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Ever since our first NCL cruise, we’ve enjoyed good meals at Le Bistro. This has been one of their longest standing specialty restaurants and in my opinion, one of their best. As the name suggests, Le Bistro is NCL’s fine dining French option amongst their many Freestyle dining choices. So on our first night aboard the Norwegian Bliss, we chose to skip the main dining rooms and start off with Le Bistro. It certainly didn’t hurt that it was included with our 3-restaurant dining package that was part of our mini-suite. We did, however, had to purchase the dining package for our kids though.
As per usual, we had a limit of 2 appetizers each and like we always do, we maxed it out. I decided on the Salade Frisee with warm goat cheese and sautéed pancetta and the Escargots Bourguignonne. Fresh and crisp, the salad was dressed in a vinaigrette that had enough acidity for brightness and to provide balance with the crispy salty pancetta. The goat cheese was creamy and gamy where the flavor was impactful. I found the escargots to be pretty textbook bathed in a garlicky herbed butter. The mushrooms added some earthiness. I found the escargots to be soft and tender. I ended up soaking up the butter with the bread at the table.
Viv decided on the Salade de Crabe made with lump crab, horseradish and citrus sauce. Wrapped in cabbage, the salad was essentially all crab with no filler. As such, it ate hearty and fluffy. The natural crab essence really came through while the horseradish was kept to a minimum where it didn’t overwhelm. With the addition of citrus, there was brightness and freshness to the salad. For her second appie, she was presented with a large portion of Moules Marinieres with mussels, shallots, white wine and parsley. This was also pretty classic, albeit a bit short on broth (it was flavorful and aromatic though). The mussels were not particularly meaty, but they were buttery and briny.
My son had the Coquilles Saint Jacques Provencal featuring seared scallops, eggplant, tomato, pine nuts and olive oil. Although the scallops were rather small in size, they were prepared properly being buttery with an appealing rebound. They were sweet on their own with some caramelization on the exterior. The accompaniments added some more sweetness, tang and nuttiness. He also had the Soup aux Quatre Champignons (as well as my daughter) which was plenty mushroomy. It was earthy and full of umaminess. I thought it was a bit too thick, but then again, it is a whole lot better than runny. We enjoyed how it wasn’t overly salty.
The same couldn’t be said about my dad’s Soupe a L’oignon Gratinee (French Onion Soup) as it was really salty. We realize that this soup can pack quite the punch in terms of saltiness and sweetness, but this was a little much. On the other hand, it was full of deep onion flavor as well as the nuttiness from the Gruyere Cheese. I tried a few spoonfuls and ended up eating a lot more as it was tasty to me. In addition to her mushroom soup, my daughter had the Salade D’asperges Tiedes with oranges and smoked duck. Originally, she was supposed to share some with me, but she ended up eating most of it. The duck was tender and smoky while the asparagus was still crunchy.
For our entrees, my dad had the Sole Grenobloise featuring sautéed dover sole with lemon caper butter, croutons and potatoes. Beautifully prepared, the generous portion of sole was buttery soft while still flaky. The delicate fish was graced with a creamy butter sauce that had equal amounts of acidity from the lemon and saltiness from the capers. My mom went for the Carre d’agneau roti or roasted rack of lamb with artichokes, blistered tomatoes, zucchini and green olive sauce. Although it looked plenty rare from the outside, it was actually perfectly medium-rare being tender. Although not plentiful, the olive sauce was impactful with a tangy saltiness.
For myself, I had the Medaillons de Veau with morel sauce, twice-baked potato cake and seasonal vegetables. This ended up to be more a veal steak than medallions, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t good. In fact, it was perfectly medium-rare and yes, tender. Loved the morel sauce as you can imagine, it was super woodsy and full of umaminess. It was also seasoned enough too where it flavored all of the veal. Viv decided on the Parmentier de Canard with orange-braised carrots and microcress salad. The “pulled duck” was soft with classic duck meatiness. The sweet carrots provided the duck with another layer of flavor. Portion size was a little lacking thought, but will of the appies, she was good.
