The Good, The Bad and The Ugly at the F&W!

[suzimar57]

glad there's this thread - wanted to hear the real deal on the F&W food - too bad the pizza looks soggy - guess i'm passing on that one....

 

[suzimar57]

wondering: can you get the crabcake without the barley lentil salad beneath it? hope so....

 

[dzneprincess]

..

 

[FLDW126]

My sister and friend ran the 10K race for the Taste today , and then we spent the rest of the day eating those calories they burned.. lol Just got back about an hour ago. It was good. There was 6 of us, so we tried a lot and shared it all.

I agree with the quesadillas being good, but a bit bland, needs some salsa is right. The chilaquiles was very good. (Mexico)
Didn't care for the papas con chorizo and my sister had to wait almost 10 mins for the calimari stew. (Spain)
Potato leek soup was too chilled, it would be better warm. The Baileys Frozen coffee was very good but pricey at $7.00 for the size they give you. No one liked the cheese plate.(Ireland)
We had done China last year and decided to skip, but I did really like the ice cream and pot stickers last year.
Germany, the strudel was ok, and the spaetzle with mushroom ragout was good, but some of the spaetzle was too dry or crispy. They were out of the wine I wanted, the Reisling-Spatlese
We all liked Italy, I got the caprese salad and was surprised it cost more than the lasagna, but my tomatoes were very fresh as was the mozzarella. Everyone liked the lasagna and the canolli.
They all liked the lobster roll and rib, but were not in love with it, and we did like the strawberry shortcake which had a bit of a lemon flavor to the cake. (USA)
Peach buckle was peaches baked in cornbread and a bit dry. (OK)
Japan was out of the veggie and tuna sushi, so we had the cali roll and crispy sukiyaki beef roll. We loved the beef roll and it was my favorite out of everything. I would go back to try that again. Didn't see anyone mention it yet. The cali roll was good too.
By this time we were all feeling pretty full and just saved room for the favorite cheddar cheese soup.
I can tell you when we got over to Dom Republic we were just checking things out and they were out of Monfongo. They seemed to be running out of things (this was 4pm, it was about 3 when we were in Japan and they were out of some and Italy ran out of pizza for a while as well)
All the wine and beer were great that we had.

 

[WooHoo2U]

I have noticed (last year too) that the people who said the lobster roll is not that great are from New England and being from NE myself I can tell ya it is hard to beat our lobster roll!

Where in Nebraska are you from?

 

[50 years Too!]

Loved the stew in Chili. Indian soup was also yummy. Disappointed that they were out of the Simosa. I love them elsewhere.
Truffles were Blah.
Probably not fair reviews because we were there on the first weekend and it was packed. Too much work trying to get food at the booths.

We did Party for the Senses and were absolutely blown away by the wonderful food. Well worth the price.

 

[Paul in CT]

Sad to hear how bad the lobster roll is! I was looking forward to having one or two until I saw all the terrible reviews. I guess I will go for the cheddar cheese soup from Canada.

Any one have the pizza yet?

Regarding the cheddar cheese soup, I heard on the recent DIS podcast reviews of F&W that the price is up $.25 to $2.75, but the portion is cut in half. It was reported that they fill the the cup only half way.

I think that they should reopen the Beavertails cabin and sell cheddar cheese soup and breadsticks all of the time (along with beaver tails, of course.)

 

[jjpenguin]

Didn't get much this year but what I did have was:

The spinach pastry at Greece - was good, very flavourful
The beef roll at Japan - Yummy!
The spicy tuna roll at Japan - Very spicy, very nice.

 

[SwhJess]

They seemed to be running out of things (this was 4pm, it was about 3 when we were in Japan and they were out of some and Italy ran out of pizza for a while as well)
All the wine and beer were great that we had.

FLDW126 - What day of the week were you there? Saturday? I'm just wondering if that had any effect on them running out of things.

Thanks for the detailed review! I'm definitely skipping the Potato Leek Soup.

 

[lovetoscrap]

This is all great! I am going to my first one in Nov and am looking forward to it. The DIS home site has a great list of the menu and prices here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/epcot/events/FWmenus.htm


I am going to print it out and highlight and crossout so I have a good cheat sheet when I go. I will never remember all this! Plus it will help me plan my budget!

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

Great idea Scrappy on the list thing. I am going to do that too.

 

[Aimee K]

We do a cheat sheet too. We live here and go several times throughout the festival. I was going to take pictures when we went last Monday, but we gobbled up the dishes too fast. When we tried the wine, we usually went with the suggested pairing for the dish we ate. Here are our observations:

We started in Peru, where we tried the Arroz con Pato, Roast Duck with Cilantro. This was by far, the tastiest thing we tried all day. The duck was roasted and shredded, served over rice that was cooked in the duck juices and seasoned with fresh cilantro. We actually went back for seconds of this one.

