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

[MemoryMakers2669]

Not sure if there a thread going about this, but can we start one about what is good, not so good, don't waste your money or dining credits on it? I read a few reviews over on the Dining Plan forum and some were saying don't get this or that, or that was really good. I want to be prepared! The one thing I want the most was the Lobster Roll and several said it was really bad!

So, any reviews yet, give the what and the where and your thoughts.....

 

[MickeyNicki]

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!

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

Well, the only lobster roll I know is he NE one, so maybe I will try to hold off getting one. There are many other things I want to try there this year.

 

[Kay1]

Last year I had three lobster rolls, this year just one. It was just okay - a little lobster, a lot of roll. My husband's favorite was the spicy sqid stew from Spain, mine was the crab cake from the beer place in America. Everything was good but I wouldn't waste my money on the mozzerella salad from Italy. It was just grape tomatoes and cheese that they squirted with olive oil - you had to add your own salt and pepper. No basil.

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

Another one I wanted Kay, the mozzerella salad!

 

[Snow_White]

Another one I wanted Kay, the mozzerella salad!

Yup, definitely don't waste your money. Unripe tomatoes (not even cut up), 2 pieces of mozzarella, and a sad squirt of cheapy olive oil. SO ridiculous.

The sweet tea was good but nothing special. Peach buckle (I think that was what it was called)--a refrigerated bleh. Buffalo--fatty cut of meat, again bleh.

 

[Stitches12]

We had the cheddar cheese soup from Canada and, of course, it was delish !! Also had maple custard - that was really good.

Lobster roll - I'd pass on it, not that great.

Funnel cake from US - pretty good for a funnel cake.

My husband had some sort of spicy rib from US I think - it was pretty good.

Guess we're not much adventurests - that's all we had. The US has a free Sam Adams beer tasting - some good brews there.

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

They are giving away free beer??

 

[Stitches12]

They are giving away free beer??

They were the day I was there (Oct. 1). There's a tent to the back of the America pavilion and they are doing a beer tasting there. Four different kinds of Sam Adams beers - one was made just for the wine fest and it's pretty good. You probably get a total of about 6-8 ounces and you also get a free Sam Adams bottle opener.

It was fun.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

DH and I really enjoyed the wine walk in the Australia area. This was our 5th F & W Fest, and every year I'd had enough wine before I reached Australia that the idea of more wine tasting didn't appeal to me. This year I controlled myself just so I could do the wine walk.

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.

I loved the macadamia nut and chocolate bar in Australia! It's really not a "bar" like a candy bar--it has more of a texture like a crumbly brownie. Yum!

I also really liked the Tomato, Corn and Garbanzo Bean Stew with Manchego in the Chile booth--large serving too!

Someplace I had an unoaked Chardonnay and really enjoyed it--can't remember which booth it was, though.

We'll be going back for the Festival's last weekend....I want to try the foods at the India booth this time!

 

[taylorl25]

I realy enjoyed the escargot from France, Bobotie from South Africa and DH's favourite was the tomato stew with Manchego from Chile.

I don't think we had anything that I thought was a waste of money, I wouldn't have paid over 6 dollars for the lobster roll (we used a snack credit), the cheese plate from Ireland was just ok and the Bastilla from Morroco was disapointing as it didn't taste as sweet as it should. If you've never had a real one though it would still be enjoyable.

 

[ANiceNurse]

Thanks for starting this thread. I'll be there next weekend, and have been checking all the F & W threads I see. AllEars has always had a review section, but so far it just says "survey coming". Nice to have all the opinions here in one place.

Thanks again!

 

[danielle782001]

They were the day I was there (Oct. 1). There's a tent to the back of the America pavilion and they are doing a beer tasting there. Four different kinds of Sam Adams beers - one was made just for the wine fest and it's pretty good. You probably get a total of about 6-8 ounces and you also get a free Sam Adams bottle opener.

It was fun.

Wow.... can't wait to tell DH! He loves Sam Adams and he loves "free beer".

 

[danielle782001]

The one thing I want the most was the Lobster Roll and several said it was really bad!

So, any reviews yet, give the what and the where and your thoughts.....

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?

 

[madcoco]

Liked most of the items we have sampled so far including the Chiliquiles and juice from Mexico, the Potato Boxty and Cheese plate from Ireland , the Crab Cake from the Hops and Barley Market, the spicy squid stew with saffron rice and cheese soup and maple custard Yum. Have really enjoying the selection of Sam Adams Beers this year. A treat for opening weekend was to sample 6 beers at the Sam Adams free seminar. You have the four they are serving now(Lager,Light,Oktoberfest,12 yrAnn Festival) and two bonus beers to vote on.(Dunkelweisse and a Red Ale) One of the two will be bottled after voting is tallied.Oktoberfest is killer this year. Thumbs up from most people. Some really good wine seminars from Australia,Argentina,New Zealand and USA so far along with some great and limited production reds and other wines to be sampled.