My daughter ended up Filet de Loup de Mer with ratatouille sauce, fried chickpea semolina and tomato confit. Featuring a beautifully prepared crispy well-seasoned skin, the branzino was delicate and flaky. I thought the ratatouille sauce could’ve been more impactful and seasoned more aggressively though. For my son, he stayed with his standby being beef. The Filet de Boeuf featured a 5-peppercorn 8 oz beef tenderloin with light brandy sauce and Anna potatoes. Prepared a proper medium-rare, the tenderloin was buttery soft. Since tenderloin steaks can be rather mild-tasting, the combination of peppercorns and brandy sauce made up for it.
Onto dessert, I had the Fondue au Chocolat with fresh fruit and choux pastry. I found the fondue to be fairly sweet and thick yet lacking in silkiness. That wasn’t a big deal as the big chunks of fresh fruit were really good on their own. This was especially true with the sweet pineapple and kiwi. Not sure about the choux pastry as the pieces were too small and too firm. Viv went for the Napoleon a la Noisette with praline crunch and gianduja cream. This featured a layers of wafer like chocolate with dollops of hazelnut cream. Texturally, this was fine, but it was far too sweet overwhelming the chocolate flavor. It looked pretty though.
My daughter had the Profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce. The sauce was actually served on the side, but was poured on top by our server. We really should’ve asked for it to be left on the side as it became rather messy and too sweet. On its own, the profiteroles were soft and airy with a somewhat icy ice cream in the middle. They would’ve been better just like that without the sauce. My dad decided on the Tarte Tatin with vanilla ice cream. Sporting layers of tender caramelized apples, this was also sweet, but purposefully so. The pastry was crispy and flaky while also plenty buttery.
Lastly, my mom opted for her favorite – Vanilla Creme Brulee with sable cookie and berry basket. This featured a fairly sweet custard that was the right consistency neither too thick nor too runny. The torched sugar topping was medium-thick and hard (which was a good thing). Once again, Le Bistro didn't disappoint. I know that NCL sometimes takes abuse over their average food. That is a fair comment when referring to the main dining rooms. However, I've always found their specialty dining to be good. That sparks the debate that only the paid restaurants serve better food. Well, that is across the board in the mainstream cruise industry (maybe except for Holland America). If you do cruise NCL, make sure you try Le Bistro.
The Good:
- On point proteins
- Smaller venue, more carefully prepared food
- Excellent service
The Bad:
- Some desserts were too sweet
- Well, you have to pay for it
Viv loves cruising. From the very first time we took a cruise together, she was hooked. However, she is indifferent about cruising to Alaska. In fact, she may have stated that she will never do another Alaskan cruise (we've done 2). So when the NCL Bliss started doing the Alaskan run from Seattle, I was afraid to ask her if she wanted to go or not. You see, I really wanted to cruise on that ship... She begrudgingly agreed after I sold her on the 18 different restaurants on board as well as the 2-deck go-kart track. Oh and we booked a Mini-Suite, which included a full-sized shower and balcony. Yep, let's travel in style, it really doesn't matter where we go!
Now about that Cabin, it was not really a "suite" as it was no bigger than the regular balcony cabin at 249 square feet. As such, the cabin was pretty much what you'd find in any other cruise ship in that particular category. Since we had the kids with us, the cabin was a quad where there was a pullman bed above the sofa bed. Our 2 twins combined into a king. We really enjoyed having USB ports at each side of the bed. Still only one electrical outlet though at the base of the vanity. Closet space was pretty limited located just to the left of the sofa bed. It was enough, but barely. The real highlight of the room (other than the balcony) was the large Washroom with full-sized shower. Finally, I could move around and not hit my shoulder, head or butt into the wall or shower curtain. Loved the multiple spray nozzles as it provided a full-body wash. The double sinks also allowed for 2 people to get ready. The fact that the toilet was not pushed up against anything was also a plus.
Although the NCL Bliss isn't as big as the Oasis class ships from RCCL (I've been on the Allure), it is still one of the larger cruise ships in the industry. Although there were plenty of public areas, I found many of them rather crowded and with many bottlenecks when activities overlapped. One of the worst locations was the Atrium (not pictured) where it seemed that they used for almost everything. This included trivia, live shows and seminars. Trying to get a seat would require one to stalk the previous session and hope people would leave. There was not enough seating at times for the amount of people who wanted to attend/participate. To further complicate the situation, the same area also contained guest services, Starbucks and the photo studio. As a result, people just passing through would be stuck in the crowd around the atrium. One of the ways to avoid this is to sit above in the Local Bar & Grill and look down into the atrium when there were are shows. Whenever we wanted to grab a quick bite in a more tranquil setting, we headed over to the Observation Lounge.
