Disney Fantasy Cruise | Western Caribbean | Dinner at Palo!

Palo is a special dining option aboard all of the Disney ships, reserved for guests aged 18 and older.  We've eaten there on each of our cruises with Disney, and we never grow tired of it!  This restaurant does have a cover charge, $20 per head, but it's not to be missed!  As a plus, even though dining with others is just part of the cruise experience, it's nice to skip out on the rotational dinners to have a meal in private with your travel buddies. 🙂

On with the show!

 Starting out, you'll be given an antipasti and bread basket.  The antipasti featured prosciutto, bresaola, parmesan reggiano, marinated olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and artichoke, served with Palo’s special seasoning and olive oil.

The parmesan and artichoke is the stuff of dreams, my friends.  Delicious!

 We may or may not have asked to have more artichoke brought to our table after our little party of four devoured the first plate.

 This is the Sicilian pesto marinated grilled shrimp on a mussel, crab, and cherry tomato ragu.

 A lighter option is the fresh arugula salad with choice of Palo's dressings

  Before the main course is served, a lemon palate clenser with a fresh blueberry is served to prime your taste buds for what's still to come!

 I ordered the grilled sea scallops with borlotti beans and pancetta - mmmm....

Matt chose this oregano and parmesan crusted rack of lamb

with sangiovese roasted shallots, olive oil baked roma tomatoes, potato pave, and herb jus.

 Here's a helpful tidbit.  If there are other things on the menu that you'd like to try, but you don't necessarily want the additional full-sized serving, ask for half-sized portions of any dish on the menu and try several things!  Matt ordered a smaller portion of the lobster and mascarpone ravioli.

 And this is a half portion of the gnocchi di patate con gorgonzola e asparagi, which is a potato gnocchi served with gorgonzola sauce with asparagus.

Wait wait wait... where do you think you're going?  You're not getting out of here without a little dessert!  No, sir.  After all, dessert is the whole point of a meal, right?

 We wanted to try the Tiramisu, so we ordered one of those to share.  It's so darn pretty I almost didn't want to eat it!

(almost)

And of course, Palo's famous chocolate souffle.  The souffles are baked fresh, so your server will recommend that you order it midway through the meal so that it can be molten and piping hot when it is brought to your table.  I really love that this dessert is not overly sweet... it really lets the natural bitterness of the chocolate come through and after a heavy Italian meal, it doesn't ker-thud into your stomach like a lead brick.  That's always nice. 🙂