Instead of hosting the beloved International Epcot Food and Wine Festival this year, Walt Disney World is hosting a Taste of Epcot Food and Wine instead.

The name change this year is for two reasons. First, due to lower park capacity, Disney made the decision to have less festival booths this year than prior years. And second, the Taste of Epcot Food and Wine is actually a hybrid. Some booths from the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival are still up. So in actuality, you get the best of both worlds.

This year, I went with two other Travel Genies — Laura and Jessy. And we decided to put Disney Food Blog to the test, by tasting AJ’s recommended “Best of the Fest” eats.

What You Need to Know About a Taste of Epcot Food and Wine

If you’ve never been to the International Epcot Food and Wine Festival before, it’s a festival hosted inside Epcot Park at the Walt Disney World Resort which happens every fall. This year, it began on July 15th — much earlier than normal.

Within the World Showcase section of Epcot, you’ll find different booths from a variety of host countries where you can purchase small dishes, desserts, and drinks that are unique to that country.

The booths have (for the most part) the same operating hours of the park. And prices range anywhere from around $3 to $10. And while Disney Dining Plans are currently gone (to return later), these small bites and drinks qualify as a snack entitlement.

The Best and Worst of Taste of Epcot Food and Wine

As I mentioned before, we didn’t taste everything. Instead, we tasted (pretty much) what Disney Food Blog had recommended. We did this for a few reasons. One, it simplified the process for us. And two, I wanted to know how much Laura, Jessy, and I actually agreed with their recommendations.

If you want a complete foodie guide to a Taste of Epcot Food & Wine, we recommend the Disney Park’s Blog version.

The Citrus Blossom

We began our journey at Citrus Blossom, located at the entrance to the World Showcase. We tried the lobster tail with meyer lemon emulsion and the grilled lemon crispy citrus chicken with orange aïoli and baby greens.

I am not a fan of seafood — at all. However, much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed the lobster tail, once I was able to cut into it.

The citrus chicken received mixed results from all of us. It was crispy, and we could definitely taste the citrus (unlike the lobster tail), but the chicken wasn’t moist inside. It was dry.

Canada

At the Canada pavilion, we all tried the Canadian cheddar and bacon soup served with a Prop & Peller pretzel roll. If you’ve ever dined at Le Cellier Steakhouse, it’s very similar to the cheese soup on their menu. You can read our review of Le Cellier Steakhouse here.

Personally, I’m a huge fan of the cheese soup. It’s one of my go-to favorites every year. Jessy and Laura weren’t as impressed. They said it tasted more like potato soup (which I also love).

Refreshment Port

At Refreshment Port, they serve another staple of Le Cellier Steakhouse – poutine fries. However, these are traditional poutine fries, which are a bit different than the options available at Le Cellier. They’re french fries with brown gravy and cheese curds.

Once again, I was outnumbered here. Laura and Jessy thought they were good, “but just french fries with brown gravy.” Maybe it was because it was my first time trying them, but I enjoyed the unique flavor.

Mac & Cheese

New this year, is the Mac & Cheese pavilion hosted by Boursin Cheese. They have four different kinds of mac & cheese. We tried the gourmet macaroni and cheese with Boursin garlic and fine herbs cheese. Hands down, it got rave reviews from all three of us. It was definitely one of the best dishes we had all day.

Dessert & Champagne

Also located in World Showcase (yay for air conditioning) is the Dessert & Champagne pavilion. I dare say this was our absolute favorite dish of the entire day — liquid nitro cake pops. I love cold chocolate (especially on a hot Florida day), and the cake was super moist inside. Absolutely delicious! And the fact that you can also have your cake pop dipped in M&M’s or Twix is the icing on the cake.

Another home run at Dessert & Champagne is the non-alcoholic Frozen S’mores drink. It made for the perfect one-two punch when paired with the liquid nitro cake pops.

And for an honorable mention, Jessy tried the Veuve Clicquot Brut Rosé champagne and said it was divine. (I wouldn’t know because I’m not much of a wine drinker.)

