OUR FIRST FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL

It’s been almost two weeks since the annual Food & Wine festival at Epcot ended and I’m still in mourning that I’ll have to wait another year for the next one. haha

We had so much fun eating around the world at this festival. There were 39 booths and each one had a unique menu to choose from. There was truly something for every palette, with vegan and vegetarian options being available as well (though not many).

Hopefully in the coming years, we will start seeing more and more vegan and vegetarian dishes appearing, I would love it if each booth had at least one meatless entree.

The first night that we went, we were so hungry and excited that we totally forgot to take pictures of our meal. We started in the Alps with the Venison Stew with Crushed Potatoes and it is still one of my top favorites from the festival (though you should save it for a cool day because hot stew in 95 degree weather isn’t ideal), then we went to China and had the Black Pepper Shrimp with Garlic Noodles, Chicken and Dumplings with Chinese Slaw, and the Mango Bubble Tea.

The shrimp dish was my least favorite of everything, but the landslide winners of that round were the bubble tea and the chicken dumplings. They were SO good. It was disappointing that the dish was so small.

Day 2 (pictured above) we went to Germany and sampled the Roast Bratwurst with Pretzel Bun and it was pretty good. It would have been 10x better if they had included some sauerkraut on the brat and more of the spicy brown mustard. Not pictured is the Pomegranate Beer that I got at the booth right next to Germany which was *kiss noise* delicious.

Next, Jacob had to try the Frothy Ramen in Japan. He loves Chinese and Japanese cuisine and he thought he would love this dish, but sadly, he wasn’t a fan. The ramen was chilled, which is great to have on a hot day (and if you like cold noodles), but it wasn’t for us.

However, our last stop at Australia saved the day! The Roasted Lamb Chop with Sweet Potato Puree, Bush Berry Pea Salad and Pistachio Pomegranate Gremolata (yes that’s all one dish) was superb! An absolute show stopper that I’m still dreaming about. The sweet and savory, the hot and cold, the pop of pomegranate juice with the sweet potato and don’t even get me started on the grilled lamb. This is a MUST.

Day 3 we were itching to try the new Impossible Burger that we had been hearing so much about, so we decided that the first stop needed to be Earth Eats for the Impossible Burger Slider with Wasabi Cream and Spicy Asian Slaw. It did not disappoint. The burger tasted charred like it was fresh off a charcoal grill and we were amazed that it looked and tasted like real beef! It was really delicious and we actually went back for it two more times on different nights. I HIGHLY recommend giving it a try.

On the same night, we felt like venturing to paradise at the Hawai’i booth.

We wound up trying all of the food items there (except one), which included the Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet-and-Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise, Teriyaki-glazed SPAM Hash with Potatoes, Peppers, Onions and Spicy Mayonnaise and to finish we had the Passion Fruit Cheesecake with Toasted Macadamia Nuts.

Say that five times fast.

The Kalua slider was my favorite thing from the booth. While the other two were still good, the slider was tender, juicy, had a little spice and A LOT of flavor. It was definitely a dish I would go back for.

Day 4 was a surprise visit. It was a couple of days after the grand opening of the Disney Skyliner and we went to take a ride on the new gondola system and decided it was a good day for a stroll at Epcot. While visiting, we hit the Flavors of Fire booth and had the Steakhouse Blended Burger: Blended Burger and Mushroom Slider with Brie Cheese Fondue, Arugula, and a Truffle and Blue Cheese Potato Chip on a Brioche Bun, along with the Charred Chimichurri Skirt Steak on a Smoked Corn Cake with Pickled Vegetable Slaw and Cilantro Aioli. Both were incredible! (pictures below)

Right now, my mouth is salivating and I’m crying on the inside wishing I could go back and relive Day 5, because it.was.EPIC.

We really went heavy this day because we knew we wouldn’t be back for at least a couple of weeks. We had family visiting and a vacation to Sarasota planned and then a trip to Ohio for our dear friends’ wedding, which you can read all about, here.

So we did this trip up BIG. We had listened to our favorite Disney podcast, WDW Radio, a couple days before and they had an episode on their favorites from the festival (episode #566) so we knew we HAD to try at least a couple.

We started at the Islands of the Caribbean booth for the Ropa Vieja Empanada with Tomato Aioli. I absolutely understood why it was at the top of their list as soon as I took a bite. It was warm, flavorful, flaky and the aioli topping took it to the next level!

Next up was the Tostada De Carne from Mexico! The braised beef was tender and juicy. There was a little spice to it and the crunch from the tostada made it a fun finger food. If I were to go back (which I will), I would also try the Smokey Margarita with it! I didn’t get to try that this year and I’m definitely regretting it.

A quick trip to India to try the Warm Indian Bread with Pickled Garlic, Mango Salsa and Coriander Pesto Dips. I wasn’t a fan of the Coriander Pesto, but the Mango Salsa and the Pickled Garlic were delicious! I really don’t think you can go wrong with warm bread and dips, though the WDW Radio team disagreed. There was only one from the group that really enjoyed this dish, the rest thought it was an Americanized version of Indian food and were disappointed that it wasn’t more authentic.

