ALL THE FOOD! Our Ultimate Guide to the 2023 Epcot Food and Wine Festival: Reviews, Tips & Top Picks

this year we tried all the food at the International Food and Wine Festival and I mean all the food we've got a ton of stuff to cover including some really important tips to help you make sure you have the best possible time when you're here let's get to it hi ho everybody this is Rob with ear Scouts coming to you from the 2023 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival we have been coming to this Festival now for like a week straight I feel like we've had breakfast lunch and dinner here we've been trying all of the amazing food at all the booths so that we could give you our impressions of everything there is to eat we're also of course gonna try some of the delicious drinks but our goal is to let you know what things you should definitely try while you're here and what things you can maybe skip the first thing that's really important to know about food and wine unlike the other festivals that happen here at Epcot there's not a lot outside of the food and wine so at the other festivals you can meet artists or see some amazing topiaries or hear holiday storytellers but at this Festival the focus is entirely on delicious food and refreshing drinks our very first stop is Coastal eats because you know the first thing you want in the morning is fish right there's actually no fish this year there's a crab dish and an oyster dish it if you've watched our channel before you know I am not a huge fish fan I don't like seafood but I really did enjoy the Oysters Rockefeller dish here it's kind of got a more spinach cheese flavor than an oyster flavor which of course was right up my alley the other item on offer was a crab cake we were not as fond of that one it's a very small portion and to me it tasted surprisingly fishy Erica green it wasn't one of his favorite crab cakes so I'd say you can probably skip on that one quick tip as we head over to our next booth and this is a big one it is hot as blazes in Orlando right now plus if you're trying any of the alcoholic drinks on offer they can be very dehydrating make sure you bring one of these water bottles with you even if you don't though any of the different restaurants in the park that have a soda fountain can give you a complimentary cup of water but what I like to do is I like to bring my water bottle to one of the different Quick Service restaurants that has a a fountain accessible to the guests because you can use that soda fountain to refill your water the plus side of doing it there it's usually chilled and it's usually filtered much better water than you're gonna get from The Fountains around the park the three spots I recommend doing that here are connections Eatery which is right up here in the front over in World nature at sunshine seasons and if you're in the back of the park your soda fountain spot is going to be Regal Eagle Smokehouse in the American Adventure Pavilion now let's go ahead to our next booth and keep eating foreign [Music] basket just because it's right next to test track and test track can be a little loud I want to talk about the food that was on offer there it is definitely one of the favorite Festival booths there's a plant-based dish that is yuca fries what I loved about that it comes with a creamy sauce it was rich and creamy and delicious the fries were nice and crispy on the outside and soft and starchy on the inside definitely a great plant-based pick the second item I want to talk about is the pickle fries now a lot of times when you get Pickle fries they're kind of thinly sliced and it's kind of more about being deep fried than about the pickle these are Spears so if you're a pickle lover these are packed with pickle flavor we're going to talk a lot about pickles in this video here's a pickle Shake believe it or not we're going to be trying out a little bit later and then the star of the show at the Fry Basket the French fry flight so there are three different fries on offer in the flight you get a malt vinegar which is a plant-based fry then there is a barbecue fry that was actually my favorite there's some bacon on there definitely not plant-based but it's got a really nice sweet and savory barbecue flavor and then to finish it off for dessert there are sweet potato fries it's just like an elevated deep fried version of your favorite Thanksgiving treat sweet potato casserole our next Booth is also the first stop on a meals fromage Montage if you're unfamiliar with that pick up one of these Festival passports when you come into the park or at any of the festival food booths inside you're going to find not only menus for all the different Festival booths but you're also going to find on the back page and meals fromage Montage so this is like where you're going to get your passport stamped there are specific food options that are all cheese based at different spots around the festival when you try that particular food item they will stamp your passport if you get five of those stamps you can get the last stamp at shimmering sips for a completer treat that is complementary so you pay for the first five you get the sixth one for free right now there are eight different items on offer for emails fromage Montage as this Festival goes on some other boots are going to be opening later that is going to bring the total a number of items to 12. if you want to know which things are on the fromage Montage right now though we'll be covering those in this video and at the bottom of the screen in the little description we'll have a little cheese wedge to let you know that item is on fromage Montage for right now we're going to start with our first fromage Montage item at flavors from fire it is a smoked corned beef served over freshly made potato chips with a beer cheese fondue and if that sounds heavenly let me tell you it is it is one of my favorite things and I was so glad to see that it came back and it was just as good as it has been in the past there's also a plant-based impossible burger here with Wasabi cream this was at a different Booth last year and it was actually one of our favorite items we are sad to say that this year it was definitely not a favorite it's kind of the weakest of the plant-based offerings we had I think and that's really sad because again last year it was amazing but that does bring me to a point that I think is really important to know about all the food reviews we're going to give you or that you're going to see anywhere else on the internet Disney's biggest problem with food is consistency something that might be incredible and delicious one day or even one hour could be not so great an hour or a day later some tips that can help you make sure that you do get really great food at the festival though make sure you go when there's a line that means that everything is going to be prepared fresh sometimes when you go up and there's no line you're like oh great I can grab a quick snack without waiting but the problem is that food has been waiting a while for you to show up continuing on with the items here from flavors from fire there's a chimichurri skirt steak taco the meat was pretty good it paired nicely with a guac