French Fry Diary 726: Palo

One of my favorite treats when on board the Disney Cruise Line is going to one of the fancy restaurants. The first time I was stone cold against it because of the dress code, and I am not one to dress up. I hate it. But I did it for The Bride, because I love her so much. Once I had gone to Palo, the fancy Italian restaurant at the top of all four Disney ships, I was sold. The food is luscious and wonderful, a foodie's dream, even one with a catastrophically picky palate. The staff will adapt for you, and make you what you want. The Bride put that to the test on the most recent visit to Palo on the Disney Fantasy during the latest TCM Classic Cruise. But first, the normal stuff.

Another tradition I have when on board the Disney Cruises is I always try something new. Sometimes I like it, and sometimes I do not. For instance, arugula, ick, no really, serious ick. This time, at Palo, I tried something suitable for discussion on this blog, something I'm ashamed to admit I have never ever tried before - gnocchi.

This was potato gnocchi (that might seem like a no-brainer, but they do make gnocchi from other stuff), in tomato sauce, with cherry tomatoes grown on the side of a volcano. Even if I didn't like it, it still sounds cool. It was delicious, and I can't wait to try it again, although I suspect it might not live up to that of Palo.

When it came to the main course, I got the beef tenderloin, but asked that they leave off the spinach. Spinach is even higher on my hate list than new contender arugula. The waitress asked if I would like anything else in place of the spinach. The Bride spoke up jokingly, "French fries." After the waitress made a face, trying hard not to break her friendly smile in this fancy-schmancy restaurant, The Bride added, "It's his usual go-to," which was not untrue. Still I was embarrassed, but hoped there would be no spinach.

When my entrée arrived, also placed on the table was a big plate of beautiful, and out of place, natural cut French fries. I was shocked, as was The Bride, and the waitress only said that it was her job to make us happy. The beef was wonderful, and the fries were even better because they were special. And it was hilarious to watch several members of the wait staff come by just to see what kind of idiot had ordered French fries at Palo.

Dinner was fantastic, as always. They even brought us a plate with dessert to help us celebrate our move to Florida. I can't talk about Palo without mentioning the soufflé to die for. If you go, you must not miss it. And of course, this proves an old axiom about Disney customer service - if you want something, just ask, they will do their best to accommodate, no matter what it is. Just ask.

Sardines, Fries, and Champagne

The Hot Sardines are a very cool jazz band who have performed on the TCM Classic Cruise both years I've attended, they really rock. And that's great, you're wondering, but what's it got to do with the favorite fried food?

Their new album, titled French Fries + Champagne, comes out on June 17th, so I thought I'd give it a bit of promotion, after all, I like them almost as much as French fries…

You can find them on Facebook, on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and their own website. You can pre-order the new album, as well as lots of other cool swag here.

And just for the record (Heh, see what I did there?), champagne goes great with French fries…

French Fry Diary 684: Steak Fries on the Disney Magic

I have mentioned our waitstaff from our two Disney Cruises this season before. Brendon and Andrene are the best.

At our first dinner at Animator's Palate I ordered French fries of course, and got the terrific steak fries one usually gets on board toward the beginning of the cruise. I mentioned how much I enjoyed them, but my brother-in-law went the extra mile, saying that if I got fries with every meal I'd always be happy.

This triggered what I like to call the Creme Brûlée effect. On a previous cruise, friends Dom and Cindy had raved about the Creme Brûlée dessert and their waitstaff made sure they always had it, even when they came back on a later cruise.

Because of the bro, we had steak fries every night of the cruise and when we returned two weeks later for the TCM Classic Cruise. Yeah, they are that good, and I was in French fry heaven, whether I liked it or not. Who am I kidding? I loved it.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #180

For the last day of the TCM Classic Cruise, at breakfast at Lumiere's, my luck finally ran out. We still got that terrific grilled ham, but they were all out of the roasted red breakfast potatoes. Here come those big ol' hash brown planks. It's cool, the ham was great, but I am sad the cruise is over. Maybe we'll do the next one...

Random Tater Pic of the Day #179

More breakfast potatoes, these are from Cabanas, roasted redskin breakfast potatoes with crispy onions and peppers - from the TCM Classic Cruise on board the Disney Magic. Mmmmm...

French Fry Diary 636: Lumiere's Dinner - TCM Cruise Day Five

What is it about people complaining? I told you about the woman at breakfast this morning, well, the man at dinner tonight, who split up our service team, and make a spectacle of himself in front of the entire restaurant was something else altogether. Apparently he was someone special, or thought he was someone special. The rest of his party certainly didn't agree and looked very embarrassed.

He had insisted on an oval or round table in a restaurant that only had square and rectangle

tables. I'm not sure how that can be rectified. He was also very unhappy that his party was in the corner - a nice private corner that I would have been very happy with. He was obviously not, and told anyone within yelling distance.

Well, he put on quite a show for a few minutes before the dust settles. His new seating being across the room, our service team was split, but it was okay. Dinner was very good, some beef, green beans (haricots verts for the fancy set), and garlic mashed potatoes. I also got a side order of those terrific steak fries. A great dinner, and a show.

