We Came, We Ate, We Conquered Food & Wine--With Lots of Pictures! Complete

brilliant stuff...I agree I missed Cranium Command too:thumbsup2 thumbs down to 'seasonal' stuff!

Excellent piccies. can't wait for more.
 
Day 3
Chef Mickey's breakfast
I had booked this as a surprise for Kevin's birthday. Unfortunately the only time I could get was 7 am. We were at the MNSSHP the night before until 12:30 am! :surfweb: :earseek: We were able to drag ourselves out of bed and we only got there a few minutes late. The characters started coming right away and we were able to see Goofy, Mickey, Pluto and Minnie before we even got a chance to go up to the buffet. :thumbsup2 The food was pretty good, I think this is one of the better character breakfasts for the combination of food, character selection and fun atmosphere. The service was very friendly and we got coffee, juice and soda pretty quickly. I didn't torture everyone by taking pictures of their food, so the food review is only what I ate. I couldn't resist a Mickey waffle, so I grabbed one of those. I thought they usually have strawberry topping but I couldn't find it so I ate it plain. It was still yummy though. I also had a biscuit topped with gravy, the biscuit was good but the gravy was disappointing. It was thick and lacked a lot of flavor. I also tried a potato casserole which had bacon and cheese in it, it was soooo delicious, probably my favorite thing that I tried that morning. I sampled a veggie omelette but didn't really care for it. I tried a corned beef hash casserole that was topped with cornbread, it was really good. And for good measure I had a couple of slices of crispy bacon. For dessert (it's vacation, I can have a breakfast dessert if I want :rolleyes1 ), I had two of the rice krispy treats. They were delicious, I had to stop myself from going up and eating a whole other plateful! :scared1: For Kevin's birthday they brought out a special birthday placemat and a cupcake with a candle. He says he wished for us to win a dream for the YOMD celebration. And guess what? Later that day in MGM we actually got TWO dreams. We got dream fastpasses and the pin lanyards. I guess dreams really do come true...pixiedust: Everyone enjoyed their breakfast and no one was too mad at me that we had to get up so early. :laughing:

IMG_0936.jpg


IMG_0930.jpg


IMG_0934.jpg


IMG_0944.jpg


IMG_0940.jpg


IMG_0947.jpg


Lunch
Intermission Food Court
Kevin and I had lunch here, the others decided to take a nap instead. I ordered the chicken quesadilla which was made to order, so it was very fresh and hot. It was served with a small side of black beans and came with sour cream and salsa as accompaniments. It was very tasty, I really enjoyed it and was glad I tried it. It was definitely not the healthiest choice, as my hands were greasy after eating it! Kevin had the turkey and muenster on focaccia bread. It was served with a side of macaroni salad which he thought tasted too oniony. He loved the sandwich and I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but it was pretty big.

IMG_0963.jpg


IMG_0962.jpg


Dinner
Pinocchio Village Haus
Kevin and Becca each got Figaro Fries for dinner, Ruben wasn't feeling well so he stayed in the room and I was feeling a bit under the weather so I didn't eat anything then. This is the same picture from the other day but they're so delicious, they deserve two pictures!

IMG_0873.jpg


Cosmic Ray's
By 11 pm I was hungry and feeling better so I decided to stop for some dinner. I ordered the kid's meal of chicken nuggets, it comes with two sides but I really didn't want anything else but fries so they ended up giving me two orders of fries. I was expecting the kind of chicken nuggets you get from a frozen bag, the oval ones, but was pleasantly surprised to receive what seemed like cut up versions of the large chicken strips. I really enjoyed my food, partially because I was starving and partially because it actually tasted good. I was looking for the cheese sauce that I thought I remembered seeing at the fixin's bar but it wasn't there. Maybe I remembered wrong.

IMG_1084.jpg


Day 4 coming soon! :)
 
Enjoying the reviews and photos! Thanks for taking the time to post them.
 

Day 4
Lunch
Epcot's Food & Wine Festival

China
Pork pot stickers. These were excellent. Two perfectly cooked (crisp outside, slightly chewy dough) pot stickers filled with pork and with a delicious vinegary sauce.

IMG_1085.jpg


India
Samosa with tamarind sauce. This was one of my favorites. I love Indian food and I know what good Indian food should taste like. This was a great version of a samosa, better than some versions I've had in NYC where there are a lot of Indian restaurants. For those who have never tried it, a samosa is a potato and pea filled fried dough. The tamarind sauce was both sweet and salty and had a good balance. Sometimes they can be spicy but I didn't find it too spicy at all.