and the other flavors that were there but the tortilla was awful I mean it was just chewy and not a great base for this dish last but not least food wise there was a chocolate tart and this one had a barbecue potato chip crust which was definitely unusual I couldn't really taste the whiskey caramel sauce it mainly had a nice rich chocolate flavor and I did enjoy the contrast of that barbecue chip flavor even though it was a little bit unexpected we also tried the Bourbon Barrel Zinfandel here those are typically served a little chilled not completely chilled but when we got it here it tasted like it came straight from the fridge Honestly though I wasn't complaining because a chilled glass of red wine was actually quite refreshing oh for our next Booth we're gonna hang out with two of my favorite Muppets Dr Bunsen Honeydew and beaker [Music] one of my favorite things about this being a festival Booth year after year this is the Odyssey Pavilion there is a ton of air-conditioned seating now at peak times you might have to wait a little bit for a seat but it is definitely worth it not only to get some much needed air conditioning but also there's a cute show going on about every four or five minutes there will be a short from Beaker and Dr Bunsen Honeydew up on the screen they're really cute it is worth spending a little bit of time in here and watching some of those shorts especially if you've got fans of the Muppets in your crew so let's talk food at this booth I'm gonna give this booth my award for most improved overall last year when we came to Brewing all the wings that we tried were kind of gummy not very tasty not well fried this year however every single wing we tried was crispy and delicious they had some basic wings like your traditional buffalo wings the those were pretty much what you would expect but a very good rendition of it they also had a garlic parmesan wing for those who aren't fans of the Buffalo flavor it wasn't overpoweringly garlicky it just had a nice rich sauce now for the more adventurous among you you might want to try the peanut butter and jelly Wings these are returning from last year they changed the name up a little bit we did not enjoy these last year but this year they were delicious you could definitely taste that peanut sauce in there and the sweetness from the jelly and if you're even more adventurous than that you might want to try the unnecessarily spicy Scotch bonnet Wings these have curry in them so to me they reminded me of a dish you might get at your local Indian restaurant I didn't find them to be crazy spicy I mean they were definitely spicy don't get me wrong these were not mild but they weren't the spiciest Wings I've ever had last but certainly not least for the traditional wings I want to talk about my favorite and that was the orange cardamom wings now if you've never had cardamom before or it is a very unique spice these were sweet they were very mildly spiced but the cardamom really came through and I enjoyed them a lot two other dishes that you might want to try while you're here are plant-based dishes there are impossible buffalo wings I love these I might have even liked them more than some of the traditional wings it was really really tasty the buffalo sauce was great but what I love the most the vegan creamy kind of blue cheese ranch like sauce was delicious Disney is really hitting the mark with these plant-based creamy sauces this year so hats off for that if you're not feeling the impossible Vibe you want something a little bit more traditional and recognizable As Natural Food you might want to go with the Brussels sprouts they've got that same buffalo sauce and creamy sauce on top we enjoyed these last year and we love them again this year it's a great plant-based pick so now let's talk about some of the more controversial items on the menu they are the beverages here this is where honeydew and Beaker have done some experimenting with the menu probably the one you're going to hear about everywhere from this Festival on Instagram on Facebook anyone who comes is going to be talking about this the pickle Shake so I tried the pickle Shake I was a little wary the good news is there's no vinegar I think that would have definitely made this a really gross shake the bad news is it is a very strong Dill flavor which for me did not pair all that well with kind of a sweet vanilla milkshake base you might love it if you're a huge fan of dill and you're a big fan of unusual flavors you might dig this one the other Frozen beverage that's on offer here is kind of like a slushie with what they're calling orange ice cream particles honestly it didn't taste anything like ice cream what this tasted like to me was a red popsicle and an orange popsicle thrown in a blender if you're looking for an ice cream flavor you're not going to find it here think more ice pops turned into a smoothie before we head into World Showcase we're gonna make a pit stop here at World nature now there are no food booths back here unfortunately but what there is over here is a ride now we're not going to be riding a bunch of your rides in this video if you want to know how to balance rides with the festival we did a video called Practically Perfect Day at the Epcot festival we'll put a link to that in the description down below but in that video we kind of show you how you can use Genie plus to balance your day between getting your festival stuff done and still enjoying the great rides that are here for this video though there's just one rod we're going to be doing it's living with the land because there are some very specific things they've added just for this Festival let's go check it out for those who've never ridden it living with the land is a relaxing boat ride where you learn about agriculture and sustainability but during this Festival they point out the different plants that you can taste when you're going around the world showcase it shows you what booths you can find that particular plant I love it because for fruits that you maybe wouldn't encounter in your day-to-day life back home like guava you can see what does a guava plant look like or even for the things that you eat every day like chocolate how often do you get to see what a cacao plant looks like while there is one more spot you can get a bite to eat in the front of the park that is connections Eatery they have a special Festival item I want to talk about that later in this video because it's one of my favorite to-go items for now it is time to start trotting around the globe let's head into World Showcase [Music] sadly the very first Booth you come to here in World Showcase Hawaii is not open yet so the first booth that we're coming to that we are going to check out is Australia [Music] first off in Australia we try the bushberry shrimp it's got a nice kind of sweet and sour sauce flavor while this wasn't a huge amount of food it was a perfect item to get if you're looking for a small snack now the Lamb Chop is back from last year this was one of our favorites then and we love it again this year it's got a nice not too gamey rich flavor it was nice and tender and we enjoyed the pairing with the Herbie sauce and the crunchy potato chips last