Ranking of restaurants - Breakaway

[Baileyjojo]

Now I know this is subjective, but I would like to know how people rank the restaurants (specialty and complimentary) on the Breakaway.

[cathyoo]

I am also interested in this information. Hope you get some results.

Edited June 30, 2015 by cathyoo

[coldflame]

I think it would be more helpful (and easier on reviewers) if they follow an uniform format. For instance,

 

Top 3 complimentary

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Choice 1: why

Choice 2: why

Choice 3: why

 

Top 3 specialty

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Choice 1: why

Choice 2: why

Choice 3: why

[jknacke]

1. Cagneys-Great food, good service, and ambiance.

 

2. La Cucina-Great food, good service.

 

3. Le Bistro-Great food, good service. I ranked this 3rd because it was small inside and seemed a bit cramped.

 

4. Tappenyaki-It's always fun to watch. The food was good-not great.

 

5. Moderno-Least favorite. Food was mediocre and although the salad bar was good, it reminded me of the buffet.

[SailAwayInAugust]

Excellent

 

1. Cagneys. Because WHO doesn't like an EXCELLENT steak, endless side dishes, great ambiance & wonderful attentive service

 

2. Moderno: Because when your starving, THIS is the place to go. So much food (and really good food!) you will need a wheel barrel to assist you out.

 

Not so Excellent:

 

LaCucina: because the food is mediocre at best. I am Sicilian, so I can say this with absolute certainty.

 

 

* But food is subjective and I'm sure there are tons who disagree with my opinion!

[SailAwayInAugust]

 

5. Moderno-Least favorite. Food was mediocre and although the salad bar was good, it reminded me of the buffet.

 

 

Seriously? That Grilled pineapple was to die for! :D:D:D:D:

[coldflame]

Not so Excellent:

 

LaCucina: because the food is mediocre at best. I am Sicilian, so I can say this with absolute certainty.

 

 

Anyone with a few dropplets of Italian blood knows better than to eat Italian food at non-Italian-operated restaurants. I, too, struggle to find most Italian food in the US even so-so, unless you go to an Italian-run place. I usually avoid Italian eateries while at sea because of that reason :)

[bangzoom6877]

Anyone with a few dropplets of Italian blood knows better than to eat Italian food at non-Italian-operated restaurants. I, too, struggle to find most Italian food in the US even so-so, unless you go to an Italian-run place. I usually avoid Italian eateries while at sea because of that reason :)

 

We feel the exact same way! DH and I are each a quarter Italian, and we're from Brooklyn, NY, and we tend to avoid Italian restaurants on vacation. We have only a couple of exceptions to this...Mario the Baker in southern Florida (owned by Italians originally from NYC), and the Italian restaurants at Epcot in Disney World (operated by people from Italy, as in Epcot's world showcase, each country represented there has people from the actual country working there). We don't go to the Italian restaurants on cruises. We tried it years ago on Norwegian and we didn't like it at all. And don't get me started on pizza in most places...omg especially at a theme park! But for other people, the Italian restaurant is excellent. It's all about personal opinions.

 

I also don't eat Asian food on vacation except maybe sushi at a reputable place. I'm so picky with Chinese food especially. Two years ago on the Carnival Splendor, we were at the buffet for lunch on embarkation day (the only eatery open at that time), and I went to the Asian stir-fry station to get a stir-fry made to order with chicken, vegetables and black bean sauce. I took one bite and couldn't eat it. I ended up going to the burrito bar instead.

 

I also don't like to eat too much of the usual things on vacation. I like to try new things, or have foods we wouldn't eat at home, or don't have at home. We eat Italian food and Asian food all the time, so no need for it on vacation!

[geegee1]

This is from our first trip on the Breakaway in Feb. 14, in Feb. 15 the restaurants either got worse (Moderno) or stayed the same (Teppanyaki). None got better.

I'm going to grade the food on a 1 t o10 scale. For reference, to my wife and I a (1) is Golden Corral/Sizzler; a (5) is Chili's/Outback; a (10) is Ruth's Chris/Your Best Local Restaurant

 

We bought the UDP before we left. We ate 2 dinners at Cagney's, 1 at Moderno, 1 at O'Sheehans, 1 at Ocean Blue, 1 at Cirque and 1 at Teppanyaki.

