Palo Dinner Review
This Palo Review covers dinner on the Disney Magic. On this ship, Palo is an optional, adults-only fine dining restaurant featuring Northern Italian cuisine on Aft Deck 10. There are versions of Palo on each of the Disney Cruise Line ships, and it’s always located on the topmost aft deck. Palo offers picturesque ocean views from virtually everywhere in the restaurant. As an optional, adults-only fine dining experience, there is $25 per guest surcharge if guests make reservations for Palo.
While the other Disney Cruise Line restaurants on the Magic are each nice and have their own allure, the difference at Palo is apparent as soon as you arrive on Aft Deck 10. The entire area has a muted color scheme and looks elegant by comparison. This difference is apparent inside the restaurant, as well. While the other restaurants do a good job masking the fact that they are large, high-capacity eating areas, Palo feels quieter and more intimate.
For Walt Disney World veterans, here’s some perspective: Lumiere’s is like Be Our Guest Restaurant (large and loud–but nice) whereas Palo is like California Grill (smaller and nicer). In both cases, the analogies only extend to ambiance, and both Lumiere’s and Palo offer superior ambiance to their Walt Disney World analogues.
The difference in ambiance is also apparent in other guests at Palo. Not only are there no children, but Palo has a dress code that is strictly enforced. That means slacks/khakis and a collared shirt or sport coat for men, and the same (or a dress) for women. No flip flops, shorts, torn clothing, jeans, etc. If guests do not have appropriate attire, Palo has slacks and coats available, but I personally wouldn’t want to wear pants that have been worn by others.
Decor throughout the restaurant is elegant yet understated. There are masks at the entrance and vases with fresh-cut flowers in the restaurant, but otherwise, the elegant feel is mostly conveyed through color choice, upholstery, and the flowing, fluid design of the restaurant. It’s definitely more inviting than Victoria & Albert’s, but it’s still quite clearly a fine dining restaurant in terms of style and design.
Let’s take a look at the ambiance and decor of the restaurant…
Before we discuss the particular dishes we ordered, let’s talk service. This is something we normally skip in Disney dining reviews because we feel that service is hit or miss, and not useful to readers since your experiences are likely to differ from ours. We are confident this is not the case with Palo. The service here at both of our meals was first-class all the way. Our server, Andrea, was superb. He was well-versed in the menu, made excellent recommendations, and was incredibly professional without being stuffy. (I’m sure everyone who eats at Palo thinks their server is the best; still, we highly recommend requesting Andrea if you dine at Palo on the Disney Magic.)
Other members of the staff we encountered were also excellent, and Chef Silvio was also great. He was incredibly friendly with Sarah and me as we chatted during dinner and brunch. He ‘secretly’ gave me a fresh-cut rose to give to Sarah after dinner and at the end of the cruise left a ‘Magic Moment’ certificate for us outside our stateroom. While the cuisine was great, the service made the meal at Palo special.
We ate a lot at Palo (you’re not limited in how much you can order, and we have the stomachs of competitor eaters), so we’ll cover each item with relative brevity. We suspect the menu changes regularly (?) anyway, so reviews of specific items may not be all that useful to you, anyway. (I forgot to take photos of the menu, so I’m assuming the menu descriptions Disney lists are accurate.)
You’re probably going to get tired of words like “rich,” “flavorful,” and “decadent” but those are my three go-to words that pretty much encapsulate the experience at Palo. The presentation of each dish speaks for itself, and the complex flavors of each dish are difficult to articulate. Suffice to say, Palo is not your typical American-faux-Italian restaurant.
This is the Palo Martini. It’s a mix of Absolut Pear, Limoncello, and some other stuff. It’s, as they say, the bomb. Disney Cruise Line has drink stations on the ship were you can get soft drinks, coffee, and other stuff. We’d pay a decent premium if they included this bad boy on the adult deck. Now that would get the party started! 😉
The meal started with a bread course, but knowing that there were no limits on what else we could order, we only each had one piece. This took some restraint, as the breads and dipping sauces were excellent. Next, an antipasta cart was brought out to our table, and a plate consisting of prosciutto, bresaola, parmesan reggiano, marinated olives and sun-dried tomatoes was prepared for us. These starters were excellent–fresh and full of rich flavor.