Next up is a perreneal favorite, the lamb slider from New Zealand. Two years ago, this was probably a fist sized sandwich, with tender lamb, sauteed onions, and a sauce. Last year, it shrunk to a white castle size sandwich, with lamb and sauce. This year it was on a hockey puck size and textured bread, with two very thin slices of lamb and very little sauce. We were very disappointed by this one this year!

Moving on to France for Quiche au Fromage de Chevre, Quiche with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. THis was really tasty. Again, the portions seem smaller this year, but this one packed a lot of flavor. THe quiche was not overcooked, as so many are, and the wine pairing was just perfect. It was the Chateau Haut-Mondain, Bordeaux Rouge. This was my favorite wine of the day!

Next we stopped at the Oklahoma booth and tried both the Three Sisters Soup and the Buffalo with Scalloped Wild Onion. The soup was okay. I'm not a big bean lover, and there were a lot of beans in this. It is labled as a 'spicy' soup, but I didn't get a lot of 'spice' in it, heat, OR flavor. The seared Buffalo was another of our favorites. Our piece was cooked to medium rare, which is perfect for us, and was very lean. It seems by other reviews that this is fairly inconsistant in preparation, but it was absolutely perfect for us. THe Scalloped Onions were DELICIOUS! I would eat a bowl full of just that! Soup Buffalo

I have not been exposed to a lot of sushi in my life, and when I have, it's not been good. I decided to give it one last shot in Japan with the Spicy Tuna Roll, and I must say, I am now a Sushi convert. I love love loved it! The flavor, the texture, the colors. Yum!

We stopped in Australia for some Shiraz, but didn't get any food this time around. We were filling up fast, and still had to get more than halway around the world!

We got the crab cakes and lentil salad at the Hops and Barley Market. This was paired together last year also. It was as delicious as last year, but again, I was disappointed to have a smaller portion. This was a flat very small crab cake and probably just 2 tablespoons of the barley lentil salad. It went well with the Black Lager Sam Adams. Food Portion:

We skipped Italy, seeing the food other folks were walking away with.

Moving on to Germany, we tried the Spaetzle with Creamy Mushroom Ragout. In a word... Delicious! Decadently Delicious if you want two! The Spaetzle were tender and plump, and the Mushroom Ragout was creamy and flavorful. I would eat a full portion of this in a heartbeat!


We were getting really full by now and just wandered through until we came to Ireland, where I had to have my requisite Honey Mead. It was delicious as always, although it didn't mesh with spaetzle taste, still on my pallate. Next time, I will get the cheese plate to accompany it.

Still not much room for the planned Argentina Beef with Chimichurri, so we went right to Mexico for another festival favorite, Chilaquiles. They were as delicious as always, but much smaller than years past. Food: Portion

We were planning on walking another circuit around the world, to catch a few things we missed, and to get a second crack at that Peruvian Duck! We made it to Peru, and hit a brick wall with our stomach capacity. There ends our first chapter of the 2007 Food and Wine Festival.

 

[deltachi8]

I think that they should reopen the Beavertails cabin and sell cheddar cheese soup and breadsticks all of the time (along with beaver tails, of course.)

I honestly think that is a very good idea and have been thinking the same thing. I think a good CS at Canada would be poistive addition to the WS (no, McDonald's does not count).

Cheese Soup, Breadsticks, Moosehead, Beavertails...not a bad start to a menu...

 

[FLDW126]

FLDW126 - What day of the week were you there? Saturday? I'm just wondering if that had any effect on them running out of things.

Thanks for the detailed review! I'm definitely skipping the Potato Leek Soup.

We were just there yesterday, Sunday. Since it is a holiday weekend and they had the Race for the Taste 10K, so that could def played a part, but just odd since it was early/mid afternoon on the 2nd weekend.

The lines moved very well overall so that was not an issue with the crowds. The longest line for us was Germany. Everyone had time to make a bathroom break while I was in line and all got back before I made it to the front.

Will prob try to make it back one more time, as it was a long day with the race so we did not stay for the music- it was Sheena Easton last night. May go back for David Cassidy or the Village people

 

[thunderbug548]

We were there yesterday too.

FLDW126, were you and your sister still wearing your numbers? I saw 2 women walk past us wearing race numbers. I wondered about that. I even came home and looked it up but didn't find anything.

This is my review from my blog last night.
New Zealand-
Lamb Slider (Roasted Lamb with Mustard Sauce on a toasted roll) The roll wasn't toasted and the mustard sauce had no tang to it, much less flavor. The lamb was very good though.
Kiwi and Custard Roll- dh and the boys liked it. It was much too mushy for me. The flavor was okay though.