Boasting 18 different restaurants, there was no need to worry where our next meal would be. However, most came with a cover charge or a la carte pricing. We ended up getting the 3-Restaurant dining package included with our cruise. For the kids, we had to add 2 more packages to cover them since each cabin only comes with 2 free packages. Even though one could pick any 3 restaurants, Ocean Blue required an extra $10.00 surcharge. We decided on Cagney's, Le Bistro and La Cucina as our 3 specialty restaurants. To ensure we sampled as many dining options as possible, we went a la carte at Food Republic and Q Smokehouse. Moreover, we visited all 3 main dining rooms (complimentary) including The Manhattan Room, Savor and Taste as well as the Garden Cafe (buffet) and Observation Lounge (light buffet). For lunch, we paid the cover charge for Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. Other than Ocean Blue (focus on seafood), the other spots we didn't get to try were The District Brewhouse, Los Lobos (Mexican), Teppanyaki (we tried this on a the Pride of America) and The Haven Restaurant (only available to those staying in The Haven). In the following days, I will address every restaurant we ate at as an individual post.
In addition to the many restaurants, we found the aforementioned Starbucks, Coco's, Dolce Gelato and The Bake Shop. At Coco's, one could feast on desserts, milkshakes and custom sundaes. Adjacent to each other, Dolce Gelato featured 8 flavors and The Bake Shop boasted an array of macarons (12 varieties) and other pastries. These were all extra charge and I only got to try the macarons. They weren't necessarily on the level of the finer macarons in the world (like Pierre Hermes), but they were still legit. So all the food was a big part of the cruise and so it should be, yet, one cannot go aboard the NCL Bliss and not be aware of the 2-level Go-Kart track at the back of deck 19. These were electric go-karts and were able to go pretty fast, but limited by the staff. I found it to be quite fun albeit frustrating due to the variety of racers on the track. Some clearly have never done go-karting and hence do not know how to drive nor move over when they are going slow. This was an extra $10.95 per race. If you want to book a time, do so immediately when you get on the ship at many of the touchscreens near the elevators. Otherwise, you will be on standby.
Another one of their featured activities was the Laser Tag on deck 20. This was also a $10.95 charge for 2 games. With the purpose-built futuristic bio-hazard lab theme course, we were placed into 2 teams (we didn't have a choice which team and who to play with). I think they did as good of a job as possible given the space available on the top level of the ship. There seemed to be enough room to hide and move about. Instead of wearing vests, the guns were also the target for the opposing team. This made is it a bit confusing who was exactly on our team and also, it was hard to aim at an opponent when they could hide their gun at their side. Whatever the case, this was still a fun experience and worth trying out while on board. Nearby, the 2 Watersides were pretty impressive to look at, but for us, only one was working all cruise. The wait for it wasn't actually that bad, but we had to walk quite a distance to go from the end of the slide back to the start. It didn't go very fast, but again, worth a few runs.
In terms of entertainment, the one show we really loved was The Jersey Boys in the Main Theater. The production quality as well as the talent was top notch. For those who haven't seen the play, it is about the rise and fall of the Four Seasons. In the cruise ship industry, we find full-length Broadway productions generally on larger cruise ships (and longer cruises). I've watch Chicago on The Allure of the Seas before and The Jersey Boys was certainly on par. To ensure you are guaranteed a seat to watch the show, you must book in online prior to your cruise or if still available, on one of the screens near the elevators (or your room too). Another highlight was the cover band of the Beatles playing at the "Cavern Club". Yes, they did a version of the original nightclub in Liverpool that the Beatles used to play at. The musicians were really good and everyone always had a rockin' good time at all their shows. We watched them twice! We also caught them in the main theater for their final show of the cruise where they were dressed in their Sgt Pepper's unis.