Next up were the appetizers. This is Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Polenta with a Roasted Shallot Sauce. We both love portobello, and this did not disappoint. The portobello was perfectly cooked and the polenta and the creamy shallot sauce made it absolutely decadent. Highly recommended.
Here’s the Fritto di Calamari. You can never go wrong with calamari, which is always just varying degrees of delicious. The calamari here was tender and lightly breaded. If you like calamari, definitely order it.
After the appetizers, our server brought out a palate cleanser.
The Lobster and Mascarpone Ravioli was recommended by our server, and we’re glad we ordered it. There was ample lobster in this, and the flavors balanced perfectly. It’s a relatively small portion, but we think this is the perfect dish to order to share since it’s so rich. We can’t recommend this enough.
The Tuna on a bed of Linguini Pasta with Artichokes and a Tarragon Veal jus was good, but it was the one item that didn’t knock our socks off. For tuna, I thought it had good flavor and it’d be a dish we’d recommend virtually anywhere else, but at Palo, there are better options. Next time we’d skip this and instead get the Beef Tenderloin.
The Garlic Roasted Rack of Lamb Served with Barolo Roasted Shallots, Crunched Potatoes and Herb jus was the highlight of the meal. This is unquestionably the best lamb I’ve ever had, and in retrospect, we both wish we had each ordered our own. The garlic gave a perfect flavor to the lamb, which was a tender cut, perfectly cooked. We highly, highly recommend ordering this. (My mouth is watering as I type this.)
Our server highly recommended the Chocolate Souffle, and it did not disappoint. It took 20 minutes to prepare, and was every bit worth it. The souffle came out hot, and the server poured vanilla and chocolate sauces into it when it arrived at the table. It was rich, but so good that we each could have had our own.
Palo’s Homemade Tiramisu was another excellent dessert. It was light with a perfect texture and great taste. A bit unconventional for a tiramisu, I’d put it right up there with the souffle, even if the tiramisu doesn’t have nearly the same “status” as being a fan-favorite Palo dessert.
I don’t recall the name of this dessert (it might be the Chocolate Amaretto Indulgence, but I don’t recall much of an Amaretto flavor), but it was a milk chocolate mousse topped with a cannoli in a gorgeous presentation. I really like this dessert as well, although Sarah indicated that she would have preferred dark chocolate.
Based on our research before the cruise, it appears that the champagne brunch that Palo offers during a day at sea is the more in-demand choice for cruisers than dinner. This could be because it has less capacity (dinner at Palo is offered nightly, versus days at sea for the brunch) or it could be because savvy cruisers realize that they’ll be missing a “free” meal at one of the rotational restaurants by doing Palo for dinner. While this logic makes sense, we highly recommend doing dinner at Palo.
We did both dinner and brunch, and while both experiences are phenomenal, we give the edge to dinner. It’s a more intimate, personalized experience, with your server spending more time with you. We also feel that the food is slightly better at dinner. Both brunch and dinner are foodie experiences, but there’s something to be said for solely prepared to order dining versus a mix of that and a buffet. This is absolutely no knock on brunch–spoiler–it will earn a 10/10 from us too, but the 10/10 that dinner is earning is a slightly ‘better’ one, if that makes sense.
If you’re going on a longer cruise, book Palo dinner after night 3. This ensures that you’ll have the full experience of your initial dining rotation (it’s our understanding that the Animator’s Palate show only occurs the first time you dine there). If you’re going on a short cruise, book it on a night when the Pirates party is not occurring. This is what we did, booking Palo for night one. When we got on-board and received our dining rotation card, we noticed that we were assigned Animator’s Palate on our Palo night. We went down to Dining Services to request a new rotation that began with Carioca’s, and we were accommodated. Our reason for this was that we’ve heard Carioca’s is the least impressive of the dining experiences, so that’s the one we wanted to miss. Although we can’t speak to the quality of Carioca’s (we’ll try it next time and report back), based on our experiences at Lumiere’s, Animator’s Palate, and Palo, we are confident that this was the right decision for us.
