pepperandchips
[melinda]
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2014
We checked out the Epcot Festival of the Arts last weekend, the opening weekend of the festival (January 13 & 14). I wanted to write a quick review of what we tried so that hopefully it can be helpful to others. Spoiler: we were extremely disappointed this year. In fairness, we did not repeat dishes that we tried last year, and obviously Disney brought back the more successful dishes, so perhaps we set ourselves up for failure. If you want to read my reviews from last year's event, you can find them here: 2017 Epcot Festival of the Arts Booth Reviews. My chief complaint this year was the value of the dishes. We spent a LOT on food for a short trip and a lot of the money we spent at the Festival of the Arts, I would consider a waste. Here are my thoughts.
We arrived at the festival shortly before 11:00 Saturday, expecting to find the booths open early as we have with other Epcot festivals. We came in the international gateway and headed toward Canada. Finding the Canada booth still not serving to guests, we ventured forth to Mexico as I could see crowds entering World Showcase from Future World and I was afraid that the Mexico line would get long.
It was super cold out, so we ordered a couple of drinks from Joffrey's. My fiancé is braver than I am so he had an iced drink while I tried the hot Cinnamon Sensation, a special offering for the festival - espresso mixed with rumchata and cinnamon whiskey, with steamed milk and whipped cream. This was fine but nothing I would go out of the way for.
With drinks in hand, we made it to the empty Artista Hambriento queue in Mexico's perpetual kiosk location. We ordered both savory dishes - the mixiote de cordero (lamb) and the tacos de puerco. These were expensive, $9 and $10, respectively.
First up, we have the Mixiote de Cordero, which translates roughly to "$9 bag of chewy lamb". Okay fine, it was actually Wrapped Slow Braised Lamb marinated in Tres Chiles Paste and Spices – $8.95. This was unappetizing and nearly inedible. Each of us took at least one bite that had to come back out into a napkin as it was entirely fat and gristle. What wasn't fat was chewy and tough. The smoky sauce didn't add anything flavor-wise that would have kept us eating. Most of this went in the trash.
We also tried the absolutely absurdly priced $9.95 tacos de puerco. "Two Corn Tortillas with Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder marinated in Ancho Paste, served with Sweet Plantain Purée and garnished with Pea Tendril" I liked these; my travel partner did not care for them at all. I didn't realize they were pork and they are only about two bites each, but the pork had a nice flavor to me and the plantain spread was rich and sweet, if not off-putting texture wise. Our "after" picture shows the unappetizing amount of grease we couldn't catch in a napkin. I would say these are worth about $4. They needed something crunchy and a serious price cut.
I would not order either dish again. My fiancé said it best: "Mexico, you fooled us again!" Except maybe it was a different F word. Possibly.
I wanted to see the art displays in the Odyssey building so we went in to finish our coffees and get warm. The attraction posters were pretty cool, but the flower arranging seminar that was going on in there was the real draw. The hosts were a bit much for me but many folks were rapt. We decided to try something from the Painter's Palate, but I was trying to stay away from things I'd tried last year and the Croissant Trio was ruled out for that reason. Just as we got in line to order, I heard the CM tell a guest that they were out of the gallery bites hors d'ouevres trio, so that was not an option either. Instead we both just got the jazz IPA. It was fine, nothing to rave about but a fine option if you're in the area.
I snapped some pics of the other offerings.
Pop Tart
Popcorn that you get with the beer flight
We both wanted to try the deconstructed Reuben from the deconstructed dish, so we got in line. The pick up area was WAY backed up. R waited in line while I went to decadent delights nearby and picked up some beers. I had the strawberry blonde nitro while R chose the double chocolate stout. The cm working the window tried to give me two chocolate stouts and tell me one was strawberry blonde. I had to straighten him out pretty assertively to get the correct beer, which was a mistake. It just tasted like foamy chemicals. R liked his chocolate stout - I thought it was fine but I'm not a huge fan of stouts so one sip was good for me on that. ($4, $4.25)
3 Daughters Strawberry Nitro, St. Petersburg, FL
We waited 13 minutes from paying until getting our food at the deconstructed dish (I checked the time on the receipt when we finally got our food). That probably doesn't sound too long until you actually stand there with more and more people cramming in behind you and nothing coming out of the kiosk. Let me assure you, 13 minutes waiting at a food kiosk is ridiculous and the entire horde of people waiting with us totally agreed. I understand they are doing elevated plating and it's the first weekend but this was ridiculous. Especially as this was a returning dish this year.
