Palace Cafe

This is a review of Palace Cafe's offerings for the Tulsa Vegan Chef Challenge. Their menu, as I understand it is already seasonal, but these dishes specifically are only guaranteed to be carried through the end of the month, so keep that in mind if you're thinking of going.

The inside of the restaurant was quiet, looked comfortable, and had a cohesive theme. I did takeout (obviously), but would love to eat inside some time!

Note: I got one of everything to go. I am kind of a bad driver so I'd like to point out on presentation that the mousse got kind of sloshed up lol. I was also late picking it up so things had got a bit cold. They got reheated (the mousse got cooled).

Review:
Paglia e Fieno -- Looking at the menu pic now, I'm realizing that they forgot the "toasted cheese garnish".

I really liked this dish. The peas were clearly fresh and had amazing flavor. I'm not always big on spinach/greens or mushrooms in pasta because I find that they can be overcooked and mush. This was not the case here. They still had appropriate snap and texture that kept the dish well balanced.
I thought the cream sauce was divine, rich but not heavy. Personally I would have preferred a bit more salt, but admittedly I like my food on the salty side. I would definitely order this again if it was a seasonal dish.

Triple Corn Chowder:
I enjoyed this, but thought it could use some improvement. I think I am judging the Palace a little harsh because they market themselves as farm to table, and even come up on google as "fine dining."

I think it is a good soup. Chowder brings to my mind something slightly richer than this, but I think it's really solid. It was a little one note, but the note--super fresh, slightly sweet corn--is a very good one. I think a dollop of cream or some fresh green onion (or both?) would have done the job.

It's lighter than the pasta and is a great companion to it. I think these were very intentionally paired and appreciated the contrasts and similarities I found between the two.

Butternut Squash Mousse:
I really enjoyed this! Like the chowder, it was a bit one note. I think it could have been sweeter to pump up the squash's taste--maybe a brown sugar and butter creme brûlée strip. The coconut cream was delicious and rich and did provide some of the sweetness the mousse needed, but I could have used something less...mild? Again -- it is a very solid dessert. It outperforms its simplicity. I'm sure it would have looked better in-restaurant and without my jostling it in the car.

Overall, I think this is a great meal and I may get it again before the end of October! Great job, Palace.

I don't know if we were here on an "off" night, but our experience was not good.
-Arrived at 7, got our food at 8:45.
-They only have 6 entrees on the menu and they were out of 2 of them, the chicken and the pork. One of the available entrees was a raw fish dish. Sort of limited your choices...
-The entrees are overpriced for what you get. The food was good, but sparse and didn't include a side.
-2 of our party ordered the ground steak burger cooked medium but both were raw in the center.

I was quite underwhelmed at the place. The 7 folks at our table agreed that we probably wouldn't return in the future.

We arrived at 5:30 so we were happy to realize we had happy hour until 6. The appetizers sampler was half price. Every time I wish I had just ordered one or two for my meal. Delicious tasty bites of 6 different items! It gets the taste buds going!

Palace Café delivered! The tapas on Tapa Tuesdays were awesome. The atmosphere was cozy and the service attentive and personable. We will be back. Thank you Chef James!

Had heard good things about Palace Cafe and had read great reviews, so we were shocked when it was the only place we could find that had no wait time. The atmosphere is nice, but our experience wasn't great. The service was very slow. From when we were seated, it took 45 minutes to get our first glass of wine. The waiter even joked they had to smash the grapes in the back. The menu was very unique, so we played it safe and got a burger. The burger and fries were good, so we may have to give it another try and hope for a better experience.

Heard a bunch about this place and thought I'd give it a try. Disclaimer: I'm from LA so my standards are pretty high....

We ordered one of each bento and the carrot crème brûlée was by far the best. A bit spicy. A bit sweet. Creamy as can be. Delicious. Overall they were all pretty good!

For the main course, I ordered the sweet potato gnocchi. It tasted like it was in a Alfredo ish sauce? White sauce. Cheesy. Etc. it was pretty good. It had broccoli and shiitake mushrooms in it as well. The gnocchi wasn't as soft and melt in your mouth good as I'd liked it to be. A little too chewy for gnocchi. The seasoning was delicious tho. Tasted like pumpkin pie spices which matched perfectly with the sweet potato gnocchi. There wasn't much broccoli florets in the dish. Mainly the stalks... Think I got one or two broccoli florets. Was cooked well tho. And the shiitake mushrooms weren't fully cooked through. Usually shiitake mushrooms are soft and chewy. These were very hard and didn't have any of the nutty cooked shiitake flavor. I loved the parsley in the dish. That was delicious! Not like the absolute best I've had but definitely one of the best meals I've had here in town. So I'd definitely come back! 8/10 for me!

Ps: their bread is amazing and their infused water is so tasty.

Sadly, I have not been to Palace in far too long! Tonight's dinner was world class! The cucumber salad was so so yummy and my gnocchi was insanely flavorful! We will be back!
Great service, great food!!

I had driven by Palace Cafe for years and had always been interested in stopping in. I made a reservation and came with my sister, mother and a friend. It rarely happens that, when you get a group together, every single person loves their food.... But that happened for us. The service was incredible, and our waitress explained all the specials perfectly. She also gave great recommendations. My mother and I split an entree that was on a special Father's Day menu, my sister ordered the pork chops and our friend ordered the fried green tomatoes. It was such a great experience and all of us left so pleased and satisfied! We've made plans to visit for brunch soon. Absolutely recommend!

$24 for a $5 hamburger. Ridiculous. One of several restaurants taking advantage of inflation psychology. won't be back.

Palace Cafe -- notes from my birthday dinner (few months ago)
Res 7:00. Arrived 10-15 early
7:05. No attendant. Given water and sat.
Waitress in weeds over cappuccinos.
THEN. She got slammed!!! Left us w/ unopened wine.
Hubby/ daughter said "traffic flow sucks". They were facing the "walkway" where everybody passes by. Table *right* by us made fun of the menu and were so LOUD
Then she stepped it up. We changed wine choice & she was gracious about it.
Offered bread. . . . None coming.
Finally came, w/ the appetizer -- yummy fried green tomatoes.
Great bread and garlic butter!
Lacking chimichurri on steak (please see photo)
Hubby thought the ravioli was over cooked-- mushy
Almost 9:00 and no dessert. We're tired. Hubby's butt hurts.
Family style desserts-- awesome!!!! We got "one of everything".
And they brought it with sparklers since it was my b'day.

So, food okay, service struggled, atmosphere certainly not the best. I've had better times there in the past. Been reading quite a few "fine dining" reviews today on Yelp and it seems patron complaints are often similar. But how do establishments improve? They can't control loud, rude people but they can make sure their staff is upbeat, helpful, cordial. Maybe they can't control the rush, but they can maneuver people calmly and *try* to be competently staffed. For gods sake *have* a bartender on staff at all times. No matter how your reservations are set up, no matter how your wait staff "rotates", DON'T sit parties on top of one another when the majority -- and I mean majority -- of the tables are empty! No excuse! None whatsoever.

So why a four? Still better than most. When not slammed our waitress was just fine, polite, helpful. Nothing the fault of the restaurant to prevent my return.