Epcot Food & Wine Festival 2021 Review- Part 2
Hey Everyone!
Thank you for joining me back as I finish up recapping my experience with this year’s Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. Back on Monday, I shared with you some of my adventures. Today, I am going to visit the food booths around World Showcase, check out Emile’s Fromage Montage, and visited the America Gardens Theatre. There’s a lot here, so let’s unpack it.
Food Booths- World Showcase
Mexico
I didn’t want to tempt spice fate, so I opted for the Taco de Ribeye. It was good, though nothing to write home about. I have seen much better menus for this booth over the years.
China
My friend Erica joined me here. We shared the Pan-fried Chicken Dumplings and the ZiRan Beef Bao Bun, which were both tasty. To drink, I got the Mango Bubble Milk Tea. It was okay, but I think I would have enjoyed it better in cooler weather. Erica enjoyed her ByeJoe Punch.
India
I personally decided to pass on getting dishes at this booth, but friends Andrew and Gina got the Warm Indian Bread, Korma Chicken, and Mango Lassi. I sampled them all, and we all enjoyed them.
Refreshment Outpost
Out of all of the food booths, this was the only one that NONE of us got something from. The only festival dish offered, the Spicy Githeri, did not appeal to any of us. If it wasn’t deemed spicy, I might have. I got a spicy hot dog dish from here before, and it was way too much spice, so I declined to tempt fate again.
Kenya
Andrew got the Kenyan Coffee-barbecued Beef Tenderloin. I am not a fan of coffee, so I just sampled his. It was tasty, but I made the right decision. Just a sample was enough coffee for me.
The Alps
Here, I got the Warm Raclette Swiss Cheese and Alpine Ham dish, as well as Blueberry and Almond Frangipane Tart. Both dishes were delicious, and I would have revisited if I could have. The couple of times I did get back to that corner of World Showcase, the lines at the booth were too long.
Germany
Here I got the Schinkennudeln (Pasta Gratin) and Roast Bratwurst. The pasta dish is part of Emile’s Fromage Montage, and both dishes were pretty good. Gina enjoyed her Selbach-Oster Riesling, also pictured.
Spain
Spanish-style Paella? Yes, please… and thank you. I never got back to have more, but I enjoyed what I did get, a lot.
Italy
I personally did not get any dishes from this booth, but I did try my friend Erica’s Ravioli, which wasn’t bad. She also enjoyed her prosecco.
Rotunda Bistro
I will say, it was interesting ordering, and eating, inside the American Adventure Rotunda instead of watching the Voices of Liberty or simply waiting for the show to start. Here I sampled the Chilled Smoked Shrimp Salad and Wild Mushroom and Truffle Tart. Both dishes were good. Not sure if I would get either one again.
Hops & Barley
Stopped here twice. Wasn’t really impressed. The Hot Beef Sandwich and Lobster Roll were okay. I feel that this location has been struggling to find a new “theme” after the popular BBQ theme was used in reimagining the Liberty Inn at The American Adventure Pavilion to the Regal Eagle Smokehouse, which opened last year. Hopefully this booth can step it up eventually.
Funnel Cake
To be honest, I don’t usually get a funnel cake during the festivals. However, you mention candied bacon, and I am DOWN. This was also some Disney Magic, as I got my funnel cake for free because it was mistakenly made for the previous guest and was dying in the window. I did not mind a free dessert in the least… and it was really good.
Japan
So, this booth is hot or miss with me. Sometimes I find a dish I like. A lot of the time, the dishes are either too spicy so I don’t dare try them, or a weird combination that leaves me questioning what I just ate. In this case, I tried on my own the Tempura Shrimp Sando, which left me puzzled. My friend Erica then got the Spicy Hako Sushi, and after just sampling a little piece of it, was definitely too spicy. I did not try the Teriyaki Chicken Bun.
Greece
Before this trip, if you told me that I would be saying that the BEST DISH of this festival would be the Griddled Cheese from this booth… I would not have believed you. However, it truly was. Halloumi cheese fried on the griddle, topped with drizzled honey and crushed pistachios. Bonus was that it was part of the Emile’s Fromage Montage. I ended up getting this dish every time I passed by, which is more than I’d care to admit. Once, I did also try the Spanakopita, which was also quite good.