up let's talk about the dessert item it is called lamington this is a traditional Australian cake last year full disclosure we did not dig this dish it was really dry and that kind of took away from the whole thing for us it's a very basic dessert though it's something you might find at a birthday party but this year it was really moist and had a nice rich buttery flavor and it's a great pick for those picky eaters who don't want to try anything too adventurous next stop is our first world showcase Pavilion it is Canada we're gonna start Remy's hide and squeak this is the annual scavenger hunt for this Festival you're going to pick up one of these maps at the gift shops around the park it's 9.99 you do get a discount of your DVC annual pass or test this map is gonna have all the different spots around the world showcase and then it's got a little sheet of stickers inside you'll notice on these stickers there is an ingredient that Remy has found in that part of the world so what you're going to do when you find Remy you're going to determine what ingredient he has then you're going to match that ingredient sticker with the country on your map one important thing I should mention they're not all World Showcase countries some of them are just related to the food booze so for example Coastal eats is a spot I sadly didn't even realize that until I got here into World Showcase I'm gonna have to backtrack for that one so don't make the same mistake I did start hunting for Remy as soon as you get in the park when you're all done you'll be able to trade in your map for a special prize and we'll check those out later in this video of course there's more to do for the festival than hiding and squeaking here in Canada there are two different food booths on offer there's the traditional Canada food Booth which is going to offer items from La celier which is the signature steakhouse restaurant here in Canada and then there is refreshment port which offers poutine treats all year round but they have special poutines that they do only for the festivals we'll start their refreshment port they did the same poutine again this year as they did last year it's a braised beef poutine but we didn't love this one last year because it was a little bit dry there wasn't any gravy I think Disney was listening because this year it was not dry at all they definitely added a lot of gravy to that braised beef it was delicious next up let's head back to that Canada food Booth we tried the two things that were on offer there one of them is on Emil's fromage Montage that is the cheese soup that's offered year-round at La celier we didn't really love either of the items on offer as much as we did last year the soup tasted like it had maybe been sitting under a heat lamp for a little while the filet mignon we loved last year it was tender and Rich and buttery and it tasted just like it did when you get it at the steakhouse this year it definitely tasted like it had been sitting for a little while your mileage may vary if you come when it's being served fresh it could be just as delicious as it was for us last year here in the UK Pavilion you will find the Ireland food Booth which is actually our runner-up for Best Booth of the Festival this year we loved everything in Ireland even the seafood pie which if you watched our videos last year you may even remember I had a hard time getting down a bite of that Seafood pie definitely not my jam last year it was a really watery and super fishy this year it was much creamier not overly fishy definitely had a fishy flavor I'm not gonna lie this is not one of my favorite things I wouldn't choose it but Eric loves seafood and he absolutely loved it I also love this little drink right here I love it so much I just got it again today it is coffee chocolate Bailey's and Guinness all whipped up into a shake this year they are not able to keep this thing Frozen it's just too hot out the machines can't keep up so do know it won't be like a Shake it's going to be more like an iced coffee drink but it is super delicious but believe it or not as good as these things were they weren't even the stars of this booth that's how good this booth was this year my favorite item was the roasted Irish sausage the gravy was nice and Rich and Meaty flavor there was definitely some onion in that gravy the whole dish was just five stars love this one I know we are definitely going to come back and have this again and then for dessert this was one of our favorites last year it's back again this year it's a warm chocolate cake it's like a pudding cake so think of like a flourless chocolate cake and then the whole thing is topped with an Irish cream liqueur custard holy cow is this thing good if you love chocolate and Irish Cream put this on your list it is worth the calories and now Miss USA Madness we are here in the country that is best known for their food and wine it is time for France I'm actually really excited because in just a couple weeks we are headed to Disneyland Paris so if you're excited to see something from Paris or Disneyland Paris let us know in the comments down below we are going to be making some videos while we're there and we'll try to squeeze in some of the things that you guys really want us to cover while we're across the pond but for right now let's focus on the Paris that is right here the France Booth first up is an item we did not love last year it is a cheese filled beignet and last year it kind of tasted like someone took a jelly donut and took the jelly out and put in like a Cheesy bechamel sauce this year it seems Disney was listening because a lot of folks complained about how sweet it was and it is definitely much less sweet I still wouldn't say that I love it but I would say that I liked it this year and that sounds like something you were excited to try I would say this year give it a whirl it's it's really much better than it was before next up let's talk about the buff burgundy on this the first time I tried it was one of my favorite things from the festival I tried it again I didn't like it quite as much again consistency can be an issue it was still good but the first time it was Heavenly now to start with the first time I had it I looked at it and there was what looked like tater tots with it which to me I thought Remy would just be appalled at the idea of buff pouring young with tater tots but when I tasted the tater tot holy cow it was Heavenly it was just infused with butter and it was delicious the beef was fall apart tender the whole thing was rich and delicious now when we came back and had it again because I wanted to share it with Eric he wasn't with me the first time it was a totally different dish there were no tater tot things there were these sort of potato Puffs which probably is what was supposed to be with it to begin with I guess maybe because it was one of the first days of the festival they were subbing but I actually like the sub better the Puffs were good but they didn't have that rich buttery flavor so if you come on a day when they're out of the real Puffs you're going to really enjoy those tater tot things next up let's talk about the escargot this was one of our favorites last year this