PRIMA specialty dining....which 3...plus 2 maybe?

[the_scarecrow_in_oz]

An upcoming cruise will be our first on the Prima. We get 3 free specialty dining choices with our stateroom and duration. Which specialty dining restaurants on the Prima would be your top 3 to reserve first? Then, if you were to purchase the additional 2 restaurant upgrade, which 2 others would you pick?

[cruiseny4life]

Food Republic, Hasuki, Los Lobos

 

For us, that's all we would want to partake of. On our cruise on Pr1ma in November, we went to Food Republic and Hasuki twice. Didn't go to Los Lobos and I regret that given all the very high praise I've seen on Cruise Critic, hence it's on my list. 

 

Would probably go to Nama for the sushi, but I enjoy Food Republic's sushi, so haven't opted for Nama. I'm a simpleton when it comes to sushi. Nothing too...umm, well...out there. 🙂

[UKstages]

onda, los lobos, cagney's

 

los lobos a second time and onda a second time.

 

yes, really.

 

the prima's le bistro is not the finest in the fleet. and most people will have views of lifeboats... not really what you want from a fine dining experience.

 

avoid palomar... failed in both concept and execution.

 

i would also like to mention that the indulge food hall, while crowded, rocks! some of the best food onboard any NCL ship. it's a complimentary venue! plan on eating there many times throughout your voyage. 

 

Edited March 5 by UKstages

[Sand and Seas]

Los Lobos, Onda and Hasuki.  With two more we would do Los Lobos and Onda again.  The Los Lobos on Prima was the best LL we have been to.  Onda is always outstanding.  

[cruiseny4life]

3 minutes ago, Sand and Seas said:

Los Lobos, Onda and Hasuki.  With two more we would do Los Lobos and Onda again.  The Los Lobos on Prima was the best LL we have been to.  Onda is always outstanding.  

See!!! You are so not making it easy on me that I changed my Los Lobos reservation to a second Hasuki. 👨‍🍳

[Liljo22]

Onda is #1 by far.  

[PSU78]

We agree that Onda is our #1, followed by Cagney's and Le Bistro. We were disappointed in Palomar.

[cheersforbeers]

Cagney, Hasuki, Los Lobos, Palomar. We did a b2b in Jan. Cancelled out Onda to go to Los Lobos a second time. On our 14 days Cagney 3x, Los lobos 2x, Hauski 2x, Palomar 1x. 

[the_scarecrow_in_oz]

Looks like Onda and Los Lobos for starters. Thanks. I might have to be more convinced about Los Lobos as neither of us are really big fans of tacos, enchiladas and other standard Mexican. I HAVE had some great Mexican on visits to Mexico, but those were dishes that were things you didn't get in Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants in the U.S.

 

I see that there's seafood (mussels, yum), pork and a steak on the Los Lobos sample menu, but not sure that's enough to break away from the tacos/enchiladas atmosphere. Now...if they had a great mole', that would be different!!!

[UKstages]

9 minutes ago, the_scarecrow_in_oz said:

but those were dishes that were things you didn't get in Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants in the U.S.

 

strictly speaking, los lobos is not a traditional tex mex restaurant. yes, they have tacos,  fajitas and enchiladas.

 

but they also do tableside guac, they have ceviche and yellow fin tuna. they have pork, red snapper, skirt steak (carne asada) and stuffed poblano peppers on the menu, as well as a "catch of the day" (which, depending on how recently you were in port, may actually be frozen or the "catch of a few days ago"). their street corn (elotes) is among the best i've ever had.

 

they do have an enchilada with mole sauce. and that sauce can be put on other things, by request. and their spicy margaritas are excellent. it's not your granddaddy's mexican restaurant.

 

 

[zqvol]

8 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

strictly speaking, los lobos is not a traditional tex mex restaurant. yes, they have tacos,  fajitas and enchiladas.

 

but they also do tableside guac, they have ceviche and yellow fin tuna. they have pork, red snapper, skirt steak (carne asada) and stuffed poblano peppers on the menu, as well as a "catch of the day" (which, depending on how recently you were in port, may actually be frozen or the "catch of a few days ago"). their street corn (elotes) is among the best i've ever had.

 

they do have an enchilada with mole sauce. and that sauce can be put on other things, by request. and their spicy margaritas are excellent. it's not your granddaddy's mexican restaurant.

 

 

Sounds just like a Tex-Mex restaurant 

[Huntingdon1701]

10 hours ago, the_scarecrow_in_oz said:

Looks like Onda and Los Lobos for starters. Thanks. I might have to be more convinced about Los Lobos as neither of us are really big fans of tacos, enchiladas and other standard Mexican. I HAVE had some great Mexican on visits to Mexico, but those were dishes that were things you didn't get in Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants in the U.S.

 

Personally, I couldn't stand Los Lobos on the Prima. Dark and gloomy, and not with a very good menu. So if you're not a fan of Mexican do consider that carefully. I would also agree that Le Bistro is not great as a venue on Prima due to bad design, although the food is good.

 

Onda is definitely worth it, and Food Republic and Hasuki were enjoyable. Cagneys was good but is the same as other ships so might be less of a priority. 

 

Indulge is a great free venue if you can get a seat.