Overall, Palo is the best Disney restaurant at which we’ve dined outside of Victoria & Albert’s. Some guests are likely to balk at the additional cost of Palo, especially given the opportunity to dine in a nice, no additional cost restaurant in its place. We fully believe that Palo is well worth the additional cost and highly recommend it for any couple looking for a romantic meal or foodies wanting a fine dining experience. Our total for the meal was just over $100 ($50 for the surcharge, plus drinks, and additional (optional) gratuity), and we feel it was well worth the added cost. Since it’s a fine dining experience highlighting sophisticated flavor and presentation, don’t be afraid to take your time at Palo and order an extra entree (or two), fully enjoying it for all it has to offer. The incredible service, atmosphere, and cuisine are all virtually unparalleled, and we now cannot imagine doing Disney Cruise Line without a meal at Palo.
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Your Thoughts…
Have you dined at Palo? What did you think of it? If so, what did you like? Did you think it was worth the extra cost? If you have any questions or thoughts to share, please post them in the comments. We love hearing from readers!
Tom, we are about to embark on the Fantasy and booked Palo; unfortunately now it’s $40. Do you recommend the experience for that price?
We just booked a reservation at Palo for our upcoming cruise on the Wonder and the cost us $30 per person.
Just dined at Palo’s last Monday (1-9-2017) on the Disney Magic. Outstanding, and one of the most memorable moments of the cruise. I honestly had never eaten in such a fine restaurant before; excellent service and delicious cuisine. Just wonderful.
We just booked a Disney cruise this morning and I CANNOT wait to try all this food at Palo now! I love how you describe the food. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
If we have an early dinner reservation at Palo, can we still take our kids to late dinner at animators palette?
My husband and I went to Palo’s on the Disney Dream, on our wedding night it was amazing the food was fantastic and the service was perfect, the Booth where we were seated was a bit small for my dress but I’m sure with normal attire it would have been perfect. My only complaint was my drink was SUPER strong which I found has become a trend everywhere. Over all this is a must do when you cruise we are cruising agin in 2017 and I am booking a dinner for my dad to enjoy.
absolutely worth the extra $$. I was on the Disney Wonder in June. The food was beautiful and fabulous. Our servers in the dining rotation had advised us also to have the chocolate soufflé. It was heaven in a cup.
We had Andrea as well on our cruise in January. He was fantastic and made us feel like his only table. Palo is absolutely worth the $25 charge. I don’t think we will ever take a cruise without upgrading.
Just got back yesterday from an amazing Disney Magic 3 night cruise. I believe we too had Andrea from South Africa as our excellent server. He definitely steared us in the right direction when it came to all of our course choices. I have never had such wonderful service, and all of our choices were truly exceptionally tasting. The chocolate soufflé was to die for. If I am ever on the Magic again, I will make sure that Andrea is my server.
So glad you both liked the cruise! We’ve been on the Magic twice and Fantasy once and they are such fantastic trips. We’ve had brunch at Palo on both ships as well. It’s outstanding!!!! Can’t wait to read more of your ship reviews. The Fantasy was newer and bigger and we had a wonderful time, but we like the smaller scale of the Magic for some reason.
I really had no idea Disney Cruise Line was such an insane value. Eating at fine restaurants and staying at a nice disney hotel would cost significantly more for this level of service and quality (V+A can cost half as much as a full cruise does, and one night at the grand Floridian is almost the full cost of a 3 day cruise).
More tempted to try a cruise all the time! I wish the disney ships would come back to nyc
I think calling it an “insane value” would be a bit extreme. Relative to staying at a Deluxe WDW hotel, it’s a good value, especially if you can find a last-minute, offseason deal. However, as compared to other cruises, Disney Cruise Line is expensive.
Nice review. We had our first Palo meal during brunch on our Alaska cruise (on Tracy Arm Fjord day… talk about spectacular scenery for your meal) and we loved it. Service was a highlight for us as well, and our server would make a point to say hello to us when he saw us the rest of our cruise. We have yet to do dinner, it is just tough for us to give up the regular meals (which we also love). Maybe on our upcoming Eastern Caribbean.