was actually one of our best items from the Festival this year they changed it up last year it was inside of a brioche this year it is a croissant filled with the escargot and a creamy sauce I just like the brioche better that's really all it is to it this was still very good if you've never had escar go before this is a great kind of safe way to try it because it's ensconced in this delicious bread and sauce so it's kind of a safe way to experiment with eating snails last but certainly not least let's talk about the creme brulee now the good news about this sometimes when you get these mass-produced creme brules where they have to serve a whole bunch of them they don't have that signature Crispy Crunchy top it just kind of becomes soggy from sitting not the case this one was super crunchy super caramelized and delicious my only complaint with this dish honestly was the berry on the bottom it kind of cut the richness of it some people might like that some people who think that maybe a vanilla creme brulee is too rich for them will like that Berry cutting into that but for me that's the whole point I love the richness of that dessert and I would prefer to have had it without the berry after France in the world showcase you will find Morocco but before we get to Morocco there's actually two foods that are tucked in between first up is Brazil and the featured dish there I know I'm gonna mispronounce this but it's feijoada ferruada let me know in the comments down below how badly I butchered that but it is a dish consisting of pork belly with beans over rice the whole thing is beautifully seasoned if you're a fan of beans and rice with like here in the South a lot of times we'll throw some fat back in the beans if that's your jam this is going to be really delicious for you next up on the menu at Brazil is powder Cajun now this is in a meals fromage Montage item it is a bread that is filled with Brazilian cheese it's a very mild cheese next door you'll find the Belgium booth now last year we did not love the waffles which I know Belgium that's like the signature dish Belgian waffles they tasted kind of like they've been sitting under a heat lamp for a really long time we didn't dig them this year they were nice and fresh so we did enjoy that but I will say you're probably gonna get better waffles then you're gonna find at his booth at your local Diner I mean they were good but they weren't great I still think it's something you can skip especially for the price they're very small for the amount that's being charged for them they also have a braised beef dish we love the gouda mashed potatoes that came with it and I love that the gravy had a strong carrot flavor but the beef itself was not as tender as I would have liked last but certainly not least from the Belgium Booth is one of our favorite drinks from this Festival I think this deserves a best of the festival award because we keep coming back for it it is an iced coffee it's nice and creamy and sweet and it has liqueurs in there that really give it a nice boozy punch it's definitely going to be our go-to coffee when we're in this park well we're not looking for something quite as boozy as the option back in Ireland as we head into Morocco I want to share another quick water tip there is a really great spot to get chilled water now they don't love you to refill your bottles here but if you go inside of Spicer table right where you would check in to have a couple of dispensers with chilled water and there are cups there so you can just grab a cup fill up some chilled water you don't need to be a guest at spice Road table everyone is welcome if you must fill up your water bottle be discreet fill up the cup and then pour it into your water bottle Morocco is always one of our favorites at these festivals but this year we are actually picking Morocco as our best Festival Booth of the Year everything we had here was incredibly delicious now it is true Morocco has a little bit of an unfair Advantage these other festival booths they're mostly like little Huts Morocco has a full kitchen with a Wood-Fired bread oven because their Booth is the Tangerine Cafe that does give them a leg up on the competition but they are taking full advantage of it everything there is super good this year so let's go through the menu first off there is the fresh baked bread that comes out of that Wood-Fired oven and man it is Heavenly all by itself but they pair it with some really nice sauces and a hummus so there's two kind of herb-based sauces and then a pretty traditional hummus really the star of that show is the bread itself it's just so good when you get it straight from the oven next up we tried some of the meat skewers so they had a chicken skewer and a lamb skewer the chicken really could taste the smokiness from where it had just been Char grilled really nice flavor and it pairs so beautifully with this kind of salad they put with it you've got some kind of Moroccan spices and then there's some sweetness coming in from the raisins it's just crunchy spicy sweet delicious next up we tried the lamb this is gonna be the best lamb you're gonna have at this Festival it is so good it is more like a sausage than a straight up like cut of lamb but it's full of great Moroccan spices it is Juicy it is tender and it was really one of our favorite meat dishes of the festival next up was a Falafel Pita with tahini sauce it was really soft and tender on the inside it had a nice fresh herb flavor and the whole thing was fried nice and crispy we really really enjoyed it this year also the peanut tasted nice and fresh this year last but certainly not least the pistachio cake now they totally changed this up from last year last year we didn't even like it we kind of compared it to a Little Debbie Snack this year one of the best desserts if not the best dessert you're gonna have at this Festival Heavenly it's got these wonderful warm kind of autumnal spices in the pistachio cream in the center the cake was just so delicate and moist we love this we will definitely be coming back to get it again before this Festival is done before we leave Morocco I've got another quick tip for you guys I just checked my watch we have walked six miles so far in this video that's a lot of steps if your feet are killing you you're here in Morocco I've got good news there is a friendship boat that will actually take you all the way back up to Canada so if you want to head out for a break you're going to go head up to the buses that's a great way to save yourself some steps and it's a lovely cruise through the world showcase Lagoon our next Booth is between Morocco and Japan and I think it wins the award for the cutest booth in the festival the imagineers really outdid themselves with the grease Booth I just love all the hanging flowers it's really really well done all right so let's talk food here at the grease Booth starting off with the spanakopita it's a classic Greek appetizer this one's good it's solid the pastry is nice and Flaky it's got a nice cheesy spinachy flavor in the middle it's basically what you would expect from a good span of capita next up is the meals fromage Montage item and this is one of my favorites it is Grill cheese