For those who think the DCL food is "meh"

[es45]

What do you think of Palo?

 

[kcashner]

Palo is wonderful.

 

[JohnO]

Palo is fantastic

 

[KSandbergFL]

What do you think of Palo?

My wife and I are somewhat "food snobs". She is not a pro, but does follow the "Jacque Pepin method" and cooks dishes at home that could put many chefs to shame. We have a hard time finding restaurants we like, because (in our opinion) my wife cooks way better versions at home.

That being said... we found the food at Palo's to be prepared and presented well, a noticeable level above the food in the regular dining rooms. However, it doesn't approach the flavor/quality we expected... there was no "wow, this is so good I think I died and went to heaven" moment for us.

My personal opinion is that it's because no open flames are allowed upon a cruise ship. Some dishes just can't be prepared "right" unless they are cooked over an open flame. Can an item truly be labeled as "grilled" if it wasn't cooked over a nice big fire?

I would love to hear from a professional chef on the matter.... how does gas versus electric/convection affect your ability to cook?

On the positive side - the ambience and service at Palo's are EXCELLENT. You will certainly enjoy your dinner there.

 

[TifffanyD]

I do like the dining room food and I thought Palo was very good. But I agree with PP that I didn't get the WOW factor that others have spoken of. I think I expected more. The pizza was very good, my entree was a special that was very good, and dessert was pretty to very good. But nothing was super FANTASTIC. Oh and the bread was kind of "meh". Service was great! But I love the main dining rooms too and missed them

 

[Selket]

The way people go on about it I was expecting something substantially different than what I've had in the dining rooms on DCL but .... it really wasn't all that awesome. The service was OK but not a "wow" there either.

The price isn't bad for a nice adult dinner but I really wouldn't do it for the amazing awesome food - which is not amazing or awesome - IMHO.

 

[safetymom]

I have done Palo several times trying to get the experience that many on here report. Still haven't had it. We are done trying the dinner. We did enjoy the brunch.

Think it is overhyped here on the DIS. I have had better dining experiences elsewhere.

 

[MouseMomx2]

We are among those that like the food in the main dining rooms, but Palo just didn't wow us. In fact, we have agreed that we'll skip it on future sailings. We'll still do Palo Brunch, but dinner was just nothing special to us. Again, it was fine...just (as others have said) no Wow factor.

 

[sharen24]

We had an excellent experience at Palo. We ordered a bottle of Far Niente and allowed our server to surprise us with a customized meal taylored to our wine. Unfortunately, that server is no longer on the Magic.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Palo's food is exceptional, compared to the dining rooms. I've never had anything at Palo that wasn't delicious, but we no longer put Palo on our "must do" list.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

i had the best filet ever at Palo, it was sooo tender even with being well done and not a speck of fat! wonderful!!!

 

[cseca]

I had both brunch and dinner Palo. Have to say that I like brunch much better than dinner. Mostly because of their Stollen(sp?) bread. It is in 1 word... AWESOME...
I still dream about it every now and then. The sad part is that they only have it in Palo during brunch... sigh...

I hope they have it on Dream. I am craving it so badly....

 

[clten]

We were never blown away by Palo for either dinner or brunch. Like others have posted, we think it has been overhyped here. However, we did think it was a step above what is served in the dining rooms. That being said, with the food in the main dining rooms getting a bit better in the last year or so, we are giving Palo another shot (we never like the pirate menu, so this is a better option.)

 

[branv]

I really didn't think much of the main dining food, but we enjoyed Palo. If I were paying regular prices for it, I would call it a solid 3* (though our first visit was better than our second. I ordered scallops and shrimp on our last visit and found them to be on the wrong side of fishy tasting). But let's be fair, the big thing about it is that for $30+tip you can eat respectably prepared food and A LOT of it. I think that's what I think of when I ooh and ahh over Palo. But if Palo were in the real world, I'd feel like I overpaid if I paid more than $75 for two people each eating an app, entree and dessert.

Though I'm weird -- I prefer the dinner to the brunch. I dunno, guess I'm just blessed to have had some amazing brunches that weren't that much more expensive than Palo.

 

[NancyIL]

I thought the food in the dining room was fine, and I enjoyed brunch at Palo - but I don't feel the need to eat at Palo again.

 

[KSandbergFL]

We were never blown away by Palo for either dinner or brunch. Like others have posted, we think it has been overhyped here.

While I agree that the food might be "over-hyped", I don't think the overall experience of Palo is "over-hyped". We loved our server (possibly the best service we've ever had, anywhere), and the quiet, cozy atmosphere was splendid. Getting dressed up to visit an "exclusive" restaurant is a pleasure unto itself. I don't see how anyone could "not enjoy" a dinner at Palo... the food isn't 5-star, but it *IS* better than the main restaurants (for the most part) ... and best of all, you can enjoy a romantic dinner without the kids!

We had dinner at Palo, then strolled the deck to watch the ocean... and ended up having some coffee at the Cove Cafe. It was a nice, grown-up evening. We will certainly do it again.

 

[jship210]

Palo is Horrible~ No one should go there~ the food is the worst~ especially the tomato pizza , the Fillet Mignon, the chocolate souffle, the lasagna too! We ate there every cruise we went on, sometimes two times a cruise~ Stay away! Never ever ask for Sasha, he has always been our server on the Magic, very bad don't ask for him.
Especially during the Month of July 2010,(Wonder Double Dip) while I'm at it, the Cove Cafe is just as horrible, as well as the adult only pool deck chairs. The chairs on the port side by the pool, the first two are the worst in the industry I would not sit there if I were you in the morning from say 0900 to 1200 and after lunch from 1300 to around 1520.

 

[es45]

Palo is Horrible~ No one should go there~ the food is the worst~ especially the tomato pizza , the Fillet Mignon, the chocolate souffle, the lasagna too! We ate there every cruise we went on, sometimes two times a cruise~ Stay away! Never ever ask for Sasha, he has always been our server on the Magic, very bad don't ask for him.
Especially during the Month of July 2010,(Wonder Double Dip) while I'm at it, the Cove Cafe is just as horrible, as well as the adult only pool deck chairs. The chairs on the port side by the pool, the first two are the worst in the industry I would not sit there if I were you in the morning from say 0900 to 1200 and after lunch from 1300 to around 1520.

Got it; thanks for the warning!

 

[Tneah]

Palo food has more flavor than the dining rooms food, but I expected something more than, "oh, this is good." We just expected more from all the raves about the food and service. I tried the brunch and the dinner and I prefer dinner.

We didn't like it enough to want to book Palo on our cruise this past October.

 

[love2driveinct]

Glad I am not the only one... was afraid to say something on this board!

Hubby and I enjoyed our dinner at Palo -- the food & service were great. But no "wow" factor... and we enjoyed our dinner for two at Parrot Cay almost as much (kids happened to all be at their clubs).

I was a little sad a few days ago when I first realized that I had forgotten to stay up until midnight to make our Palo reservation, then I thought about whether we even want to go there next time. Maybe for brunch, might be nice to try that...