Since this was our 3rd cruise to Alaska, the ports weren't as important as the ship itself. However, we did try to enjoy each stop regardless. We did noticed that in Juneau, they had moved the location of Tracy's Crab Shack into an actual B&M rather than a food stand. Over in Skagway, the town has been built-up more, but we opted to go for a hike to Yakutania Point and Smuggler's Cove. It was moderate and offered up some amazing views. We didn't get too creative in Ketchikan, where we only wandered around the town. Miraculously, this was our 3rd time here and it hadn't rained each time. You see, Ketchikan sees only 100 days of sunshine a year! And you thought Seattle and Vancouver had it rough... Of course, probably the highlight of the cruise was cruising into Glacier Bay where the views were spectacular. We've done this before, so it wasn't as awe-inspiring, but for those who haven't seen it, definitely get those cameras ready. Honestly, Victoria was a throwaway stop (only 7:00pm to midnight) because it was only on the itinerary to satisfy the "international port" requirement so that they could have an international crew. The fact this cruise was a return trip to Seattle, meant we would have to drive back up to Vancouver afterwards, but Seattle is a great destination in itself.
Similar to many other cruise lines, we chose our embarkation time and arrived within a 30-minute window. This really cut down the lines and amount of people arriving at the docks at the same time. However, the cruise terminal in Seattle wasn't the best for being dropped off as the street was narrow and parking was limited. Once inside, it was a breeze to get on the ship. Getting off the massive ship was another story though. There were 2 lines to get off and one was definitely longer (which we were in). That line snaked through the casino. We really should've used the other line which was at the front of the ship. This process took very long and according to our time, over an hour. Not unusual though as it took some time on the Allure as well. Overall, we enjoyed out cruise aboard The Bliss where the food at the specialty restaurants was good and the entertainment was top notch. There was enough activities on board for the younger crowd and plenty of shows around. However, we found that there could've been more things planned on our daily schedule.
The Good:
- New and modern cruise ship with all of the amenities
- Lots of dining options
- Unique activities such as go-karts and laser tag
- Top notch entertainment
- All the new technology
The Bad:
- Some bottlenecks with so many thing happening at once
- Non-specialty restaurants are so-so
- Similar to other cruise lines, the best food comes with a surcharge
- Arriving in Juneau at 2:30pm limits the activities you would want to do
- Debarkation was very long
Since we didn't have our car for the day, we ended up spending our time in and around Redmond Town Center. Why didn't we have our car you might be wondering... Well, we were to picked up by Goose the next day heading to Pier 66 for our cruise aboard the NCL Bliss. So I had dropped our car off at his place the night before (and also saved myself $25.00 in unnecessary valet fees since I didn't need the car anyways). Therefore, we picked Matt's Rotisserie & Oyster Bar for dinner as it was practically across the street from our hotel.
We got a couple of starters including the Hot Dungeness Crab & Artichoke Dip served with rosemary croccantini crackers. Yes, the crackers looked a look like saltines, but they were definitely not. They were much firmer and crunchier. As such, they held up just fine when used to pick up the dip. Thick, cheesy and full of fluffy crab, the dip was definitely one of the highlights of our meal. We thought the viscosity was just right as it wasn't watery, yet wasn't too rich at the same time. With a fairly decent portion size, the Flash Fried Calamari was quite good. The batter was crispy, light and well-seasoned. Tender with an appealing chewiness, the squid was cooked just enough. I thought the lemon-garlic aioli was a good balance of tanginess and aromatics.
Even though we had fries accompanying some of our dishes already, we went ahead and ordered the Garlic Truffle Fries anyways. Good decision as the kiddies gobbled it up. Almost like shoestring potatoes, the fries were crispy, light and not overly greasy. This is unusual as many versions of truffle fries are coated with far too much truffle oil. There was plenty of garlic, parm and truffle for the fries to be tasty on their own. However, the garlic aioli amped it up further. I only wished it wasn't so runny. Surprisingly, my daughter was okay with ordering the kid's Fish & Chips (she usually orders an adult meal) and they were hit and miss on the same plate. The fish was flaky and moist but the batter was far too thick and she decided to just eat the fish. Tartar was chunky and tangy while the fries were as good as the appie version.
My son decided on the Beef Short Rib Stroganoff sporting port-braised short rib, portabella & crimini mushrooms, egg noodles and a dollop of sour cream. This was a fairly large portion of tender noodles and an equal amount of meaty short rib. There was also no shortage of plump mushrooms either. Heavy on the wine flavor, but still balanced, the stroganoff was also full of meatiness. Of course the sour cream on top added body and tanginess. My parents weren't very hungry, so they shared the Rotisserie Salt & Pepper Half Chicken with Yukon Gold smashers and herb jus. This was a major disappointment as the chicken was dry and bland. Other than the well-rendered skin, there wasn't anything redeeming about the chicken. For a place that calls itself a rotisserie, the chicken was several levels below the one found at Costco.
