It’s that time of year again! Every year I say Im going to blog about the festival and I rarely manage to do it, so YAY me!
Firstly, I realized that out of 20 years I’ve only missed about 5! Wow! (No Im not that old 😛 )
Here are some of the dishes I ate, my not really worth it picks and my festival favorites.
I spent two days at the festival and will surely go a few more times before its all said and done. That being said Annual Passholders are able to get a free commemorative port glass this year! Go to Innovations and get a stamp in your passport each day you attend. Third stamp = free glass! This may not seem like a big deal to some but especially with the new insane cost of passes, anything free I’ll take, please and thank you.
Warning: Food Porn ahead!
Brazil -Crispy pork belly with black beans and tomato; this dish has been there before but it is most certainly one of my favorites! Its one of the ones I hope they never take away! **FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Japan -Spicy hand roll: Tuna and salmon with Kazan Volcano sauce; last year Iw as so disappointed this was not on the menu.. they had some sort of chicken sushi roll crap, wtf? Chicken is NOT sushi no matter how much you try.. and no, not even chicken of the sea. Happy to see it back this year!
**FESTIVAL FAVORITE
France – Croissant aux escargots with garlic and parsley and a Sparkling Pomegranate Kir; The Kir was delish as always, but the new way they are doing the escargots, eh.. Ill take years past over this new version.
America – Hops & Barley Market; New England Lobster Roll
NOT to be confused with the Lobster Roll of Festivals past. While the lobster roll was delicious, I kept hearing all this buzz about “the Lobster Roll is back the Lobster Roll is back” no… its not. This is not the same Lobster Roll we all fell in love with a couple years ago.. This was more like a Lobster Salad on bread. Delicious, but bring back the past please.
Australia – Grilled sweet and spicy bush berry shrimp with pineapple, peppers, onions, and snap peas;
This was MUCH better than the shrimp they had in previous years! Little Tangy Little spicy, delicious!
Festival Center – Drinking Chocolate
A lot of times unless you book a class many people don’t make it into the Festival Center. I however, always make a point to go see the Festival center shop, and more importantly, go to the Ghirardelli section to see the chocolate creations, get my little piece of free chocolate, and a cup of drinking chocolate.. To. Die. For.
Chew Lab – Olive Oil-Poached Salmon with Fresh Corn, Bacon, and Pepper Jam
** FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Chew Lab is a new booth with food that The Chew TV Show host and hostesses created, Yummy stuff! I also had the White Sangria from the Sustainable Chew booth. The Chew was filming onsite this year, total bummer I had to miss it, but fun stuff!
Japan – Miso Udon: steamed shrimp, vegetables, and noodles in a spicy broth
I LOVE LOVE Brothy dishes. I was excited to see this on Japans menu, A New item this year, it was good, but not as good as I wanted it to be. If your in Japan, the Spicy Hand Roll is way more worth the money.
China – Happy Peach with peach liqueur and dark rum
This drink was good, but it wasn’t as sweet as I expected it to be (nor as peachy) if you don’t like sweet this may be a great drink for you, but I won’t be getting it again. On a side note, Candied Strawberries were one of my festival favorites for China. They didn’t have them last year, then they had them for Flower and Garden Festival, now they don’t have them again! What are they doing to me?!?! UG!
Mexico – Tacos de camarón: Battered shrimp, pico de gallo, pickled onions, and chipotle mayonnaise
**FESTIVAL FAVORITE
While the San Angel Inn (inside by the ride) is one of my very favorite restaurants in Epcot, Ive always been a bit disappointed in the F&W Festival Kiosk in Mexico. This year they turned me around! Despite that they didn’t bring my my jalapeño margarita I love so much, the shrimp tacos were WAY better than previous years! Straight up Mexico! Love!
Patagonia– Grilled beef skewer with chimichurri sauce and boniato purée paired with Terrazas Reserva Malbec
**FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Another year of Patagonia, another year of beef skewer goodness.
Refreshment Port – Pineapple Dole Whip soft-serve ice cream with Bacardí Coconut Rum
**FESTIVAL FAVORITE
This year they made this stand (Which is always there year round) and actual stop on your passport. We didn’t mind considering they had Dole Whip with Rum, but WAIT, don’t get TOO Excited yet.. This ain’t your mommas Dole Whip. This is just Soft Serve with Rum Poured on top, This is NOT like the Dole Whip Served at Magic Kingdom. But still O so Tasty!
Dominican Republic – Soufflé de yuca: Yuca soufflé topped with riddled cheese
This is where the Puerto Rican booth was last year, while I wish the cheese was a bit hotter so it didn’t harden up as much as it did, it was still delicious. and the Yuca Soufflé? omg. So good!
I ate many more foods but these were the tips and thoughts I wanted to share for this round. Stay tuned in hopes that when I go again, I actually sit down long enough to do another blog post!
Thanks for reading!
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