I Tried ALL the Food on Norwegian Encore (Honest NCL Dining Review)

I tried all of the food onboard Norwegian Encore on my first-ever NCL cruise and am ready to give my brutally honest NCL Dining and NCL Encore Food Review. Featured dining venues include The Local, Cagney's Steakhouse, Taste and Savor MDR, Manhattan Room, Q Smokehouse, Ocean Blue, Los Lobos, Le Bistro, and more! Norwegian Encore is a beautiful ship, but is Norwegian Encore the right ship to sail in Alaska? Norwegian Encore is the largest ship in the NCL fleet and often cannot port in the smaller cruise ports of Alaska while on these Alaska cruises. I give a detailed ship dining and food review from my trip on NCL Encore.

I enjoyed sailing with Norwegian Cruise Line for the first time onboard the beautiful Norwegian Encore. The NCL Encore debuted in 2019 and is currently sailing Alaska Cruises from Seattle, Washington.

I will have many videos already on my channel from Norwegian Cruise Line and Norwegian Encore, including a full dining and food review, a full review of Norwegian Encore, sea day vlogs, and more! This video includes honest opinions on Q Smokehouse, Los Lobos, Cagney's Steakhouse, Ocean Blue, Le Bistro, Taste, Savor, The Local, and more!

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00:00 Introduction
00:49 The Local Lunch
03:21 Le Bistro
06:48 Main Dining Room Lunch
08:02 Taste Main Dining Room Lunch
09:05 The Local
11:05 Cagney's Steakhouse
12:45 The Local Breakfast
14:09 Ocean Blue
17:39 Los Lobos
19:28 Savor Main Dining Room Lunch
20:52 Q Smokehouse

[miata]

Zach: One reason I like your channel so much is--- well, you are a solo cruiser: NO distraction from a "spouse" or anyone else. You call your own agenda! Some times I have difficulty keeping up with your word pace, but I manage. I honestly look forward to your next post. 73s.

[macewank]

If you make it back on a Norwegian ship, I highly recommend the Rueben sandwich from the local as well. It's also available on the late nite menu. So good

[mlundbaron]

We enjoyed all the food on the Encore back in December 2022 and we dined everywhere, too! To each his or her own as they say!! NCL is an incredible cruise line and every service person went out of their way to ensure we were having a memorable vacation. Will be traveling on The Jade to the Caribbean in February 2024. Hubby and I can't wait to get back on board. Cheers!

[dancooper]

Hey Zach, I pretty much fully agree with your assessment. MDR breakfasts and lunches on NCL are some of the best on any cruise line. In my experience the MDR lunch menus rotate every 3 days or so, it’s not the same every day. MDR dinners, on the other hand, leave a lot to be desired. Tough cuts of meat, no lobster night, no Beef Wellington, etc. And the specialty dining can be hit or miss.

[renee]

I have taken 58 NCL solo cruises. I will have to say since covid, their food has gone down hill. It is still ok but nothing like precovid. But will be on my 59th and 60th NCL cruise in two weeks.

[norwegiancruiseline]

Thanks for sharing your experience, and glad you enjoyed the food!

[aagg]

I just went on the Encore in November and I loved it! I ate at Onda and Los Lobos, and a bunch of binges at the Garden Cafe, and it was amazing!

[Cha-y]

Frequent NCL cruisers here.
Breakaway, Breakaway plus, and most recently the Prima.

If you ever get a chance to do the Haven Resturant it will blow you away.

[USBP]

Very informative and no unnecessary fluff. Thank you

[Talktoomuch]

This is great! Nothing like a nice batch of fish fries. Los Lobos might be one of my all time favorites!

[eminiarvii]

Just coming off the Encore in April, you are right on in your review, my exception was the service in Cagney’s are food was top notch but i had the Ny strip and the service was wonderful. Loved the Local, only ate lunch, hated the blue cheese burger also...wings wings, wings and the Reuben ..yum. I cant believe you did not have the Rueben Zack😮 Thanks for the review🚢

[maxinegross]

Glad to hear food on the Encore is good. We’re on the Epic now. I would not recommend the food at all. You will not likely starve but I would not say it is above mediocre.

[abrahamj.roberts]

Hey Zach - thank you so much for putting so much into your food reviews. On my list - Food is close to #1 if not #1. LOL! So this is very helpful and enjoyable to view and hear.

[bunkerhillguy]

I was on the Norwegian Bliss which is the sister ship of Encore and had great food too!!

[sportsMike]

I never spend a dime on specialty dining. Was on the Bliss last year and everything included was very good to me.

[waynewebster]

I've been on the Encore's sister ship, the Bliss, a couple of times and I have to agree that the Q Smokehouse is criminally underrated. I had the brisket there and my only disappointment was the fact that I'd eaten earlier in the day and couldn't eat everything that was on the plate.

[katrinaassoumou]

Wow! The food really looks delicious! Thank you always for your honest evaluation of the foods. I appreciate you. Amen

[slimcourage]

I love wings so it’s nice to see there’s a reliable option for them on at least one ship out there. But your Los Lobos meal had me drooling. I love maduros (fried plantains) and elote (street corn) so I’m glad to hear they tasted great.

Oh man, that platter! It looks amazing but probably better to share that with one or two other people.

[mikeclark]

I have 133 nites with NCL, La Bisto is a fantastic restrant The be escargot is the abstract appetizer the onion soup is hard to beat, the lamb chops are outstanding, chicken wings best things on Locals menu.

[Steven-erbt]

Thanks Zach! We know that your food reviews align with what we like and think. The crab cake, wings, bbq ribs and first burger, Los Lobos Q Smokehouse, and your other highlighted offerings looked great! Clearly Norwegian is capable of delivering stellar results but seems a bit inconsistent. Keep up the great work! We can't wait for your next reviews.