This dish was really good! We liked the "rye" puff pastry covered in caraway seeds, the delicious salty corned beef and the tasty horseradish mustard on the plate. Unfortunately our serving was a little too fatty and despite being $6.50 was regrettably small.
At this point we'd spent over $60, admittedly mostly on booze, and we were starving. We cut our losses and headed out of Epcot to get a decent lunch.
We're nothing if not optimistic and persistent, so the next night we returned to Epcot to eat dinner at the festival. First up was my most-anticipated item: Frose in France.
Frozen rose with grey goose and peach purée, $11. This was really creamy and delicious. I loved it and my fiancé was surprised by how much he liked it too. We enjoyed the Frose with the pork rillettes, which were served so cold that they were totally solid inside an adorable plastic "can" container.
The bread accompanying this spreadable delicacy was gone long before the pork rillettes despite careful rationing. We loved the cornichons. I'm not sure what the gel substance on top of the rillettes was but it tasted like beef bouillon jello. The rillettes were super rich to the point that we couldn't finish the serving. So I would call this a decent value but wish we'd stopped into les Halles for more bread first. ($8.75)
I was really looking forward to trying the hummus trifle in morocco until I saw the price. At this point it wasn't even sticker shock, but I can't pay $9.00 for a tiny cup of hummus with ground beef. Instead we rationalized a tiny serving of flatbread for $8, which was actually delicious but served to us cold.
Mediterranean Flat Bread with Zaatar, Olive Oil Artichoke, Olives, Mozzarella and Feta Cheese – $8.00
I imagine it's even more amazing hot. The flavors really worked and it had an almost chipotle flavor to it. I wish I could get a big one for like $12 and call it a day (hint hint Tangierine Cafe). The picture is a little deceptive due to it being so dark, but this is exactly half the size of a flatbread you'd get at Pinocchio's Village Haus or the Mara and made on the same crust. The most expensive flatbread at those locations is $11.99, so I'd say this was worth about $6.
Figuring we might just be too cold, we set out looking for a liquid blanket. We sort of found some appealing options at Block & Hans where I grabbed a MIA beer co Mega Mix pale ale and my fiancé went with the honor warrior IPA. This was at least a full sized (canned or bottled) beer, so at the $8-9 range at least we didn't need two each to have a full serving.
I really liked my choice, R was kinda "meh" on his and I didn't find it very unique. The menu claims these are special festival offerings but I have seen the honor warrior there before.
We took advantage of a few photo ops and made our way to the Italy booth for our "must try" desert of the festival - the cream fritters.
Crema Fitta, Pesche e Rucola Pesto, Ciliege di Amarasca: Cream Fritters, Peach and Arugula Pesto and Amarena Cherries – $7.00
These were amazing! They were like beignets meet cheesecake. The sauces accompanying the fritters actually lent a very unique flavor to this dish and we liked each having our own fritter to enjoy. We only got one cherry though! At $7, this dish was stupid expensive for what we got and again we were about $55 out of pocket and still kinda hungry. Feeling like we'd been bamboozled enough by this exorbitantly priced festival, we left to go get dinner elsewhere.