Any one have the pizza yet?

The pizza is thick(not a thick fan) and comes with sausage,peppers and heavy on the onions. It was OK a little soggy. Liked the Lasagna much more.

DW was just starting to dig into her Grilled Beef with ChimiChurri when she found a big piece of paper with writing on it. We thought it was supposed to be served with potato. LOL.

This is our favorite time of year and having fun. Just wish the fall temps would get here fast. It has been more like a rainy season hazy hot and humid pattern lately. Enough whining or is that wining.Never enough wining. Time to run.

 

[KQAN]

Great thread, my fiance and I look forward to FWF all year, and we're lucky to be local and AP holders, so we can spread out the tasting over a few separate times. We went the first weekend and here's our review so far. FYI, I'm vegetarian and he's not.

- Dominican Republic - Plantains/veggie dish - one of the best things I had all day
- Peru - Cause de Cangrejo - fiance really liked it
- Iced Tea (UK) - Honeybush Mandarin Orange Iced Tea - very nice
- Oklahoma - I had the 3 Sisters Soup, it was good but not amazing, he had the buffalo and enjoyed it, particularly the pearl onion side dish
- Australian Wine Walkabout - definitely enjoyable, very crowded though
- Hops and Barley - I love the festival beer every year, also had the black lager and enjoyed that too. Disappointed that this year the lentil/barley salad comes with crab
- Poland - fiance had the kielbasa and wolfed it down
- Italy - I'm really disappointed here. Last year one of my favorite things was the lasagna. This year it has meat! Not only that, the pizza has meat too! A major disappointment.
- India - we shared the samosa and it was amazing, I can't wait to get it again. I also want to get the butternut squash soup next time. The cabernet-shiraz was good there, too.
- China - fiance got the chicken sha cha, and he said it was great, especially the peanut sauce it's served with.
- Ireland - he go the boxty and I got the potato leek soup, and we were both disappointed. They both would have been much better served warm.
- Argentina - he had the empanada and loved it.
- Chile - I got the tomato stew and it was one of the best things I had all day , and you get a huge portion! Quite a deal.

We also had champagne at the champagne booth, it was expensive but we splurged because we got had just gotten engaged the week before! We also had some wine in the festival center and enjoyed that, too.

It sounds like we ate a ton, but that was all we had all day, spread out over about 8 hours, and it was our lunch and dinner, so that's how I explain it!

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

WOW, great reviews! I guess as time goes on, we should have plenty here for us late goers.! Thanks so much and for the pictures as well. Eww on the paper, but I guess if you were going to find something in there that didn't belong, paper is easy to deal with.

 

[danielle782001]

The pizza is thick(not a thick fan) and comes with sausage,peppers and heavy on the onions. It was OK a little soggy. Liked the Lasagna much more.

:

Oh man! We are so upset... First the lobster roll, now the pizza. Two things we were interested in getting off the list. I am so glad that we were able to get this information before wasting credits or cash. Sorry you had a bad experience. That really stinks!

 

[wdw1972]

We (myself and boyfriend) were there for opening weekend, and tried the following over 2 days:

Australia - Shrimp on the Barbie - I don't eat shrimp, but he got 2 of these and loved them. Each had a couple of shrimp, decent size. I'd gotten us the macadamis nut & chocolate bar the night before....it was disappointing. I was expecting rich chocolate, but this was pretty bland. There's a riesling here I loved - Rosemount I believe.

USA - He got the disappointing lobster roll (tiny portion for the price, lots of bread). It tasted ok (I didn't try it), but it was not worth the money. The BBQ pork rib with cole slaw was EXCELLENT! It was tender, tasty & had lots of meat on the bone. I let him eat half - he loved it too!

Poland - Cabbage Rolls with spiced beef...he loved it. I didn't try it...ick! Kielbasa & potato pierogies were ok, but it was 2 small slices of kielbasa and a small pierogie.

Italy - Caprese salad was a shock...as others said, some grape tomatoes and a few mozzarella balls. It tasted good, but not worth getting again. He tried the pizza...looked like mostly bread, with little sauce and hardly any meat. Not worth a repeat visit.

Germany - We boh loved the debriziner sausage on a pretzel roll. We ordered these without the sauerkraut and even without any mustard they were excellent (we remembered them from last year). We got these 2-3 times, and will certainly be back. This would be our #1 pick of the festival.

China - Pot Stickers and Chicken Sha Cha. He liked them both...I don't care for either but I did try a small bite of each.

Mexico - quesadilla - excellent as always, but a tad bland. Some hot salsa would make these great, though. It's a pretty big portion, too.

We're headed back Friday for 6 nights, then again for a long weekend in early November.

 

[cdtommie]

Good to see six beers at the SA booth this year rather than the usual four (although not a fan of the Oktoberfest beer -thought it was way too tilted towards the sweet side for the marzen style).