with pistachios and honey and what I love about this they get that crispy Char on it which is my favorite part of any cheese dish when there's like burnt cheese on top that's the part I want to eat well this whole dish is basically that the honey just cuts against that saltiness of the cheese the pistachio adds a little extra crunch I definitely recommend putting that one on your list for a meals fromage Montage because it's one of the best ones you can get next up is the Lamb gyro I don't know some people say hero I say gyro some people say gyro let us know in the comments what do you say Euro hero gyro I'm going to tell you whatever it is that you say at your local sandwich shop you should probably say it there instead of here because it's not a great version of this dish the bread was really dry the gyro meat itself was fine but nothing extraordinary the key word here was dry it kind of needed more sauce the lamb needed to be juicier and most importantly the bread needed to be fresher last but certainly not least there is an impossible plant-based musaka this one was actually surprisingly good although it's not like any musaka I've had before the top of course was not going to have any dairy in it because it's vegan it's plant-based but it still tasted nice and creamy the base of the dish though had that eggplant that you would expect and then it had I think it was raisins honestly it was something very sweet there was kind of a cinnamony sweetness to the whole thing which maybe that's traditional I've never had a masaka that tasted quite like that I'm not saying I didn't like it I enjoyed it but just be prepared it's not a totally Savory dish it's going to be kind of a cross between Savory creamy and sweet thank you quick tip as we head into the Japan Pavilion make sure you come back into this Pavilion and check out the kind of Bamboo Garden that's back here the reason I say you should check it out is because when you get food from that food booth there are always tables back here a lot of people don't even know this is back here and it's a great spot to get a seat to get a table to eat off of as opposed to a trash can which I'm not gonna lie I've eaten a lot of Festival food off the top of a trash can so this is luxury dining and to have shade on top of it man that is a win-win-win all the way around but let's talk about the food from this year's Booth so to start out with there was a really nice Teriyaki bun pretty basic but good teriyaki sauce with some chicken and the bow bun though was nice and fresh your mileage may vary on that obviously it depends on when you get it if that bow bun wasn't so fresh I imagine it would be just kind of an average dish but when we had it it was really delicious second dish we tried it was kind of a ground beef over sticky rice dish this one we were pretty split on Eric enjoyed it he liked this dish for me I could not get past the fact that the beef was really gristly the rice was pretty basic sticky rice for me though it was just the consistency of the beef I couldn't get past lastly let's talk about the sushi I didn't try this one Eric did like it though he said it was in his words a solid step up from what you might find at like quick service around Disney World but it wasn't amazing like he's definitely had better sushi at the Japan boots before but he still thought it was pretty good as you come into the American Adventure Pavilion your first stop is actually going to be the funnel cake stand they have a special Festival funnel cake they kind of do one for every Festival but this year it is definitely one you want to check out back in Morocco I mentioned that that dessert was one of our favorites that we had but if I had to pick my personal favorite of this whole festival I would pick that funnel cake it was insanely good you start with a base of funnel cake and what I liked about this one as opposed to previous festivals the funnel cake was a good size a lot of times the funnel cake they give you is really small this one was a good size funnel cake but then they topped it with vanilla ice cream maple syrup and bacon it was like the most delicious waffles with bacon and syrup and then make the whole thing deep fried and put some ice cream on top it was over the top but delicious next up I want to talk about eat to the beat so that's the concert series that happens at this Festival each of the festivals has a concert series with the exception of Festival the holidays which has the candlelight processional in that one they have different celebrity narrators that come in but for the rest of the festivals though it's different musical acts I would say that whether or not this is worth it just totally depends on the ACT that's there when you're here and if it's something that you're interested in if it is some thing you're interested in though here's a couple of tips that will help you enjoy it number one if you don't want to wait in lines at all you just want to come and see the show like you have a ticket to see the show then you're going to want to do what's called the eat to the beat dining package the downside of doing this is it comes with a sit down table reservation at one of the restaurants and if you're trying to eat a lot of things at this Festival you probably don't want to add a sit-down meal into your day but that is the option for getting a hard ticket to this event you'll queue up separately from everyone else and then you'll get basically the best seats right in front of the stage now if you don't want to do the dining package you can of course wait in a standby queue but I should warn you four really popular acts there's gonna be a long line that forms pretty early in the day for that first show but the good news is if you don't mind about not going to the first show which for me I actually prefer the later shows because it gets a little bit darker and you can actually see the lights of the concert whereas during the daytime you kind of lose all that if you want to go to a later show you can usually show up really a little bit after the show before it starts and get in line then you're going to get a great seat and you don't end up spending your whole day waiting in line to see the show so now let's talk food here at the American Adventure Pavilion the booth this year is flavors of America and they've really totally changed everything up this year it's really focusing more on the flavors brought by immigrants to America the hot beef sandwich I'm not gonna lie it was the worst thing we had at this whole festival we we actually couldn't even finish it we just it's the only thing that we tossed I have seen some other folks have said that they loved it when I had it the auju that came with it was saltier than sea water in addition the sandwich itself was bone dry it really didn't have a lot of flavor it desperately needed the auju but you couldn't dip it in the au jus next up is the ciopino which is like a seafood stew I may be butchering that name I actually wasn't familiar with that dish before this Festival I tried a little bit of it just to try it I was not a fan it was very very fishy Eric had mixed feelings about this he said that one of the shellfish that was in the