Get Inspired & Get Pampered
Palmaia The House of AIA has incredible food. Don’t let the fact that this resort is vegan…(Yes I said VEGAN) stop you from booking. If you’ve never tried vegan food start here!
The chefs are from Michelin Star Restaurant’s and they craft the most beautiful plates with incredible flavors.
If you’re vegan, you will be in heaven and if you’re not, don’t worry they have daily fresh caught fish and high quality meat cuts. My four boys enjoyed Ribeye and filet every night and one evening I had the Sea Bass, these were prepared perfectly.
Palmaia is a luxury wellness resort which caters to a vegan lifestyle. I’m personally not vegan and honestly I was incredibly impressed by the food selections, enough that I gained weight on my week stay.
Honestly, I booked this week getaway for me and my four boys without even realizing the food was vegan, I saw the beautiful photos of food and thought it looked fabulous. After I booked, I realized it was vegan, this didn’t damper my ideal holiday, it actually made me more excited to visit.
Before going to Palmaia I had no experience with vegan food so why not spend a week trying it out.
I mean, how often do we get to be in a beautiful place experiencing a different food genre prepared by expert hands?
Palmaia being vegan is truly a reason to visit and it was an unexpected bonus for my boys and I.
Palmaia is all-inclusive so your daily Room rate covers all of your food, snacks, drinks, and room service. I never go to all-inclusive locations because I’m a bit of a food snob and I can’t handle mediocre food on vacation. Palmaia sets the food bar extremely high and I never wanted to stop my food exploration while there.
There are four restaurants, two cafes, a mobile coffee hut, plus 24 hour room service.
All restaurants are only open on certain nights for dinner.
Everyday, the Nomadic who is your personal butler will text you using WhatsApp and tell you the restaurants that are available that day to select from. Typically there are 2 options each night and then your nomadic will make your reservation.
Everything with food and alcohol is included with your room rate. There is a special wine list with higher end bottles that is not included and I’ve included this list on the Spaandtell.com blog along with all of the menus for each restaurant and dining options, linked below.
I will break down what dishes I really liked as well as some we didn’t care for.
Overall my two favorite restaurants were Su Casa and Mar De Olivo. My least favorite dinning experience was Ume. We were obsessed every morning to head into Plantissa after 8am yoga and get first breakfast. The boys and I really enjoyed lunch at Charly’s Taco Truck plus the pool and beach side options that we could have in our cabana. I tried to eat as much as possible to be able to give you lots of detail.
Side note: I don’t eat normal cheese and so I had all of my vegan dishes minus any vegan cheese.
Overnight oats with berries and coconut milk was yummy.
-Enchiladas with trumpet mushrooms were perfection.
-The chilaquiles with red sauce were one of my favorites and I realized I really like Plant Based sour cream.
-The boys had vegan pancakes and waffles, however they could have ordered off of the kids menu and had regular if I had told them it existed. I decided to push their pallets during this experience and it was a good thing.
It’s not on the menu but the chef will make Churros with berry compote and chocolate dipping sauce, make sure to ask when you are seated to give them time.
-Power Shot and the Gracia Verde were intense but I wanted a quick pick me up following my yoga practice.
-The pink Chia Pudding, croissants, chocolate muffins, and the banana bread were favorites. The best thing in my opinion at Plantissa was a swirled cinnamon roll which is not on this menu but I ate one every morning.
-Miles loved the Green Powerhouse smoothie everyday and we all enjoyed the Kids Strawberry Banana Smoothie.
-I don’t drink coffee so I can’t speak to their offerings but other people seemed to be happy with their drinks.
-They also make yummy salads, soups and sandwiches of the day. This is where I got the croissant guacamole sandwich.
This is actually the first taste of Palmaia we had when we first arrived and dropped our bags.
-The boys really liked the Grilled Corn on the Cobb and the Carne Asada Taos.
-I did try the carne asada burrito but I found it to be full of rice and a bit bland.
-The Nachos Machos without cheese & the Plantain Tostones with coleslaw were my favorites.
-The vegan brownie I heard was really good but we never tried it.
Abraham who works the taco truck a lot and pool beach service is awesome and fun!
-The guacamole and the hummus are both staples we had every day. Ask for extra chips because you will need them to eat this yummy guacamole.
One thing to point out about the food service at Palmaia is that although you might have a dish at Su Casa for Lunch that does not mean its available pool side nor does it mean its available at dinner, case and pint on e of our favorite dishes at Su Casa is only served at Lunch time inside the restaurant.
-Its the Creamy Linguini plate and I love everything about this vegan dish its rich and decadent.
-I enjoyed the fresh Sea Bass for lunch and it came fried with its skin crispy and roasted roots vegetables, it was a perfectly prepared fish.
-My boys had the Palmaia burger for a couple of lunches. They had it with real meat and it looked great.
-My favorite lunch dish of all week was the Sureno. I had the flank steak added instead of the mushrooms and the best part is you can get this dish seated for lunch at Su Casa and off of the pool/beach menu.
The beach menu appears to be a limited version of the su casa lunch menu.
Pool side we enjoyed the Guacamole and the Hummus.
The boys had the Palmaia Burger or Chicken Fingers off of the kids menu.
And I had the Sureno.
I think this is the best done kids menu I have ever seen. Look at the care and attention given to every member including the baby who has options of apple compote, green or carrot porridge, and wheat porridge.
