; on the port days the ship felt kinda empty) so there would be no way I would be out there!) As far as in the Haven, sitting in the courtyard for breakfast or lunch (I don't think it was an option at dinner but I could be wrong) was very popular but there usually looked like there was always at least one table available (for two) out there. (We just never wanted to do it.)

Here, I found my photo of the bouillabaisse - looked/taste like they cooked it in ketchup - can't remember if there was 2 or 3 mussels w. very little meat content. Come to think of it, I think it was on the MDR menu one evening later in the week but needless to say, took a pass for it.

Is it just fish & shrimp nowadays ?? although, I don't plan to ordering that again @ LB.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64025118/2015%20NCL%20BA/IMG20150326_1843.jpg

Take away the shrimp and (looks like) calamari and mussels and you will have the current state of bouillabaisse on the Breakaway. Actually, at Le Bistro they do give you a couple of pieces of lobster (separately) that you can put in the soup. In the Haven, bouillabaisse is an appetizer, not an entree, so at least there is less of it (minus the lobster)!

And I thought it was like Campbell's tomato soup but ketchup isn't too far off!

but here is my random question. why dont they serve shrimp cocktail in the main dining room anymore? I know the menu changed, but this is usually a staples on cruise menus.

I have cruised the Breakaway twice, was actually on the same April 10-17th cruise. I have another one scheduled for October. I say get rid of La Cucina. I am italian and had a hard time finding something I liked. The 24 hour taco bar would be awesome!! Especially if I could get a margarita :)

Thanks for an awesome, unique review! I'll definitely keep your suggestions in mind when I board BA.

but here is my random question. why dont they serve shrimp cocktail in the main dining room anymore? I know the menu changed, but this is usually a staples on cruise menus.

I looked at the menu for the MDR and was surprised that shrimp cocktail wasn't one of those "always available" items. I know that it was available in the Haven so a galley somewhere on the ship is still making it.

This might be an example (after building some kind of relationship with your server in the MDR) to just request it. All he/she will say is "no" but I don't think it would hurt to ask. (Three shrimp (that is what we got in the Haven) and some cocktail sauce in a martini glass isn't hard (or particularly expensive) to pull together...)