stew tasted kind of off to him and that kind of put him off of the whole dish but he felt like other than that it wasn't bad so it could have just been a batch where we just happened to get an off piece of shellfish and that wouldn't happen to you but as a result he didn't really love it he felt like it was kind of off-putting next was the chilaquiles now I love chilaquiles I've had a lot of really authentic chilaquiles in Mexico this is not authentic chilaquiles that said it was pretty tasty so if you've never had chilaquiles before they are basically tortilla chips that are sauteed cooked in like a green sauce kind of a Mexican salsa there was also some chicken I think they described it as Ranchero Chicken on top and then there was a poached egg I did love the poached egg and getting the kind of runny egg yolk all over everything that was probably my favorite part of this dish it tasted all right it really wasn't bad it just wasn't like chilaquiles that I've had before and last let's talk about that carrot cake this is a returning dish from last year I loved it last year I loved it again this year they say it is fresh baked although I will say this year it did not seem very fresh it did seem like it'd been sitting for a while but it was still tasty the star of the show really is the cream cheese frosting it's like molten hot cream cheese frosting that they kind of drizzle all over the top and it is crazy delicious thank you next up let's say buongiorno to Italia now this is one of those Pavilions that I feel like bloggers and vloggers they like to make fun of Italy and say how bad the food is at all the festivals it really has gotten a lot better recently the last few festivals we've had lots of things that we really enjoyed here this Festival was no different now there was one dish I would say you should probably steer clear of that was the Cavatelli it was the pasta I think it almost tasted sort of like the store-bought and Yoki that you get where it kind of has that chewy texture to it the sauce was kind of blah didn't have a lot of flavor again the whole thing just kind of tastes like something you might get from a supermarket but let's get past that dish and talk about stuff that was really good there's a Focaccia dish this year to me I think the best way to describe this it's like a grown-up meatball sub tender lots of flavor the pomodoro sauce on top was nice the Focaccia tasted really fresh and most of all that burrata just kind of added a creaminess it's definitely a solid upgrade from the mozzarella or provolone that you probably get on your meatball sub back home if you love meatball subs this is kind of like an upgraded version last but not least let's talk about the cheesecake I really love the cheesecake this year it is a traditional Italian style cheesecake so don't expect that super rich kind of flavor you would get from a New York style cheesecake this one's gonna have more of a light almost kind of citrusy note going on in there I really appreciated that the cheesecake was on the lighter side it wasn't super heavy because when it's really hot outside you don't want a really rich heavy dessert in the middle of the day so it really hit the spot for me in the real world you should not look for Spain to be somewhere between Italy and Germany because you're not going to find it there but here this Festival that's exactly where you're going to find Spain so we really enjoyed the Spain Booth again this year last year we were really surprised by how much we like the paella I was surprised because I don't really like paella usually and I enjoy enjoyed it had a nice sausagey flavor this year unfortunately I did not like it as much as last year it definitely had less of that sausage flavor the sausage itself was actually kind of bland this year you really did taste the shrimp so if you're a big shrimp fan you might still enjoy it I did not enjoy it as much as I did last year my favorite item from this booth though was charcuterie in a cup which I've never seen that before but it was very clever it's very convenient to be able to carry your charcuterie around and it was good the cheese was really delicious next up there was a seafood salad Eric liked this one a lot so if you're a big Seafood lover you'll probably will enjoy this I didn't care for it I can't really speak to it because I took one bite and I was like yeah that's not for me lastly we did get a drink here I love sangria so I was excited to try the Spanish sangria I did not dig it I tried the red sangria there's no fruit in it and I'm used to having fruit and sangria it just kind of tasted like chilled red wine with maybe a little bit of Seltzer in there not my favorite drink of the festival but if you like a really simple sangria that's really dry you might enjoy it next stop is Germany and there is so much delicious food in Germany this year there are two booths there's the traditional Germany booth and then there is an Alps booth just like last year but the other thing that I want to mention you don't want to sleep on the delicious treats that are here at Epcot all year round we did a full video at last year's Festival where we pitted Festival Food against some of your favorite Epcot treats that are here all year round surprisingly the Epcot treats actually won in that so if you want to check out that video we'll link it down below but the moral of the story is try to save a little bit of room to taste some of these special things that are really iconic here at Epcot one of those spots is caramel Kucha they're most probably known for their caramel popcorn it's made fresh and it's really delicious I just love trying almost anything from the case I try something different every time today I tasted the snickerdoodle cookie that was stuffed with cream cheese frosting and caramel holy cow is delicious some other really popular ones over in France anything you get in Lazelle that Bakery is incredible and over in Norway the school bread is a great treat that you really want to try so if you're only here during festivals which let's face it it's almost always Festival time at Epcot these days you want to make sure that you make a little bit of time to try those treats that are here all year round that are really iconic and delicious so let's talk about the festival food here in Germany first off there's the shanken noodle in which is kind of like a German version of mac and cheese that's going to be the fromage Montage item in the Germany Booth I really enjoyed that this year it comes back year after year it's kind of a perennial favorite here this year was definitely better than last last year I felt like the cheese was a little too mild I didn't really taste cheese in the dish this year definitely a lot cheesier keep in mind though it's more of like a gruyere cheese if you've had that before it's not as sharp as a traditional American mac and cheese but it's really creamy and the ham that's in there adds a little nice salty meatiness to the dish it is one of my favorite fromage Montage items next up there was bratwurst served on a pretzel roll with mustard I gotta be honest I didn't love this one if you're in the mood for sausage I would say go back and get that