What to try at Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival

 

We just returned from Disney World and we'd love to share about our time at Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival. This year the Festival ran from March 3 to July 5. Even if you don't plan to go to the Festival before July 5th, hopefully you can use this post as a reference for an upcoming visit to the Flower and Garden Festival. 

There are 2 main highlights to this festival, the food booths and the topiaries.  When you get to Epcot grab yourself one of the Passport booklets. This will give you a list of all the events/entertainment options, food stands, and topiaries. We used it as sort of a scavenger hunt. 

We did not get to try EVERYTHING at the Flower and Garden Festival because there is just way too much, but we did pick 10 things to try and review here! I don't remember the price for all the dishes but they were all under $10.

1. The Citrus Shortcake- Orange chiffon cake, lemon curd, mandarins, whipped cream, and citrus crumble. Can be found at The Citrus Blossom in Showcase Plaza.  We gave this dish a solid A. It was light and tasty.

2. Orange Sunshine Wine Slushy -  Also at Citrus Blossom in Showcase Plaza.  -A . Very refreshing.

3. Popsicle Trio- Honeydew, Raspberry-mint, and Coconut lime.  Can be found at Refreshment Port in Showcase Plaza.   -A These were also very refreshing and had a good flavor! 

4. Panda Bubble Tea- Classic Milk Tea with black and white. Can be found at Lotus House in China.  -A. Your basic bubble tea.

5. Toasted Pretzel Bread- Topped with Black Forest Ham and melted Gruyere Cheese. Can be found at the Bauermarket: Farmer's Market in Germany. -A This is nice and warm and the flavors all melt together.

6. Frushi- Strawberry, Pineapple, and Cantaloupe wrapped in sweet rice and pink soy wrap served with whipped cream, drizzled berry sauce and toasted coconut.  Can be found at Hanami in Japan.

  I'll give this a solid A. It was a nice presentation but I think I had higher hopes for this dish than what it really tasted like. It's just fruit in sticky rice. The drizzled topping was the highlight of the dish. This is one that once you have it, it's not a must have again. 

7. Fried Green Tomatoes - with blue crab fennel salad, remoulade, and smoked paprika oil. Can be found at Festival Favorites in World Showplace.  I hadn't had fried green tomatoes in a long time and I remember them being so good when my grandparents would make them so I had high hopes for this dish as well. I'm going to go ahead and give it a C+.  The dish only came with one tomato and the star of the dish was probably the blue crab fennel salad because they gave you so much. It was like a scoop of crab salad. It was too spicy for my liking but my sister enjoyed it so I gave it to her. The fried tomato itself was good though. I just wish the dish came with more tomatoes and less crab.

8. Key Lime Tart- with toasted meringue. Can also be found at Festival Favorites in World Showplace.  This gets an A because it's key lime, so why not!

9.  Beef Tenderloin Tips- With mushroom bordelaise sauce, and whipped potatoes with garden vegetables.  This can be found at Northern Bloom in Canada.  This was AMAZING. It tasted like Sunday dinner at grandmas! My only complaint with this dish is that the carrots would have been more tender. I'm not sure if they were meant to be crisp or not but in a dish like this, I like them cooked.  I'll give it an A- for that reason.

10. Maple Popcorn Shake ( non-alcoholic) - This can also be found at Northern Bloom in Canada. This had a subtle flavor of maple, and had a few soft kernels of caramel popcorn on top. But I am giving this a B because it was NOT the consistency of a milk shake. It was almost like thick milk. Also, the portion size was smaller than I thought but I guess that is to be expected for a festival treat. 

So there ya have it, our honest thoughts on some of the items at the Food and Garden Festival.  Please check back for more posts on the topiaries and scavenger hunts. 

Which items would you like to try?