As soon as I boarded Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas, my first stop was to try their updated food hall.
Ever since Royal Caribbean launched Aquadome Market on Icon of the Seas, I was hooked on this concept of freshly prepared food that you can't otherwise find on the ship. I loved the combination of different food than typical of the line, plus it was available late night too.
With each new Icon Class ship, Royal Caribbean sought to refresh the lineup. Legend of the Seas has five new places to eat, with one being a smoothie bar.
Since Aquadome Market has quickly become my favorite included restaurant, I've been ranking the food halls every time I go to determine my favorites.
Here's how I ranked them all, from my least favorite to my favorite.
Simply Pressed is a new smoothie bar
They don't serve food, but there's a new place to get smoothies and juices on Legend of the Seas.
The drinks here cost extra, but without a Vitality Cafe, having access to a smoothie bar has become important to a lot of cruisers.
There are fresh juices and smoothies you can order, each are 12 oz.
Since these are beverages and not food, I won't rank this stall. But it's somewhere anyone with a drink package might want to be aware exists before their sailing begins.
I think La Española was my least favorite, but I liked the tapas
There has to be a least favorite in any ranking, and La Española makes it there primarily because the gazpacho was too strange for me.
I love tomatoes, salsa, and hot tomato soup. But cold tomato soup was too strange a taste for my liking, even though I could add croutons and extra veggies in it. I wanted to love it, but like coleslaw, some foods I just never get a taste for.
The tapas, however, are a stronger option. I really liked the Pan con Tomate with Manchengo because it was a light snack for something less filling.
Adobo serves tacos, and that's always a classic food
I was surprised when Royal Caribbean revealed one of the food stands would have tacos, because El Loco Fresh serves tacos across the deck. However, these are street tacos instead of the Tex-Mex stuff at El Loco.
Tacos al pastor are arguably more authentic than the basic tacos you'd find in the US. Tacos al pastor feature thinly sliced pork (there's chicken also) marinated in adobo seasoning and stacked on a vertical spit alongside fresh pineapple.
The meat is cooked in the Lebanese shawarma technique, and shavings are stacked in the taco.
Toppings include onion, cilantro, lime, and pineapple. Pineapple is traditionally served with them to balance the marinade of the meat.
I liked these tacos a lot, especially for the different flavors. Once again, it's going to taste differently (in a good way) from what's at El Loco Fresh.
I found, however, how fresh the tortillas are greatly impact how good the tacos taste. If the tortillas aren't very freshly prepared, they tend to get harder. I was sure to ask for a fresh tortilla when I ordered for better results.
I didn't know I was a gumbo fan until I tried Cajun Kitchen
If I had ranked these food halls before I tried them, I'm certain I would have ranked Cajun Kitchen near the bottom. But it almost became my favorite.
Serving New Orleans gumbo, Cajun Kitchen has one item on its menu and it's very tasty.
You have a choice of chicken, sausage, or shrimp gumbo to go on top of the white rice base.
The rice soaks up a lot of gumbo juice, and you get a very flavorful medley soaked into the rice as you eat it.
Gumbo is a wonderful comfort food, and I think this is a great choice for something filling and easy to eat.
The new Korean rice bowls won me over as a fan
Seoulmate is not just a creative name for Korean rice bowls, it's also easily my favorite of the new food halls on Legend of the Seas.
Not really knowing what to expect, I asked for the marinated chicken to go along all the toppings available.
Served with a Korean scallion pancake, this is what I'll order as soon as I board the ship and as a late-night snack every time I sail on Legend.
I love Asian food to begin with, and there are some wonderful flavors when you combine everything. I loved how light the pancake was as a way to scoop in the food.
I had never tried Kimchi, and it quickly hit the spot. In fact, I think it's what made the rice bowl a great choice.
Creme de la Crepe, the one returning food hall, never disappoints
Every Aquadome Market has a Creme de la Crepe station, and it's because of how insanely popular freshly made crepes continue to be.
Truthfully, this should still be the top ranked food station. But that's like the Tony Awards giving "Phantom of the Opera" the best musical every year because it's a perennial favorite.
There are four types of crepes to choose from, and each is amazing in its own right.
Strawberry Nutella is a top choice, but I wouldn't fault you for choosing "The Classic" of dusted sugar and lemon zest.
This was, to put it plainly, so good.
Aquadome Market instantly catapulted to the top of my must-eat list as soon as I tried it, and that continues here with Legend of the Seas.
I admire Royal Caribbean for branching out and challenging themselves to offer different choices instead of copying the menu from the ship that came before it.
Creme de la Crepe and Adobo are the safest options to consider. Even the pickiest of eaters should be able to find something because it's all customizable.
Seoulmate works if you're just getting marinated chicken or beef and rice, or if you opt to load it up. It's something I could eat almost everyday.
