OK we're coming into the home stretch...
I'm combining a little bit into this section that actually happened on my first Epcot day because it's all food and wine stuff and I figured it'd be easier.
That morning I completely wasted a counter service credit at Good's Food to Go. I don't know why I thought I had an extra but I said "Ok I'll get breakfast before my tour" (context: I did undiscovered futureworld which I'll go into when I actually do a trip report). It was a drizzly morning so there was only 2 other people waiting for food when I got there. Anyone who's not familiar with this place, its the only counter service option at OKW. It's literally just a counter and there's some seating outside.
I got under the roof and ordered, the CM working acted like she was doing me a favor by taking the order. There's a whopping 3 or 4 options here so I ended up with the breakfast platter. Eggs, bacon, a biscuit, something else I don't even remember. It was such a pathetic plate I didn't take a picture. The food was all hot, but it was either so bland or so salty it was basically inedible. I threw 80% of it away.
After my tour, which ended at China in World Showcase, I started my Food and Wine Experience...
OK I'm sort of lying. On my first Epcot day, I cheated a little. I was heading back to Canada and walked past the Greek booth. I wanted the griddled cheese they had and there was still a little wait til dinner (then with it being late I'm glad I did get this to hold me over). Since this was a Saturday night, every line I passed was long. They were moving pretty quickly though. I ordered my griddled cheese which was a greek cheese (I think Kasseri, it tasted like a sheep's milk cheese) with honey and pistachios. The ones they were handing out had been sitting for a few minutes because they started to set up, I'm not sure if that's how they were intended or not. It was firm enough that I just folded it up and took bites of it. I enjoyed it because the salty and the sweet and the little bit off crunch from the nuts was nice, but it definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea if only because the cheese isn't what it seemed everyone expected. I know I took a picture of it but I can't seem to find it.
After that I decided a Welsh Dragon was in order. I had one on my last trip and loved it. This time...enh. First of all the Rose and Crown was packed. Like no room to walk packed. I managed to push my way into a line and waited probably 15 minutes to even order. The bartender had about 4 people he was waiting on and most of them had multiple drink orders so it was a little painful standing there. I got the drink and bolted out of there and walked back to Canada, fighting my way through this throng of people and managing to find this little abandoned area behind a kiosk. I parted myself against a wall and charged my phone. The drink was actually disappointing this time around. I don't know if this one was made wrong or the first one I had was wrong. There was so much mint in this one it really over powered the other flavors. I couldn't bring myself to walk back and try to fight through the crowd to get another so I drank about half of it.
I'm a bit skittish about trying it there again, unless I could talk to the bartender first and ask which way was correct. I have all the ingredients at home so it might just be one that I have to make my version of to be happy.
The lesson learned that night is NEVER GO TO FOOD AND WINE ON A WEEKEND. Holy crap, the amount of blatantly drunk, rude, unkempt, rude, trashy "Who the **** cares there's kids around I want a ****ing drink dude" people was such a turn off it was unreal. I get that that's when the locals go but is it really such an unrealistic expectation to keep your crap together and respect that there are still families and people on legit vacation around? Not everyone was like this but dear lord the ones that were left an impression.
OK off my soapbox and on to my weekday experience. After my tour..blah blah....ok I walked through towards Mexico and decided to try the Sweet Corn Cheesecake. I was really clueless what to expect with this and I was surprised with myself that I was willing to try it (pickiness and all). It was actually fantastic. It was texturally just like a normal cheesecake if not a little rougher but not gritty. There was a fresh corn flavor to it, and it was sweet and corny the way that corn bread is. It wasn't savory, definitely a dessert. It had some whipped cream and I believe dulce de leche on it. The portion was pretty generous too.
I ended up going to the Festival center and bumming around a little because it was pouring outside. I didn't think there was much to see there and it made me sad for Wonders of Life. I did find this beauty in the Gharadelli section though.
All out of chocolate. This was like 1 of 5 different displays.
After that I circled back around starting at Canada again.
I decided to go for the dessert trio. This was a bit of a disappointment. They must have them all sitting in a fridge waiting to go because everything had condensation on it and came across like what you'd get at a cafeteria. Starting on the left was a blueberry lime roll, which was good but not horribly flavorful. The middle was some kind of mango or passionfruit creamsicle thing that was disgusting. The right was an opera cake that had a chocolate and coffee flavor. It was easier to pick that up and just eat it as a giant bite than to bother with a fork. The cake was good but would have been better not fresh out of the fridge.
Next was the warm chocolate pudding with kerrygold cream sauce from Ireland. I used to sell a lot of Kerrygold products so I know the quality and flavor of it (and actually described the cheese plate to probably 10 people over the course of my Epcot days). The pudding was more like a very moist, dense, almost undercooked but in a good way cake with the warm cream sauce over it. The sauce had some kind of booze in it but I don't remember what it was. The portion was tiny but with it being as rich as it was I wouldn't have wanted it to be bigger. A lot of people passed it up seeing my plate though.
Next up was the Beef Bourgignon from France. Honestly I thought it looked a bit like catfood but it was so flipping good. A slow roasted short rib with the sauce and the mashed potatoes. I could have killed a full portion of that, no problem. The meat was so tender and flavorful, like melt in your mouth good. I don't know if I timed it right with a fresh batch or what but that was definitely a highlight of that day foodwise.
Then Belgium, with the waffle. This was a complete waste for me. I was debating between the chocolate and the fruit one, decided the fruit one looked cheap and thought "chocolate is always good". Meh, nope. The waffle was hot, but incredibly bland. There was a little drizzle of thin chocolate sauce and a buttload of whipped cream, and the blandness of the waffle managed to overtake and dull everything else.
I made a really bad decision after this...I spent so much time in the store in Japan I didn't think I'd have enough time to hit the other booths I wanted to and get back to Italy for my reserved spot for Illuminations (another perk of the tour). I decided to just stop at Liberty Inn for dinner. I realized that because I used that credit I thought was extra for breakfast that I had to pay for this meal. I ended up with the chicken nuggets because I had a brainfart and basically picked the first thing I knew I'd eat. I didn't take a picture because with the fries it was just a big pile of beige. The nuggets were fine, the fries were fine but certainly nothing to write home about.
I unfortunately missed the ravioli in Italy (I was full from dinner and clearly wasn't thinking I WAS PASSING THROUGH THE STUPID AREA ANYWAY SO WHY DIDN'T I JUST WAIT?!?!?!?!?) and the Cheese bread things in Brazil. Oh the lambchop in Australia too. I blame the rain and the last full day blues on bad decision making.
) so I'm going to try to get everything foodwise done tonight! Let's see how I do.
That's a complete meal right?
. I could almost cut it with my fork. The potatoes were good too. It's weird because their texture was similar to boxed instant mashed potatoes, like incredibly smooth,but richer and denser. They were nice against the earthiness of the steak. 
Weird right? 