One quick note – The animation shows in Animator’s Palate on the long cruises can vary depending on your ship and dining rotation. For example on the Fantasy & Magic 7 nights there are 2 “animation shows” with the 2nd one (“Animation Magic”) being the more impressive (over Turtle Talk with Crush on the first night). Unfortunately since you don’t know your dining rotation before check-in, booking Palo is kind of a shot in the dark if you want to make sure and catch the animation shows.
I can only imagine how awesome that view was during the meal at Palo!
Thanks for the tip about Animator’s Palate. I was under the impression that once your main rotation ended, the restaurant didn’t do the ‘show.’ Maybe that’s for something like a 5-night cruise, where not everyone will eat at Animator’s Palate twice. Anyone know for sure?
We did the brunch and dinner on our Hawaii cruise on the Wonder. Wonderful meals, and I agree that it’s up there with Victoria & Albert’s. I really want to go on the Dream or Fantasy so I can try Remy’s!
Thanks for the review, Tom! I sent this to my parents and my sister, and furthermore, Morgan and I are salivating looking at your excellent pictures. That martini looks incredible!
Palo on the Magic, is Magic! Try the Sea Bass, it is amazing. We have enjoyed Palo’s many time, we must have eaten here at least 20 times Dinner and Brunch. Enjoy!
Twenty times? Wow! You really are fans of Palo! 🙂
LOL. I meant the chocolate soufflé. I got so excited I types in the wrong name!
That restaurant is Bomb! We ate there twice last March on our cruise. I am not a big dessert person but that Creme Brûlée is out of control! And the service is best I’ve had at any Disney restaurant.
We didn’t try the creme brulee–wish we would’ve tried it! Actually, I’m not even sure it was on the menu during our visit…
WOW high praise here! I cannot wait to dine at Palo less than a month and I’ll be on the Disney Magic!!! I’m doing both Brunch and Dinner and will request Andrea for both meals because of your recommendation!
I love the DCL things you’ve been posting I have not been to Tokyo but for me this is the best Disney experience Ive ever had and one of the best experiences ever Disney or not!
I have a couple of DCL trips this year and cannot wait to try Palo and Remy!
Also want to add I’m doing Yachtsman Steakhouse because of your recommendation too! I had a bad experience but I’m sure its a fluke! Riccardo is my waiter so I am very excited for all three upcoming experiences!
I forgot to add is “Overall, Palo is the best Disney restaurant at which we’ve dined outside of Victoria & Albert’s. ” including Magellan’s???
I should clarify–Magellan’s remains my favorite overall Disney dining experience, but that’s because of theme+service+cuisine, with an emphasis on theme. V&A’s and Palo (as well as a few other restaurants) are better in terms of cuisine alone. Magellan’s has very good cuisine, but it’s the design that pushes it over the top.
Great write up Tom! Everything you said is spot on. We did not do dinner on this cruise, but did brunch. Our server was Mo and was just as you would expect…fantastic. He saw us around the ship and on Castaway Cay the rest of the cruise and went out of his way to stop and talk to us each time.
We did dinner on the Dream on our last cruise, and I would give the edge to brunch. Now…this could be a result simply because it was the most recent experience, but on our next cruise, we will be booking brunch again, and then dinner if time allows.
Cruisers that have never had the Palo experience…you will not be disappointed with either meal!
It’s a tough call, as both dinner and brunch are varying degrees of amazing. You really cannot go wrong either way.
I’m hoping at some point we do a cruise when sunset is later in the evening, so we can have a sunset dinner at Palo. Now that (I think) would be awesome.
Sunset is nice, but remember, as soon as the sun sets, you really can’t see out the windows anymore, so you lose the benefit of the view. I would plan dinner so that sunset is at the end of the meal so you can enjoy the view the entire time.
I highly recommend Palo on the Fantasy before sunset as they have outdoor seating. That is one experience that is not to be missed!!