[slakko]

We had 4 on the Prima back in May, and then 2 more in November. We went to Palomar both times and would recommend it to anyone who likes seafood.  Definitely the most upscale, even compared with the massive chandeliers in Le Bistro.

 

My ranking order of the 5 we went to:

1. Palomar

2. Los Lobos; tableside guac was great and all the mains were amazing.  Be aware that the queso fundido is sweeter than you may be used to given the honey on top.

3. Le Bistro.  Really high quality so this is a close run third behind Los Lobos.

4. Food Republic. Lots of good individual items and 4 selections is definitely more than most people need, but the breadth of offerings means the theme is kind of missing.

5. Hasuki. It's a good teppanyaki restaurant with chefs that out on the traditional hibachi show; that said it's not really as upscale or distinctive as some of the others.

[dexddd]

19 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

See!!! You are so not making it easy on me that I changed my Los Lobos reservation to a second Hasuki. 👨‍🍳

Actually while LL gets good reviews, especially on the Dawn, any one of our local Mexican restaurants here in BFE is just as good or better.

[dexddd]

Food Republic. Would not pay for another two past the 'free' package.

[UKstages]

just chiming in again because los lobos seems to be taking some hits here. in my opinion, not only is the prima’s los lobos the finest in the fleet, it rivals many mexican restaurants on land. and i’ve been to many, including those in california, arizona, new york and, yes, mexico (where they are known simply as “restaurants”).
 

as for it being dark and gloomy, i ate there two or three times and it was always bright and cheery and festive, with a panoply of color and light, with gaily painted mexican artifacts and sculptures used as decorations throughout. it’s a very happy place, particularly by the time you have your second margarita.

 

look, i don’t care if you go to los lobos or not, but don’t go because you don’t like mexican food or because you’re booked up with other restaurants you prefer, not because a bunch of people here have said it’s rather ordinary and gloomy.
 

ordinary and gloomy it is not.

[cruiseny4life]

2 hours ago, dexddd said:

Actually while LL gets good reviews, especially on the Dawn, any one of our local Mexican restaurants here in BFE is just as good or better.

Ok...so, I looked up BFE on Google. At work. My boss will be coming to have a conversation with me. Is BFE somewhere other than what I found that has to do with Egypt or have I fallen prey to the NSFW land?

[Liljo22]

I was disappointed by Los Lobos.  The tableside guac was great but the rest was just ok.  I got the shrimp plate and it was just 5 small shrimp with a couple of slices of avocado as a garnish.  For those saying its better than Mexican/Tex Mex land restaurants, come to Houston and I can point you to a ton of traditional Mexican and Tex/Mex restaurants that are lightyears better.  

 

I also thought Food Republic was ok.  The sushi is all crab based and several other dishes were just ok.  Nothing stood out as amazing. 

 

This is my ranking:

1. Onda 

2. Le Bistro

3. Cagney's

4. Los Lobos

5. Food Republic

[debenson0723]

I always eat in Onda, twice if I can swing it. So many great choices in that restaurant. When using our vouchers, we chose Le Bistro (totally agree about the lifeboat view being off putting though), Cagney's and Hasuki. We pay out of pocket for Food Republic and Los Lobos, usually only getting the tableside guac, maybe splitting an entree or the quasadilla, and topping off with the tower of churros. As others have mentioned, eating a dinner in Indulge is a great option too.

[PhillyTravelBug]

Cannot emphasize Los Lobos enough. We did Hasuki, Onda, and Los Lobos. I enjoyed our meals in all of them, but was surprised with how good the Mexican was. After doing hibachi on a few of the ships, I don’t feel the need to do it again. We wanted to do Le Bistro, but wasn’t feeling well the night we had reserved. Next time!

[the_scarecrow_in_oz]

Thanks again. The discourse about Los Lobos intrigues me, though. For those of you who love/like Los Lobos, I'd like to know what dish(es) you had there that were so exceptional. Were they the more traditional taco/burrito/enchilada/fajita stuff, or the grilled dishes (seafood, steak) or the specialties like mussels or braised pork.

[graphicguy]

Los Lobos...some of the best food on the ship.

 

Onda next and then Food Republic!

[UKstages]

3 hours ago, the_scarecrow_in_oz said:

Were they the more traditional taco/burrito/enchilada/fajita stuff, or the grilled dishes (seafood, steak) or the specialties like mussels or braised pork.

both.

 

it’s like asking a mom to choose her favorite kid.

 

los lobos does both things very well, especially well on the prima. 
 

graphicguy has posted some great photos to give you an idea… most of that ain’t traditional tex/mex fare. my three favorite things are the table side guac, the mexican street corn and the margaritas. the flan and the churros are very good, too. But all the entrees have been good, from the fish to the shrimp to be tacos and burritos to the fajitas.

[the_scarecrow_in_oz]

Is the table-side guac prepared per person, or for the whole table? There will be 4 of us dining at our table.

[slakko]

34 minutes ago, the_scarecrow_in_oz said:

Is the table-side guac prepared per person, or for the whole table? There will be 4 of us dining at our table.

 

The guac is one of the options for starters, so you only get it for the whole table if you each order it. To be fair, I would say that the amount I received as my one serve was enough for two people as an appetizer. We were all sharing so that worked out great.