REVIEW: Arepas and Tropical Breeze from La Isla Fresca Prove Mediocre at the 2022 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival

Back for another year at the 2022 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival is La Isla Fresca, a food booth dedicated to bringing the flavors of the Caribbean to the festival!

Menu for La Isla Fresca at the 2022 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival

Food:

  • 🆕 Arepas topped with Melted Queso Fresco – $5.00
  • 🆕 Arepa topped with Shrimp, Crushed Avocado Ají and Tomato Sauce – $6.75
  • 🆕 Arepa topped with Chorizo – $6.25
  • 🆕 Coconut Tres Leches: Vanilla Cake soaked in Oat Milk, Almond Milk and Coconut Milk with Toasted Coconut – $4.50

Beverages:

*Price per bottle is an average price of the spirit at your local liquor store.

  • 🆕 Tropical Breeze: Lemonade, Grapefruit and Simple Syrup – $4.50
  • Islamorada Beer Company Coconut Key Lime Ale, Islamorada, FL (5.0% ABV) – $5.00 for 6 oz., $9.00 for 12 oz
  • 🆕 Florida Orange Groves Winery Tropical Perception White Sangria, St. Petersburg, FL – $11.00
  • 🆕 Tropical Breeze with Don Q Límon Rum ($14/bottle) – $11.00

While the menu has gotten a complete makeover this year, several items have appeared at other Outdoor Kitchens and EPCOT festivals. The Coconut Key Lime Ale previously appeared at The Citrus Blossom in 2021, while the arepas topped with queso fresco and shrimp were last seen at Feast of the Three Kings at the 2019 EPCOT International Festival.

Photos of Menu Items from La Isla Fresca at the 2022 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival

*NEW* Arepas topped with Melted Queso Fresco – $5.00

Topped with melted queso fresco, this arepa is very poor and doesn’t even have the elements that the queso fresco-stuffed version has to help it out. Arepas can be amazing – these are, sadly, the opposite of that.

*NEW* Arepa topped with Shrimp, Crushed Avocado Ají and Tomato Sauce – $6.75

Topped with shrimp, crushed avocado aji and tomato sauce, this is better than the one with just queso fresco, but it’s still bland overall as the arepa itself is not good.

*NEW* Arepa topped with Chorizo – $6.25

The arepa itself was really chewy and more like a very hard “cookie.” It didn’t really have a lot of taste either, with a texture similar to a scone.

The chorizo was nice and spicy and had a lot of kick. We enjoyed the chorizo, but not the actual arepa.

*NEW* Coconut Tres Leches: Vanilla Cake soaked in Oat Milk, Almond Milk and Coconut Milk with Toasted Coconut – $4.50

This wasn’t bad, but the milk was disproportionately in there. Some parts were denser than others. It wasn’t completely flavorless, but there really weren’t any prominent flavors.

The cake was dry and the thing we tasted the most was the vanilla topping. The denser parts of the cake had a strong oat milk taste. If that doesn’t bother you, it might be worth a try.

*NEW* Tropical Breeze: Lemonade, Grapefruit and Simple Syrup (Non-Alcoholic) – $4.50

This was refreshingly sweet. The most prominent flavor comes from the grapefruit.

It’s a decent choice if you want something to beat the heat.

Islamorada Beer Company Coconut Key Lime Ale, Islamorada, FL (5.0% ABV) – $5.00 for 6 oz., $9.00 for 12 oz.

From Islamorada Beer Company: “Coconut dominates with a slight zip of lime zest. The smooth creamy mouthfeel and light sweetness make this a dessert that’s light enough to drink all day. Cruisin’ on idle, listening to some tunes, and sipping on this mild Key Lime Coconut ale will get you on Island Time no matter your location.”

*NEW* Florida Orange Groves Winery Tropical Perception White Sangria, St. Petersburg, FL – $11.00

From correspondence with Florida Orange Groves Winery: “A secret blending of five of the winery’s most popular tropical wines (mango wine, passion fruit wine, pineapple wine, watermelon wine and key lime wine), Tropical Perception explodes on your palate with citrus and tropical fruit flavors. Uniquely Florida, Tropical Perception is a great tropical companion with any Florida food (especially seafood) and is the winner of a Best of Show award, a Best of Class award and two Double Gold medals in three different international wine competitions.” This wine is exclusive to the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival.

*NEW* Tropical Breeze with Don Q Límon Rum ($14/bottle) – $11.00

The main difference between this and the non-alcoholic version is that you get a hint of rum on the backend.

We’re not sure if our server was just light on the rum, but it was hard to detect.

Location of La Isla Fresca at the 2022 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival

La Isla Fresca is located between the Morocco Pavilion and the France Pavilion on World Showcase Promenade. You can find it at number 10 on the map below.

With an entirely new menu, there are so many items to try! Be sure to head out to EPCOT anytime between March 2 to July 4 so you can check them out.

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