Anyone else think Food & Wine food is nasty?

[Buttercup Roberts]

I love ethnic food, and I love trying new things. But half the food samples I bought this year were nasty and the other half were mediocre.

It's so crowded, too!

We ended up sticking to our old favorites at the counter service places and wishing we'd picked another season to visit.

For example, the cheddar cheese soup from Canada was nothing like I remember from Le Cellier years ago. And the lobster roll, oh my god! What a joke! It was minced celery and raw onion in miracle whip with maybe ten grains of frozen lobster meat. That went straight in the trash.

I don't get it... lots of the restaurants and counter places in World Showcase have great food. Who exactly is doing the cooking for these food booths?

 

[OKW Lover]

This wasn't our experience at all. We throughly enjoyed trying things at each of the different booths.

 

[Buttercup Roberts]

Believe me, I'm aware I'm in the minority. Just looking for any other like minded folks.

 

[Pig Pen]

We stopped by on Columbus Day and had a great time and lots of good food. Maybe we just lucked out but the crowds seemed low. In fact we decided to plan a longer trip sometime just to partake in all the F&W festivities.

Sorry you were disappointed!

 

[SnwflkCts]

I have to agree that it was sooo crowded. I had ressies at Le Cellier, so did not stop and taste anything but for the $4-$5 (and the wait in the line!) it did not seem that special to me. The bakleva (ok, can't spell - the Greek pastry) did look good but not a very big piece!

But most people looked like they were having a good time so ... I'm sure it had its good and bad moments.

 

[alfredromero1975]

I enjoyed all the food at F&W. Really. Well, I did eat escargot (fried snails) at France. Rather yucky, but I ate it all. The rest of the food was very good.

 

[Tinkerboy00]

This wasn't our experience at all. We throughly enjoyed trying things at each of the different booths.

Me too.........and I probably went about ten times during the festival. The Empanadas were my favorite.

 

[safetymom]

I went many many times and didn't find the crowds bad at all. I like how they moved the pay station away from where you got the food.

I thought the food I had was good.

 

[elastigirl]

There were a couple of things I thought were just mediocre, or I just didn't like. My favorites were the Pot Stickers in China and the quesadilla in Mexico.

 

[cleo]

Some of the food we sampled was pretty ordinary, but some of it was terrific. We're pretty adventurous eaters and were hoping each sample would be 'the real deal'; we ended up disappointed a few times but pleasantly surprised at other items. I think it's hit-or-miss to some degree. And pricey for the small taste you get.

Still, we love Food and Wine Festival.

 

[SueM in MN]

The bakleva (ok, can't spell - the Greek pastry) did look good but not a very big piece!

The baklava was VERY good. It looked like a small piece, but it was so rich that a bigger piece would have been almost too much.
Over the weekend while we were there, it was crowded, but during the week there was no wait at all. DH and I found lots of food we liked.

 

[chyam]

Me too.........and I probably went about ten times during the festival. The Empanadas were my favorite.

Me too and I loved the empanadas and the meatballs in Scandanavia! I thought most of the food was better than in the past.

 

[Buttercup Roberts]

I had everything from the Turkey food booth, a lobster roll from America, cheddar cheese soup from Canada, cabbage roll from Poland, and spanikopita from Greece. Then I finally gave up.

Did I just happen to hit all the worst booths? People's favorites above are things I didn't try. That would figure!

 

[mickaholic4077]

I think the food is ridiculously over-priced and the portions miniscule,but I like the Eat to the Beat concert series.

 

[sticker231]

it is a little pricey, but we enjoyed it. We had the empanadas, chiliquiles, pot stickers and chicken in China, shrimp on the barbie was so-so, the eggplant dish in Italy was awesome, the cheese soup, and several other dishes. We went three nights of our trip and enjoyed it each time. I think it is fun to just stroll around and have a bite to eat and a beer. The kids loved trying new things also.

 

[Gdad]

We liked about everything we tried - although I agree if there was one thing that left me unimpressed it was the spanakopita. And yes the crowds were ridiculus to say the least.