{travel guide} EPCOT Food & Wine 2021

As those of you who follow my Instagram know, I was at Disney World last week (and beginning of this week) for the 50th anniversary of Magic Kingdom! While that was the main purpose of the trip I was also very excited for EPCOT's Food & Wine Festival, one of my favorite times of year to go! I'm going to reshare some tips I've posted in the past for those of you that will be going to Food & Wine for the first time.

This year I went equipped with an empty stomach and my wishlist full to the brim of tasty food options! Christian decided to go with the flow and picked up one of the Festival guides when we arrived to decide what he wanted as we went.

 

My Food & Wine Tips

1. Download the WDW - Food&Wine app to keep track of everything you want to try and have tried! Before our trip I wish-listed everything I wanted to try so I wouldn't have to think about it while in the park. As I tried things I marked them off as "Tasted." The app also gives you a running total of what you spent which is pretty fun (and can be scary!) 

WDW Food&Wine (this is not an official Disney app)

2. Buy a gift card. I find it helpful to buy the special festival gift card on a wrist coil. You have to load them with at least $15 but you'll spend that if you eat a few dishes (and you don't just have to use it on food!) They always have a cute design. It's a great way to control your spending because you can load it with whatever your budget for the day and reload if needed. This year I didn't get the festival gift card and opted for the special 50th Anniversary gift cards. There are 5 in total but we only found 4 of them, darn!

3. Pace yourself. Spread Food & Wine eats out over a few days of your trip if you can! Park hop back to EPCOT once you're done at another park for a couple snacks. If you only have one, day don't try to eat too much or you'll only remember the stomach-ache you had. We spent one full day at EPCOT and visited again for two half days (plus a quick evening trip where we rode rides instead of trying food.)

4. Share bites with others so you can sample even more! If multiple people want to try the same thing why not split it so you have room for even more snacks? And, if you happen to really like it, go back to get a second if you're still hungry at the end of the day! Christian and I shared a lot so we were able to get more from our lists. Unfortunately he had to eat the cheesy items on his own!

 

What We Ate

Time for the fun part - talking about everything we ate! Let's go by country and in order of the Festival Guide.

Shimmering Sips

Shimmering Strawberry Soft-serve served in a Waffle Cone

This was one of our most instagrammable treats, look how fun and sparkly! I'm not usually a fan of plain strawberry ice cream (gelato, yes, ice cream, meh) but this was too fun to pass up! I really enjoyed it. Pro tip - make sure you have a water cup or bowl to dump your ice cream into and eat it with a spoon so you don't become a drippy mess. 

 

Australia

Grilled Sweet and Spicy Bush Berry Shrimp served with Pineapple, Pepper, Onion, and Snap Peas and Deconstructed Pavlova served with Pastry Cream, Citrus-macerated Berries, and Lemon Myrtle Meringue

 

Australia usually has some sort of "bush berry" shrimp on the menu and it's always tasty. Also a good way to get a few veggies if you're mostly eating fried foods on your trip. Mine seemed to be mostly snap peas but was still delicious. I would definitely buy this again. The deconstructed pavlova was fun but I wasn't a fan of the meringue. The berries were so fresh and sweet so that made up for it.

 

 

Refreshment Port

Traditional Poutine - French Fries, Boursin Cracked Black Pepper Crumbles, and Cheese Curds

This was a Christian-only treat because I am not a fan of poutine. He said it was pretty good, although the poutine he had when we went to Montreal was obviously better.

 

 

Belguim

Belgian Waffle served with Warm Chocolate Ganache

Christian and I shared this after he scraped away the whipped cream (I know, I'm weird.) The waffle was fluffy and the ganache tasty but this was overall just okay. But for $4.50 it's one of the cheaper items we tried.

 

Tangerine Café: Flavors of the Medina

Grilled Kebabs with Couscous, Tomato-Onion Salad, and Garlic-Aioli (Lemon-Garlic Chicken)

There were 3 different kabob options and we went with the chicken, it was very tasty! I'm always a fan of couscous and the salad was nice and refreshing. If we had stayed longer I might have also tried the Harissa-marinated Beef Tenderloin tips. They also had a Moroccan Spiced Lamb option.

