What to Eat at Epcot's Festival of the Holidays

We made it through the Festival of the Holidays at Epcot!

With our Holiday passport in hand, we intended to eat our way "around the World". Our intention was to do the Cookie Stroll. 

 In the back of the Holiday Passport there is a list of 8 different holiday cookies. For each one you purchase, you get a stamp in your passport book. If you purchase 5 out of the 8 cookies and get your 5 stamps, you get a free "prize" cookie that can not be bought.

The passport also lists all the specialty food and drink that is available at the festival and which countries/booths they can be found in.

Since we entered Epcot through the International Gateway, we started in the UK pavilion. There were no specialty items in the passport in that pavilion so we just breezed through to Canada. 

We had such good luck in the Canada Pavilion during Food and Wine Festival  and during Flower and Garden.  this booth was considered our "Best of the Fest".  For this festival it did not disappoint. 

At the booth called Yukon Holiday Kitchen, we got the Seared Scallops with parsnips silk, apple chutney, and hazelnut croquant.  This was VERY GOOD. The scallops were cooked perfectly and had a sweet taste to them. The parsnips were like creamy mashed potatoes but lighter. This dish was perfect. You only got 2 scallops, so we wish it came with more. 

The Snickers doodle cookie was also from this booth. This is a huge cookie so be prepared to share.  It had Snicker pieces in it and had chocolate drizzle on top that was starting to melt. Overall I thought this cookie was messy. As Lacey was standing in line to purchase this cookie for us to share, the nice couple I was sitting beside ended up giving me their cookie.  I know I shouldn't take food from strangers but they seemed okay. They were in the holiday spirit and said they didn't really want the cookie, just the stamp!

We did not eat both cookies on this day.  FESTIVAL TIP: Bring a Ziplock bag with you. I'm glad we had this bag because we were able to put one of the cookies in it and Lacey ate it the next day.

Next we headed to Port of Entry.

Mele Kalikimaka Holiday Kitchen is the Hawaiian booth. 

I got the Kalua Pork with okinawa sweet potatoes ( which are purple) and mango salad.  The pork had a little bit of spice to it but very flavorful and pleasing. The sweet potatoes were really creamy ( not overly sweet) and were a nice touch to go with the pork. 

Lacey got the Lomi Lomi Salmon with Tomatoes, Onions, salmon roe, yuzu-mayo, and yuca chips.  She really like this and said it tasted like  sushi, or like a poke bowl.  I don't eat sushi  or raw fish so I did not try this.

We also had the Haupia, which is a Hawaiian coconut pudding with candied Macadamia nuts and coconut.  This was a really light dessert with a cake like bottom. it was good but only had one macadamia nut on it. The coconut shavings were plentiful though.

The next booth in Port of Entry we stopped at was Holiday Sweets and Treats.

I got the non-alcoholic Chocolate Peppermint Shake.  This tasted just as you would expects. It had tiny crunchy peppermint pieces on top of it. It was good.

Also in Port of Entry is the Nochebuena Cocina.  Here we got cookie number 2 for the cookie stroll.

This was called Alfajores, which was a vanilla shortbread cookie with dulce de leche and coconut.  I liked this shortbread cookie and the inside had a sort of caramel taste and wasn't too sweet. 

We didn't get anything in Mexico that was on the passport but Lacey did stop to get her favorite Avocado Margarita.

In China, we stopped at the Shanghai holiday Kitchen for a Panda Bubble Tea.  

Bubble tea is a regular item in the China pavilion so we already know it is a favorite. 

In all the years we've been coming to Epcot for festivals, we've never stopped for anything at the Refreshment Outpost until now! The Peanut Stew from here was getting a lot of good reviews so we thought we should try it. 

First off, the size of the bowl is generous. It's perfect for sharing if you are unsure if you will like it, which is exactly what we did.  

This dish had sweet potatoes, mustard greens, and roasted peanuts.  I thought this was way too spicy for me.  Even though Lacey can tolerate spice better than me, she admitted it did have some heat to it.  The flavors were good though.

Next up was the Germany Pavilion. We stopped at the Bavarian Holiday Kitchen where the Cheese Fondue in a Bread bowl got rave reviews. 

The bread bowl with cheese came with steamed baby vegetables and marbled potatoes.  I will tell you the best part about this dish were the potatoes. We got a cheese dish during Food and Wine festival that smelled really bad and it was awful. We thought we would have better luck with this Fondue but we just couldn't do it. We ate the steamed vegetables and a piece or two of the bread but we just couldn't muster down the cheese. It was very pungent, sort of thick and did not have a good taste. I do not know what type of cheese this was. It was not printed in the passport and I didn't think to ask. This was one dish that went in the trash.

We skipped getting anything from Italy because the reviews here were not that favorable and honestly nothing looked appetizing either. I mean who would want salmon in the form of a push pop?

In the American Pavilion we got the Chocolate Crinkle Cookie at the American Holiday Table. 

This cookie was the third one we got for the cookie stroll.  This cookie tasted like it was a brownie in the form of a cookie. It was good!

In the Japan Pavilion we stopped at the Shi Wasu Holiday Kitchen.  Lacey got the Sushi Tree, which was a sushi roll in the form of a Christmas tree. The sushi roll had Krab meat (and the fact that it is spelled with a "k" and not a "c" makes me wonder if it was really crab...lol), cream cheese topped with tempura, ikura salmon roe, and spicy mayo.  I don't eat sushi but Lacey said this tasted just like a sushi roll you can get anywhere else. Nothing special, but it was good if you like sushi.

I tried the Japanese Christmas Punch. I am definitely not a wine connoisseur so I did not know what to expect. The description in the passport describes it as shochu, plum wine, cranberry, and lemon.  I will say it was quite pleasing. It tasted like a fruity punch and did not have a strong alcohol taste. I'm glad I tried it. 

By the time we got to Morocco, I knew I needed to get something of substance after eating cookies and wine, so we stopped at Tangerine Cafe: Flavors of the Medina for a grilled chicken kebob with carrot chick pea salad and garlic aioli.  

 These were your typical chicken skewers and they hit the spot.  Although this was listed in the festival passport, the kebobs are a regular offering here in Morocco.

By the time we got to France, we were stuffed but felt we needed to at least stop to do something in this pavilion so we watched the Beauty and the Beast sing along. If you've never done this, it's a fun pit stop!

After doing some character pics, watching the candle light processional, and sailing on the holiday version of Living with the Land, we decided on one last treat before we left. 

I got the Gingerbread Milkshake ( non alcoholic), at the Donut Box ( near test track).  This was a great treat to end the night. The shake itself was good but so was the chewy little gingerbread man that was dunked inside it!

So if you are wondering, we never did get 5 cookies to finish out the stamps on our passport.  We tried!

We had so many tasty things that it was hard to pick one for our "Best of the Fest".

I think collectively we would both choose the Seared Scallops from the Yukon Kitchen in Canada.

Individually I really liked the pulled pork from the Mele Kalikimaka Holiday Kitchen and Lacey said she did enjoy the peanut Stew from the Refreshment Port.

As far as Cookies, Lacey's favorite was the Snickers doodle. Mine was probably the Chocolate Crinkle cookie. 

As far as the drinks. I really enjoyed everything but I would say the Gingerbread Milkshake was the best!

So that wraps up our last Festival here at Epcot!  If you want to see more festival favorites, please check out our posts from the Food and Wine Festival and Flower and Garden Festival.

Till next time -M