Dining Room Food on the Dawn

[kahunabd]

We are going to sail February 2-9, 2014 on the Dawn and trying to figure out what is being served each night in the Dining Room. That way we can then pick our Specialty Dining Nights before hand. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[Love my butler]

Night 1, surf and turf in the MDR. After that, lots of stuff. I would wait til being onboard to decide. The only restaurant you have ANY trouble booking is Teppanyaki simply because the seating is so limited. All the others you can almost always book same day with no problems.

[bakerintn]

There is really no way to tell in advance. They use a 14-day cycle menu that does not recycle automatically....the executive chef makes his own choices.

 

Typically no need to plan in advance for specialty restaurants...besides, that would lose the spirit of "freestyle cruising".

 

I will have to say that on our last cruise on the Dawn three weeks ago, I did notice that each day in the MDR, there were really only 1 or 2 daily selections that interested me that day. However, in our group, we saw that what did not interest me, interested someone else...we really never all had the same thing.

 

remember also, if you see a side on another entree that interests you more than what is listed for your chosen entree, you can ask for that instead, so you really can do some mix and matching to fine tune your meal. And... you might want to ask for the desert menu before you order your meal, so that you can create a good combination, if you are in to deserts.

 

I found that the assorted fruits plus the cheese assortment went with just about every entree ... but for example, the bread pudding with the lobster was not such a good choice (way too rich!!).

 

Have a great cruise.

[H&J]

We have our third cruise on the Dawn coming up and we've cruised on her sister ship, the Star, and I can say unequivocally, "lobster night", i.e. the first night out is the worst. The portion is small and flavor only so so.

 

We are planning one of our specialty restaurant nights for "lobster night".

 

One of the best meals we had was in La Cucina with a waiter named King. We went after the early rush for a leisurely dinner. I told King that we weren't picky eaters and about the only ingredients my wife didn't care for were mushrooms and anchovies. I told him to tell the chef to just whip up something, doesn't even have to be on the menu, have fun and try something he'd been thinking about making.

 

Some of the items served were off the menu and the meal was GREAT. It was so great we went back two days later and did it all over again. Our appreciation was expressed in cash tips for King and the chef. We additionally filed out the cards for management to know how happy were were with both King and the chef.

 

We plan on doing this again, maybe in La Bistro, Bamboo or Cagneys to let the chefs "stretch" their cooking legs. We figure if we go later in the evening, the pressure will be off from the early dining crowds.

[jackparts]

Make sure that if you want to dine in the Aqua, you make reservations early. Small room with casual (shorts and tees) dress code, it fills up early. Shows me that more and more passengers are into the relaxing mode.

[DGP1111]

. . . One of the best meals we had was in La Cucina with a waiter named King.

 

Our appreciation was expressed in cash tips for King and the chef. We additionally filed out the cards for management to know how happy were were with both King and the chef.

 

I had King as my La Cucina server a few weeks ago, and TOTALLY agree he is quite amazing. :)

 

Like you, I made sure to recognize him both financially and via the Vacation Hero cards. ;)

 

.

[jdvmd]

Make sure that if you want to dine in the Aqua, you make reservations early. Small room with casual (shorts and tees) dress code, it fills up early. Shows me that more and more passengers are into the relaxing mode.

Yes, it fills up because people want to be casual but you cannot make reservations for the main dining rooms - that's the hallmark of Freestyle Dining and NCL.

[legion3]

Yes, it fills up because people want to be casual but you cannot make reservations for the main dining rooms - that's the hallmark of Freestyle Dining and NCL.

 

I spoke to several people this last week on the Dawn who did in fact make reservations for both dining rooms and they seemed to suggest that they were honored and a table was waiting...did not eat in the MDR during the trip so this is hearsay and not eyewitness accounts.

[bakerintn]

I will say that on our Dawn sailing in November, the lobster was very good...cold water lobster, cooked correctly and very sweet. The melted "butter", however, was not (think canola oil with some food color and a dash of butter flavoring). They brought around trays of tails after the entrees were served for seconds, thirds, etc. The steak was a good surprise...small (like a medallion cut), very tender with some actual beef taste and cooked as ordered!!

 

Here is a link to a picture from the Dawn galley showing the lobster tails being prepped. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8430634/DawnRepoTour2013/2013-11-12%2020.58.52.jpg

 

The quality of lobster may have been because the Dawn had just come south from Boston....who knows??