For myself, I had the 9 oz Rotisserie Prime Rib with mashed potatoes and broccolini. I asked for medium-rare and it came out more like rare (which was fine by me). I thought the prime rib was super moist, yet wasn't as tender as I would've expected. With that being said, it was still completely fine. The mashed potatoes were firm and starchy while mildly seasoned. Perfectly crunchy and vibrant, the broccolini was seasoned just enough. Viv stayed on the same theme with the Rotisserie Prime Rib Dip with caramelized onions, Swiss cheese and horseradish mayo on a Macrina roll. Viv thought the sandwich was smaller than expected, but it was enough nonetheless. There was a considerable amount of cheese and combined with the onions, the au jus was not even needed. However, it did help soften up the bread and we liked how it wasn't too salty.
Goose had the Steak Frites where the fries were of course the same crispy shoestring ones found in the other dishes. As for the steak, it was nicely seared on the outside, but was overdone. Rather than medium-rare, it was closer to medium. Not sure if that affected the texture as the steak was not as tender as he would've hoped. Again, much like my prime rib, it was still fine as it was far from being chewy. Mother Goose went with the Scampi Prawns which was lacking in capelini pasta. Despite this, the prawns were perfectly prepared being meaty with a snap. Lots of flavor from the garlic, basil, tangy confit cherry tomatoes and olive oil. Unlike other versions out there, the pasta was moist from the oil, yet not greasy at the same time.
Goose's son went for the Rotisserie Prime Rib Tacos with chipotle slaw, guacamole and tomatillo pico de gallo on two wood-fired corn tortillas. These tacos were huge! Thin and crispy, the corn tortillas were able to hold everything in without completely falling apart. This was an achievement since there was a tonne of tender prime rib. Definitely filling and satisfying. Overall, we found the food at Matt's to be hit and miss with some real highs and some disappointing lows. They really need to work on that chicken as it doesn't do the name of the restaurant justice. I guess if one was to order the better dishes, Matt's does do the job with decent portion sizes.
The Good:
- Lots of choice
- Decent portion size
- Some good dishes
The Bad:
- Some really bad dishes too
- Not cheap
Before we get into this post, I would like to state that I much prefer proper sit-down meals rather than sloshing through mounds of mediocre food found at a buffet. Okay, with that out-of-the-way (and hopefully silencing some haters), I do admit that the occasional all-you-can-eat meal can be fun and offer up a selection of food that even the most bountiful of meals cannot match. One of the better AYCE spots in the Seattle area is Feast Buffet in Renton. I've been here before several times for lunch but never for dinner. This time around, it was as good as any other time to experience the difference between the two (other than the price $26.99 vs. $31.99 adult weekend lunch vs. dinner).
The biggest difference was very obvious when we were seated. All we had to do was look over to the Seafood section of the buffet where there was a long lineup. This was for the Half-Lobsters which were served individually to diners by a staff member. Yes, I wouldn't trust anyone with a tray of lobsters either! You know what? These were actually quite good. Yeah yeah, I know they were of the frozen variety. They still had a bouncy meaty texture to them and were not overcooked. In addition to the lobster, we also found Snow Crab Legs, Fried Shrimp, Mussels and Fried Fish as well as Black Bean Clams. The best of the bunch was the plump clams and surprisingly, the snow crab. It was fairly meaty and had a springy texture (even though we know they were also frozen). To get you money's worth, it really was all about the lobster though.
One of the largest and most popular food stations is the Sushi and Sashimi. I believe Feast boasts the largest selection in the Seattle area (maybe Mizuki comes close). The main difference between lunch and dinner is pretty obvious with one quick scan of the station - much bigger selection of sashimi. We found salmon, tuna, hokkigai, hotate, unagi, red tuna and tai. Although no one can ever compare buffet sashimi to the expertly prepared variety at legit Japanese restaurants, these ate fresh and were fine texturally. The variety of Nigiri was also more extensive compared to lunch with hotate, hokkigai, salmon, tuna, unagi, tai, seared salmon, tako and inari. Again, considering the venue, I thought the rice was acceptable. Yes, it was a bit dry and lacking in seasoning, but it wasn't terrible either. As evidenced in the picture, the fish on top was vibrant in colour with a fresh sheen. Not the best, yet certainly not bad either. To round things out, there was a selection of "California-roll" based Maki Sushi as well as tempura and condiments.