IMG_1086.jpg


South Africa
Durban spiced chicken on a skewer. Ruben tried this one. He enjoyed it. I didn't taste it because I've tried it before at past Food & Wine Festivals and I didn't want too get too full too fast.

IMG_1087.jpg


Turkey
Manti with yogurt sauce. This was a beef ravioli with a yogurt sauce and paprika oil on top. It was pretty tasty, albeit a bit chewy.

IMG_1088.jpg


Germany
Spaetzle with creamy mushroom ragout. Ruben ordered this and I tried a bite. It was very creamy and quite good. The spaeztle had a strong corn flavor which made it a bit sweet. Becca kept calling it "Corn Pops". I guess she thought it was really sweet! :)

IMG_1089.jpg


Poland
Paczki and honey wine. The paczki was a donut filled with apricot. It sounded really promising but in reality was very dense and dry. The honey wine was so strong, all of Poland's wines should be labeled as alcohol shots instead! :scared1:
Cabbage roll with spiced beef. Becca ordered this one, I didn't taste it. I've had it at past Food & Wine Festivals and it is really good.

IMG_1090.jpg


IMG_1091.jpg


Hops and Barley Market
Boston Lager glazed chicken drumstick with blue cheese and celery. I didn't get a lot of glaze but I still enjoyed this a lot. The chicken was cooked perfectly. I usually don't like chicken on the bone but this was delicious. It came a sauce made up of chopped celery mixed with blue cheese. The sauce became a little watery from the celery.

IMG_1093.jpg


Japan
Vegetable roll. Becca ordered this and said it was just okay. It was a little big and difficult to manage.
Crispy sukiyaki beef roll. Notice our hidden Mickey? Kevin ordered this and stated it was only okay. He likened it to a regular sukiyaki dish all rolled up into one.
Not pictured, Takara Plum Wine. Kevin ordered this one also and I tasted it. I was impressed with the real plum flavor and really enjoyed it. Kevin said it got too sweet after a few sips and didn't finish it.

IMG_1094.jpg


IMG_1095.jpg


Oklahoma-Rose Rock Diner
Native Peach Buckle. This was a little bit dry but it was good and I managed to finish it.

IMG_1096.jpg


Oklahoma-Three Sisters' Cafe
Three Sisters' Soup. This was a broth based soup filled with zucchini, beans and corn and topped with croutons. Becca ordered this one and I tasted it. The flavors were very fresh and clean.

IMG_1098.jpg


Snack
Ghiradelli's
Becca and I took a break during the day and went to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping. We stopped off at Ghiradelli's for some much needed ice cream! I had the frozen banana dipped in chocolate and rolled in almonds. This was not on the menu anymore but I asked about it and they still do make them. It was so delicious! The chocolate was semi-sweet. Becca had a milkshake which was some sort of candy bar milkshake made to resemble a mint chocolate bar. I don't know the exact name of what she ordered, sorry. She said it was awesome!

IMG_1105.jpg


IMG_1106.jpg


Dinner
Back to Epcot for some more Food & Wine Festival

Dominican Republic
Mofungo. This was supposed to be mashed yucca with pork cracklings and shrimp. I say supposed to because there were no cracklings in it. The shrimp wasn't all that good and the yucca was very stringy. I was pretty disappointed because I saw Anthony Bourdain try the Puerto Rican version of this dish and I really wanted to taste it, it looked so good. I'll have to go to a real restaurant and try this dish again. No one else wanted to taste this one and I ended up throwing most of it out.

IMG_1108.jpg


Canada
Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup and Mission Hill Reserve Riesling Icewine. The line for this booth seemed about a mile long but it was definitely worth the wait. The soup was delicious as always and somehow the 1 oz of wine seemed worth the hefty $5.25 price tag. The wine was sweet and perfect and wonderful.

IMG_1110.jpg



Will post the rest of Day 4 later!
 
Fascinating--all of this!
One of these days we'll just have to do the F&W thing.
 
Day 4 (continued)

France
I have to apologize for these pictures, it was really dark by the time we ended up at France and it was hard to get a decent shot.
Quiche au Fromage de Chèvre - Goat Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Quiche
Coupe de Sorbets: Champagne, Framboise and Chocolat Blanc - Champagne, Raspberry and White Chocolate Sorbet
Sparkling Pomegranate Kir (not pictured)
St.Germain Red Cocktail - St.Germain Liquor, Vodka and Cranberry Juice
Kevin ordered the quiche and I had a taste of it. It was pretty good but you would definitely have to like the taste of goat cheese because this was pretty sharp as far as the cheese flavor is concerned. He also ordered the cocktail which was nice and strong.
I had the trio of sorbets. I normally do not like white chocolate but this sorbet was great! I loved all three of the flavors. I also tried the sparkling pomegranate kir which was really nice. It was sweet but not overly so.

