The wife and I attended this afternoon. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as I expected. We literally never stood in a food booth line for more than 1-2 minutes, and rode Soarin’ at 2pm with just a 15 minute wait.
Here are the things we tried today, ranked by how much I liked them. The number listed after the name of the dish is the score, ranked from 1-10. If there is more than one score, that means we tried it more than once.
Banana Almond Soft-serve Sundae - 9.0, 9.0 (Almond Orchard) - Refreshing and delicious!
Ropa Vieja Empanada - 8.5, 8.5 (Islands of the Caribbean) - Best empanada they’ve ever done at this festival.
Short Rib Tostada - 9.0, 8.0 (Mexico) - First one was amazing, second needed more sauce.
Seared Scallops- 8.5 (Wine and Dine Studio)
Xi’an Pancake with Beef - 8.5 (China)
Mango Bubble Tea - 8.5 (China) - Buy this at Joy of Tea next door, it’s a larger portion.
Charred Chimichurri Skirt Steak on a Smoked Corn Cake - 7.5 (Flavors From Fire) - Steak was great, corn cake was pasty and kind of gross.
Braised Beef Stroganoff - 7.5 (Cheese Studio) - Good flavors, small portion.
Quesito - 7.5 (Islands of the Caribbean)
Black Pepper Shrimp with Garlic Noodles - 7.0 (China)
Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle - 7.0 (Chocolate Studio)
Pancake Milkshake - 7.0 (Taste Track)
Croissant Donut with Chocolate Hazelnut Cream - 6.5 (Taste Track) - Tasted good, but texture was very chewy.
Seared Shrimp and Scallop Cake - 6.5 (Thailand)
Shrimp Quesadilla- 6.5 (Mexico)
Beef Brisket Poutine - 4.0 (Refreshment Port) - The “meat” was almost all fat, and he Cheese was a gelatinous mess.
Overall, a very good start! We’re going back Sunday, so I’ll update the list then!
