Two Thumbs Up to The PALM

As many of you know, Dine Tampa Bay’s Restaurant Week is winding down this weekend, so if you haven’t had a chance to try one of the MANY participating restaurants, grab your favorite snuggle partner or group of best friends and treat yourself to a great time! This week, myself, Ryan, and Allison, enjoyed a night full of good food, great company, and lots of laughs when we attended an eat up at The Palm Restaurant in Westshore Plaza.

Not having too much background on Palm, we weren’t really sure what to expect, but after playing a game of cat and mouse trying to find a parking spot in the jacked up mall parking lot, we met up with our favorite diners, Isabel (of Family Foodie) and  Blair, and had ourselves a grand old time. After the wine started flowing (and didn’t stop I might add until after WE were the last patrons in the joint), they brought out the four salad options. What was GREAT about this event was that we didn’t have to choose one item from each course (and have the possibility of not liking it). It was FAMILY STYLE, so everyone at our table got to try a little bit of everything.

The salad options spanned from a tomato and onion salad with bleu cheese, to candied walnuts and mixed greens, to the standard Caesar, and ending with a freshly poured lobster bisque (YUM). After dabbling around, I preferred the candied walnuts and mixed greens. SO GOOD!

For the next course, we were presented with another array of delicious favorites. There was traditional Chicken Parmigiana, fresh Halibut with nuts and citrus, a pork chop with fresh “apple chutney” (as we called it) that left my mouth watering and a perfectly cooked Filet Mignon with crunchy onion crisps on top. Served alongside those dishes was a hefty supply of creamed spinach and potatoes au gratin. I could have eaten each bowl of them BY MYSELF if it wasn’t for my partners in crime.

As dessert came through, my jaw hit the ground! Thank the LORD for the family style situation going on or else I would have had one annoyed sweet tooth! Cheesecake with raspberry sauce, key lime pie with blueberry drizzle and tiramisu. ARE YOU FOR REAL?!! We fought our way (Hunger Games Style) through the dessert dishes and licked the plate clean. Loving the dessert so much, Ryan tried to snag us an extra helping of cheesecake (his fave). In the end, he was beat out by a 9 year old dressed like a princess for the extra piece of cheesecake that was put out for presentation purposes (Refer to Dive In Tampa Bay for exhibit  B). WHOOPS!

In the end, the night was a HUGE success and we have many people to thank! Thanks again to the ladies of Dine Tampa Bay for hosting an amazing event and AWESOME two weeks of delicious dining throughout Tampa Bay. Our waiter, Troy, was thebomb.com (You’re welcome 1996 for the shoutout) and the event couldn’t have been more perfectly executed without the help of manager Mandy Davis. So go check out The Palm and tell them NHIE sent you!

– Nicholas