Holland America Specialty Dining Guide – Restaurants and Foods To Try (With Video)

Holland America Line is known for having some of the best cruise food. Ever wondered what the Holland America Specialty Dining Restaurants and Western Caribbean Cruise are like? Find out on this travel guide.

On a 7 Day Holland America cruise onboard the Nieuw Amsterdam ship, I embarked on a flavorful voyage, exploring the culinary experiences in all 4 of the Holland America Specialty Dining restaurants: Tamarind, Canaletto, Pinnacle Grill, and Morimoto by Sea.

I had such a delicious cruise, and I’m excited to share it all here, including a video so you can watch what it’s like and come eat with me.

Plus, I’m also sharing what it’s like on the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam 7 Day Western Caribbean Cruise.

Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam 7 Day Western Caribbean Cruise

If you’re curious to learn what it’s like on Holland America’s 7 Day Western Caribbean Cruise, I shared daily recaps of my cruise experience, including tips, menus, daily program and a lot of photos:

• Day 1: Fort Lauderdale, Florida – I was on the New Year Holiday Cruise departing Fort Lauderdale, Florida on December 29, 2024.
  • I arrived the day before and stayed at Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port & Convention Center.
• Day 2: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
• Day 3: At Sea (Caribbean Sea)
• Day 4: Ocho Rios, Jamaica
• Day 5: George Town, Grand Cayman
• Day 6: Cozumel, Mexico
• Day 7: At Sea (Caribbean Sea)
• Day 8: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Holland America Specialty Dining Restaurants

Specialty dining on Holland America elevates the dining experience beyond the regular meals offered on the ship.

Unlike the main dining room, which is the one included on your cruise fare, specialty dining restaurants involves extra costs to dine.

These restaurants provide a unique ambiance, meticulously crafted menus, and personalized service, often featuring culinary creations by renowned chefs like Iron Chef Morimoto and James Beard Award winner Chef David Burke.

Aside from some Pinnacle Grill steaks that are offered as a supplement at the Main Dining Room, you won’t typically find food from specialty dining restaurants appearing elsewhere, giving you a reason to try its unique offerings.

When dining at Holland America specialty restaurants, it’s important to dress appropriately. Smart casual attire is the norm, with a touch of elegance.

For men, this means slacks and collared shirts, while women can opt for dresses, skirts, or dressy pants. Avoid beachwear, shorts, and flip-flops to ensure you blend in with the sophisticated setting.

Canaletto – Italian Specialty Dining Restaurant

Nestled within the Lido Market, Canaletto transforms a section of the buffet seating into an intimate Italian restaurant by night.

The menu is broken down into four sections: small plates, the special of the day, house-made pastas and entrées, and desserts.

One thing to note is that you can only pick one house-made pasta or entrée, with additional dishes costing an extra $10 each.

I began with their house-made Signature Kalamata Rosemary Ciabatta Bread, served fresh and warm with olive oil and vinegar.

For cocktails, I opted for the Tuscan Lemon Drop, a refreshing mix of vodka, limoncello, fresh lemon juice, and rosemary.

It was the refreshing blend of citrus and herbal notes, plus it wasn’t too sweet.

The small plates I tried were the grilled tiger shrimp, veal and sage meatball, and burrata.

The shrimps were perfectly cooked with a lovely bite, while the Italian meatballs were juicy and flavorful.

The burrata with pistachio garlic gremolata stole the show with its fresh and creamy texture.

For my main course, I chose the spaghetti with shrimp and clams, which had a garlicky white sauce with a hint of chili and lemon, bringing an interesting contrast.

The spaghetti was al dente, and the seafood flavors were spot on.

I also tried the Chianti-braised beef short rib, which was fork tender and flavorful.

The tiramisu was my favorite, with perfect layers of ladyfingers and mascarpone.

Interestingly, gelato flavors had different consistency of texture, with Bacio being my favorite for being the most creamy and having the strong chocolate and hazelnut taste.

The baked lemon ricotta cheesecake is their most popular, and it’s quite unique compared to the typical New York-style cheesecake. It’s much lighter, less dense and less sweet.

Also Read: Festival Gourmet International in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Pinnacle Grill – Holland America Signature Fine Dining Specialty Restaurant

Located on Deck 3 with stunning views of the sea, Pinnacle Grill offers a luxurious steak and seafood dining experience.

My second visit to the Pinnacle Grill was just as memorable as my first on the Oosterdam.

