Sun's Specialty Restaurants

[alj78]

I can find no menus for the Sun's specialty restaurants on this board. Would one of you well-seasoned travelers give this newbie (I've never even sailed on a cruise ship!!) some help?

 

I'm assuming, hopefully correctly, that Le Bistro has the same menu on all ships. Correct?

 

Is East Meets West a steakhouse, with the same menu as Cagney's?

 

Is Il Adagio a typical Italian Restaurant, with pasta and pizza and Italian specialties, the same as Italian restaurants on other NCL ships?

 

But, if one is in a penthouse, one can go to Il Adagio for breakfast and lunch, and are the menus like Cagney's on other NCL ships?

 

Finally, is Ginza made up of only two components, Sushi and Teppanyaki, or does it serve other foods, like Chinese, too?

 

Any other specialty restaurant I am missing?

 

Thanks in advance for your replies. And thanks for all the effort everyone puts into supplying information to know-nothings like me.

 

Ben

[Don Haynes]

You are correct. The one question I can not answer is the last one with the Chinese food since I have never eaten there on the Sun. But I would assume Chinese food is served there as well on the Sun alike the other ships Asian food restaurant.

[lgfromdg]

Il Adagio is not a typical Italian restaurant - you won't find a lot of pasta dishes with red sauce. It is nothin like Mama's Restaurant on the Jewel. I had a filet with gnocchi; my daughter did have some kind of pasta but I can't remember what it was. I saw families come in and leave since their kids didn't like the menu. We loved Il Adagio and I highly recommend it.

 

You didn't mention Pacific Heights. I never ate dinner there but understand it offers healthier choices. Another spot is Las Ramblas which offers sandwiches at lunch and tapas in the evening.

[lgfromdg]

I found a site that has scanned menus from 2006 - I'm sure the menus have changed but it might give you some idea what to expect.

 

Check it out

[newmexicoNita]

I can find no menus for the Sun's specialty restaurants on this board. Would one of you well-seasoned travelers give this newbie (I've never even sailed on a cruise ship!!) some help?

 

I'm assuming, hopefully correctly, that Le Bistro has the same menu on all ships. Correct?

 

Is East Meets West a steakhouse, with the same menu as Cagney's?

 

Is Il Adagio a typical Italian Restaurant, with pasta and pizza and Italian specialties, the same as Italian restaurants on other NCL ships?

 

But, if one is in a penthouse, one can go to Il Adagio for breakfast and lunch, and are the menus like Cagney's on other NCL ships?

 

Finally, is Ginza made up of only two components, Sushi and Teppanyaki, or does it serve other foods, like Chinese, too?

 

Any other specialty restaurant I am missing?

 

Thanks in advance for your replies. And thanks for all the effort everyone puts into supplying information to know-nothings like me.

 

Ben

 

quick answer: IlAdagio is a little more upscale then the other Italian restaurants on NCL ships

 

East meets West is very much like Cagney's. I like Cagney's atmosphere much better.

 

Yes, Le Bistro will have the same menu as on all NCL LE Bistro restaurants.

 

The only thing you are missing: 1-instead of Blue Lagoon the Sun offers comfort food in the sports bar, very similar and 2-you can get tapas which there is no charge for, in Las Rambles. We wouldn't think of cruising the Sun without going to Las Rambles at least a couple of times. In fact we usually will go, have our tapas and skip dinner. Later in the evening we will wander into the Sports bar for something yummy.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

Il Adagio is not a typical Italian restaurant - you won't find a lot of pasta dishes with red sauce. It is nothin like Mama's Restaurant on the Jewel. I had a filet with gnocchi; my daughter did have some kind of pasta but I can't remember what it was. I saw families come in and leave since their kids didn't like the menu. We loved Il Adagio and I highly recommend it.

 

You didn't mention Pacific Heights. I never ate dinner there but understand it offers healthier choices. Another spot is Las Ramblas which offers sandwiches at lunch and tapas in the evening.

 

you are right, I forgot about Pacific Heights. The food is a little lighter than in the main dining rooms, certainly worth a try, and the servings are surprisingly large.

 

Nita

[Globaliser]

Is Il Adagio a typical Italian Restaurant, with pasta and pizza and Italian specialties, the same as Italian restaurants on other NCL ships?

No, thank goodness! It's a real Italian restaurant, with real Italian food. Highly recommended; definitely the best restaurant on the Sun and some say the best restaurant in the whole NCL fleet.

[njhorseman]

No, thank goodness! It's a real Italian restaurant, with real Italian food. Highly recommended; definitely the best restaurant on the Sun and some say the best restaurant in the whole NCL fleet.

 

 

Really? You mean if I closed my eyes I wouldn't know I wasn't eating in Rome or Venice or Florence? It may be a perfectly good restaurant, but somehow I think you're stretching the truth just a wee bit. ;)

[DMH15]

I loved the lambshank in IL Adagio. My mom had the pizza and it was great... Thin crust. So good I had it a few nights later in my penthouse. I was in an aft AC 9076 - what an outstanding cabin.