France

From World Showcase, we headed over to the France Pavilion. Now, according to AJ and the Disney Food Blog team, this was there absolute favorite pavilion — of all the pavilions. They raved about two specific dishes — Tarte aux Oignons Caramelises Et Chévre and Canard Confit À L’orange.

The Tarte aux Oignons Caramelises Et Chévre is a goat cheese tart with caramelized onions on a pastry flaky crust. Let me start by saying the pastry crust was expertly cooked, however, we we’re not huge fans of the goat cheese. I would say it’s an acquired taste.

The Canard Confit À L’orange is braised duck confit with mashed sweet potatoes. And while the duck was juicy and tender, none of us liked it. At all. It was one of our least favorite dishes.

We strongly disagree with this being the best pavilion at the festival. Maybe we just don’t have the palettes of ‘fine’ cuisine.

Morocco

After France, we headed on over to Morocco where we tried the beef kefta pocket and the chocolate baklava. The beef kefta pocket was a surprise home run for all three of us. The beef was tender, moist, and had a great flavor that paired perfectly with the caramelized onions and spicy tomato sauce.

The chocolate baklava was a dish that once again got mixed results. The pastry shell was a little too hard, and the chocolate was quite subdued for Jessy’s and my taste. Laura liked it though.

Japan

Next came the dish I had been dreading to try — the Frothy Ramen. According to Disney Food Blog, it had a fishy taste. I do not like fish. But since neither Laura nor Jessy would try it, I had to.

I’m not sure why DFB thought it had a fishy taste. I didn’t taste anything fishy at all. Instead, it tasted like cold noodles and soy sauce. While that’s not a dish I would normally order, it was pleasant enough. Jessy and Laura ended up trying it too (after I didn’t gag) and said it wasn’t bad either.

However, there’s also a Chirashi Sushi Flowerpot at the Japan pavilion. It has fresh-cut salmon, salmon roe, and spinach served over sushi rice with furikake and topped with poke sauce. The three of us didn’t even have a change to try it because our husbands devoured it before we could. So apparently, if you like sushi, it’s an amazing dish!

Germany

Next we tried the Schinkennudeln at the Germany pavilion. If you have no idea what Schinkennudeln is, it’s like a baked mac and cheese dish. It contains pasta gratin with ham, onions, and cheese. We all enjoyed it, but didn’t love it. The gourmet mac and cheese at the Mac & Cheese pavilion was way better.

Shimmering Sips

Shimmering Sips is a pavilion that serves mimosas mostly. And if you’re a fan of the POG (passion, orange, and guava) juice that is served at basically every sit-down breakfast restaurant throughout Walt Disney World, you can rejoice. They have POG mimosas! And yes, it was ah-mazing.

Mexico

We finished our tour around with world with the Mexico pavilion where we tried both the ribeye taco and the pork tostada. The ribeye taco had ribeye steak with ranchera salsa in a corn tortilla topped with onions, chives, and a lime wedge. The pork tostada had a fried corn tortilla topped with chipotle black beans, roasted pork, fresh salsa verde, onions, and cilantro.

Let’s just say this… don’t walk, run to the Mexico pavilion! Both (and I do mean both) of these dishes were absolutely knockouts.

Now, I must confess that Laura and I are both from Texas, and Jessy is from Puerto Rico. We might be a little bit biased. However, I am very picky about my Mexican/Tex-Mex food because of where I’m from. And it was better than some of the dishes I’ve had at other Mexican restaurants on Disney property — both in Florida and in California. That says a lot.

Final Thoughts on Taste of Epcot Food and Wine

Without a doubt, our favorite pavilion was Mexico. Both the ribeye taco and pork tostada were practically unbeatable from all the other dishes. (I should also mention that it was DFB’s second favorite pavilion.)

We also loved the beef kefta pocket and the gourmet mac and cheese, and would highly recommend those dishes too.

But the best dish of the fest (in our humble opinions) was definitely the cake pops. They were to die for — especially with Twix or M&M’s.

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