REVIEW: Sal-Zones and Cheesecake at Sal’s Market Deli in Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando Resort

Matthew Soberman

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REVIEW: Sal-Zones and Cheesecake at Sal’s Market Deli in Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando Resort

Greetings once again from Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando Resort! We’re back at Sal’s Market Deli to try three more items from their menu. And fair warning: it gets pretty cheesy, because we’re sampling their in-house calzones, called Sal-Zones! The Sal-Zones are large; each could serve two people.

Vegetable Sal-Zone — $16.99

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This Sal-Zone is stuffed with ratatouille-style zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, onion, peppers, Parmesan cheese and mozzarella.

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The vegetable Sal-Zone includes marinara for dipping. With the ample filling, we found the marinara an unnecessary addition.

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The cheese is baked into the rolled edge, which helps to control the distribution of cheese. The cheese-stuffed edge reminded us of both Pizza Hut’s stuffed crust pizza and of course, the P’Zone.

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The vegetables are finely diced, so you don’t have to worry about giant chunks of eggplant, but you do have to be a bit strategic to make sure that there’s cheese in each bite. We thoroughly enjoyed the vegetable Sal-Zone, but ultimately wished it had more cheese.

Meat and Cheese Sal-Zone — $16.99

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Meat lovers can chow down on this Sal-Zone featuring sliced pepperoni, Italian sausage, meatballs, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella, and Fontina cheese.

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Like the vegetable Sal-Zone, the meat and cheese version stuffs the cheese inside the rolled edge.

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The meat is finely diced. We did miss the full slices of pepperoni, though. Unlike with the vegetable Sal-Zone, dicing does not work here.

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The meat and cheese Sal-Zone is also served with a side of marinara sauce for dipping.

We enjoyed both Sal-Zones’ crust and size. The dough has a nice flavor. We wish both had more cheese.

Cheesecake — $5.50

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Counter service cheesecake is often a disappointment. Often, it’s an “it is what it is” option. While this cheesecake doesn’t rival what you would find in New York City, it is surprisingly good.

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This dessert captures the essence of what a cheesecake should be. It has a tangy and tart taste that we enjoyed. We would go back again just to get this cheesecake!

Keep reading WDWNT and Universal Parks News Today as we continue to explore Loews Portofino Bay Hotel!