Greece-
Greek Salad with Pita Bread- this wasn't as good as last year. Not enough olives in it. Logan(5yrs) liked it though. It didn't have a lot of onions this year though which to me is a huge plus!
Spanakopita (Savory Spinach and Cheese Pastry) this wasn't as good as last year either. Not enough cheese to it.
Karydopita (Walnut and Coffee Cake) it was good- reminded us of carrot cake without the icing

France-
Quiche au Fromage de Chèvre (Goat Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Quiche) This was very tasty. I didn't care for the sun dried tomato on top personally, but dh loved it.
Coupe de Sorbets (Champagne, Framboise and Chocolat Blanc-Champagne, Raspberry and White Chocolate Sorbet ) Yum!! This came in a glass like a trifle- all layered together. You could try each individually or the 3 together. Either way this was good. Even the champagne flavored one was delish!

Oklahoma- Route 66
Pecan Pie- dh loved it. I'm an okay fan of pecan pie in general but it's never my 1st pick. It was good though
Peach Buckle- dh loved this one even more. It was like a pie but the crust seemed to be like a thick shortbread. Needed more peaches IMO.

Turkey-
Meze (Cucumber and Tomato Salad, Eggplant Puree and Turkish Black Olives with Pita Bread)- the salad part was okay and dh ate the olives but we both thought the eggplant puree was nasty!!
Manti- (Spiced Beef Ravioli with Yogurt and Paprika Butter) this would have been better without the meat in it IMO. Not something I'd get again.

India-
Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Paratha Bread- dh enjoyed this but I didn't care for it. Needed salt or something. Bread tasted like stale pita bread.
Samosa with Tamarind Sauce (Spicy Pea and Potato Pastry) I really liked this one. I wish the tamarind sauce had been warmed up though. It was ice cold. Dh enjoyed this as well.
Indian Rice and Coconut Pudding- Everyone liked it. Very creamy, great flavors!

Ireland-
Chilled Potato Leek Soup with an Irish Cheddar Cheese Stick- YUM!! I wasn't sure about cold soup but this was very good!!
Boxty Potato Pancake - with Bacon Chips and Kerrygold Garlic and Fresh Herb Butter- Won't get this again. I didn't expect it to be filled with some kind of veggie too. I expected something very different. The potato pancake itself was okay as was the butter.
Irish Cheese Plate and Brown Bread with Apple Chutney and Kerrygold Irish Butter- Dh ate this and liked it. The boys loved the chutney. It was too syrupy sweet for me. The butter was well... butter!

There were a lot of new culinary displays to see as well as new entertainment and crafters. They seem to have stepped it up a bit this year. If you have a chance to go you should! I'll be headed back with a GF (minus the kids! ) on Saturday to try all new things!

 

[Dawn16]

Thanks to all for the wonderfully detailed reviews! We arrive on 11/1 and it does help to hear about the hits and misses. I initially highlighted 45 items to try so its great to be able to pare down the list a bit!

 

[FLDW126]

We were there yesterday too.

FLDW126, were you and your sister still wearing your numbers? I saw 2 women walk past us wearing race numbers. I wondered about that. I even came home and looked it up but didn't find anything.

I wish I could run a 10K, doubt I could even do a 1K
but my sister and her friend wore the race medals they got but no numbers. I don't yet know how to post pics, but the medals were really cool.

 

[Aimee K]

Thanks to all for the wonderfully detailed reviews! We arrive on 11/1 and it does help to hear about the hits and misses. I initially highlighted 45 items to try so its great to be able to pare down the list a bit!

Sounds like my original list, which is why I'm glad I live here and can return often

 

[PatriciaH]

I didn't care for the Ripe plantain with Vegetable Casserole topped with Avocado at the Dominican Republic booth--it had an odd flavor that made me wonder if it might have some kind of meat stock in it (I'm vegetarian).Warning to other vegetarians: the Spicy Zucchini, Bean and Corn Chowder in Oklahoma is NOT vegetarian--it's made with chicken stock.

They are really bad with this stuff this year! They told us the 3 Sisters Soup IS vegetarian and our friends even asked if it had chicken/beef stock. They consulted their book behind the counter and said nope-vegetarian. Then at India they said the Samosa had beef in it. Beef in Indian food-I don't think so We had them check the book again and sure enough-totally vegan. Oh, so far everyone in our group has loved the plantain mash! One weird thing with that is some CM's are putting cheese on top of it some are not. It is better without the cheese.

 

[PatriciaH]

Regarding the cheddar cheese soup, I heard on the recent DIS podcast reviews of F&W that the price is up $.25 to $2.75, but the portion is cut in half. It was reported that they fill the the cup only half way.

The Cheddar Cheese Soup in Canada is $3 and it is annoying how some CM's will fill the soups 1/2 way the others to overflowing. It is just luck who you get. I would personally fill it up for that $.