For this Flashback Friday post, I’m taking you back to May when our family was on the Disney Fantasy sailing around the Caribbean. On our last night of the cruise, we dined at Palo, one of the ship’s adult-only-reservation-required restaurants, and it was an amazing meal to conclude a great family vacation.
This picture above is the entrance into the restaurant. The theme of the entire restaurant draws upon the gondolas of Venice. The name “Palo” itself recalls the poles used to steer the gondolas through the infamous canals of Italy’s floating city. This ceiling decoration is blown glass from Murano that is meant to evoke pasta – how appropriate!
Our server was phenomenal and prepared this enticing appetizer plate for us. It featured two types of cured mean – bresaola and prosciutto – huge chunks of parmesan cheese, marinated bell peppers, artichokes, and olives. We selected a rosemary olive oil to accompany the balsamic vinegar that was drizzled on top.
If ever I questioned whether Italian food is my one of my absolute favorite cuisines, this meal, and particularly this appetizer course, quelled any such doubts. All that is perfect about Italian food was present on this dish.
Oh, and yes there was bread too – served in a bowl evoking the shape of a gondola with breadsticks as the poles.
The slice of pizza-like bread with herbs were phenomenal. It took so much self-control to not eat them all.
For my first course, I had the “Sicilian Pesto Marinated Grilled Shrimp on a Mussel, Crab, and Cherry Tomato Ragu.”
This was quite possibly the best shrimp dish I have ever had in my life. And that’s a big statement. The shrimp itself was beautiful and sweet. But it was the mussel tomato sauce that sat underneath the shrimp that really blew me away. Finally, the drizzle of pesto was just phenomenal.
My dad ordered the “Fritto di Calamari.” 
One of my favorite things at an impressive dinner is to be surprised by the palate cleansing sorbet course. Not only does it make me feel fancy, but it reminds me of The Princess Diaries.
For my entree, I chose a classic favorite – “Osso Bucco – slow roasted centre cut veal shank with gremolata and risotto milanese”
This was phenomenal. I’ve had classic osso buck in Italy, but THIS dish was indescribably amazing. The meat just melted in my mouth like butter, the sauce was fantastic, and the yellow risotto milanese was just to die for. And the best part – the luxurious rich bone marrow inside the bone. Seriously, this was so wonderfully delicious. Possibly the best meal of the entire cruise.
And because our server was amazing and didn’t want us to miss out on anything, he also brought us these beautifully crusted sea scallops with beans and pancetta in tomato sauce.
This was one of those meals where they have to roll you home.
Oh, and this beautiful cut of filet mignon was what my mom and sister got. Yup, it was insanely delicious too.
No matter how full our stomachs were at this point, there was no way we were skipping dessert. Especially when chocolate soufflé was on the menu.
This was the chocolate soufflé of all soufflés. Perfectly risen, light and fluffy, just sweet enough . . . accompanied by a spherical scoop of vanilla gelato, and anglaise and chocolate sauce.
What a beautiful sight. We each had our own. Yup.
And because our waiter was super generous and wanted us to have every delicious bite possible, he brought us a second dessert. The plate featured vanilla panna cotta, berry basil limoncello sorbet, and fresh berries.
It was almost unfair . . . to my stomach. But I powered through because this was literally phenomenal.
The purpose of this final picture is a) to show I finished the soufflé, and b) to show the FINAL flourish of the night – a shot of lemon sorbet with champagne and apple brandy.
If I wasn’t already blown away, this did it.
So in conclusion, this was a fantastic meal that really was too good for words to describe. Despite the pain I put my stomach through this evening in stretching it to its limits, it was totally worth it, as every last bite was flawless and left me wanting more. Bravo Disney Fantasy Palo chefs, Bravo.