 

Ginza has only sushi and shashimi, no typical Asian meals. It is next to Tepenyaki.

 

Food is subjective, but our party of 8 (3 different groups who met inboard) did not find Pacific Height's food that special. But the atmosphere is lovely. We also did not find the Las Ramblas that great either. The young lady was very stingy with her meatballs, giving us one each and they were tiny. Nita, if you were on our sailing and making a meal at LR, you would have starved. We liked Tepenyaki very much. La Bistro was great. I only had East meets West served ensuite. It was good. The sports bar was nice too, good fish and chips. I think my mom liked the Great Outdoors the best. She loves polish sausage and their's was excellent. Very good burgers and fries.

 

Il Adagio is lovely. Probably my favorite of all cruise restaurants (except maybe Normandie on Celebrity Summit which was incredible). Il Adagio's dinner was great and so were breakfastand lunch. Breakfast is my favorite meal and it was everything I had hoped for. So much that I never did room service breakfast to eat on the balcony as I had planned. My mom loved the steak sandwich at lunch in IA. I saw the new menu and it's not on it. Although a steak is, I am sure it's different??? There's a soup of the day but I will miss the cream fruit soup if not offered in IA. We tried all of them. I detest buffets, so I will be sad if that is the only venue for these incredible soups. Will someone tell us if they are offered in the suite lunch venue? Or by service ensuite?

 

OP... Are you in a suite on the Sun, and if so which?

 

I'm jealous!

[Globaliser]

It may be a perfectly good restaurant, but somehow I think you're stretching the truth just a wee bit. ;)

Please, sir, may I now have my gold star for "enthusiasm"? :)

 

In seriousness, though, the main point is that it isn't a pizza and pasta joint. And I have had better Italian meals in London than in Il Adagio; but I have yet to have a better Italian meal in Italy.

[njhorseman]

Please, sir, may I now have my gold star for "enthusiasm"? :)

 

In seriousness, though, the main point is that it isn't a pizza and pasta joint. And I have had better Italian meals in London than in Il Adagio; but I have yet to have a better Italian meal in Italy.

 

 

Fair enough.

[newmexicoNita]

Really? You mean if I closed my eyes I wouldn't know I wasn't eating in Rome or Venice or Florence? It may be a perfectly good restaurant, but somehow I think you're stretching the truth just a wee bit. ;)

 

Most would agree with her, it is very different from ones like Mama's kitchen or most chain Italian restaurants on land.It is upscale and very good plus awesome decor.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

I loved the lambshank in IL Adagio. My mom had the pizza and it was great... Thin crust. So good I had it a few nights later in my penthouse. I was in an aft AC 9076 - what an outstanding cabin.

 

Ginza has only sushi and shashimi, no typical Asian meals. It is next to Tepenyaki.

 

Food is subjective, but our party of 8 (3 different groups who met inboard) did not find Pacific Height's food that special. But the atmosphere is lovely. We also did not find the Las Ramblas that great either. The young lady was very stingy with her meatballs, giving us one each and they were tiny. Nita, if you were on our sailing and making a meal at LR, you would have starved. We liked Tepenyaki very much. La Bistro was great. I only had East meets West served ensuite. It was good. The sports bar was nice too, good fish and chips. I think my mom liked the Great Outdoors the best. She loves polish sausage and their's was excellent. Very good burgers and fries.

 

Il Adagio is lovely. Probably my favorite of all cruise restaurants (except maybe Normandie on Celebrity Summit which was incredible). Il Adagio's dinner was great and so were breakfastand lunch. Breakfast is my favorite meal and it was everything I had hoped for. So much that I never did room service breakfast to eat on the balcony as I had planned. My mom loved the steak sandwich at lunch in IA. I saw the new menu and it's not on it. Although a steak is, I am sure it's different??? There's a soup of the day but I will miss the cream fruit soup if not offered in IA. We tried all of them. I detest buffets, so I will be sad if that is the only venue for these incredible soups. Will someone tell us if they are offered in the suite lunch venue? Or by service ensuite?

 

OP... Are you in a suite on the Sun, and if so which?

 

I'm jealous!

 

Well I guess you hit a bad week, we have cruised the Sun 3 times and always had plenty tapas in Las Rambles. Of course we have gone back more than once and yes, we did grab something later in the evening, but we certainly could not have gone to a regular dining room for dinner and enjoyed our meal. I am not going to say it was the most outstanding food we have evern had, but it came close to equaling what we had in Spain, not quite.

 

Nita

[njhorseman]

Most would agree with her, it is very different from ones like Mama's kitchen or most chain Italian restaurants on land.It is upscale and very good plus awesome decor.

 

Nita

 

 

I don't eat at chain Italian restaurants. No self respecting native New Yorker would. ;)

 

Many, many months ago I got involved in a thread discussing NCL's specialty restaurants, and expressed the opinion that while the restaurants were "OK", they seemed to primarily appeal to passengers who lived outside major metropolitan areas and likely didn't have much access to good quality "ethnic" restaurants. We rarely eat in the specialty restaurants because we routinely can get food that is just as good or better at home.