Personally, as long as it tastes good, I don’t mind! The pickled garlic dip was so good that I immediately starting looking for a copycat recipe upon leaving that night. I think this dish is worth a try if you just want a little something to munch on.

I bet you thought day 5 was over….alas, there’s more!

After the warm bread, I felt like I needed something a little sweet to wash down the savory, so we stopped in Italy for the Chocolate Hazelnut Cake. I was confused when I first saw the dish because it looks as though it’s ice cream, but it’s just cake on a stick! I was honestly a little disappointed with this one. It sounded so yummy but in my opinion it was overly sweet and a little boring.

However, I can’t say that our experience in Canada was anything resembling boring. I went out on a limb and tried the Le Cellier Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle-Butter Sauce and it was hands down the best meat I’ve ever had. I say that I went out on a limb because we had heard from others that the meat was tough and it was hard to eat with plastic cutlery and it wasn’t all that impressive for the price of $8.25, but we decided to try it anyway and I’m sure glad we did!

I’m pretty sure that angels brought that truffle-butter sauce down from heaven themselves. It was salty and buttery and juicy and mixed with the tender mushrooms, I literally never wanted to stop eating it. The meat was a little tough around the edges, but the inside was tender and perfect. We did go back for seconds for this dish and it was not as good the second time around so it may be a hit or miss dish, but I still recommend trying it. You’ll thank me if you get a good one!

And last but not least on day 5, we tried the Canadian Cheddar and Bacon Soup with a Pretzel Roll and it was a perfect fall dish. Nothing extraordinary to report on this one as it tastes just as it sounds, I would recommend it if you’re in the mood for something comforting and cozy.

The Grand Finale//

Our last full round of pictured food starts in the American Pavillion at Hops and Barley for the New England Lobster Roll and the New Brunswick Slider.

The lobster roll had a fresh herb mayonnaise that I would consider a kind of aioli sauce and both the lobster and the roll were fresh! The roll was soft and doughy and it was a killer lobster roll if you’re into seafood.

The New Brunswick slider came as a surprise to me. It wasn’t one that we were dying to try but it sounded good that day so we decided to give it a go and it was really good! It’s a slow-braised beef brisket “pot roast style” with horseradish cream and crispy fried onions on a potato roll with pickled vegetables on the side.

After America, we traveled to Morocco to try the Spicy Hummus Fries with Cucumber, Tomatoes, Onions, Tzatziki and Chipotle Sauce. It was a good portion, but it was not my favorite dish. For $8, I would recommend trying the Filet Mignon from Canada instead OR trying Morocco’s other dish, the NY Strip Steak Green Shermoula Flatbread with Fresh Radish and Tomato Salsa (pictured below), because it was BOMB.

And of course, you can’t finish out a meal like that without some dessert, and you can’t go wrong with a place called The Chocolate Studio, right?

We tried the Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey-Caramel. Holy Smokes! Was this dish ever chocolate-y. It was basically triple chocolate ice cream with a warm caramel drizzle and it was amazing, but it was VERY rich. I couldn’t finish the entire thing and I was starting to get a stomach ache from all the sugar, but I would probably do it again because it was so good.

Final Thoughts//

We had a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious first experience at the Food & Wine Festival. We tried a lot of outstanding dishes and we hardly even scratched the surface. The atmosphere is unbeatable and the food is even better.

Some things that I regret not doing are the “Eat to the Beat” concert series, Epcot has live concerts on certain nights and this years celebrities included Boys II Men, Baha Men, Lauren Daigle, Hanson, Sugar Ray, Kenny G and so many more. The concerts are free and they show three times a night for about 30-45 minutes. We didn’t make it to any this year but they will be a must next year.

Another must for next year is to try more alcoholic drinks and desserts! We were usually there for dinner and were either too full for dessert or didn’t want to spend the money on alcohol, but there were tons of options to choose from and they all sounded mouthwatering.

Some other dishes we tried that weren’t pictured and I couldn’t remember the timeline for are: –The Loaded Macaroni and Cheese from Active Eats (Jacob got this 4 times- not sure why we don’t have a picture!) –The Impossible Cottage Pie from Earth Eats (another amazing Vegetarian option) –The Twinings Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea and Chocolate Shake from The Chocolate Studio –The Warm Raclette Swiss Cheese from The Alps –The Schofferhofer Hefeweizen Pomegranate Beer from the Brewer’s Collection –The Schinkennudeln from Germany –The Charcuterie in a Cone from Spain –The Bouef Braise a la Bordelaise, Pomme Dauphine from France –The Beer Flight from Appleseed Orchard, which had MIA Beer Company Apple Trappe Belgian-Style Tripel Ale, Playalinda Brewing Co. Apple Pie Beer, and Sea Dog Brewing C. Green Apple Ale

If you’re wanting to visit during the 2020 festival, my advice would be to put aside money every week/month and load it on a gift card to enjoy! That way, you can eat to your hearts content without worrying about the cost and really enjoy all that the festival has to offer. Trust me, there will be plenty of other things you’ll want to spend money on while you’re there! *wink*