For those who think the DCL food is "meh"

[jship210]

Originally Posted by been2marceline

OT - but never, ever, for any reason try to book the Roy or Walt....

[gatorellis]

We thought the food was great compared to the food on the Carnival Sensation

[Morgey24]

Originally Posted by ededmd

Is it the best meal I've ever had?; hardly. But the experience is nice, the service is good and the food is much better overall than the rotation restaurants. Your choice for brunch over dinner is wise. We thought brunch was much more interesting and overall more consistent.

The choc souffle was tasty and the cheese and grape pizza a winner though!

I completely agree with all of these comments. I am a person who thinks the food in the rotational rooms is "meh" at best. As someone else said, some ok first or second courses, but I did not enjoy a single one of the main entrees. A couple of bites and I was done with those.

Palo is a nice experience and I enjoy it very much, but I definitely prefer the "stinky cheese display" and multitude of seafood at brunch.

[OurDogCisco]

We are food snobs but I still like the food on Disney Cruise and at the parks but only because I am not cooking it. It is more of a vacation for me. I think the food is better than TGI Fridays, Chili's, etc... So, I don't think the food at Disney or the cruise is at the BOTTOM of the barrel. I do agree with the PP about the grilling part. Grilled food tastes so much better not saying that you cannot have a good meal without grill. I like the food at Palo much better than the dining rooms. One of my favorite meals that I enjoy is at Mama's Fishhouse in Maui. For the 4 of us our bill is usually in the $300 range. It is the best food I've ever had in my life. However, realistically we cannot eat food at the price on a daily basis. So, I'm happy with Palo and DCL food.

It is really difficult to get my family to eat out at home because they love Mom's cooking. However, sometimes I need a break from the duties. So, I'll be happy to eat anywhere on the Cruise!

[cakesnjammom]

liked Palo!!! Dining room food..so so!

[ga9497]

Originally Posted by KSandbergFL

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.

My DH is a chef and he totally agrees with you on every point
Do we enjoy Palo? Yes - will we go back? Yes but it isn't a wow factor for us
We normally skip it on shorter cruises

[mr.b]

We've done the brunch, supper, and my wife has done the tea. On our last 2 cruises, my wife did not want to attend the Palo's tea...she has lost weight, and doesn't want to over-eat; and the food was just average.

We prefer the brunch to dinner,but there is so much food, that it made me want to look away before I gagged. Too, too much food. We also feel that palo's is over-rated. It is northern Italian 'cuisine'... it's just Italian food. I am probably at fault for feeling this way, as food is not, nor has ever been the reason that I go on cruises. Food has never been a big deal in my life. Give me a piece of chicken or a good hamburger (like you get at lunch at 'Lumiere's), and I'm good to go. I tried filet mignon at Palo's and was under-whelmed... it;s just a piece of beef, and a small piece at that. We have been on 9 cruises so far, and we'll definetely leave room for other's to take our place at Palo's. The waiters however, were delightful, polite and couldn't do enough to try to please; except that they do not understand it when a person doesn't want anymore. They keep trying to entice with more food.

[havaneselover]

I'm a picky eater but generally happy with decent quality restaurant food. I definitely wasn't overly impressed with the food on our 7 day EC cruise in August. The first night I had the ribeye (I think, definitely some sort of a steak) and I'm not even sure it was choice meat. The rest of our dinners were decent, but far from outstanding. Palo was good, but the main draw of Palo for me is the view (we had a beautiful sunset to celebrate our 10th anniversary) and the lack of children (specifically mine!) in the restaurant. We did breakfasts at Lumiere's after trying Topsider the first day (a bit too close to college cafeteria food for me). I would be hesitant to recommend DCL to my friends who are really picky about their dining experience.

[kjd469]

Have been to Palo 3 times and have never been overly impressed. I'm always waiting for that WOW that I hear others talk about, but it still eludes us. Our servers have always been efficient and friendly, but never fantastic...but we have observed other tables receiving fantastic service, so I think it just depends on who you get. Food has been o.k., but again, nothing to write home about. My favourite part of Palo is the kid-free dining. Not sure whether we'll try for Palo next cruise or not...leaning towards not.