French Fry Diary 635: Lumiere's Breakfast - TCM Cruise Day Five

With no distractions today, we were up bright and early for breakfast at Lumiere's for that terrific grilled ham and even better roasted red breakfast potatoes. What greeted us at the doorway to the restaurant was a bit more than the usual happy 'good morning,' smiles, and wet wipes. There was a woman ahead of us who was angry and bitching to whoever would listen to her.

She was mad about the sun in her yes so they reseated her, then she was mad about the water. Not the water in her water glass, mind you, the water she could see through the windows. It was moving. This bugged her.

Really?? You're on the TCM Classic Cruise, on board the frigging Disney Magic, in the middle of the Caribbean. Are you kidding me? You could be in Afghanistan, get some perspective, you old bag. Rant over. I just couldn't believe it.

I, on the other hand, was very happy. The ham was perfect. And the breakfast potatoes were also perfect, more white potatoes than red. I suppose I could have complained about that, but I'm not that old woman. I don't think she could ever be happy. Still no one beats the old man we experienced at dinner that night. I'll tell you about him tomorrow.

French Fry Diary 634: Lumiere's Breakfast - TCM Cruise Day Four

On this morning the TCM Cruise on board the Disney Cruise docked at Key West. Upon re-entering the United States there was a whole immigration thing that had to be done, so we had to be at a certain place at a certain time with our passports, 8:30AM to be exact. A bit of a hassle and we never had to do it before, but there you go.

To make things even more difficult, I wanted ham for breakfast and The Bride had an excursion at 8:45. Lumiere's, the place for ham, didn't open until 8:00, so we had our "Mission: Impossible" for the morning. We arrived at Luminere's just before they opened, and while waiting, struck up a conversation with a nice couple from southern Florida. So animated was the discussion, the waiters thought we were together and seated us thusly. No problem, new friends were welcome.

With our need for speed, I got right to the point when ordering - a couple pieces of ham and some breakfast potatoes - hoping I got the awesome roasted redskin potatoes and not those hideous McDonald's hash brown planks. The clock started ticking. Our new friends' breakfasts arrived, then The Bride's. I began to think that maybe simple was not the way to go.

Then at 8:24 my breakfast arrived, and wow, was it worth it. Several pieces of ham and a copious serving of breakfast potatoes... only I had just a few minutes to eat it. I happily wolfed down what I could, and what I did have was perfect. I think we will be coming back to Luminere's for breakfast the next day, with more time on our hands.

French Fry Diary 633: Carioca's - TCM Cruise Day Three

The dinner on the third day on board the Disney Magic during the TCM Cruise 2014 brought us back to Carioca's.

For an appetizer I got something called Chicken Bastela. According to the menu, that's Moroccan Spiced shredded Chicken wrapped in Phyllo-dough and sprinkled with Powdered Sugar and Cinnamon, with a Vegetable Almond Slaw. These I liked quite a bit, yum.

For my entrée I got the Grilled Grain-fed NY Strip steak that came with Cheddar Cheese and Onion Smashed Baked Potato, Roasted Green Asparagus and a Red Wine Jus. Yeah, that's also from the menu verbatim. The steak was good, very delicious, once I got around the fat. This catastrophically picky eater was not digging the asparagus and tomato flavored mashed potatoes. So far, this has not been a terrific cruise food-wise. I'm digging the breakfasts at least.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #177

Today's Somebody Else's Fries come from Pete's Boiler Bites, a new addition on board the Disney Magic, during the TCM Cruise 2014. Mickey Mouse's arch-foe Pete served The Bride up a fish sandwich and some natural cut French fries for lunch on the third day of the cruise. You can tell they're The Bride's from the cheese. ;-)

French Fry Diary 630: Room Service - TCM Cruise Day Two

Room service on board the Disney Cruise is almost a tradition at this point. So after a late night seeing The Sea Hawk on the big screen (yeah, still on the TCM Classic Cruise on board the Disney Magic), both The Bride and I had the munchies, so we figured what better time to get room service, especially with the new limited hours of the restaurants and the no-go anti-self-service policy Disney had initiated on the cruise so far. If we wanted food or drinks, it was room service or we were out of luck.

I was hoping for steak fries but got natural cuts. That's okay, they were soft, hot, and good. While I had my usual room service fare of a hot dog, The Bride got her macaroni and cheese. The food came quickly, even by Disney Cruise standards, along with a fancy variety of condiments. We were pleased with out late night treat.

French Fry Diary 629: Carioca's - TCM Cruise Day Two

Another of the renovations of the 're-imagined' Disney Magic is the replacement of Parrot Cay, always one of my favorite restaurants on board with Carioca's. It has roughly the same flavor, only now with an animated mascot. 

By name, Jose Carioca was one of the original Three Caballeros, with Donald Duck and Panchito, from the film of the same name, Saludos Amigos, and other features and shorts. Jose is unfortunately one of those characters forgotten to the mists of time, but thankfully, and hopefully on his way to a comeback. I'll miss Parrot Cay, but still this isn't bad.

