Animator's Palate -- Dinner -- Disney Dream 2014

*This dining experience took place in October 2014.When it came to regular rotational dining on my recent Disney Dream cruise, my mom and I chose not to dine at any except Animator's Palate for the majority of our cruise, as we wanted to take advantage of the adult dining locations Palo and Remy. We did request ahead of time that our rotational dining include Animator's Palate on our last night, and luckily, that request came through!We were looking forward to Animator's Palate more for the atmosphere than the food but were curious to see how the rotational dining option would fare. We were also curious about the seating arrangements since we'd spent the majority of our cruise dining solo at our meal tables. When we were seated we found out we were at a table for 4 and that our dinner table mates were another mother daughter pair. Our assistant server, server, and head server were hilarious as they were like, "oh you finally showed up!" and were actually all very lovely and accommodating. They were well aware of my dietary needs and said they'd be taking good care of me.The decor in Animator's Palate is cute, with lots of fun and whimsical touches. Animator's Palate is on all of the Disney Cruise Line ships and each has a distinct theme. The Disney Dream's is Finding Nemo. Super cute!The Animator's Palate menu actually lists gluten free and dairy free options, which was interesting. I noted the shrimp salad said it wasn't dairy free, and when I asked about it they said it was because of the egg (which is not really dairy). So, if you think you're interested in a dish, let your server know because it might actually be safe or easily modified. First up, my server brought me Ener-G rolls. They weren't heated that well, but smothered in extra virgin olive oil, I was able to eat a bit of them. First up, I ordered the roasted red bell pepper salad with zucchini and red onion salad served in a balsamic vinaigrette. This was my least favorite part of my meal. The salad was super bland and the dressing did not even remotely resemble a balsamic vinaigrette (there was not hint of balsamic at all). It said it came with cilantro but I could see or taste any. Next time, I'd look for something else as a starter.Next up, I ordered the shrimp salad with cucumber, red onion and hard boiled egg. It wasn't at all what I had envisioned but I actually really loved this. The shrimp was marinated in dill (which I love) and the dish reminded me of Scandinavian shrimp salad (if you don't know what I'm talking about, visit an Ikea cafeteria!) It wasn't minced or small, so it was rather like a chop salad but tasty. If you don't like cucumber or red onion, probably not the dish for you.For my entree, I chose the snapper with scallops, crushed potatoes and a salsa verde. This dish was OK but not great. I liked the snapper, the asparagus, the lone scallop and the sauce. However, the dish was totally not as described. This salsa verde did not resemble any salsa verde I've ever had...um, to begin with folks salsa verde is green. Hence the verde point for those who speak Spanish! The crushed potatoes were actually mashed potatoes and they omitted the dairy for me. I wouldn't say it was a terrible dish just needs a different description.For my dessert, I was told they had a chocolate cake for me. The lighting on this photo is bad, but it was nicely presented. It came with Hershey's chocolate syrup. I had heard that the chocolate cake might also be sugar free, but when I asked they couldn't tell me for sure. It wasn't a bad chocolate cake and satisfied me at the end of the meal. I think they might have used Namaste mix for the cake.Overall, I can't say that I loved Animator's Plate or was wowed by the food. However, it was filling and fairly tasty. Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando also noted that on her review from the Disney Dream. We also dined here on debarkation day for breakfast, so stay tuned for that review! Have you been to Animator's Palate? What did you order when you dined there?