The food on the cruise ship was, well, let’s say interesting. It went from really really good to so-so. This was the case whether you went through the buffet line in the cafeteria or one of the main dining rooms.
Some of the fruit in the cafeteria (called the Market Cafe) was sometimes not quite ripe enough to be served. Other times, the thought ran through my head that perhaps some of the food had been frozen then thawed. Overall it was good.
Once, after dinner, we were walking around and found a chef who was making crepes. Of course, I had to try one and it was delicious! (Not the best choice for a person on a paleo diet though.)
The Norwegian Star has a few specialty restaurants. These are not included in the price of your cruise though so you pay extra to eat at them. Most times you have to make a reservation depending on the popularity of the restaurant. We only took advantage of one of these restaurants which was a Brazilian Restaurant called the Moderno Churrascaria (more about this later in a later post).
This is the first time that we have cruised on a ship that is “freestyle.” Most other ships have formal nights where you dress up and meet the Captain and the waitpeople get to know you and your preferences. The passengers have designated dinner hours in the dining rooms and sit with other people who they get to know during the cruise. Not so on this ship. You can pretty much eat in the dining room any time on the half hour and you’re seated “wherever.” I do like the casual clothing aspect for dining but prefer the same designated waiters and busboys.
There is also much clattering noise as people are coming and going for meals and they have to quickly set up tables. The maitre’d came to our table to ask us how things were going and we spoke to him about the noise and slow service. The following day, he moved us to a quieter area of the dining room and we also had more experienced waitstaff which was much appreciated.
Below are some of the photos I took of some breakfasts and dinners. For this first entree, they had mashed potatoes but later when I had the lamb shank I requested they substitute the mashed potatoes for sweet potato mash and they were happy to oblige.
The smoked salmon tartare (below) was good. It had a cucumber, avocado and dijon dressing.
The cheesecake was too sweet for my palate. Since I have not been eating sugar for a couple of weeks, I just couldn’t finish the cheesecake that came with a strawberry compote.
Yes, another picture of the lamb shank because I must’ve had it three times. Can you guess that I enjoy lamb shank? You’d be right.
I’ve been appreciating salads more and more these day. This one was served with balsamic vinaigrette.
This was one of the breakfasts I had in the Versailles Dining Room. For breakfast, we normally went to the Market Cafe where they had a buffet and I had fruit with my breakfast.
The quiche, which was served as a “starter” was really good. It tasted very light and was served with mixed greens and lime dressing.
These meatballs were scrumptious. Yes, scrumptious!
The bread pudding was served warm. It was okay but a tad bit too dense.
I can’t recall exactly what this soup is but it was good.
I ordered the apple pie and thought it would be really really good but I was disappointed (and they brought me two slices that I didn’t ask for). It was just okay — nothing special.
My husband had the coconut souffle with a mango lime sauce. I wish I had ordered this instead of the apple pie as it was heavenly (well, the small bit my husband allowed me to taste).
An interesting thing about the beef stroganoff was that it had beets in it. Very unusual, eh?
That’s just a small sampling of what they served in the Versailles Dining room on the Norwegian Star. You can click here to see the rest of the menu items from another person’s blog.
Overall, I did okay on my paleo diet although I did have a slice of bread every day, a small dessert and an occasional hot chocolate.
Other posts regarding the cruise are below (just click on the link).
Preparing for a Winter Vacation
5 thoughts on “The Norwegian Star – Food”