 

Cagneys – (7.5) both times. The steaks were good and properly cooked to our order. I had the rib eye both times and my wife had the sirloin. The sides were very good and my eldest enjoyed the shrimp cocktail, filet and fries.

 

Moderno – (4) – This was the restaurant I was most excited to try. I love Churrascaria's and was really looking forward to this meal. From being to others and reading the reviews we knew not to fill ourselves up from the salad bar. By doing this, it seems we threw the wait staff for a loop. They came up a couple of times to remind us about it, each time we told them they were fine without. Then the maitre' d came to check, when we told him we were waiting for the meat they finally brought us our plates. The first thing they brought us was the sirloin which was amazing. Then they brought over chunks of the filet and garlic steak, both were very dry. Then came the lamb chops, which were very tasty but dry. Not as dry as the previous meats, but dry none the less. After that everything went down hill. The Portuguese sausage was dry and not really tasty, as was the chicken wrapped in bacon. Even though we had the card turned to green the whole time, they stopped briging us food. They finally came over and asked about dessert. I commented that we haven't yet received the chorizo nor the beef ribs. I should have taken the hint when they asked about dessert. The chorizo was dry and tasteless and the beef ribs were sliced, while juicy, still lacking taste. This was a very disappointing meal.

 

O'Sheehan's – (3) – After the muster drill we went to O'Sheehan's for some drinks and snacks. We ordered 2 orders of the wings that everyone seems to rave about. They were pretty good, not great, but good none the less. The funniest part for me was that one order had 4 wings and the other had 6. We then went there on Tuesday night. We got there after 9 and was disappointed to find out that they were no longer serving the Chicken Fry. I got a burger, which was as bland as the one in the buffet. My wife and father in law both got the Fish N Chips. They both said that they were fine, but not the tastiest. My mother in law had the Pot Pie and had the same comment. We went one other night to get some late night wings. Asked for 2 orders again, this time one had 4 wings and the other 5. But these wings were basically unedible. We had 3 of 9 and ditched the rest. They just weren't tasty at all. I asked for them to be well done and they were not, making them a soppy mess.

 

Ocean Blue – (5) – Going in we were expecting a meal that was worthy of a $50 upcharge. Basically a 10 on the 1-10 scale. What we got was a 5. My rib eye was not nearly as tasty as Cagney's and my wife's scallops had grit aka sand in them. The meal as a whole really was forgettable, which is a shame . It made my wife and I wonder if the Iron Chef just sold his name to NCL and really doesn't care about the restaurant itself.

 

Cirque – (6) for the food and a (10) for the show. The food was your standard wedding food. A filet that you were told was cooked to medium, but was closer to medium well. I've never been served “coconut” shrimp with a marinara sauce before. But the amazing show made up for the lackluster meal. I've seen Cirque shows on TV and in person before. This show was one of the best. The fact that they accomplished so much on such a small stage is truly remarkable. It also performed an amazing trick of keeping both of our daughters entertained for the entire show.

 

Teppanyaki – (7.5). Our eldest daughter was really looking forward to this restaurant the most. They are learning about Japan in school and were scheduled to have a school trip to a local Teppanyaki restaurant. As always, it was a great performance. Our daughter's loved it, but the potent smell of the soy sauce did start to bother our youngest one. All of us received the steak and shrimp meal. While tasty, the steak again was over cooked. The shrimp was tasty as was the rice and noodles.

 

We did visit La Cucina (5) this time. We usually avoid Italian restaurants outside of NY/NJ, but we wanted to try something different, so this was it. While the food was fine, it wasn't anything better than a chain restaurant. We did enjoy the pizza appetizer, the mains were fine and the atmosphere was the best part.

Edited July 1, 2015 by geegee1

[dos equis]

We had the UDP on the Breakaway and tried most of the restaurants. Cagneys was by far the favorite of the group (went there twice). Everyone loved Le Bistro for dessert and coffee (went twice just for dessert).

 

Although I agree with most that La Cucina isn't the best, food-wise, my favorite meal of the cruise was here, sitting outside on the waterfront when the sun was setting. NCL really did something right with the waterfront concept. It surely turn a mediocre meal into an *experience*.