In the work that I do on a day to day in Java, I use builders quite a lot for fluent interfaces, e.g.: new PizzaBuilder(Size.Large).onTopOf(Base.Cheesy).with(Ingredien
using Scala partial applies are feasible if you are building a smallish object that you don't need to pass over method signatures. If any of those assumptions don't apply, I recommend using a mutable builder to build an immutable object. With this being scala you could implement the builder pattern with a case class for the object to build with a companion as the builder.
Given that the end result is a constructed immutable object I don't see that it defeats any of the Scala principles.