As you can tell, we were underwhelmed by this year's offerings. To be honest, most of the dishes just didn't look or sound appealing to me. That's obviously a very individual taste thing, but with fewer kiosks than at other festivals, there was simply less to choose from and not much to my liking. While I limited myself from ordering things I'd had last year, the only item I really wanted to have again was the charcuterie, which you can order at most table service restaurant anywhere in WDW. I felt like overall the dishes were priced at about twice what they should have been and portions were small and not consistently high quality. Unlike the parting sentiment after last year's festival, unless it just works out to be convenient to visit at this time of year again, I would probably not plan another visit to Epcot specifically to try this festival next year. If I did, I might look into the dining plan as these items would be a good use of snack credits for sure!
We arrived at the festival shortly before 11:00 Saturday, expecting to find the booths open early as we have with other Epcot festivals. We came in the international gateway and headed toward Canada. Finding the Canada booth still not serving to guests, we ventured forth to Mexico as I could see crowds entering World Showcase from Future World and I was afraid that the Mexico line would get long.
It was super cold out, so we ordered a couple of drinks from Joffrey's. My fiancé is braver than I am so he had an iced drink while I tried the hot Cinnamon Sensation, a special offering for the festival - espresso mixed with rumchata and cinnamon whiskey, with steamed milk and whipped cream. This was fine but nothing I would go out of the way for.
With drinks in hand, we made it to the empty Artista Hambriento queue in Mexico's perpetual kiosk location. We ordered both savory dishes - the mixiote de cordero (lamb) and the tacos de puerco. These were expensive, $9 and $10, respectively.
First up, we have the Mixiote de Cordero, which translates roughly to "$9 bag of chewy lamb". Okay fine, it was actually Wrapped Slow Braised Lamb marinated in Tres Chiles Paste and Spices – $8.95. This was unappetizing and nearly inedible. Each of us took at least one bite that had to come back out into a napkin as it was entirely fat and gristle. What wasn't fat was chewy and tough. The smoky sauce didn't add anything flavor-wise that would have kept us eating. Most of this went in the trash.
We also tried the absolutely absurdly priced $9.95 tacos de puerco. "Two Corn Tortillas with Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder marinated in Ancho Paste, served with Sweet Plantain Purée and garnished with Pea Tendril" I liked these; my travel partner did not care for them at all. I didn't realize they were pork and they are only about two bites each, but the pork had a nice flavor to me and the plantain spread was rich and sweet, if not off-putting texture wise. Our "after" picture shows the unappetizing amount of grease we couldn't catch in a napkin. I would say these are worth about $4. They needed something crunchy and a serious price cut.
I would not order either dish again. My fiancé said it best: "Mexico, you fooled us again!" Except maybe it was a different F word. Possibly.
I wanted to see the art displays in the Odyssey building so we went in to finish our coffees and get warm. The attraction posters were pretty cool, but the flower arranging seminar that was going on in there was the real draw. The hosts were a bit much for me but many folks were rapt. We decided to try something from the Painter's Palate, but I was trying to stay away from things I'd tried last year and the Croissant Trio was ruled out for that reason. Just as we got in line to order, I heard the CM tell a guest that they were out of the gallery bites hors d'ouevres trio, so that was not an option either. Instead we both just got the jazz IPA. It was fine, nothing to rave about but a fine option if you're in the area.
I snapped some pics of the other offerings.
Pop Tart
Popcorn that you get with the beer flight
We both wanted to try the deconstructed Reuben from the deconstructed dish, so we got in line. The pick up area was WAY backed up. R waited in line while I went to decadent delights nearby and picked up some beers. I had the strawberry blonde nitro while R chose the double chocolate stout. The cm working the window tried to give me two chocolate stouts and tell me one was strawberry blonde. I had to straighten him out pretty assertively to get the correct beer, which was a mistake. It just tasted like foamy chemicals. R liked his chocolate stout - I thought it was fine but I'm not a huge fan of stouts so one sip was good for me on that. ($4, $4.25)
3 Daughters Strawberry Nitro, St. Petersburg, FL
We waited 13 minutes from paying until getting our food at the deconstructed dish (I checked the time on the receipt when we finally got our food). That probably doesn't sound too long until you actually stand there with more and more people cramming in behind you and nothing coming out of the kiosk. Let me assure you, 13 minutes waiting at a food kiosk is ridiculous and the entire horde of people waiting with us totally agreed. I understand they are doing elevated plating and it's the first weekend but this was ridiculous. Especially as this was a returning dish this year.