delicious sausage in Ireland because this one just didn't really have a lot of flavor the mustard pretty much overpowered everything the pretzel roll itself was kind of dry it definitely wasn't one of my favorites from the festival I'd say probably want to skip that one for dessert at the Germany Pavilion you'll find an apple strudel it's made from fresh Apple you can tell because the apple is sliced in all different sizes there's big chunks and little diced apple and I like the differences of texture that you get from that it also has a little bit of kind of like a cremon glaze on the side like a vanilla cream sauce that was actually really added a nice richness to the dish I really enjoyed the strudel this year and I'd say it's worth a try especially if you're a fan of apple desserts next door in the Alps you could tell Disney was paying attention to the comments that they got last year so last year they had the same thing going on the Alps it was the Raclette cheese which is that cheese that they kind of scrape off when it's all melty and delicious but last year it was really stinky I mean you could smell the Alps boot three booths down and I think that was probably off-putting to a lot of folks this year they clearly got some milder Raclette cheese not nearly as stinky it did have a milder flavor as well but I did enjoy it they served it with a little bit of bread and some potato but the star is obviously the cheese you can get it with or without ham we chose to get it with the ham last year the ham was kind of like a real traditional like fresh ham that was cut this year it was more like like a cold cut ham which I imagine is probably more kid-friendly there's also a dark chocolate fondue on offer and this one was really nice I enjoyed it a lot is it the most amazing fondue you're ever gonna have no but it is solid it's pretty good and I love the things that were on offer to dip in it so there was of course the classic strawberry there were some pieces of cake and then there was some meringue which I've never dipped meringue maybe that is traditional but I really enjoyed the meringue actually it just kind of melts in your mouth once you pass those Alps you're going to find yourself in a whole new continent because this is where sub-Saharan Africa lives at this Festival you're going to find the Kenya Booth here and refreshment Outpost which is kind of the all year round african-ish food and drink offering Kenya was one of our favorites last year we absolutely loved the Kenyan coffee rubbed beef and we loved it again this year if you never had Neely Pat before that's what it's served on top of it's kind of like creamy cheesy grits that you would find here in the South really delicious and really just pairs beautifully with that spiced beef I love this flavors in this beef I do wish it was a little bit more tender there was also a nice shrimp dish here I'm not sure if I'm saying this correctly but the Peri-Peri shrimp I enjoyed it it was a relatively small portion so again this is something if you're looking for a lighter bite this had a really mild shrimp flavor you really tasted the spices that it was seasoned with next door I refreshment Outpost I love this dish it's back again it was the same one that they had there last year it's called spicy githery it's got tons of flavor lots of spices not super hot but it has a little bit of kick to it if you're looking for a healthy filling more traditional vegetarian dish this one is a really good option crossing the drawbridge from Africa you will find yourself in Asia a lot of folks don't realize that's actually a drawbridge if you come in the afternoon when they're getting ready to set up for the fireworks you might find yourself with a pretty long wait while that bridge is up we're not here to talk about the drawbridge we're here to talk about the delicious food in India India is the first Booth you're going to come to before you get to China one of our favorite drinks last year was in India it was the mango lassi with the chai liqueur I loved it again this year though not quite as much as last year I think it really just depends on the balance of the Lassie and the liqueur that that combo of flavors is just Heavenly if you've never had mango lassi before it's basically a yogurt-based drink but it doesn't really taste like yogurt it just kind of tastes like a mango milkshake and then you throw in that chai liqueur and it's just bam delicious also on the menu is an Emil's formage Montage item you're gonna find a fried Indian cheese it's like a paneer last year we did not love this dish it had no flavor at all Disney was clearly taking notes this year it's got a lot more flavor the cheese is nice and salty it comes with a mango Curry ketchup which last year we did not love they must have changed the recipe because I really didn't mind it this year I wouldn't say it's my favorite sauce but it was pretty good and it paired nicely with the cheese they also had some some samosas that were quite tasty what I love in a samosa is I want it to be crunchy I wanted to taste like it was freshly prepared and I love to have lots of bold spicy flavor on the inside bees did not disappoint they checked all those boxes the tikka masala was not my favorite so my biggest complaint with the tikka masala honestly was the chicken itself was a little bit dry which seemed odd to me because it was cooked in this sauce I also felt like I wish the sauce was a little bit richer and creamier than it was all in all it was fine but not one of my favorite dishes from the festival next door in China the food Booth was probably our most disappointing food Booth of the festival we really had high hopes for this one and we just didn't dig any of the stuff that we got there we started with the bow bun that's filled with duck and now this one has been really popular I know lots of people loved it our experience was not that great the duck itself almost was like a jerky it just tasted like it had been sitting under a heat lamp for days and days the bow bun was not Super Fresh this might be one of those that if you just got it at a different time it might be be delicious but we didn't like it enough to try it again next were the dumplings and these were kind of traditional pan-seared chicken dumplings to me they tasted kind of like the ones you get at Costco in the freezer section they weren't anything special the last food I want to talk about is the Dan Dan noodles these had a nice strong peanut sauce flavor if you're a big fan of peanut sauce things you'll probably enjoy it but it was good not great it was a fairly filling dish I would say compared to the others but it wasn't something I would come back for thank you well my friends we have made it to the final country in the world showcase Mexico this booth is usually one of my favorites and the good news is the margarita and the dessert here are really tasty this year the bad news is the two entree items what's so crazy about which is unusual because usually I love the the main courses here at Mexico don't worry though if you really want some good Mexican food I enjoy heading next door to choza De Margarita where they mainly feature Margaritas but they also have some