When I sailed aboard Carnival Venezia during its inaugural season in 2023, one of my fondest memories was the food. That must also be true for other passengers, as they filled the restaurants morning, noon and night.
I finally understood why there were always long lines at Guy’s Burger Joint, created by Food Network star Guy Fieri, when I bit into one of his juicy burgers. The Bento Box, Green Tea Cupcake and Kirin Beer at the Bonsai Sushi restaurant were excellent. And my strip loin steak at the steakhouse Fahrenheit 555 was one of the best I had in years. The food spoke to me, and I answered—yes!
Emeril Lagasse and his culinary team chart a new course
So, who could top that kind of cuisine and why? That chef is New Orleans culinary icon Emeril Lagasse, famous for his Food Network career and for bringing Cajun-Creole cuisine to a national audience through his television series Emeril Live. The James Beard Foundation winner for Best Southeast Regional Chef is the Chief Culinary Officer at Carnival Cruise Line.
Lagasse oversees fleetwide menu development, signature dining room options, and operates his standalone specialty restaurant, Emeril’s Bistro. His plans for cuisine on the seas are ambitious. So, when I attended a tasting of new menu items for four new restaurant choices scheduled for upcoming ships (Carnival Festivale in 2027 and Carnival Tropicale in 2028) and updates to current menus, collectively known as “The Next Course,” I was curious to see how CCL could up its culinary game.
Start with the four new restaurants with their four new experiences.
Emeril’s Coastal Seafood—Coastal-inspired cuisine from chef Emeril Lagasse.
Flavors stretching from the Gulf Coast to New England, accented by Creole, influences set this dining experience apart. Begin with his signature Barbeque Shrimp with a Rosemary Biscuit. Gulf shrimp are served in a rich cream sauce infused with barbeque stock and complemented by a soft, delectable biscuit. If you choose a Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Cake for your main course, it’s served with comeback sauce, asparagus, cucumber, heirloom baby tomato, radish and a delicate quail egg.
Uku Lei Lei—Hawaiian specialties and Asian classics.
The Hawaiian-inspired menu is so evocative you’ll want to take a trip to the Aloha State. Start with a Lychee Mai Tai cocktail, which features premium ingredients: Bacardi Superior Rum, Captain Morgan Rum, Finest Call Orgeat, freshly squeezed lime juice, Finest Call Triple Sec and Lychee Reàl. Follow that with Crab Rangoon with Pineapple Sweet Chili Sauce appetizers, which look like star-shaped tacos. Tender? The meat on the Mongolian Beef Short Rib entrée falls off the bone. This is the dish you’ll brag about when you get home: Braised beef short rib with a tangy ponzu sauce, garlic and a hint of chili to add a gentle kick.
Fetaccine—Mediterranean-inspired, Italian favorites with Greek specialties.
It’s a taste of Southern European cuisine. The menu blends flavors that evoke Greek islands such as Mykonos and Italian coastal cities such as Naples. The shrimp saganaki makes a great starter dish. You can debate whether the Chicken Parmesan or Greek lamb chops are the better choice for an entrée or just trust the Penne Alta Vodka pasta, with its bacon, mushrooms and tomato sauce. Settle on cannoli for dessert and order a shot of Limoncello liqueur, a favorite from Italy’s Amalfi Coast, to mellow out.
Le Bistro Musicale—Classic French cuisine—exclusively on Carnival Festivale.
It’s like sitting in a Parisian café. Begin your French-flair meal with French Onion Soup. Tap through the buttery puff-pastry crust and scoop up the rich broth and onions. Move on to the Chicken Cordon Bleu for a classic treat that includes ham, Emmental cheese and fluffy mashed potatoes. Besides dining for dinner, try the croissants for breakfast or for lunch, get the Croque Madame, a French hot sandwich with layers of ham, cheese, and creamy béchamel, topped with a perfectly fried sunny-side-up egg. You can go French any part of the day.
Classic restaurants get new dishes
There’s a good reason to revisit restaurants across the fleet, as multiple dining venues are receiving upgrades that breathe new life into familiar favorites while adding fresh new items. They’re the kind of enhancements that keep passengers returning to beloved dining spots. Innovative pop-up food experiences, mobile coffee ordering and zero-proof mocktails accompany the new restaurant offerings. Among the highlights is the BBQ Salmon, served atop andouille potatoes and finished with barbeque sauce and crispy onion rings. Meat lovers may gravitate toward the Petite Filet and Grilled Jumbo Shrimp, with the filet mignon accompanied by herb-roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus.
Desserts so good it’s hard to choose
So many choices. So many decisions. But the most confounding one may be choosing the perfect after-dinner sweet. There are so many, but two are generating plenty of buzz. The Carnival Chocolate Melting Cake paired with vanilla ice cream is a champ. But its rival is Emeril’s Banana Cream Pie, which is capped with circular chocolate shavings and a sweet caramel sauce. See what I mean about hard decisions!
A lot has changed on the food scene on Carnival Cruise Line since my last voyage. There’s plenty to contemplate on my next trip, especially when these new restaurants make their debut. It’s enough to make any food-loving cruiser sail away!
For more info about dining on Carnival Cruise Line go to: carnival.com/cruise-food.
Check out more of Dwight Brown’s travel/food articles on: https://dwightbrownink.com