I highly recommend picking a table by the window for an even more enjoyable experience.

The menu is straightforward, with starters, entrées, and a separate dessert menu.

What makes the menu at Pinnacle Grill unique:

• Unlike other specialty dining restaurants, you can order multiple entrées here without additional cost.
• Additionally, there’s a regional menu section that changes based on the cruise route. Since I was on a Western Caribbean cruise, there was a Caribbean menu. This was new to me as it wasn’t implemented during my first Holland America cruise.
• There are special dishes made by James Beard Award winner Chef David Burke.

I began my evening with the Table-Side De Lijn Gin Tonic, a refreshing cocktail made with a collaboration gin exclusive to Holland America.

The presentation was fun to see, with seasonal botanicals and a double Dutch tonic.

For starters, I couldn’t resist the lobster bisque, poured tableside with a dollop of crème fraîche.

This is one of my favorites with its rich lobster flavor and perfect consistency.

Another Pinnacle Grill favorite of mine is the Clothesline Candied Bacon by Chef David Burke.

The combination of maple, black pepper, and rosemary on thick-cut bacon was simply divine.

For the mains, I chose the boneless ribeye, braised short rib with charred noodles by David Burke, and yellowtail snapper from the Caribbean menu.

The ribeye was perfectly cooked to medium rare, juicy, and tender, with delicious onion rings on top.

The braised short rib was fork tender, and the charred noodles added a delightful texture. It was also a nice surprise to see an Asian dish here.

The yellowtail snapper, served with golden curry and cherry tomatoes, was flaky and perfectly cooked. It’s a great way to try Caribbean curry.

Dessert included a trio of surprise macarons (aptly called Dessert Before The Dessert)—pistachio, salted, and vanilla—and the Not-So-Classic Baked Alaska with cherries jubilee.

The macarons were legit and the buttercream fillings were perfect! My favorite being the pistachio which I actually asked for more,

My favorite Pinnacle Grill dessert, the Baked Alaska was a marshmallowy delight with just the right amount of sweetness. I just wish they flambeed it tableside.

Tamarind – Pan-Asian Specialty Dining Restaurant

Tamarind was a new experience for me, and it did not disappoint.

Located on Deck 11, this Pan-Asian specialty dining restaurant offers stunning views and an elevated dining atmosphere.

The menu is a three-course meal with starters, mains, and desserts.

Similar to Canaletto, you can only pick one main dish, with additional entrees costing an extra $10 each.

The meal began with shrimp crackers (their “bread” for the table) and four different sauces—soy sauce, Thai chili, sambal, and sambal badjak.

My favorite was the spicy sambal badjak, which had a savory kick. But I actually recommend mixing both sambals, and thank me after!

I then tried the satay sampler, which included shrimp, lamb, pork, chicken, and beef skewers, all served with a delicious peanut sauce.

This is a must! All skewers were perfectly grilled, juicy and tender. And it was fun trying different kinds of skewers.

Next, I sampled the shrimp tempura with enoki mushroom tempura, accompanied by a white soy ponzu and a fruity sauce.

The shrimp was sweet and perfectly crispy.

The enoki mushroom tempura was a delightful surprise since it wasn’t mentioned on the menu, and I love enoki mushrooms.

The shiitake and tofu spring rolls were golden brown and crispy, though I wished there was more filling inside.

The jewels of the sea soup, a shrimp wonton soup with lemongrass sesame broth, was heartwarming and comforting.

The broth had a tangy and umami-rich flavor that paired well with the shrimp wontons.

For the main courses, I tried the wasabi and soy-crusted beef tenderloin, Dungeness crab fried rice, Thai basil Szechuan shrimp, dan dan noodles, Mongolian barbecue lamb chops, and Panang red curry coconut chicken.

The beef tenderloin was tender and flavorful, with a unique wasabi crust.

It was my first time having steak with wasabi crust, and it really stood out! I highly recommend trying because it was so good.

The fried rice, though made on the drier side, had a pronounced wok hei flavor, while the Szechuan shrimp was fresh and had a nice crispy and saucy combination.

The dan dan noodles, using udon noodles, had a satisfying chew and a well-balanced sauce.

The lamb chops were tender and juicy, and the Panang curry added a rich flavor to the Dungeness fried rice.

For dessert, I enjoyed the passion fruit cloud and mango posset.

