Palo Mediocre Food

sethschroeder

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Many rave about Palo but have to be honest it was a very mediocre food experience as far as a nicer restaurant goes.

Yes I know it's "$40" but I put this on top of what I consider to be a $30 to $50 experience of the main dining room where you can sample multiple dishes. So that puts this meal in the $70-$90 range per person.

I had the Caprese (solid appetizer, good balsamic, but nothing that superior to a quality Italian restaurant), Osso Bucco (very average dish, recommended by the server and someone a table over to a tablemate over the Filet, but was very similar to a high quality pot roast with Rissoto), and the Chocolate Soufflé (very good dessert, cooked perfectly, and piping hot when served, and started early so not as to wait for it to be cooked).

I think my suggestion is do not get the Bucco, my wife loved the Ciuppin appetizer, and while she liked the Filet was not blown away like many seem to talk about.

It's an experience that I would say is worth doing. I would check your expectations for the food as honestly I had better food (tuna tower w/ avacado and Black Truffle Pasta) at the normal dinner so far.

Glad we did it, likely would do it again, would come in with a different mind set, and likely would shoot hard to get brunch instead of dinner.
 
My two cents. I much prefer dinner to brunch and I honestly dream about the Dover Sole. It is honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten. Honestly brunch just seems to me to be a lot of food with a few high end items.
 
We went last week as an early anniversary celebration.

The service was top notch.

The view and atmosphere were great.

The buffet was awesome. By sharing with my husband, we managed to try almost everything and most were delicious.

I ordered the lasagna , it was ok, a little too salty for my taste. Certainly not bad, but I won't die for it either.

DH ordered the Chicken Parmesan. He raved about it and said it was the most tender chicken he has ever had. But I tried a piece and thought it could have been better. The breading on the bottom of the chicken was mushy.

The chocolate lava cake was just so so. My complaint actually was it was not pipping hot. The buffer offered much better options.

I ordered a cappuccino, and it was wonderful. I was also amazed that they brought four kinds of sugar for me even though I don't add sugar to coffee.

Towards the end, they brought us a plate with Happy Anniversary written in chocolate. It was so pretty. DH wanted to steal the plate home and frame it, lol.
 


I think that if you are used to high end restaurants, then your expectations are skewed upwards.

I'm used to Ruby Tuesday's or Olive Garden being 'fine dining', so Palo blows us away and we can't wait to go back. ;)
 
For us, there is no comparison to the filet you get in Palo compared to the ones offered in the MDR, its not even close.
The MDR is banquet food service, that filet in Palo is made to order.
 


Many rave about Palo but have to be honest it was a very mediocre food experience as far as a nicer restaurant goes.

Yes I know it's "$40" but I put this on top of what I consider to be a $30 to $50 experience of the main dining room where you can sample multiple dishes. So that puts this meal in the $70-$90 range per person.

I had the Caprese (solid appetizer, good balsamic, but nothing that superior to a quality Italian restaurant), Osso Bucco (very average dish, recommended by the server and someone a table over to a tablemate over the Filet, but was very similar to a high quality pot roast with Rissoto), and the Chocolate Soufflé (very good dessert, cooked perfectly, and piping hot when served, and started early so not as to wait for it to be cooked).

I think my suggestion is do not get the Bucco, my wife loved the Ciuppin appetizer, and while she liked the Filet was not blown away like many seem to talk about.

It's an experience that I would say is worth doing. I would check your expectations for the food as honestly I had better food (tuna tower w/ avacado and Black Truffle Pasta) at the normal dinner so far.

Glad we did it, likely would do it again, would come in with a different mind set, and likely would shoot hard to get brunch instead of dinner.

i’m sorry you had a sub-par experience. They always seem to recommend the Osso Bucco, but like you I think it is just okay. If you do go again, I think the Dover sole is excellent, and has been each time.
 
Don't forget that if you don't like a dish, they will bring you something else. They want you to enjoy your meal. I went once and whether the prep wasn't as good or my palate was just in a mood, I went through almost everything on the menu before I found something I enjoyed.
 
Food is so subjective. I like the black truffle pursettes but I would never say they were better than anything I ate at Palo.

Exactly. I was gonna say the same thing.
I'm sure there are lots of ppl that would say McDonald's is better than Palo.
I'm not a foodie or a gourmand but I can appreciate a quality meal vs bland or fast food-like food. Palo food is way better than any MDR or Cabanas, and its not even close. But to each their own I guess.
 
We also like the antipasto course served prior to the appetizers. Love the meats, cheeses, olives, etc as a starter to the meal.

The calamari is always a solid choice for us. I will have to try the sole next time as there seems to be a lots of folks here that like it.
 
Had dinner at Palo in Nov 2018 and thought it was good but not great. Service was exceptional, but the food was mediocre to good. Nothing was mind blowing and we are not planning to dine at Palo on future sailings.
 
We were just in the Wonder in November and had both brunch and dinner at Palo's. Both meals were excellent and the service excellent. The only thing we tend to think is not up to standard is the desserts-they are good, but not up to the level of the rest of the food. Other than that we truly enjoy the food. Do have to agree about the truffle pasta pursettes - they are still one of our favorite dishes overall :)
 
Many rave about Palo but have to be honest it was a very mediocre food experience as far as a nicer restaurant goes.

<< snip >>
Which ship?
I have encountered differences in the same dish on different ships. I got tired of the pursettes on the Dream as they were mushy little pasta bags in the MDRs. My wife convinced me to give them another shot on the Magic and they were quite a bit better. The Dover Sole seemed a little fishy on the Magic. I may have asked to have it prepared without the anchovies on the Dream and Fantasy, can't remember. Then again, that's fish... Yes, I'm in a rut always ordering the same thing.
 
Maybe it's just Italian food in general. We were on a Princess cruise in Italy a year ago and none of the local restaurants in Venice and Rome pre- and post-cruise were thrilling. We had better pizza on the ship.

Palo brunch was o.k. (I think it was on the Magic) but we wouldn't bother to go to another dinner at Palo.
 
I guess i have a mediocre palette, lol😂 love the atmosphere, love me those crab legs at brunch...don’t go to finer restaurants at home so this is such a treat.
 
I think it depends on the ship and what you order. We did brunch on the Fantasy in 2018. I thought it was good. I didn't think it was great. I got the chicken parm for two reasons. I like it and the reviews. Personally, my own was better. I am not a foodie but I like good food and I don't eat seafood.
DH got the lazagna. It was good. Again, not great. The buffet at brunch was a stand out but full of seafood which I don't eat. DH said he'd rather have queen or snow crab than the king crab but he ate his fill. I'm glad we did it but I won't do it again until we are platinum cause then it will be free (unless they take that perk away too). We both are perfectly fine with the MDR's food.
And yes, we love Disney chicken nuggets so maybe that's why we weren't blown away? LOL
 

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