Epcot Eats: From Land To Sea

When Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival comes to the park, it’s a special time of the year. Who doesn’t want to sweat and carry around tiny plates of food? Just kidding!

For us foodies, this is the best festival of the year, and the perfect opportunity to treat yo palate with some unique flavors. 

Where do you start a culinary journey? In France, of course.

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France

While I love escargots, escargots don’t love me. And that makes me sad because the brioche looks so good and yummy!

Instead, I went with the Parmentier de Beuof Braise au Cabernet (Braised short rib in Cabernet and mashed potatoes.) This dish came out in a casserole cup, and I had to double checked I got the right dish. For some reason, I expected beef on top of mashed potatoes, like a slow-cooked stew.

 

 

The topping was made with mashed potatoes. I could have sworn there was (Parm) cheese in there, but it was not listed as an ingredient. The potatoes had that nice, creamy flavor to them.

Underneath these potatoes was a layer of tender beef. Supposedly, this was braised in Cabernet. There was zero trace of a Cabernet flavor in the gravy. It reminded me of a homemade stew where you throw in the beef, some potatoes, a little salt, and add a bit of water. As you can imagined, that would be bland. And that’s how this dish turned out. 

Yes, the beef was really tender and moist, but this dish lacked any type of flavor except the mashed potatoes. It was good, but for a French-inspired dish, I expected more.

 

Parmentier de Beuof Braise au Cabernet – (Braised Short Ribs in Cabernet and Mashed Potatoes)

$6.75

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Hops & Barley Market

 

Next was on to Hops and Barley. This booth was known for its lobster roll, but that is sadly missing this year. No lobster at any booths for this year! Instead, we have the crab slider as a replacement. This dish must be getting pretty good word of mouth; even the Cast Member was excited when I ordered it. 

 

 

The Chesapeake crab cake is served on a brioche slider bun with cajun remoulade and tangy coleslaw. The brioche was something served at Publix – plain old run-of-the-mill bun. I know coleslaw, and this version didn’t have a kick at all. You did get a sprig of green onion on top for a little added peppery flavor. But the crab patty part was perfect. It had a nice crust and was not overly filled with bread crumbs, like some crab cakes.

 

The crab was tender and had a sweet taste to it. Don’t expect a huge sized patty: it’s pretty thin. Overall, I thought it was good for festival food. The coleslaw didn’t add any more flavor, but it also didn’t take anything away. Definitely a good item at this booth.

 

Chesapeake Crab Cake Slider with Tangy Coleslaw and Cajun Remoulade

$7.00

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India

When it’s hot and humid, you need more heat in your life. I’ve been dying for samosa since they left Adventureland. While I was expecting one on the plate, you get two big potato and pea samosas. The outside was nice and a bit soft. There was a slight crunch when biting into them. The filling of pea and potato had a spicy flavor to it. In fact, if you are not used to a little heat in your dishes, it might be overwhelming. I loved that added kick, and thought the flavor was spot on. I don’t know what type of pity were used, but they had a slightly orangish appearance with crunchy peas in the mix. When you needed to cool down your tongue, the cilantro-lime cream did the trick.

 

 

Between the spicy filling and cool cream, the flavors just blended together in the most perfect way. Could this be the Mary Poppins of the festival? I loved this dish, and there will be plenty of samosas in the future. 

Potato and Pea Samosas with Coriander-Lime Cream

$5.25

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Flavors of Fire

After the savory, you need a little sweet. The Rocky Road Chocolate Cake was calling my name from the Flavors of Fire booth. First off, the presentation was excellent. The spiced almonds and marshmallows topped the cake with a drizzle of chocolate ganache.

 

 

Now some people have said the almonds are spicy. They had a sugar-like coating, but I didn’t detect any heat. Of course, when it’s five billion degrees in the Florida sun, you probably lose all sense of what’s hot or not. If you don’t like almonds, you can’t simply pick them off the topping. They are baked into the cake – so keep that in mind.

The cake is kinda like a lava cake. Really rich, and the chocolate explodes everywhere when you cut it. Sometimes I feel like a chocolate rush, and this would be a perfect choice.  However, it is extremely sweet and chocolatey. If you want a light dessert, this cake is not the one for you. 

Rocky Road Chocolate Cake with Marshmallows, Spiced Almonds, and Chocolate Ganache 

$4.25

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That was our first trip around Epcot for Food & Wine. Are you going to add any of these dishes to your “wish list” for the festival? Let me know in the comments.