Tasting My Way Around the World – Take 2

During our October Trip, Riley, Jess and I were able to visit the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival a couple of times and sample several items. For those who are interested, here is a little history behind the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. The first festival was held in 1996 and ran for one month, from late September to late October. Every few years it has expanded its duration. This year the dates from from July 27-November 18th. During the festival, special Kiosks are set up around Epcot, mostly around the World Showcase Lagoon, but a few do expand into Future World. These kiosks serve food and drinks from the various countries or cuisines they represent. This year there are around 30 different kiosks to sample items from. In addition, some of the permanent dining locations including the Joffrey’s Coffee Stands, The Refreshment Outpost, the Refreshment Port, and Connections Eatery have some festival-exclusive items.

Below, I will review the dishes I sampled on this trip. To see what I tried on my one day trip in Sept click here.

The Smoked Corned Beef from Flavors of Fire. This is served with house-made potato Chips, Cheese Curds, Pickles Onion, and Beer-Cheese Fondue. This dish is a favorite of mine every year, and it didn’t disappoint this year either. I had it with a Stone Brewing Buenaveza Salt and Lime Lager from the Fry Basket Kiosk. I had this beer last month and loved it, so I had to get it again. It paired well with the Corned Beef. Jessica got the Pickle Fries, from the Fry Basket, which I tried last month. I didn’t get a picture of them, but I did get to taste them. They were nice and fresh and much crispier than the last time I had them.

Next, we headed to Brew-Wing Lab at the Odyssey as Riley and I wanted to try the Pickle Milkshake. It was very interesting. At first, it tasted like a normal milkshake, but it had a pickle aftertaste. We both had to take several tastes of it to decide if we liked it or not. It wasn’t horrible, but it was a one-and-done for me. We ended up drinking about half of it before rinsing out the cup and moving on. At least Riley got to take the cup home as a souvenir.

Lamb Gyro from Greece. This dish was tender lamb, served with Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, and Tzatziki on a Warm Flatbread. The presentation in the picture isn’t the best because I almost forgot to take a picture of it and had already mixed the toppings together, but it was very tasty and is something I would get again. I had an Orange Blossom Pilsner from Block and Hans to go with it. This beer is not a festival exclusive but is one of my favorite beers here at Epcot.

Chilaquiles and Beer flight from Flavors of America. The Chilaquiles is a dish with Corn Tortilla Chips tossed in Salsa Verde with Ranchero Chicken, Queso Fresco, Cilantro-Lime Cream, and a Soft-poached Egg. This is a dish you need to eat fairly quickly as the tortilla chips get soggy if you wait too long. That wouldn’t deter me from getting it again though as the flavor was really good. The beer flight included Rogue Dreamland American Lager, Goose Island Beer Co. Neon Beer Hug, and Left Hand Brewing Sawtooth Amber. They were all excellent. The beer flight is $10 and a great way to sample several types to see what is your favorite.

Beef Wa-Gyu Don and Brew Hub Beer Momo Amber Ale from Japan. The Beef Wa-Gyu was a Traditional Japanese Rice Bowl with American Wagyu Beef over Steamed White Rice. While I felt the portion size was okay, it was served in a very small bowl, which made it very hard to mix without spilling it. Both the dish and the beer were very good.

Warm Raclette Swiss Cheese from The Alps. There are two versions of this dish available. One has Ham and the other doesn’t. I tried the one with ham. It has melted Swiss Cheese, Shaved Ham, Baby Potatoes, Cornichons, and a Baguette. I love Swiss Cheese, so this dish was a hit for me based on that alone. The Baguette was partially cut into little slices, so it was great to eat with the Ham and Swiss Cheese. I would get this again.

The last thing I tried on this trip was the Curry-spiced Crispy Cheese from India. It is served with a Mango-Curry Ketchup. I had this a couple of years ago and liked it, so thought I would give it another try. This time I think it had been sitting a little too long as the cheese was cool and hard. The flavor was still good, and maybe I just got it on an off day, but not sure if I will get it again in the future as there are so many other things to try at the festival.

I will be back in November for one more trip, and have a list of several other dishes I would like to try, so be sure to follow along to see what else I get to sample.