With the cooked food, there was plenty to choose from, but I decided to hit up the Chinese and Dim Sum stations first. If we were to compare the dim sum here with what we would normally find in a regular restaurant, some items were respectable. Their chicken feet must be from gigantic chickens because they were extremely plump. As such, there was plenty of soft cartilage and fat underneath the fried skin. Tripe was tender while the spareribs were meaty. I wasn't impressed with the Shrimp Dumplings and Siu Mai though. Both were dry and lifeless. I decided to try some of the Chinese food in the Broccoli Beef, Honey Shrimp and Sweet & Sour Pork. Pretty typical North American-style Chinese food. At least they didn't overcook the broccoli.
Other than the seafood, the one station that does it for me would've been the Mongolian Grill. Yes, it ain't the sexiest food nor is it particularly the most "worth it", but I enjoyed the freshness. With an array of choices for vegetables, noodles and meat, one can have a customized plate food. Only problem is that it will fill you up really quickly. They did a good job here where the noodles were still al dente and the veggies crunchy. Shrimp was bouncy while the steak was surprisingly tender and well-charred. This is best shared amongst a few people. One needs to save room for more variety! Only issue is that you have to wait there for it to be done. I saw some people leave, but then your dish could be hijacked or waiting there getting cold.
One of the most disappointing stations was the Carvery. For the pricing, one would expect more than mashed potatoes, sausage, ribs and roast beef. I mean, not that anything was necessarily bad, it just wasn't that important to eat. That is the complete opposite of most buffets where we would find chicken and/or turkey, ham, prime rib and the sort. Making up for this was the massive Dessert Bar where it occupied the whole center of the buffet. Not that anything was amazing, but the variety was good. In addition to cakes and little bites, we found fruit, a chocolate fountain, hard ice cream, made-to-order crepes and a Taiwanese shaved ice station. Now if I had to choose between the lunch or dinner service, I would pick lunch hands-down (especially on the weekdays, if you can make it). The extra cost for dinner is just not worth it for a few more items. With all that being said, Feast doesn't do everything well, but for a buffet, it does it well enough in relation to everyone else.
The Good:
- Lots of choice
- Decent Japanese food station
- Relatively reasonable price for weekday lunch
The Bad:
- Carvery is embarassing
- Dinner is hardly worth it
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Ever since our first NCL cruise, we’ve enjoyed good meals at Le Bistro. This has been one of their longest standing specialty restaurants and in my opinion, one of their best. As the name suggests, Le Bistro is NCL’s fine dining French option amongst their many Freestyle dining choices. So on our first night aboard the Norwegian Bliss, we chose to skip the main dining rooms and start off with Le Bistro. It certainly didn’t hurt that it was included with our 3-restaurant dining package that was part of our mini-suite. We did, however, had to purchase the dining package for our kids though.
As per usual, we had a limit of 2 appetizers each and like we always do, we maxed it out. I decided on the Salade Frisee with warm goat cheese and sautéed pancetta and the Escargots Bourguignonne. Fresh and crisp, the salad was dressed in a vinaigrette that had enough acidity for brightness and to provide balance with the crispy salty pancetta. The goat cheese was creamy and gamy where the flavor was impactful. I found the escargots to be pretty textbook bathed in a garlicky herbed butter. The mushrooms added some earthiness. I found the escargots to be soft and tender. I ended up soaking up the butter with the bread at the table.
Viv decided on the Salade de Crabe made with lump crab, horseradish and citrus sauce. Wrapped in cabbage, the salad was essentially all crab with no filler. As such, it ate hearty and fluffy. The natural crab essence really came through while the horseradish was kept to a minimum where it didn’t overwhelm. With the addition of citrus, there was brightness and freshness to the salad. For her second appie, she was presented with a large portion of Moules Marinieres with mussels, shallots, white wine and parsley. This was also pretty classic, albeit a bit short on broth (it was flavorful and aromatic though). The mussels were not particularly meaty, but they were buttery and briny.
My son had the Coquilles Saint Jacques Provencal featuring seared scallops, eggplant, tomato, pine nuts and olive oil. Although the scallops were rather small in size, they were prepared properly being buttery with an appealing rebound. They were sweet on their own with some caramelization on the exterior. The accompaniments added some more sweetness, tang and nuttiness. He also had the Soup aux Quatre Champignons (as well as my daughter) which was plenty mushroomy. It was earthy and full of umaminess. I thought it was a bit too thick, but then again, it is a whole lot better than runny. We enjoyed how it wasn’t overly salty.