Tangierine Cafe: Flavors of the Medina
The Tangierine Cafe, which closed last fall in the midst of both the Covid pandemic and Disney taking over food operations at the Morocco Pavilion, reopened as a food bood for this festival. Featuring small plates including kabobs and falafel, and a beautiful looking dessert. I tried the Moroccan-spiced Lamb Kabob dish and the Pistachio Cake. I did not care for the kabob, but the cake was one of the best desserts I had at this festival. It was also very beautiful to look at.
Belgium
I was not in the mood for a waffle when I swung by the Belgium booth, and the line was very long, so I opted for the Beer-braised Beef dish. Wasn’t a dish that stood out for me, but it was decent.
Brazil
Tried the Crispy Pork Belly and the Pao de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread). Both dishes were good, but I feel like the bread is almost the same at what they serve as the “secret menu” item at Skipper Canteen in Magic Kingdom.
France
ALWAYS a favorite booth of mine. First time around, I got the Croissant aux Escargots (Snails), the Coq au Vin (Wine-braised Chicken), and the La Passion Martini Slushy. The second time I stopped by, the slushy was once again had, along with the Beignet aux Trois Fromages. This “beignet” was more like a cheese overdose in bread… and overly good. This booth never fails to disappoint.
Ireland
Roasted Irish Sausage, Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake, and Guinness Baileys Shakes… yum! We also tried the Bunratty Mead Honey Wine, which was good. The shake at this booth has been a favorite of mine for years, and I love the special cup it comes in.
Appleseed Orchard
Tucked away in the Canada Pavilion’s Theatre behind the waterfalls, this apple-themed eatery was great. I tried the Apple Tart and the Frozen Apple Pie drink. My friends also got the Apple Blossom Sky and then Cider Flight. We all approved.
Canada
What I love about the Canada food booth is that sometimes they have sampler versions of popular dishes from Le Cellier, the signature dining steakhouse in the Canada Pavilion. This festival, they had both the Canadian Cheddar and Bacon Soup and the Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon. Yum!
Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company
Last up is my drink of choice from the festival offerings from the Joffrey’s booths this go-around. While all of them are non-alcoholic, a couple of them had coffee products involved, which is not to my liking. In the end, I got the Tropical Tea Breeze from the cart near the Canada Pavilion. It was SUCH a mistake. WAY too sweet. I ended up throwing it out after only a few sips.
Well, that’s it for the food booths at this year’s festival. Now on to a special “cheesy” affair…
Emile’s Fromage Montage
Throughout my food booth recaps, I highlighted five dishes that were part of this special event. Each time you purchased one of the five dishes, you got a stamp on your passport. Here is a recap of those five dishes.
Once you’ve gotten five stamps (could be any combination of stamps, so one from each booth or five from one booth), you can redeem your passport in for the “completer” treat. This year, the treat is a yummy Strawberry Cheesecake Soft-Serve in a collectible cup. Getting one of each stamps will cost just over $23. Was it worth it? For me… YES! While I did not care for all of the dishes, the cup is very cute (especially since I am a massive fan of Ratatouille). I actually was able to earn two passports worth of stamps because of my love for the Griddled Cheese dish from Greece. I gave one of the passports to my friend Stephanie to redeem when she went next time, and we shared this treat.
America Gardens Theatre
While Epcot isn’t having any major headlining bands coming in to entertain the crowds because of the Covid pandemic, they did relocate some of the popular bands around the park to the America Gardens Theatre to perform each day. I was able to catch Voices of Liberty (pictured) and Mariachi Cobre. On weekends, local bands come in to play for the guests.
Club Cool is BACK!
Before signing off, I wanted to point out that the new Coca Cola Club Cool has opened in Future World at Epcot. It’s located next to Connections, the reimagined Epcot main store that replaced Mouse Gears in the same location. The store has created a more personal experience for the drink sampling, with each station hosting one group at a time. Best yet… Beverly is BACK! My favorite, bitter girl. You best believe I had multiple shots of that nectar, which is literally only made for Coca Cola tasting locations like Club Cool.
Well, that about does it for this year’s Epcot International Food & Wine Festival review. There’s still about 10 days left to experience the festival, so if you do end up going, I hope you have an amazing time. Thanks for sticking with me through both parts of the review, and let me know in the comments below what you thought of the festival if you did go.