tasty empanadas and Tacos there as well back to the booth let's talk about the food that's on offer here at the festival we'll start with the good stuff the margarita that I have it was actually made with mezcal instead of tequila it had a nice Smoky flavor it wasn't too sweet which I appreciate in a margarita the dessert was an impossible cake in Mexico you would make this by basically baking a custard and a cake all in one dish they decided to cheat here and they just did a layer of tres leches cake with some flan on top it was good it tasted good it's not a real impossible cake but we'll give them a pass because it was super tasty so now let's talk about the not so great stuff so the two entrees that were on offer this year there was a tostada and a taco the tostada had Carnitas but the Carnitas just didn't really have much seasoning or flavor at all they were kind of dry and Bland that just thought a shell was nice but that's just basically a fried tortilla so not much to write home about there on the taco this one was made with Costilla which I think is sort of like a beef short rib again just not a lot of flavor in the meat which was surprising but the biggest offender on the taco the tortilla was awful I mean it was just chewy and kind of cold and just it was not a great taco well my friend we have come full circle we are back here at shimmering sips where we started earlier today this is where you redeem your passport if you've been doing a meals from Maj Montage to get your final stamp and your completer treat there's also some food and drink on offer here of course it's called shimmering sips you would expect there to be some nice drinks we tried the Mimosa flight here which was lovely and it was very much a good portion which we appreciated it was a little light on the champagne heavier on the fruit mix-ins so there were three flavors in the flight there was a berry Mimosa a tropical mimosa and a blood orange Mimosa the tropical was definitely the sweetest of the three the berry was kind of right there in the middle and then the blood orange mimosas kind of the more traditional Mimosa flavor all in all it was fine I appreciated that it was a lot of Beverage for your money but I do wish that maybe there had been a little bit more champagne a little bit less of the mixers the dessert on offer here is a guava a cake and last year we actually named this one of our best of the festival items we still definitely like the guava cake a lot this year it kind of almost had like a cornbread flavor going on in there like it was kind of probably had some cornmeal in the cake base but a really nice guava flavor still a great treat and it's pretty amazing that it is vegan because it does not taste like a vegan dessert to me but most importantly let's talk about the thing you get here for free if you did a meals fromage Montage so they will give you your final stamp here and then you get a really lovely strawberry cheesecake soft serve on top they put a little bit of graham cracker crust crumbles sometimes I have mixed feelings about the completer treat that you get when you do these food crawls around the festival this one was definitely one of the better ones plus it's a cheese crawl I mean how can you not love going around the park eating cheesy things all day and then getting a dessert in the end for free I think via meals from Maj Montage this year is a no-brainer right across from shimmering sips you're going to find Port of Entry which is one of the gift shops where you can redeem your map for your special prize for finding Remy all around the park if you've got kids in the room you might want to make them cover their ears because I'm about to give a huge spoiler you don't actually have to put the stickers everywhere on the map and you don't even have to put them in the right place no one's going to check your work you can actually just bring an unfinished map in they will stamp it and give you your prize I share this bit of information mainly because I'm sure there are some frazzled parents out there who maybe didn't quite get to finish their scavenger hunt and just want to turn it in for the prize don't worry you can in fact that's what I'm gonna do right now so I feel like the prizes that you get for doing the hide and squeak this year are really practical they're kind of these little insulated bags they're really cute what I love about them is if you have leftovers from the festival you can throw them in the insulated bag take them home with you or back to your Resort and you have something to Nosh on later at night speaking of taking things home with you from the festival we actually have one last Booth to hit it's not a booth so much as it is a restaurant there are some special Festival offerings at connections Eatery and Cafe the reason I'm wanted to save that for last is because I think this is the perfect treat to get right as you're leaving to take home with you to enjoy later because it travels really well let's go check it out well my friends we have made it to our final stop here at the festival this is our last food location we're at connections Cafe and Eatery so the cafe side is basically a Starbucks but the Eatery is on the other side of it what I love about getting treats here for the festival number one you can mobile order them and number two you can eat them in this very comfortable air-conditioned space earlier we tried the margarita that's on offer I would say it tastes less like a margarita and more like a tequila sunrise made with Sunny D I think that's probably the best way I can describe it but this other treat that you get here this is the Remy liege waffle what I love about this tree number one it's super tasty the waffle itself is nice and moist and tender even though it's pre-packaged it's got a nice rich flavor too you can really taste that cream cheese icing this is one waffle I can enjoy just like it is I don't even need to heat it up or add maple syrup or butter in it is delicious right out of the package and that's why I think this is a great thing to grab as soon as you're walking out of the park just mobile order it pick it up on your way out just like I did here take it back with you to your hotel it's a great midnight snack to have on hand either at your hotel or where it is that you're staying after your Disney day well my friends that brings us to the end of our food and wine Adventure I hope you figured out all the delicious things you want to eat and drink when you're here for the festival if you did give this video a like subscribe to our Channel and then ring that Bell that way you'll be notified whenever new videos like this come out until next time don't forget to think happy thoughts everybody we'll see you again real soon thank you [Music]

Channel: Ear Scouts

Views: 34,988

Keywords: Epcot, Food & Wine, Food and Wine, Epcot Festival, Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, 2023 Food and Wine, 2023, 2023 Food & Wine, Disneyworld, Disney World, Food Reviews, Tips, Tricks, Tips and Tricks, Hacks, Remy, Hide and Squeak, Fromage Montage, Disneyland, Disney Land

Id: PezvUQdRaVc

Length: 56min 51sec (3411 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 10 2023