Princess Cruises unveils first seafood-focused restaurant, new Alaska salmon dishes

Princess Cruises is rolling out several new Alaska-sourced seafood dishes for its Alaska sailing routes, starting 29 April, along with an upscale seafood restaurant concept.

Princess Cruises offers cruises from seven to 11 days long that depart from San Francisco, California, U.S.A.; Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A.

The Catch by Rudi, a joint partnership with Princess Head of Culinary Arts Chef Rudi Sodamin, is the cruise line’s first restaurant primarily devoted to seafood. The eatery was the brainchild of Princess Cruises President John Padgett, Sodamin told SeafoodSource.

“We worked together to bring the vision to life. Many people do not cook gourmet seafood at home, so it’s a special treat when they get to enjoy it onboard. Plus, it’s a healthy option,” he said.

The new specialty dining location includes playful takes on traditional seafood dishes, including Asian-fried calamari, lobsters with garlic butter crust, and “stunningly presented signature seafood inventions from the chef’s personal repertoire,” Princess said.

“Designing a menu for my namesake restaurant has been such a joy, as I’m able to use my creativity to add a twist to classic dishes,” Sodamin said.

Princess is also expanding its “Wild for Alaska Seafood” program, which debuted last spring. The cruise operator’s menu featuring local foods includes a rotation of Alaskan seafood dishes, along with destination-inspired cocktail experiences and hand-picked wine pairings on six of its ships.

New for 2023 is an expanded Wild for Alaska Seafood menu that guests can enjoy on all the cruise line’s ships, as well as a new “garden-to-table” menu for cruise guests staying at the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge.

The updated menu includes Alaska seafood bowls, featuring salmon offered in the World Fresh Marketplace onboard daily, along with steelhead salmon carpaccio, king salmon with razor clams, and an Alaskan crab cake.

“Depending on where the ship is located during a cruise, the fresh catch may be Alaskan king salmon, halibut, or fresh crab for our crab cakes,” Sodamin said.

Featured dishes in The Catch by Rudi include the Seafood Tower, which offers fresh tuna, Alaskan salmon, and cooked Alaskan crabmeat that the restaurant individually dresses poke style. 

“We serve the items layered in a tower in stacked glass ramekins with diced avocado, cilantro, and shreds of carrot and red onion,” Sodamin said. “It is all about the presentation.”

The Dover sole is a guest favorite and a classic dish with a modern twist, according to Sodamin. "We cook our whole Dover sole meunière-style, quickly seared, and drizzled with a brown butter sauce flavored with lemon juice, minced capers, and parsley. Our waitstaff fillet the fish tableside for guest enjoyment and serve more lemony parsley butter sauce alongside it.”

The menu also features a raised platter of seafood serving one, two, or four, Sodamin said. The entree includes oysters on the half shell, along with steamed shrimp, langoustine, lobster, mussels, clams, crab claws, and seaweed salad, as well as three dipping sauces.

Pacific Seafood, Alaska Seafood, and Alaska Leader Seafood ... 

Photo courtesy of Princess Cruises