[DisNae]

The only "wow" factor at Palo is the service. The food is good but not outstanding. I've had better in fine restaurants DH and I have been to in the multitude of places we've lived while in the military--Okinawa, Napa Valley, New Orleans, and even here in good old St. Louis.

I sometimes wonder if those who are wowed by Palo's food are those who rarely eat at places other than chain-type restaurants like Chili's and Applebees? I'm not slamming anyone with this remark BTW--just am truly puzzled by the rave reviews and am curious as to the background/fine food exposure of the folks who give them. Maybe it's just that I'm too picky....

At any rate I do think Palo is worth it for the service/experience alone. The main dining rooms are just too loud and too busy. I felt ignored by our servers most of the time in the main dining rooms, but our Palo server was amazing. And yes, the food is definitely much better than in the main dining rooms. Some of what was served in the main dining rooms was downright shameful!

I would pick brunch over dinner as well. I must admit the chicken parm with risotto I had at brunch was really, really good. But the filet at dinner was only ok. It was better than average, but certainly not deserving of the raves it seems to get on the boards IMHO. It didn't really have much flavor....it's like they just grilled up a steak, plopped it on the plate, and poured that sauce over it. They didn't seem to season the meat at all.

Chocolate souffle--good but not "wow".

[bevtoy]

Rack of lamb and Chocolate soufflé with vanilla sauce? The lamb was tender, delicately seasoned with wonderful presentation and texture..... perfect!

Wish I had taken a photo....


We liked the soufflé enough to make it at home.... its a family favorite.

[Alaska Catdog]

We went to Palo a few weeks ago and it was all wrong. The service was horrible the food was edible but not fantastic. I much preferred the service in the regular dining room and the food was no better at Palo. The server rushed us through dinner. Never checked back on us, spent a good 20 minutes chatting up the couple in the table next to us affording us with a lovely view of his backside while he secured a place to stay when in New York. He was really one of the worst servers I'd ever had on Disney Property. He ordered dessert for us (basically I think he brought us one of each) I didn't care for that, I like to read the menu and know what is in the food I order. He brought us an extra plate of food it was lasagna DH hates noodles and would rather not feel obligated to eat them. We did not care for Palo and probably won't go back. Oddly the most satisfying meal we had onboard was when we ordered BLT's from room service. Service was fast, friendly and the food was good.

[hgon76]

I thought the food was good. But, I'm not really a food expert. I eat very basic meals at home. English muffin for breakfast, Caesar Salad for lunch.........very basic. So anything out of the norm for me is "fancy". That being said, we go to Palo for the whole experience. It's nice to go on vacation as a family and have a "night out" as a couple. Does NOT happen much in everyday lives. And would never happen on any other kind of family vacation. So, I like the "idea" of Palo and go to it more for the "night out", than the food. But,like I said, I thought the food was good. However, DH, who is much more into food than I am, enjoyed the venison dish at AP the most out of every meal on the cruise.

[ufcabear]

My DH and I have been to the Palo brunch twice and loved, loved, loved it (especially the fruit pizza.) We booked dinner this past May because we did like the brunch so much. Well, it was ok but not a wow. We did buy a very nice picture from our Palo dinner but that was the most exciting part of the meal. I can understand why many people love it though, it just wasn't worth extra $40 to me.

[ppony]

Loved Palo. If you are a seafood lover you will probably love it all the more. Most of the seafood was very fresh. A few scallops weren't but there were plenty of other things DH could enjoy. OMG, it's the first time I've had eggs benadict. MMMMMMMMM! I had 2 helpings! So good! I'm not so my options were a bit limited and I don't exactly have an adventurous palette, but I still came away full and happy. Our server was Dragen and he tuned into us like a radar! He was phenomenal!

Unfortunately I didn't get to eat much in our dining rotation restaurants becuase my toddler wigged out each time. But I felt they were okay anyway in qality exacpt for that last breakfast. EWWW. DH felt the same way and he got to say for all of the meals. The stuff on deck 9 though? Near the pools? Fughettaboutit.

PS, hubby had to go and put ong pants on when he forgot about his shorts for brunch ( and that was TOTALLY cool) but they let a lady in w/ shorts on and they were NOT dressy. I don't think that was exactly kosher. But whatever I guess. I didn't bother to look around other than just seeing her sit down in shorts because she was directly in my line of site.