The only item my boys had off of this menu was the chicken fingers because I never told them this option existed.
Is 24 hours every day. It comes with in 20-30 minutes and is done very well. The night I enjoyed the late hot stone massage my boys ordered in hamburgers, guacamole, hummus, and all 3 dessert options.
The guacamole and hummus is the same as Su Casa lunch and beach menu.
Of the desserts Miles really liked the Dorset apple bake and I really liked the Roasted pineapple which is a set coconut custard pudding with roasted pineapple at the bottom.
We did not like the Moussacate. Its a very bitter chocolate mousse which I think could be good given if given sugar.
was hands down our favorite restaurant. We ate here 2 nights and on each night the boys enjoyed steak.
I thought their starters and salads were so good.
The grilled artichokes are really good and have a smokiness.
The crudités were simple well cared for vegetables with 2 yummy dipping sauces.
I really liked the Capresse salad but I had it without cheese.
The garden salad had a great dressing on it and was so fresh.
I tried both soups and even though I liked both, the onion soup was my favorite.
The first time we ate here I ordered the Tajine and I had it with the roasted chicken, everything was prepared perfectly but it needed more flavor so I took the red sauce from the crudités and it gave it more life and flavor.
The second time we ate here I had the Raviolon which was yummy. I love mushrooms and truffle so this dish really spoke to me.
Miles had the Tagliatelle and I thought the sauce was nice but we were not sure what the ‘vegg yoke” was.
We tried all 3 desserts but the best by far and in my option the best dessert at Palmaia is the Catalan Cream which is a yummy orange creme brûlée I believe made from coconut.
Stewart liked the Tiramisu once he mixed it all together.
Was our second favorite dinner restaurant and we ate here 2 times.
-The red beat Hummus is so yummy I was eating it with a spoon. (This pink hummus is only at dinner time)
-The grilled asparagus is excellent!
-The carpaccio is made from ribbons of squash and has the best dressing.
-The tomato soup in my opinion is too acidic and I did not like it.
-The shish kebabs are yummy! I have no idea what they are made of and I don’t want to know, all I know is they are a deep-fried yummy stick with sauce.
-One night the boys had the fresh catch which happened to be Sea Bass. I thought the lunch preparation was better than the dinner option.
-The desserts at Su Casa are so so, of the three I think the best is the Lime Tartlet.
I think the should nix the vegan pudding and add Churros as a dessert option. In fact churros should be an option all day everyday at any eating location. This of course is my humble opinion because I love churros!
We only ate at Lek one time but had it been an option I would have liked to eat here again.
-Ceviche Yucatan was unique, I really liked how the beets and mushrooms were marinated.
-Turner had the Tacos Al Pastor and these were yummy, I stole a bite.
-The star of this restaurant in my opinion is the Mexa Mushroom. The sauce on these mushrooms is heavenly, it almost seems like a white tender piece of fish that has been poached in a yummy coconut sauce. Another one of my favorite dishes of the week.
-The seasonal stuffed poblano pepper was almost very good.
-We did not care for any of the 3 desserts that LEK offered. They should have had a churro offering.
Was our least favorite place to eat of anywhere we ate that week. To be fair it could have been what we ordered. I spoke to other guests many who did like Ume and had a similar experience like me but then there was a couple who told me Ume was their favorite restaurant but they also ordered different dishes.
The meal started off with yummy spring rolls and these made everyone excited.
Miles and I ordered the Thai Curry and the Pad Thai. Both were extremely disappointing. The curry was very spicy which made it difficult to enjoy this dish. The pad Thai was very salty and I felt it blew out my pallet for anything else. I added shrimp to my pad Thai and I’m not sure if this changed the dish, but the shrimp even seemed a little off, they were firm in texture but a but fishy in flavor.
I did not care for the Miso soup either, again very salty.
We also ordered the chefs sushi of the day it was beautifully made and I felt bad that I could only eat 1 piece by the time it arrived as my pallet was shot from the other intense flavors.
These are the dishes we did not try but others said they really liked them:
-The Thai Ramen I heard was excellent and as I read it on the menu I feel this could have been a really yummy dish.
-The Yakimeshi Herushi is a rice vegetable dish and I was told this was also very good.
I look forward to returning and trying different dishes at Ume because seriously we had such a great week of eating I believe this restaurant must have plates I would love.
There is a huge assortment of different drinks to enjoy. The bar tenders have special mock tales every night at dinner and during the day which is really fun when traveling with kids or with people who don’t drink like myself.
One yummy drink that my boys really liked is called the Crazy Deep, its like a berry milk. I loved it too.
All alcohol and mixed drinks are included with your stay, however there is a special list of wines that are extra for those are are wine connoisseur’s.
Your rooms refrigerator comes stocked with flat water, fizzy water, different flavors of Komboucha, juices and more. They refill it every day and night they stop by to see if you want anything added prior to bed. You also get bags of dried fruit and nuts and these are filled daily.
I loved my time at Palmaia, it was truly an amazing food crawl everyday. Wether you are a devout vegan or someone interested in what vegan food culture is or a family like me who just wanted high quality food with lots of options including meat and fish, Palmaia will pleasantly surprise you.
Everyone I spoke with on vacation during our week loved the food and I don’t remember anyone saying they were vegan. Some people were vegetarians but most people were like me, looking for a sanctuary to escape Into not realizing we would be wowed by the incredible and unique food found at Palmaia.
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