The same couldn’t be said about my dad’s Soupe a L’oignon Gratinee (French Onion Soup) as it was really salty. We realize that this soup can pack quite the punch in terms of saltiness and sweetness, but this was a little much. On the other hand, it was full of deep onion flavor as well as the nuttiness from the Gruyere Cheese. I tried a few spoonfuls and ended up eating a lot more as it was tasty to me. In addition to her mushroom soup, my daughter had the Salade D’asperges Tiedes with oranges and smoked duck. Originally, she was supposed to share some with me, but she ended up eating most of it. The duck was tender and smoky while the asparagus was still crunchy.
For our entrees, my dad had the Sole Grenobloise featuring sautéed dover sole with lemon caper butter, croutons and potatoes. Beautifully prepared, the generous portion of sole was buttery soft while still flaky. The delicate fish was graced with a creamy butter sauce that had equal amounts of acidity from the lemon and saltiness from the capers. My mom went for the Carre d’agneau roti or roasted rack of lamb with artichokes, blistered tomatoes, zucchini and green olive sauce. Although it looked plenty rare from the outside, it was actually perfectly medium-rare being tender. Although not plentiful, the olive sauce was impactful with a tangy saltiness.
For myself, I had the Medaillons de Veau with morel sauce, twice-baked potato cake and seasonal vegetables. This ended up to be more a veal steak than medallions, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t good. In fact, it was perfectly medium-rare and yes, tender. Loved the morel sauce as you can imagine, it was super woodsy and full of umaminess. It was also seasoned enough too where it flavored all of the veal. Viv decided on the Parmentier de Canard with orange-braised carrots and microcress salad. The “pulled duck” was soft with classic duck meatiness. The sweet carrots provided the duck with another layer of flavor. Portion size was a little lacking thought, but will of the appies, she was good.
My daughter ended up Filet de Loup de Mer with ratatouille sauce, fried chickpea semolina and tomato confit. Featuring a beautifully prepared crispy well-seasoned skin, the branzino was delicate and flaky. I thought the ratatouille sauce could’ve been more impactful and seasoned more aggressively though. For my son, he stayed with his standby being beef. The Filet de Boeuf featured a 5-peppercorn 8 oz beef tenderloin with light brandy sauce and Anna potatoes. Prepared a proper medium-rare, the tenderloin was buttery soft. Since tenderloin steaks can be rather mild-tasting, the combination of peppercorns and brandy sauce made up for it.
Onto dessert, I had the Fondue au Chocolat with fresh fruit and choux pastry. I found the fondue to be fairly sweet and thick yet lacking in silkiness. That wasn’t a big deal as the big chunks of fresh fruit were really good on their own. This was especially true with the sweet pineapple and kiwi. Not sure about the choux pastry as the pieces were too small and too firm. Viv went for the Napoleon a la Noisette with praline crunch and gianduja cream. This featured a layers of wafer like chocolate with dollops of hazelnut cream. Texturally, this was fine, but it was far too sweet overwhelming the chocolate flavor. It looked pretty though.
My daughter had the Profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce. The sauce was actually served on the side, but was poured on top by our server. We really should’ve asked for it to be left on the side as it became rather messy and too sweet. On its own, the profiteroles were soft and airy with a somewhat icy ice cream in the middle. They would’ve been better just like that without the sauce. My dad decided on the Tarte Tatin with vanilla ice cream. Sporting layers of tender caramelized apples, this was also sweet, but purposefully so. The pastry was crispy and flaky while also plenty buttery.
Lastly, my mom opted for her favorite – Vanilla Creme Brulee with sable cookie and berry basket. This featured a fairly sweet custard that was the right consistency neither too thick nor too runny. The torched sugar topping was medium-thick and hard (which was a good thing). Once again, Le Bistro didn't disappoint. I know that NCL sometimes takes abuse over their average food. That is a fair comment when referring to the main dining rooms. However, I've always found their specialty dining to be good. That sparks the debate that only the paid restaurants serve better food. Well, that is across the board in the mainstream cruise industry (maybe except for Holland America). If you do cruise NCL, make sure you try Le Bistro.
