This is a big one!
Belgium
Steamed Mussels with Roasted Garlic Cream and a Baguette, Leffe Beer
We've had the mussels before and were looking forward to revisiting them. This was one of our favorite dishes from last year's festival. Its quality has not waned. The mussels themselves were ever so slightly gritty, but they were cooked well. They came out of their shells easily and were tender, not chewy or rubbery. Of course, the thing that really makes the dish is the garlic cream sauce, which is thick, creamy, heavy on the roasted garlic and delightfully salty. I say "delightfully" because I do not ever add salt to my food and use it sparingly when cooking, so I can be a bit sensitive to its appearance in prepared foods. The salt in the sauce had a definite presence, but it did nothing but improve the flavors of the sauce and the mussels themselves.
Leffe is a malty Belgian pale ale. It's sweet, but not in an overpowering way. Although it's not the most refreshing beer at the Festival, it's got enough bitterness to be palatable. It goes really well with the sweeter, heavier food offerings at the Belgium booth, so it would be a good complement to any of the menu choices.
Belgium Waffle with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream
I have to confess, I don't care for waffles. What can I say? If pressed, I prefer pancakes. I know it doesn't have to be an either/or thing, but truthfully, if I'm going to choose a sweeter breakfast item, I'm going for French toast every single time. This may be why I thought the Belgium Waffle was so amazing. It was just like my favorite French toasts in that it was crispy on the outside, but doughy in the middle. The berry compote was sweet, but the fresh berries had a bit of bite too. The whipped cream tasted a little too buttery for me, but even the worst whipped cream is better than no whipped cream, amirite?
Guylian Belgian Chocolate Seashell Truffles, Hoegaarden Beer
I'm not a chocolate connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. I can go months without touching chocolate at all. When I do, I like the darkest, most bitter chocolate I can get. I also avoid white chocolate like the plague. Vile, fatty stuff. It's the Brie of chocolate. Because of that, I was a little disappointed when we opened our box of Guylian and saw the marbled milk and white chocolates. I was planning to take a small bite and then declare that Danny could finish the rest. The delicious whipped hazelnut ganache center stopped me, however. These were pretty good for prepackaged chocolates! They weren't overly sweet or too heavy.
The Hoegaarden is a Belgain White. There's sort of a disparity in witbier between appearance and taste. Because they're so light, one wouldn't necessarily expect them to taste as robust as they do. It can be off-putting. The Hoegaarden is hoppy for a wheat, but not our favorite beer of the festival. I thought it tasted grassy. Danny thought it was almost metallic tasting.
France
Coq au Vin sur Gratin Macaroni, Sparkling Pomegranate Kir
The Coq au Vin was our uncontested favorite of the festival. The red wine braised chicken was so tender and savory, with just a hint of acidic bite. The pearl onions and mushrooms were stewed to a wonderful texture. The Gratin Macaroni was sharp, cheesy and creamy. This was an amazing comfort food and has inspired me to try making Coq au Vin at home for the first time. I'm sure it's a recipe we'll love for special wintertime dinners.
The Sparkling Pomegranate Kir is something I've enjoyed at past festivals. Growing up, my family had pomegranate trees and spent days -- weeks, even -- juicing the pomegranates' delicious arils to make homemade jelly. Because of this, I felt both happy and slightly proprietary when the rest of the world caught on to how outstanding pomegranates are. But one of the best things to come out of the world's happy discovery is Pama, a pomegranate liqueur made from "the juice of California pomegranates, premium vodka and a touch of tequila", according to the company's website. Why the France booth is featuring a spirit made in Kentucky with California fruits is beyond me, but I'm glad for it. The Sparkling Pomegranate Kir is crisp, fruity, refreshing, and best of all, pink. In other words, Melissa's. None for Danny!
Escargots Persillade en Brioche (Snails in Garlic and Parsley Brioche)
We can't give an honest review of this dish. Traditionally, we always pass up the Escargots. It's not that we're too intimidated to try new things. Well, maybe we're a little intimidated of snails. We've always feared that they'd be too chewy and that we'd be grossed out by the texture. Then we were given some advice: "Just put the whole thing in your mouth at once. Don't even take the top off the brioche." We did exactly that. Because of that, we couldn't tell you if they were too chewy or if we were grossed out by the texture. All we could taste was bread, butter and garlic. And yeah, I was probably trying to distract myself while chewing. Maybe we'll get brave next year and actually focus on what we're eating.
Not Pictured: Parisian Cosmo Slush
The Cosmo Slush is a frozen vodka cranberry concoction served in the same plastic cocktail glasses as the Grey Goose and Gran Mariner slushes served in France every day. It's bright ruby red and tastes of cranberry and orange. It's one of my favorite frozen drinks in Epcot and I have no bloody clue why it isn't served year-round. Love.
Ireland
Lobster and Scallop Fisherman's Pie
This was my favorite item from the Festival last year and I thought it was just as good this time around. In fact, we ordered it twice during the week. The pie consists of creamy potatoes, a creamy lobster bisque-type sauce, and chunks of fresh, tender lobster and scallop. I've read some complaints about the dish having too much potato and not enough of the other components this year, but I didn't notice a difference between this year and last. We got plenty of seafood both times we ordered it.
Not Pictured: Warm Chocolate Lava Cake with Baileys Ganache
The lava cake was small, spongy and disappointing. We expected a chocolate cakelike dessert with a molten center. Instead we got a Little Debbie with some vaguely chocolatey Baileys sauce poured over it. Luckily, I like Baileys and Danny likes chocolate. It took us years to finally try this dessert and we probably won't have it again. Oh well. Next year maybe they'll do a bread pudding or something.
All in all, this was our favorite leg of the festival. The three main dishes at Belgium, France and Ireland are all crazy good. It almost makes it impossible that there's more excellent food to come in the next installment with Canada and Greece!
] You seem way more adventurous than I am & def. know more about food from reading your review. So what do I know? LOL!!!
I enjoyed the review &wish I would have tried more of what you got!!!
