The Epcot Food & Wine festival is something I have wanted to try out for years. We usually visit the "most magical place on Earth" around early September, after the kids have gone back to school. As we usually have our trips booked well in advance of when Disney announce the dates of Food & Wine, we usually miss it by a week or two. In 2016, it started the day after our flight back was booked.
Thankfully, in 2017, Disney extended the Food & Wine dates and it was due to begin on the August 31st, which means we finally get to experience it!
In this review we share our experience at the stops we made purchases at, as well as listing our favourite dishes of the event. We started our tour around the world as soon as World Showcase opened at 11am on a Tuesday, and for the majority of the day, it was nice and quiet and hardly any lines for any of the food stands. We began our day by checking out the "Festival Center", which is located between Mission Space and Universe Of Energy.
This building used to be full of attractions and known as "The Wonders Of Life". This closed just before my first ever trip to Disney World, so we have never experienced. But we've always noticed the abandoned building just sitting there, and this is my first time going in and checking it out.
They had some great Food & Wine merchandise in there, as well as some gorgeous fine art. (I would have purchased one but they didn't appear to be numbered).
Our first stop was the Craft Beer station which is located in the usually unoccupied building that is situated between Test Track and Mexico, next to the restrooms.
We had the "Zesty Cheeseburger Handwich". It was like mac 'n' cheese, peppers and extra cheese wrapped in this think, almost pretzel like soft bread. It was very strange but also really delicious, and was a pretty good size, too. We also had some cotton candy because - why not. The flavour was a little different, almost citrus, but it was delicious.
Our next stop was China, which is usually a safe location no matter what your food tastes.
We had the "Beijing Roasted Duck". This was very delicious! The duck wasn't fatty at all, and the weird spongy bun worked really worked. The only complaint I'd have with this is the sauce is cold over the hot duck, which took away some of the positive for me, but it was a hot day after all. We also ordered a "Happy Peach", which was really nice and rather strong.
It was so good when we went around a couple days later, we got 3 more.
India was new this year, and I'm a big fan of indian food at home, so was curious to see the American take on Indian.
We had the "Madras Red Curry" and the "Korma Chicken". We were not really a fan of these. The chicken was nice, although you only got 2 small pieces, but the sauce really didn't taste like any korma I knew. The Madras was better, but was still not a fan of it.
Next we decided to check out Africa.
We tried the "Beef Tenderloin Tips". They were really good! The sauce was nice and a little spicy, and there were some jalapeños hiding in there, too. The beef was nice and tender and the Pap is sort of like soggy rice, but it works.
As we get closer to Germany we stopped off at Brewers Collection (the only location on the whole day where I got asked for ID!) I am a massive fan of the Schofferhofer beer they sell at Germany. I always have a couple when making my way around the world, and this stop had a pomegranate version.
Wasn't a fan to be honest. It was alright, but much prefer the standard one they sell at Germany. We also got the "Lebkuchenherz" gingerbread heart which was "amazing".
We were finally at Germany, and it was time for some sausage.
We had the "Roast Bratwurst". To be honest, didn't like it. Was very disappointed. It was over seasoned and the bun wasn't very nice either. The sausage they sell on the regular quick service is much better.
Next up was Japan.
A certain someone was very eager for the pork and teriyaki so we had the "Teriyaki Ginger Pork" and the "Sake Cocktail". The pork was good but quite soft, and the sauce tasted more like sweet chilli rather than teriyaki. The Sake was delightful but very strong.
The next stop was Brazil.
We ordered the "Crispy Pork Belly", and was very excited as big pork belly fans. Sadly, we were very disappointed. This was the smallest portion of pork belly I've ever seen. It was mostly fat, too. There was a tiny bit of actual pork on this already small portion. The black beans it was surrounded with wasn't nice either.
The next stop was Ireland. As a massive Guinness fan, I was looking forward to what they were going to offer.
We ordered the "Roasted Irish Sausage" and the "Warm Chocolate Pudding'. I also had a Guinness Blonde but it was no different than you can get elsewhere. The sausages were awful, sadly. However, the chocolate pudding tasted like a hot Lava Cake and it was delicious. Although it was tough eating this really hot cake on a really hot day stood in the sun.
They have extended Food & Wine into Future World (next to Figment), but thankfully didn't just tack on more countries, they tried some new things. The next stop was Chocolate Studio.
We had both things on the menu. The torte wasn't as sweet as we'd thought, it was a little bitter, but still nice. The frozen truffle tasted like the frozen Nutella you get at the Star Wars dessert party, except it had a nice caramel sauce with it.
The next stop was Patagonia.
We had the "Grilled Beef Skewer", and it was cooked perfectly. The chimichurri was really nice and this dish was an overall delight.
The next stop was Hawai'i.
We had the “Kalua Pork Slider" and a "Mai Tai". The Mai Tai was nothing special, and came in the smallest little cup i've ever seen (for $9!) The pork was amazing, the spicy mayonnaise (which was more sweet then spicy) worked really well, but you can ask to not have it.
The next stop was Earth Eats.
We had the "Grilled Beef Skewer" here, and it was fine. A little dry, but still tasty. It just wasn't as nice as the one at Patagonia.
The next stop was Active Eats.
As we love our American Mac 'n' cheese, we had the "Loaded Mac 'n' Cheese". The dish it self was really nice, but it was sadly ruined by the weird pepper bacon that they pour over the top of it.
The next stop was Flavors Of Fire.
We had the "Piggy Wings" and the "Smoked Corn Beef". The beef was a little strange, but we really enjoyed it. The menu said it came with potatoes, so it was a little misleading when we got chips (crisps), but they were pretty good. I was worried the cheese over the top would taste like that nasty cheap cinema nacho cheese, but thankfully it wasn't. We weren't a huge fan of the wings. The sauce was nice, but the pork was a very odd texture.
Overall Food & Wine was a fun experience. We got to try some weird stuff and instantly created new favourites. Here are our top 3 dishes!
We were glad we finally got to experience Food & wine, and we will try our best (depending on how Disney moves the dates each year) to make sure we are there for when it returns. To finish off, we took some extra photos of the scenery below.
Our Score 4/5
Is it worth the money? Some of the items are overpriced, but the majority are reasonable.
Is it worth the dining plan credit? This is a great way to use your snack credits!
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