If you like sweet desserts, the cloud was soft, fluffy and sweet, with a tart passion fruit syrup.

The mango posset featured a coconut macaron, mango sauce, and refreshing mango sorbet.

I loved the mango posset more as mango lover, and it was less sweet and reminded me of mango sago, a dessert I love growing up in the Philippines.

Morimoto by Sea – Modern Asian Specialty Dining Restaurant

Located at Deck 11 next to Tamarind, Morimoto by Sea was a truly unique experience as it is the first and only Iron Chef Morimoto restaurant at sea.

The menu is divided into appetizers, side dishes, main courses, and desserts. What’s good here is there is no limit to the main courses you can order.

Their drinks menu is shared with Tamarind, and what’s unique is they have a variety of Morimoto sake (including a sake flight) and sake-based cocktail that uses Morimoto sake.

I started with the Morimotini, a cocktail made with Haku vodka and Chef Morimoto’s Junmai sake. It was light, smooth, and refreshing, with a distinct rice flavor from the sake.

The popular Tuna Pizza featured a crispy tortilla base with tuna, anchovy aioli, cherry tomatoes, jalapeño, microgreens, and onions.

The flavors were well-balanced, and the crispy tortilla added a delightful crunch. It was my first time seeing anchovy aioli too.

But this next one stole the show… Sticky Ribs!

Before I dined here, everyone I met on the ship raved about the Sticky Ribs, and you can count me in too. I can eat a full rack of these as they are addicting.

The Sticky Ribs, glazed with hoisin sweet chili sauce and topped with chili threads and cilantro, were fall-off-the-bone tender and incredibly flavorful.

Next, I tried the Ishiyaki Buri Bop, a take on dolsot bibimbap using Pacific yellowtail.

Cooked tableside, the fish was seared on one side and raw-ish on the other, creating a perfect balance of textures.

The dish was served with a sesame dressing that added a rich, umami flavor to the fresh ingredients.

If you were planning to get a side of rice, skip that and get this instead. It’s perfect for sharing too.

The Angry Lobster Pad Thai was another favorite dish, featuring Maine lobster and Pad Thai noodles with Thai red curry poured tableside.

The noodles had a nice chew, and the red curry added a savory and slightly sweet flavor.

Travelling Foodie Tip: In all the other Holland America Specialty Dining Restaurants, lobster entrees have a supplement, but this one doesn’t!

If you prefer a traditional pasta version at home, try this famous lobster pasta recipe.

The broiled beef tenderloin steak, served on a sizzling plate with Japanese-style mushroom gravy poured table-side, was tender and flavorful.

This is probably the most unique way of eating steak on the cruise.

It comes with a side of sweet potato tempura as well, and I highly recommend dipping the tempura on the mushroom gravy.

For dessert, I chose the dark chocolate sphere, which was a delightful tableside experience.

The sphere, filled with chocolate sorbet and marshmallow cream, was melted by hot caramel sauce, revealing your delicious treat! You’ll have to watch the video to see it in action.

Exclusive Iron Chef Morimoto Signature Dishes at Main Dining Room

I was thrilled to discover that the Main Dining Room aboard Holland America features exclusive dishes by Iron Chef Morimoto.

These special dishes are available only in the Main Dining Room for a supplemental charge and can’t be ordered at Morimoto by Sea, making them worth a try.

There are usually two dishes offered on the menu each night, which rotates throughout the duration of the cruise.

One of these is the Fresh Halibut XO, a signature dish and one of many fish dishes that Chef Morimoto has cooked up in support of Holland America’s Global Fresh Fish Program.

I went behind-the-scenes in the kitchen to film and learn this Fish with XO Sauce recipe!

Which Holland America Specialty Dining Is Calling You?

I hope this food guide gave you an idea on what it’s like to dine at Holland America specialty dining restaurants.

Whether you’re savoring Italian classics at Canaletto, indulging in steaks and seafood at Pinnacle Grill, exploring Pan-Asian cuisine at Tamarind, or experiencing the unique Asian fusion dishes at Morimoto by Sea, specialty dining experiences are sure to be highlights of your Holland America cruise.

If you’ve cruised with Holland America before, which specialty restaurants are your favorite?

Going on a cruise soon? Check out my guide to Holland America tips and tricks, or grab my downloadable Holland America Cruise Control Kit (with a printable 5-Phase Action Checklist and an expanded Insider’s Guide with exclusive tips).

As always, happy travels and eat well!