This dish was really good! We liked the "rye" puff pastry covered in caraway seeds, the delicious salty corned beef and the tasty horseradish mustard on the plate. Unfortunately our serving was a little too fatty and despite being $6.50 was regrettably small.
At this point we'd spent over $60, admittedly mostly on booze, and we were starving. We cut our losses and headed out of Epcot to get a decent lunch.
We're nothing if not optimistic and persistent, so the next night we returned to Epcot to eat dinner at the festival. First up was my most-anticipated item: Frose in France.
Frozen rose with grey goose and peach purée, $11. This was really creamy and delicious. I loved it and my fiancé was surprised by how much he liked it too. We enjoyed the Frose with the pork rillettes, which were served so cold that they were totally solid inside an adorable plastic "can" container.
The bread accompanying this spreadable delicacy was gone long before the pork rillettes despite careful rationing. We loved the cornichons. I'm not sure what the gel substance on top of the rillettes was but it tasted like beef bouillon jello. The rillettes were super rich to the point that we couldn't finish the serving. So I would call this a decent value but wish we'd stopped into les Halles for more bread first. ($8.75)
I was really looking forward to trying the hummus trifle in morocco until I saw the price. At this point it wasn't even sticker shock, but I can't pay $9.00 for a tiny cup of hummus with ground beef. Instead we rationalized a tiny serving of flatbread for $8, which was actually delicious but served to us cold.
Mediterranean Flat Bread with Zaatar, Olive Oil Artichoke, Olives, Mozzarella and Feta Cheese – $8.00
I imagine it's even more amazing hot. The flavors really worked and it had an almost chipotle flavor to it. I wish I could get a big one for like $12 and call it a day (hint hint Tangierine Cafe). The picture is a little deceptive due to it being so dark, but this is exactly half the size of a flatbread you'd get at Pinocchio's Village Haus or the Mara and made on the same crust. The most expensive flatbread at those locations is $11.99, so I'd say this was worth about $6.
Figuring we might just be too cold, we set out looking for a liquid blanket. We sort of found some appealing options at Block & Hans where I grabbed a MIA beer co Mega Mix pale ale and my fiancé went with the honor warrior IPA. This was at least a full sized (canned or bottled) beer, so at the $8-9 range at least we didn't need two each to have a full serving.
I really liked my choice, R was kinda "meh" on his and I didn't find it very unique. The menu claims these are special festival offerings but I have seen the honor warrior there before.
We took advantage of a few photo ops and made our way to the Italy booth for our "must try" desert of the festival - the cream fritters.
These were amazing! They were like beignets meet cheesecake. The sauces accompanying the fritters actually lent a very unique flavor to this dish and we liked each having our own fritter to enjoy. We only got one cherry though! At $7, this dish was stupid expensive for what we got and again we were about $55 out of pocket and still kinda hungry. Feeling like we'd been bamboozled enough by this exorbitantly priced festival, we left to go get dinner elsewhere.
As you can tell, we were underwhelmed by this year's offerings. To be honest, most of the dishes just didn't look or sound appealing to me. That's obviously a very individual taste thing, but with fewer kiosks than at other festivals, there was simply less to choose from and not much to my liking. While I limited myself from ordering things I'd had last year, the only item I really wanted to have again was the charcuterie, which you can order at most table service restaurant anywhere in WDW. I felt like overall the dishes were priced at about twice what they should have been and portions were small and not consistently high quality. Unlike the parting sentiment after last year's festival, unless it just works out to be convenient to visit at this time of year again, I would probably not plan another visit to Epcot specifically to try this festival next year. If I did, I might look into the dining plan as these items would be a good use of snack credits for sure!