Greece

Lamb Moussaka

 

Ever since our honeymoon Christian has become enamored with moussaka. Any time we see it on a menu he has to try it to see how it compares to the amazing one he had in Santorini. He said this was good but seemed to be a bit more Americanized than other dishes we tried. It reminded him of lasagna.

 

Japan

Teriyaki Chicken Bun - Steamed Bun filled with Chicken, Vegetables, and Teriyaki

A great choice for the picky eater this has a very subtle flavor. We thought it could have used more of a kick but overall it was still tasty. I do think it was a little expensive at $6.50. I would much prefer one of my other bites for that price if we were to go back.

Spain

Spanish-style Paella with Rice, Chorizo, and Shrimp & Charcuterie with a selection of imported Spanish Meats, Cheeses, and Olives with an Herb Vinaigrette 

 

I always have to stop in Spain at EPCOT Food & Wine for their delicious Paella! The festival has included it every year I've gone and I'll be very upset if they ever stop! The meats used are always slightly different but it never disappoints. It's so tasty and a great portion size.  Christian and I also got the Charcuterie to share (he ate all the cheese, I had the olives.) 

Germany

Roast Bratwurst in a Pretzel Roll

 

Another simple snack for the less adventurous eater. This comes with mustard but since I'm not a fan I asked for mine plain. Obviously without the mustard it's a little dry but I still found it very tasty. 

The Alps

Blueberry and Almond Frangipane Tart with Crème Fraîche

This was probably the most disappointing item we got. It came out and looked totally different from the photo example and the texture was off. There wasn't really a tart crust, it seemed to have melted from the blueberries and frangipane. I only tried a tiny bite because Christian warned me it had a weird texture (I don't like things that are too creamy.) The flavor was good but overall it was just "meh" because it was a little too mushy.

Kenya

Piri Piri Skewered Shrimp with Citrus-scented Couscous

Apparently we had a shrimp theme this trip. I was super excited to try this and it was amazing! If we didn't get this on our last day I would have gotten it twice. We had some of the EPCOT birds eyeing the plate as we were eating this on a bench, they thought they were going to get some - wrong!

India

Warm Indian Bread with Pickled Garlic, Mango Salsa, and Coriander Pesto Dips & Korma Chicken with Basmati Rice, Crispy Chickpeas, and Spiced Yogury Sauce & Madras Red Curry with Roasted Cauliflower, Baby Carrots, Chickpeas and Ben's Original Basmati Rice

 

We tried all the food at the India booth and everything was great! I think our favorite may have been the curry but everything was good. I loved the coriander pesto dip that came with the warm bread while Christian thought the mango salsa was best. All of these were great for sharing and we would get them all again. 

 

 

China

Pan-fried Chicken Dumplings served with House-made Sweet-and-Spicy Sauce & Crispy-fried Pepper Shrimp served with Spicy Sichuan Noodles

China always comes through with delicious dumplings and some sort of noodle dish. Both of these were great, although Christian balked at the $5 price-tag for 2 dumplings. But who cares, they're so yummy!

 

The Donut Box

Sriracha-glazed Donut & Strawberry Smoothie

 

One of the most anticipated things at the Food & Wine Festival was this sriracha-glazed donut. It comes with a piece of fried chicken inside and a slaw with some aioli and who knows what else. This was a Christian-only treat but I did try a bite of just chicken and donut. He looooved it and we almost went back for a second one on our last day.  The smoothie was delicious and very refreshing. 

 

Mac & Eats

Cowboy Macaroni and Cheese with Smoked Pork Belly, Brisket Burnt Endss, Pickled Peppers, and Onion Straws

This might have been in Christian's top 5 favorite items. The portion was great for $6.25 and he said it was very tasty! 

 

There were a lot more things we would have tried (and eaten again) if we had more days at the park but sadly we had to come home.  I'd consider living at Disney during the Food & Wine festival just so I could pop into EPCOT every day for a random treat. 

 

I hope you enjoyed coming along with us on this culinary tour of the world!