There has been really only slight remodeling and repainting. They have added lots of Chinese lanterns a la Tangled hanging from the ceiling, but really not much else. The restaurant still a tropical flavor, all it's really had is a name change,

some new lighting, and a brisk rebranding.

On the surface however, one thing that hasn't changed much is the menu. This may as well have been Parrot Cay. I got the Roasted Honey BBQ Chicken Breast, and it was very good, and the sauce was also very good. If there was any crushed sweet potato, as advertized, on the plate, I couldn't find it, or rather, taste it. I probably should have gotten a side order of fries like I did the previous night if I wanted to appease my tater jones.

French Fry Diary 628: Cabanas - TCM Cruise Day Two

For apparent health reasons (we are in the middle of a worldwide ebola scare, and cruise ships are well known for spreading germs like wildfire, so I do get it, but still…), Disney is attempting to kill the all-you-can-eat buffet concept with guilt. As I mentioned in an earlier post, you may no longer serve yourself. *

If say, a huge percentage of the reason you choose Cabanas is for the breakfast potatoes, you can only get a small serving of them. And if you ask nicely for more please, they will give you a proper non-verbal shaming before finally, after an appropriate pause, giving you another small serving.

Another negative to having a server in front of each station to give you your food at the 'all-you-can-eat' buffet is bacon. A serving of bacon is two small strips, period. Try, just try asking for more. And there is no longer any such thing as crispy bacon and not so crispy bacon. If you wanted one of the other previously, you could just pick them out and put them on your plate. Now, The Bride who likes crispy bacon and I who like it not so crispy, got the same bacon, despite our instructions. You have zero control on what you get to eat at a buffet.

The same goes for the wonderful breakfast potatoes on board. These are great chunked broiled, spiced, and marinated small red potatoes that are a number one reason to go to Cabanas for breakfast. Suppose you want them soft one day and crispy the next, the server will just plop a small spoonful on your plate willy-nilly, crispy or soft. The image you see is three servings by the way.

What I did get was very good, but you should never have to leave an all-you-can-eat buffet hungry, right? I did. And don't even get me started on asking for those tiny paper cartons of milk, especially if you want one for cereal and one or two to drink. Talk about a server stink-face! Perhaps it's not just health reasons, maybe Disney is running out of food…

* The situation did resolve itself, check here.

French Fry Diary 627: Animator's Palate - TCM Cruise Day One

We were on the Disney Magic, but it was a chartered cruise, the TCM Classic Cruise, so many of the Disney aspects have been toned down. Such was the case with our first dinner of the cruise at Animator's Palate. We still got a bit of a show, animations on the walls, but nothing so spectacular as the Crush interactive show, or the animation show on the bigger boats, or the regular AP show on the Magic either. I'm not complaining, just saying.

While the Disney Magic has been renovated and overhauled, there are a few things that have stayed the same. One of those is the menu. Several times (click here and here) I have ordered the same dish and each time it has not turned out to be what I wanted or liked. Sometimes I have liked it, and some times… well… However, enough time passes between cruises that I forget that I don't like that. Such is the case with the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup with Bacon Bits and Chives.

It's a trap, to quote Admiral Ackbar. It always looks good, and I always order it. And I usually am not so thrilled with it. This time, it was not good. It's a good thing I ordered a side of fries with dinner. Along with those great baked steak fries the Disney Cruise is famous for, I got the Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin, with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Bok Choy and a Tamarind-Barbecue Reduction. The entrée was just terrific, with the potatoes having just enough heat.

Dinner was very good, except for the soup. We made new friends with our table mates and had a pleasant time. I just have to remember no soup when we return to the Disney Cruise next year.

French Fry Diary 626: Cabanas - TCM Cruise Day One

This past October I had the opportunity to go on the TCM Classic Cruise on board the Disney Magic. It was my fiftieth birthday gift from The Bride.

After you board, you have time on your hands as your rooms take some time to get ready, and sometimes your luggage takes some time to arrive as well. The Disney Cruise lets you make the most of your wait time by opening their huge buffet up on the top deck, Cabanas. It's like a Florida tourism feeding frenzy.

First things first, buffets on the Disney Cruise work different than traditional buffets. They are station based as opposed to line based. If you want French fries, you go right to the French fries as opposed to waiting in a single line until you get to the French fries. Also, new on this trip, due to supposed health reasons, they have servers who get the food for you. You can't do it yourself any more. Not so happy about that, and I'll talk about it in another post. I get it, but it is what it is.

I got, or rather my server got, some chicken and those wonderful baked steak fries the Disney Cruise is famous for. The chicken was thin cuts, very spicy and citrusy, of which I was only allowed two pieces, and I got a reasonable amount of the fries. You can see what a serving size is, plus what I got when I asked for more please would be from the picture.

The fries were very good, but you can see how folks are being shamed into smaller portions by the powers that be. Happy, but not happy, if you know what I mean.