IMG_1113.jpg


IMG_1115.jpg


IMG_1114.jpg


Morocco
Kefta - Grilled Beef and Hummus in a Pita Pocket
Walnut Baklava

I was expecting the beef in the kefta to be more like what you would get in a steak kabob but it was more of a beef patty or a hamburger. There was hummus inside and it was topped with salad. I enjoyed this but wished there was more hummus. It got a little dry after awhile with all of that dense meat packed into it.
The baklava was okay. It satisfied my craving for baklava but I wish it was a little bit flakier, it was a little bit hard.

IMG_1117.jpg


IMG_1119.jpg


Hops and Barley Market
New England Crab Cake and Barley Lentil Salad

Kevin ordered this one and I had a taste. The crab cake was too fishy to be enjoyable and the lentil salad didn't add any flavor to the dish.

IMG_1120.jpg


All Star Music Intermission Food Court
Becca had an intense craving for pizza so we stopped off at the food court where she was able to satisfy the craving. She ordered a personal pepperoni pizza. She said it wasn't great but did the job. I was keeping her company so of course I had to get something too. ;) I had the carrot and celery sticks with ranch dipping sauce from the refrigerated section. I forgot to take a picture of it but believe me, you aren't missing much. :teeth: It was a nice snack.

IMG_1146.jpg
 
Day 5

Epcot
Food & Wine Festival
Unfortunately it was our last day and we only had a few precious hours to spend at Epcot. We stopped at the booths for some favorites and some new stuff we wanted to try. Some of the ones we had twice were the frozen Irish coffee, chilaquiles and Canadian cheese soup.

Canada
Maple Custard topped with almond crumble. This was delicious. The custard was sweet but it wasn't overkill. The crumble had a great almond flavor. The creamy texture of the custard and the crunchiness of the crumble went really well together.

IMG_1148.jpg


New Zealand
Lamb Slider - Roasted Lamb with Mustard Sauce on a toasted roll
I don't always like lamb but for some reason this was calling out to me. I'm really glad I tried it. The roll didn't seem toasted to me but it was soft and it was good. The meat was really tasty and had this mustard sauce on it that tasted like it had beer or something similar in it. I really enjoyed it and it turned out to be one of my favorites.

IMG_1149.jpg


Iced Teafusion
Green tea and mint. It was blazing hot outside and I really wanted a cold drink. I stopped off at the iced tea booth and grabbed an iced green tea and mint. It was very refreshing.

IMG_1150.jpg


Rose Rock Diner
Pecan Pie. This was one of the best pecan pies I've ever had. It was so light and sweet but not cloying.

IMG_1151.jpg


Italy
Lasagna al Forno. This was a spinach pasta with meat sauce and what seemed almost like a bechamel sauce. This was so delicious, definitely one of my favorites. In past years all of the food I've tried from Italy wasn't good. This was wonderful. The sauce was awesome and all of the flavors in the dish went really well together. It reminded me of something my Italian mother in law would make.

IMG_1154.jpg


India
Curried butternut squash soup with paratha bread. This soup was excellent, I loved the flavor. It wasn't spicy but it was very rich and flavorful. I was disappointed in the bread because it looks like regular paratha but it was much too chewy and nearly rubbery.

IMG_1155.jpg


So that about sums up my experience. I hope you enjoyed reading and please post any comments or questions. :)
 
Thanks for finishing your reviews - that lamb slider looks delicious :thumbsup2
 
Thanks for posting your reviews - they were great! I really enjoyed reading about your F&W Festival experiences, especially because you tried a lot of the items that we didn't.

Yummy yummy!! :thumbsup2
 
If I had it to do all over again, I'd spend almost my entire trip at EPCOT trying everything! By far and away, the best meal of the trip was my birthday breakfast at Chef Mickey's, I'd wake up that early again in a heartbeat.
 
If I had it to do all over again, I'd spend almost my entire trip at EPCOT trying everything! By far and away, the best meal of the trip was my birthday breakfast at Chef Mickey's, I'd wake up that early again in a heartbeat.

Kevin! :hug: That just means we have to plan another trip and only go to Food and Wine...You in? :thumbsup2
 















Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE













DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter

Back
Top