Dinner at Palo on the Disney Wonder

After arriving at the restaurant and checking in for your reservation you’re shown to your seat that offer spectacular views of the sea. The setting is intimate, the wait staff is attentive and only wants to make sure that your experience is spectacular, and the food is phenomenal. This is Palo.

Palo is an upscale, Italian influenced adult dining location aboard all four Disney Cruise Line ships. It is the perfect place to celebrate a special occasion, or just enjoy good company and fantastic eats away from the passed paced main dining rooms. It is a great place for that first real date night, or afternoon, in a long time.

There is a dressier dress code than the main dining rooms – no shorts, no tank tops, no flip flops, dress or a pants suit for women and slacks and a dress shirt are recommended for men. Clean, not ripped jeans are acceptable, but why not take the opportunity to go all out for your date?!

There is also an additional charge for the meal outside of your cruise fare, but it is more than worth it! Palo offers brunch on sea days and dinner nightly – brunch consisted of a buffet as well as the ability to order from the kitchen, and dinner is a multi-course meal. Both meals come in at a price of just $30 per person. Where else are you going to eat a four course meal or a buffet with over 100 items, plus anything you want from the menu for that price?

Our Experience

On a past cruise we dined at Palo for brunch and really enjoyed our experience. We figured this time, though, we would try something new and dine at Palo for dinner.

After dropping Christian off at the Oceaneer Lab we made our way up to deck 10 and headed out side to watch the sea go by for a few minutes before checking in for our 6pm reservation. We were seated almost right away at a table for two next to the window with a view of the sunset.

Soon after we were seated our server arrived with the menu which he went over with us and let us know which dishes he recommended. He also took our drink order, we stuck with water, but if you would like to have an adult beverage feel free to do so, there is a full bar as well as a wine tasting menu option available – both are at an additional cost.  

The meal begins with antipasti – the cart it brought to your table where allergies and dislikes are discussed before your server makes up a plate for your table so enjoy.

Antipasti

The cart, and our plate, included olives, marinated mushrooms, artichokes, red and yellow bell peppers, prosciutto, serrano ham, Parmigiano-Reggiano with aged balsamic vinegar.  As basket of different delicious Italian breads are also brought to the table. Everything was delicious.

Next was the appetizer course. We each ordered one appetizer, but you can order as many items as you would like per course. Just be sure to leave room for the rest of the meal!

Appetizers

We shared the Fritto di Calamari e Gamberi – crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, deep fried calamari and shrimp served with  marinara and lemon-garlic mayonnaise dipping sauces that both paired perfectly with the seafood. We also tried the Soft Potato Gnocchi. We make pretty good gnocchi at home, or so we thought until we tried this dish. The potato dumplings literally melt in your mouth. It is served lightly coated in a tomato sauce with caramelized grape tomatoes and topped with Kale.  

Between the appetizer and the main course we were served a palate cleanser of lemon sorbet with a fresh blueberry. It was delicious, and really did take all other taste, even of the seafood and tomato sauces, out of our mouths. Before our main course arrived we also order dessert – the reason here is the famous Palo Chocolate Souffle. Should you order the soufflé it is made to order, so ordering it before your main course arrives allows for it to be baked and arrive at your table fresh from the oven.

Main Course

For our main course we enjoyed the Pappardelle con Aragosta – tender, fresh pappardelle pasta tossed with lobster tarragon sauce, leeks and white truffle oil and topped with tender grilled lobster. Yum. As well as the Roasted Rosemary-rubbed Rack of Lamb. This lamb may have been the most-tender lamb that we’ve ever had. Two double chops are served with caponata, roasted carrots, olive oil potatoes and rosemary jus that is served on the side. In this instance served on the side means that it is brought to your table and spooned onto your lamb table side.

We also made the decision to try out the Butternut Agnolotti. We’re glad that we did because this dish was amazing – truly one of the best things we’ve ever eaten. Tender pasta filled with a delicious, slightly sweet, butternut squash filling. The pasta is served with a comforting sage-brown butter sauce and topped with amaretti and buffalo mozzarella. If you have the chance to try this dish – do it!  

Dessert

Once our main course plates were cleared – literally, we at it all! – our desserts arrived. We sampled four of the dessert options.

The Warm Orange Almond Cake – warm sponge cake with a subtle almond flavor and a hint of fresh orange zest served with rhubarb puree and lemon cream.

The Apple Crostata - a tasty flaky pie shell topped with cinnamon apples, salted caramel and whipped cream. This one was good, but it would have been even better if the apples were served warm.

Both of those desserts were delicious, but they paled in comparison when it came to the soufflés. We ordered both the Chocolate and the Amaretto. Both came to our table piping hot. Once they are placed in front of you your server will break them open with a spoon and add the gelato and sauces into the hot dish. The amaretto was amazing – if you’re a fan of almond and coffee then this dish is for you. An almond flavored soufflé served with espresso gelato and vanilla sauce. If you’re a chocolate fan then the chocolate soufflé is the perfect dish for you. A rich chocolate soufflé served with vanilla bean gelato as well as vanilla and chocolate sauces. Since the soufflés come to your table hot, seam literally rises out when they are cracked open, the ice cream and sauces start to melt and you get a little bit of everything in every bite. Do not pass these up!

The meal ended with what we’re calling an end of the meal sip. The version with alcohol included Calvados and pomegranate, and the non-alcohol version (since Miriya cannot currently drink) was a delicious mix of sprite and pomegranate juice.

Overall

We’ve really enjoyed both of our dining experiences at Palo and look forward to a little getaway during our next cruise as well. Brunch is amazing, but we found that dinner was slightly more enjoyable for us for a couple of reasons. One, we left dinner full, but not uncomfortable so, which was the case with brunch. The biggest issue that that causes when it comes to brunch is that when it comes to dinner that night you miss out because you’re not hungry. Dinner was a relaxing end to the day. And, the chocolate soufflé is only available at dinner – isn’t that reason enough?! Dinner is also much easier to get a reservation for simply because there are just more times available – and brunch is highly sought after. Overall, we highly recommend dining at Palo.

Have you tried both brunch and dinner at Palo, which do you prefer?

Are you ready to set sail on a culinary adventure? Or maybe a vacation on land is more your style. Either way I’d be happy to help you start planning your next magical vacation! My services are completely free to you! Contact me at miriyawhitaker@worldofmagictravel.com for your FREE quote and to get started! For more Disney and travel information feel free to follow me on Facebook.