Encore Dining Options

[cruisekitty22]

I have a 2 specialty dining offers with my  cruise.  Between the following restaurants which ones are the best?  Cagneys, Ocean Blue, Onda by Scarpetta?   I dont want to waste the 2 free meals on a "ok" restaurant. I know we are eating at LeBistro for sure.  Would you use your specialty dining on Texas  Barbecue Q restaurant?

[BirdTravels]

4 minutes ago, cruisekitty22 said:

I have a 2 specialty dining offers with my  cruise.  Between the following restaurants which ones are the best?  Cagneys, Ocean Blue, Onda by Scarpetta?   I dont want to waste the 2 free meals on a "ok" restaurant. I know we are eating at LeBistro for sure.  Would you use your specialty dining on Texas  Barbecue Q restaurant?

We would NOT use a dining credit for a BBQ (where you don't have a real smoker - no open flames). 

 

Bisto is good. 

 

Most people would pick Cagney's. We are not big Cagney's fans lately. From your list, we would go to Onda. 

 

You can find menus to browse through on the link below

 

[peterwl694]

Cagney's, without a doubt.

[poohdreaming]

8 minutes ago, cruisekitty22 said:

I have a 2 specialty dining offers with my  cruise.  Between the following restaurants which ones are the best?  Cagneys, Ocean Blue, Onda by Scarpetta?   I dont want to waste the 2 free meals on a "ok" restaurant. I know we are eating at LeBistro for sure.  Would you use your specialty dining on Texas  Barbecue Q restaurant?

 

I would choose: Le Bistro, Cagneys and Onda.

 

I heard Onda have good reviews and most cruisers liked their food. This replaced La Cucina.

 

[david_sobe]

Cagneys and Onda

Contrary to urban legend, Cagneys is still out of this world good

I had high expectations of Onda because of the reviews and my expectations were exceeded

 

If you like Mexican Los Lobos is in the mix

[Sand and Seas]

We loved Onda on our January cruise.   We enjoyed it so much that we had it booked twice for the cruise we were supposed to be on this week.  Well worth using a dining credit.    Also enjoyed Los Lobos and Ocean Blue.  Suggest you look for the menus and see what interests you.  

[debenson0723]

Onda by far.  Had a fabulous meal in this restaurant. And on the Encore, we had a better meal in Cagney's than in LeBistro, which was a first. 

[waterjock]

Ocean blue their seafood is fantastic.I can make a meal out of their bread selection.

[All-ready2cruise]

I think it might depend on what type of menu/venue you enjoy.  For me, Onda would not be good but... from what I've read, it's one of the best Italian style restaurants available. 

 

Good luck with your choice. 

[FLcruisergrl]

7 hours ago, waterjock said:

Ocean blue their seafood is fantastic.I can make a meal out of their bread selection.

The bread in Ocean Blue is amazing!

[Waquoit]

I was looking forward to Onda because we like to watch Chopped and Scott Conant is a frequent judge. Who I believe is the mastermind behind Onda's parent.

[cruisekitty22]

We will have to try the Italian place.  We didn't like it on the Escape and never went back to any Italian restaurant on any other  ship.  I watch Chopped too!

[hallux]

19 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We would NOT use a dining credit for a BBQ

I just want to echo this.  While it's not because the food was bad (it actually was good, coming from someone that lives in an area that doesn't have Midwest-quality BBQ) it's because the value just isn't there.  I posted in other threads what the cost breakdown was at Q compared to Cagney's and Le Bistro on my cruise last Fall (it's in another thread about specialty dining choices) and it's really no comparison.

 

I would consider eating there and paying, it just doesn't cost much to eat in that venue...

[david_sobe]

6 hours ago, cruisekitty22 said:

We will have to try the Italian place.  We didn't like it on the Escape and never went back to any Italian restaurant on any other  ship.  I watch Chopped too!

OMG  LaCucina was not a great restaurant.  The food was MDR quality.  Even the bread was meh.

As soon as the bread comes at Onda, you know its going to be good.  The bread is so good I could make it a meal itself (no joke).  Even the olive oil was so good. My father in law stated the breaded veal was the best meal all week and we even  ate at the Haven restaurant and Cagneys.   From the moment of your first bite, you know its FRESH pasta and FRESH sauce.  It was so good we went a second time and it was very hard to get reservations.  The wine list is so big that its computerized and you selected it from an I-pad.

Its very loud in the restaurant because the floor has no carpet (which is great for clean up but lousy for sound).  You literally have to yell at your table to be heard.  That was the only tiny downside.