Teppanyaki, Moderno or La Cucina

[Turtles06]

On 7/7/2024 at 7:45 PM, DorothyB said:

I've actually considered bringing my Kindle to read during the "show" and meal . . . 

That would be extremely rude to the chef (and the other diners), so I assume you are joking. 

[DorothyB]

51 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

That would be extremely rude to the chef (and the other diners), so I assume you are joking. 

 

13 hours ago, DorothyB said:

That is what I keep deciding, but it is still tempting 🙂

 

[Grandmafreddie]

On 7/9/2024 at 11:35 AM, meglet said:

Anyone tried the udon there?

Udon great and he nade enough fir whole table

[Grandmafreddie]

On 7/9/2024 at 11:55 AM, cruiseny4life said:

My husband has a few times, which means I sneak a bite! 

 

It's always been good. Noodles are well cooked. They have enough resistance, but aren't chewy, burned, or under cooked. They're always prepared with a little sauce - I'm not cultured enough to know what - and served last. The portion is a nice size - I'd say if you eat only udon (no rice), then you might be a wee bit hungry, but my husband and I are porkers. Anyway, it's a nice option to have alongside the rice, veggies, and whatever main you order. 

 

As for saltiness, we always ask for a little bit of soy so we can get an appropriate amount of salt as the rice/udon never has enough flavor to satisfy us! 

Udon is instead of rice you still get protein of choice salad etc

[astera]

On 7/8/2024 at 12:52 AM, EngrJones said:

Easy.  Teppanyaki.  I love the shrimp and scallops hot off the grill (or whatever that thing is called).  I also like the show.  It's the same every time, so if you're so inclined you can memorize the lyrics to "can't help falling in love with you" (Elvis) before you go.  Those are good lyrics to donate a few memory cells to anyways.😎

 

The rice is good, but I would like it better with about twice as much garlic butter.

 

Second that. Teppanyaki is pretty much the only must-try restaurant if you have a couple speciality dining credits to use up. BUT... don't order the meats (chicken breast - dry ; beef - not tenderloin but some cheap cut)... instead get the shrimp & scallops which are huge and so, so, so good!

 

The portions are huge and probably 8/10 people seated in our section didn't finish theirs.

 

Le Bistro is also a great option. Good steaks, lamb, fish... you name it.

[Biffire]

I always enjoy the food at Teppanyaki, I get the shrimp and scallops, we've seen the show several times, It is loud with the chefs banging their tools and the exhaust fans. I sometimes don't understand everything the chef says due to the noise and strong accent, and perhaps my hearing isn't 100 % any longer. I am polite and try to listen. The fried rice is always good and I really enjoy the seafood. You can interact with the other table mates as little or as much as you want, but with the fans it is difficult.

 

I really like the salad bar at Moderno. We have been their several times as well. I can only eat so much meat before the dreaded meat coma sets in. I will eat small portions of my favorites and skip my less favorites. The pineapple is the best part. 

 

We have 4 specialty nights on the Epic in November, we will be doing, Teppanyaki, Moderno, La Cuchina and Cagney's, skipping La Bistro this time. 

[complawyer]

for those ships that share cagney's and moderno kitchens, if you can sweet talk your cagneys waiter, they might  bring you some of the moderno pineapple. (works for me)

[astera]

How is Cagney's at present?

 

I was on the Escape this month and didn't go to the restaurant itself, but I did order a paid-for rib-eye steak from Cagney's to the Manhattan MDR. It was terrible. Probably the worst steak I've had in a decade if not longer.

 

Which is kind of funny because NCL absolutely demolishes Royal Caribbean when it comes to their MDR food offering... but when it comes to speciality outlets RC's steak restaurant outclasses every restaurant you might have ever visited on land even. It's that good.

[MiniJeffrey]

I would pick La Cucina over Tepanyaki. Tepan is show cooking but is very loud, it's not a cosy dinner at all. Moderno not my cup of tea as I'm not a meat lover.

[schmoopie17]

21 hours ago, astera said:

 

The portions are huge and probably 8/10 people seated in our section didn't finish theirs.

 

I know people say this (including you), but I must be the exception. Been to Teppanyaki twice and both times walked out of there hungry. 

[Distinctive-Destinations]

15 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

I know people say this (including you), but I must be the exception. Been to Teppanyaki twice and both times walked out of there hungry. 

A lot of times it depends on where you sit. If you sit at an end, you’re likely to get loaded up on some items and less on others. If you sit in the middle, you’re more likely to get a fairly “balanced” distribution.

 

I’ve also noticed that nearly every Teppanyaki place I have ever been to (NCL or otherwise) that men will get noticeably larger portions than women.

[cruiseny4life]

On 7/13/2024 at 1:18 PM, Grandmafreddie said:

Udon is instead of rice you still get protein of choice salad etc

My husband orders a side of Udon, along with the rice.

[DorothyB]

I've always left stuffed and I don't like the starters (except edamame if offered - it wasn't on Pride of America).  I do frequently get seconds on rice, like the veggies and usually get shrimp & scallops.

[TheBeardedCruiser]

2 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

I know people say this (including you), but I must be the exception. Been to Teppanyaki twice and both times walked out of there hungry. 

I think that it depends on your chef and your tablemates. I couldn't finish my last dinner there, but left hungry the time before that.

 

The last time, we were seated with a large party that spent more time on their phones than eating. I was singing and clapping and having fun with the chef. He showed his appreciation for my enthusiasm by giving me loads of food. He gave me every meat and seafood option, except chicken. He even offered to cook another entire steak, but I told him that I couldn't eat any more. It was by far the most fun I've ever had at a specialty restaurant! 😀🎉🥳

 

The time before that, the chef was cranky and I could tell that he was just going through the motions. I understand... For me it's a once in a blue moon experience; for him it is a several times a day performance. It has to be hard to keep up the enthusiasm. The chefs are human!

[IEfromGT05]

On 7/7/2024 at 6:21 PM, Scubadoc said:

So we have four specialty restaurants to reserve on our September cruise on the Pearl. We love and will probably do it twice. We have also reserved Le Bistro. The menu looks good to us. What should we do for our final choice? We are not fans of Asian food so that’s out.  

 

Little bit of a late reply. And looks like you have plenty of input with lots of different opinions.
But, we actually just got off the Pearl last week. We ate at Cagneys, Le Bistro, and Teppanyaki.

My ratings:
Le Bistro: Great. I had the dover sole. My wife had the filet.
Teppanyaki: Very good. I had the scallops/shrimp. My wife had the steak/shrimp.
Cagneys: Disappointing. I had the NY strip. My wife had the filet. 

This was my first NCL cruise in more than 20 years, so I can't compare to past experience with these restaurants. 

As far as other comments in this thread:

- All of them left us stuffed. We didn't even eat dessert at Teppanyaki
- I'm not a huge fan of the "show" for Teppanyaki either, but it was fine. We also stuck to ourselves rather than being too social - mostly because this was towards the end of the cruise after a long couple of port days and we were dead tired.