On the opening day of the 2023 EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival, the team and I tried a handful of new food items from the Global Marketplaces. A few of these new ones had us unsure due to their descriptions, but many things surprised us. This first day of the festival brought us many unique dishes that you’ll find all over this list. There were also some weirder food options; surprisingly, only one item made the bad list.
BEST
Let’s start on a highly positive note and look at the best food items we tried on the festival’s first day.
Ryno and I shared the Fried Falafel Pita with Tahini Sauce (plant-based item) from Tangierine Café: Flavors of the Medina, and it was delicious. The falafel was fried perfectly and added a wonderful texture to the dish. The pita had a tomato and cucumber mix and lettuce, which cooled down the dish and made it feel light and refreshing. The Tahini sauce added such an excellent hummus flavor to the dish. We’d definitely come back and order this again. At first glance, this doesn’t seem like something that can be shared, but it is. We cut the pita in half, which was the perfect sharing portion.
Next up, we have the PB and J wings from Brew-Wing at the Odyssey. I was so excited to try these, especially when I found out there was no dairy in these wings. Ryno noticed that all the jelly was at the bottom of the plate, so be sure to dip the wings into that to get the full effect. The peanut butter flavor is powerful, so this is definitely for people who enjoy that. I did not expect to love these wings so much, but I walked away wanting more. The plate came with two drumsticks and two flats, I would devour this on my own, but it can be shared.
Also, at Brew-Wing, I ordered the Impossible
Buffalo Chicken Tenders with Plant-Based Blue Cheese, Plant-Based Ranch, and Celery, a new and entirely plant-based dish. I absolutely loved this. The impossible tenders were drenched in buffalo sauce and plant-based ranch. The blue cheese did get lost in all of this, but I wasn’t mad about it. The portion size was perfect for sharing with your group. Craig tried these and was surprised at how good it was.
Craig ordered the Chimichurri Marinated Skirt Steak Taco with Crushed Avocado, Grilled Corn Salsa, Pickled Red Onions, Queso Fresco and Cilantro-Lime Cream*, which is a new item at Flavors From Fire. He said the steak was packed with flavor and mentioned that the crushed avocado cooled the dish down a bit. Another thing he mentioned was that all the different flavors on the taco were working in harmony, which made it great. This is only one taco, so it’s not great for sharing, but it’s not the type of dish to make you full, which is essential at this festival.
Ryno ordered the Pickle Fries from The Fry Basket and enjoyed them. He said there was a lot of dill and that the spears used were the perfect size. The other thing he noticed was that the batter on the outside was done very well and was very crispy. His exact quote was, “You can’t go wrong with fried pickles.”
Last but not least on our list is a dessert that blew Craig and Ryno away, the Pistachio Cake from Tangierine Café: Flavors of the Medina. The cake is made with Cinnamon Pastry Cream and Candied Walnuts. Ryno mentioned that the dessert itself was beautiful, especially the white chocolate piece that topped the cake. He also said that it was more of a refreshing dessert which is perfect for this festival. Craig loved how the cinnamon pastry cream balanced out the pistachio cake, and he said he’d return and get that again.
WORST
Now it’s time for the worst category. I hate that we have to put any items here, but one dish had mixed reviews and could’ve been better.
Craig ordered the Italian Hot Beef Sandwich with Shaved Beef, Spicy Giardiniera, and Au Jus on a French Roll, which is new this year, at the Flavors of America booth. The only reason this ends up in the worst section is the Au Jus. Craig said it was absolutely horrible and made the pretty decent sandwich bad. He advises getting the sandwich but avoiding using that Au Jus that comes on the side. He said it was just too salty. The sandwich on its own was tremendous. Hopefully, the kitchen can work on that Au Jus to improve this dish.
WEIRDEST
This category is my favorite because I love when Disney introduces weird food items that can quickly become festival favorites or least favorites. This year we encountered two odd food items, and one of them is creating some friction on social media.
The famous Pickle Shake at Brew-Wing is definitely the weirdest item I’ve ever seen at the Food and Wine Festival. I was not able to try this because, obviously, it was jam-packed with dairy. Ryno did the honor of trying the shake and giving us his honest review. He didn’t hate the shake, but he didn’t understand what the big dill (deal) was. He said the base of the shake was a vanilla shake with some hints of dill and A LOT of food coloring to make it green. It’s a cold treat for anyone that loves the taste of dill pickles.
Next in the weird category is a new plant-based item from the Greece booth, Plant-Based Impossible Moussaka. I wasn’t sure what Moussaka was, so I did some research.
Moussaka is a layered oven casserole dish made with vegetables and meat. The most well-known version of moussaka is made with layers of eggplant slices, cheese, and a meat sauce, topped with a thick béchamel sauce
This version of Moussaka at the festival tasted like the holidays after my first bite; that’s how I described it to Ryno and Craig. The béchamel sauce was one of the better plant-based versions that I’ve had, and the Impossible meat was done well. What I couldn’t get over was that sweetness, and I couldn’t put a finger on what it was. After asking around, I discovered they used nutmeg in the dish. Once I found that out, it all made sense. That is why it landed in the weird category, but for me, it’s one of the best things I ate at the festival.
JUST OKAY
Not everything can be the best, so it’s time we look at the just okay food items. These dishes are ones that didn’t disappoint us but didn’t blow us away.
First on this list is the Grilled Sweet-and-Spicy Bush Berry Shrimp with Pepper, Onion, Snap Peas, and Sweet Chili Sauce from the Australia booth. This was the first item I ordered, which is why it ended up here. I thought it was a great food item that was packed with flavor. I’ve said it a million times, but anything made with a sweet chili sauce is an automatic win in my book. The issue is that other dishes blew me away after this one, which isn’t a bad thing. It came with three pieces of shrimp, so each of us had a piece, and we all enjoyed it.
Ryno ordered the Chilaquiles: Corn Tortilla Chips tossed in Salsa Verde with Ranchero Chicken, Queso Fresco, Cilantro-Lime Crema, and a Soft-Poached Egg (New) from Flavors of America. He was impressed that the egg was perfectly poached, but his biggest complaint was that the chips were stale and soggy. The sogginess wasn’t from the dish’s components but more from the humidity since the line for this booth was extremely long. He would love to return and try this dish again, but only if the line is short. Even though there was some disappointment overall, it was a good dish and large enough to share.
At Flavors From Fire, Craig got the new dessert called Spiced Chocolate Tart with BBQ Potato Chip Crust, Salted Whisky-Caramel, and Smoked Sea Salt. He said that this dessert would be phenomenal if they would change out the BBQ potato chips for a plain potato chip because the other flavor didn’t do anything for the dessert.
To see our full review, check out the YouTube video below!
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