[alj78]

Thanks to you all, not only for your information but also for your enthusiasm. Yes, DMH15, we'll be in a suite -- the very one you've been recommending for a year. Sounds terrific, and we're very excited.

 

Ben

[jdvmd]

Il Adagio is not a typical Italian restaurant - you won't find a lot of pasta dishes with red sauce. It is nothin like Mama's Restaurant on the Jewel. I had a filet with gnocchi; my daughter did have some kind of pasta but I can't remember what it was. I saw families come in and leave since their kids didn't like the menu. We loved Il Adagio and I highly recommend it.

 

You didn't mention Pacific Heights. I never ate dinner there but understand it offers healthier choices. Another spot is Las Ramblas which offers sandwiches at lunch and tapas in the evening.

 

Great food at Il Adagio. My 11-year-old son loved it and we had dinner there twice. He had pizza and it was terrific. We also loved Teppanayki and Le Bistro. Pacific Heights was good but was actually one of the hardest places to get a reservation for. I recommend the meatloaf. The sports bar and Las Ramblas were great also. To me, the steak place was just average -- not bad, not the best ever, just good. The filet at Le Bistro was better IMHO.

[dockrocker]

Many, many months ago I got involved in a thread discussing NCL's specialty restaurants, and expressed the opinion that while the restaurants were "OK", they seemed to primarily appeal to passengers who lived outside major metropolitan areas and likely didn't have much access to good quality "ethnic" restaurants. We rarely eat in the specialty restaurants because we routinely can get food that is just as good or better at home.

 

I think this is true. The Italian, even at Il Adagio, is a bit better than mediocre. The teppanyaki and pan-Asian dishes are acceptable. Le Bistro is pretty good, but not particularly French. And it's hard to justify spending $15 pp for fair sushi when I can get much-better quality sushi in my city for less. However, back when they had those $5 sushi sea day lunches...oh, yeah...

 

We just take the restaurants for what they are -- and they're really pretty good for being run out of giant floating hotels with abbreviated access to fresh produce. Frankly, I'm so happy to avoid meal planning, shopping, cooking and washing up for a few days that I tend to enthuse over anything put in front of me.

 

What you said, BTW, is also true of the shows and entertainers on board. With rare exceptions, these seem flat and weak to people who live in cities with great access to the arts. But again, it's a cruise ship trying to appeal to a wide audience. It is what it is, and it's all right for what it is.

[Don Haynes]

I live in a small town in Texas with all of the major fast food places, but only one major sit down restaurant, Chili's of southwest cuisine. We do have a few sit down mom and pop Tex-Mex sit down restaurants as well, but nothing else. Not even a sit down major diner, just a couple of mom and pop diners. Our major Italian restaurant is Pizza Hut, if that qualifies. No Applebees, no International House of Pancakes or Dennys, no Olive Garden, no Steak and Ale, or Bennigans.

 

From my experience with NCL Tex-Mex, it doesn't hold a candle to my local Tex-Mex restaurants or Chili's. But as most can see, NCL's LeBistro and Cagneys and La Trattoria are superior to anything in my small home town....

 

In Texas we make fun of Pace Picante Sauce....

[big green]

I think this is true. The Italian, even at Il Adagio, is a bit better than mediocre. The teppanyaki and pan-Asian dishes are acceptable. Le Bistro is pretty good, but not particularly French. And it's hard to justify spending $15 pp for fair sushi when I can get much-better quality sushi in my city for less. However, back when they had those $5 sushi sea day lunches...oh, yeah...

 

We just take the restaurants for what they are -- and they're really pretty good for being run out of giant floating hotels with abbreviated access to fresh produce. Frankly, I'm so happy to avoid meal planning, shopping, cooking and washing up for a few days that I tend to enthuse over anything put in front of me.

 

What you said, BTW, is also true of the shows and entertainers on board. With rare exceptions, these seem flat and weak to people who live in cities with great access to the arts. But again, it's a cruise ship trying to appeal to a wide audience. It is what it is, and it's all right for what it is.

 

I have had sushi all over--Japan, San Fran, LA, San Diego, Boston, and New York City.Manhattan--please tell me where you eat a dinner of sushi for less than $15---I never seen a place that cheap anywhere that was ok.

 

Big Green

[dockrocker]

I have had sushi all over--Japan, San Fran, LA, San Diego, Boston, and New York City.Manhattan--please tell me where you eat a dinner of sushi for less than $15---I never seen a place that cheap anywhere that was ok.

 

Big Green

 

I don't eat huge amounts of food, so ordering a la carte I usually come in at $10-12 in NYC, Chicago or San Francisco. Someone who really eats a lot would find the $15 charge on NCL to be a good deal. Not sure they'd find the quality comparable, though. Last time I had sushi on NCL they put mayonnaise on it. Yikes.

[PokerDave]

Thanks to you all, not only for your information but also for your enthusiasm. Yes, DMH15, we'll be in a suite -- the very one you've been recommending for a year. Sounds terrific, and we're very excited.

 

Ben

 

I'm in 9076 in May for a 12 day baltic and this thread has me STARVING!!!