Norwegian’s La Cucina: Our Honest Review with Menu
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Booking restaurants for your NCL cruise? You have to try Norwegian’s La Cucina for its mouthwatering Italian dishes. Delizioso!
For authentic Italian cuisine on a cruise, search no further than Norwegian’s La Cucina specialty restaurant. We had dinner at La Cucina on our most recent Caribbean cruise on Norwegian Joy, a meal I always look forward to. On our Panama Canal cruise in January, we had a wonderful dinner there, and this time we lucked out and had the same attentive server, James.
La Cucina’s atmosphere is warm and cozy, elegant without being over the top in a soothing color scheme of dark blue and tan. And if you’re lucky enough to be seated by the windows, you’ll have a glorious view of the ocean. It’s the perfect venue for a date night or just a relaxing dinner.
The menu is filled with classic Italian dishes that will make your mouth water, dishes like lasagna, spaghetti carbonara, and chicken cacciatore. And the pizza is made fresh to order, with toppings like prosciutto, arugula, and basil.
The Details
- Specialty: Italian cuisine
- Hours: 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
- Dress Code: Smart Casual
- Cover Charge: A la carte plus 20% gratuity, or you can use your dining package
The Menu
La Cucina’s menu contains all your Italian favorites, including pizza!
Pro Tip: The portions at Norwegian’s La Cucina are quite large, so skip lunch if you’re having dinner there.
The Appetizers
The appetizers at La Cucina consist of your choice of soup, antipasto, or salad.
Although they all sounded delicious, for this meal we chose the Mozzarella Caprese salad and the pear and gorgonzola salad, Insalata Con Pere, Noci, E Gorgonzola. The Caprese salad is a nice ball of fresh mozzarella cheese served with heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil with pesto. The pear salad is mixed greens served with shaved pear, walnuts, and gorgonzola cheese with your choice of dressing.
Caprese salad is always delicious, especially with a nice drizzle of balsamic vinegar, which is provided on the table with extra virgin olive oil. The pear salad was also good, but I found myself wishing for more pear in it.
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The First Course
The first course is your choice of appetizer-sized pasta or risotto dishes. Myron chose the Spaghetti Carbonara, which is spaghetti tossed with egg yolk, pancetta, black pepper, and pecorino cheese. I had the Gnocchi Di Patate Al Pesto, potato dumplings served with a creamy basil pesto sauce.
My gnocchi was tasty, but I found myself eyeing Myron’s spaghetti, which looked extra yummy.
The Second Course
For the second course, Myron had the Cartoccio Di Dentice Rosso Al Frutti Di Mare or fruit of the sea. This dish consists of Livornese-style red snapper, shrimp, clams, mussels, cherry tomatoes, herbs, potatoes, braised fennel, and black olives served in a delicious broth. Myron ordered his without the olives.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat a full entrée, so I chose the appetizer size of the lasagna, Beef Lasagne Al Forno, which is beef Bolognese and parmesan cheese with a mozzarella cream sauce. Oh my, this dish is wonderful! I ate every bite.
Both dishes are so delicious that we order them every time we eat at La Cucina.
Myron noticed that his dish didn’t include shrimp as advertised on the menu, something he was looking forward to. So, he mentioned it to the hostess as she walked by, thinking she would simply bring him two or three shrimp to add to his dish. Apologizing, she whisked away his bowl and within minutes, returned a fresh order complete with the promised shrimp.
Moments later, she returned with the chef, who also apologized profusely. After assuring him that we were happy and loved the food, all was well.
Now, that’s service! Norwegian’s La Cucina exceeded our expectations.
Dessert
We were so full, that we skipped dessert, which is a shame. La Cucina’s desserts are fabulous. They offer the traditional Italian desserts you would expect: tiramisu, panna cotta, cannoli, ricotta torte, and chocolate torte.
Pro Tip: Norwegian’s La Cucina also makes a delicious pizza, which you can order to go!
Our Gift For You
Download your free copy of our Norwegian Joy Restaurants Guide. Enjoy!
Joy Restaurant Guide
Would you like a restaurant handout you could print out and take with you on the Joy? Our exclusive handout gives you the location, dress code, and hours of all the restaurants on the ship. Of course, the hours are subject to change.
Final Thoughts on Norwegian’s La Cucina
La Cucina is one of Norwegian Cruise Line’s specialty restaurants, which means there is an additional cost to dine there. But in my opinion, it’s worth it. The prices are comparable to what you would pay at a nice Italian restaurant on land, and the quality of the food is just as good, if not better.
Norwegian’s La Cucina is one of my favorite specialty restaurants at sea, and for good reason. Their food is always delicious and the service is fabulous, even if it’s a little slow when they’re extremely busy. If you cruise on Norwegian and you haven’t tried it yet, you should. Then you can order a glass of red wine, sit back, and enjoy a delicious Italian meal with a view.
Happy cruising!
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