Liesle and I returned to Epcot earlier this week for more scenery and food samples from the Flower & Garden Festival. If you haven’t read Part I yet, which displays all of the menus and food kiosks, I’d recommend checking that out now, as this post will continue what we started there.
We’ll follow again in a clockwise circle around the World Showcase, this time sampling some of the food items we didn’t review last time. (And as always, you can click on any image for a larger view, then use your browser’s BACK button to return to this post.)
We start with the La Isla Fresca kiosk and the Jerk-spice Chicken, shown in the image above. You may remember that I tried the grouper last time, and found the portion size to be VERY small, even though I thought that the flavor combination was good. The chicken version of the dish presents a slightly larger helping of protein, so this one works out better than the grouper in terms of value, and the taste is still there as well.
Both Liesle and I enjoyed and recommend this one. Liesle isn’t a huge fan of spicy foods, so it’s saying a lot that she enjoyed it. The spice is there, but not overpowering, and is mellowed further by the mango salsa and papaya slaw.
Next up, also from La Isla Fresca, is the Jamaican-braised Beef, which is served with pigeon pea rice and micro-cilantro. The pigeon peas added a slightly nutty flavor to the dish, and the whole combination really worked well together. The beef was very tender, falling apart with just the use of my fork — no knife required. The price here is on the high side at $5.75, but we give this one two thumbs up. As far as meat dishes go, we still prefer the Pork Tenderloin at the Urban Farm Eats kiosk, but this one comes in close behind.
Next at La Isla Fresca is the Tres Leches with guava puree. Even though this cake is fairly dense, the “leches” made for a very moist cake, and I really liked the flavor here as well. It tastes as you’d probably expect just looking at it, and the coconut shavings and whipped cream on the top, along with the guava puree underneath, round out the overall experience nicely.
Even though the Liesle isn’t a huge cake fan, she did enjoy this, but it probably wasn’t her favorite dessert. I guess this one gets a thumbs-up from me and a “neutral” from Liesle, so you can take that as you like.
I don’t know what it is with me and some of these dessert garnishes though. The puree serving size in proportion to the rest of the dish was very small, so if do get this again, I’ll probably ask for more puree. 🙂
As we wandered around World Showcase, the drawbridge was up between China and Africa, so we had to wait a few minutes while they moved the Illuminations props out onto the water.
The sand sculpture they had started in last week’s post was finished now.
Next we tried the Chicken Fricassee at Bauernmarkt Farmer’s Market near Germany. Liesle commented that it tasted like something you might get at your grandmother’s house. I think it falls into the “comfort food” category, with the large helping of chicken-based white sauce complementing and perhaps even amplifying the flavors of the chicken and rice. We both recommend this one.
We also had the Armer Ritter here, which on any other menu would be known simply as french toast with a cherry compote.
This was good if unremarkable. I guess the main thing we both noticed is that the cherry compote wasn’t overly sweet. Unlike what you might find in a cherry pie filling, for example, the cherry-based syrup used here was fairly thin and quite light, allowing the tartness of the cherries to come through. This tartness blended well with the toast underneath and the powdered sugar on top.
We give this one a neutral rating. Good, but nothing to write home about.
We next made our way to Italy and the Primavera Kitchen. This is the Pollo alla Parmigiana, or Chicken Parmesan. The flavor here was good, and tasted as what you’d expect from a chicken parmesan, but we both thought that the parmesan crust was a bit soggy. This may have been left out under the heat lamps a bit too long.
Given the other unique dishes available during the festival and the sogginess of the crust on this one, we recommend passing on this dish.
We next headed for the Hanami Kiosk at Japan, and the Chicken Edamame Bun.
This is a very soft bun making up the outer covering, with the inside filled with a meat mixture like you might find in a chicken gyoza. The yellow topping isn’t mustard, but a light curry sauce, which we both liked. (Much better than if it had been a wasabi-based sauce, in our opinion.)
This dish tasted good and provided a cool “visual” as well (or “optics,” since we’re in the middle of political season). You weren’t quite sure what to expect when you cut into it.
This one’s a tough call, but I don’t think I would get this one again, or if I did, I’d ask for more — you guessed it — curry sauce on top. I’m not really faulting the dish though. It was fine and executed well. I’ve lived in Japan for an extended period of time so it’s not that this is a “foreign” flavor to me. It’s just something that I didn’t appreciate that much.
Next is the Falafel Pocket at Taste of Marrakesh, near Morocco, which is served with cucumber-tomato salad and tahini sauce.
I hate to say it, but this is the only dish we actually felt like we had wasted our money on — we even threw away a good portion of it. We just really didn’t like the flavor of the chickpea meatball-like thing inside. This is probably just an acquired taste sort of thing, but it’s clear that neither of us has acquired it. 🙂
After the falafel pocket had left such a bad taste in our mouths, we felt like we needed a palate cleanser, and so we next headed to Florida Fresh, and the only repeat item from last time, the Watermelon Cucumber Slushy.
We both still enjoyed this, and it did it’s job helping us “forget” Marrakesh. Note that this time it was served with a watermelon chunk on top, which was absent the last time we tried this. We still rate this one a “buy,” even though it seemed to have a bit more acidity than last time.
Cool vehicle parked near the Florida Fresh kiosk.
That concludes the food items from this visit, so it’s time to move on to some merchandise and various scenery.
You may remember this Jortra jewelry, shown above, from last time. I had neglected to include a price tag…
…so here you go.
I believe the orange peel necklace on the right was running $89.95.
They had earrings too.
We also stumbled onto a “grow your own Mickey topiary” display.
It looks like the “large” Mickey one shown below will run you $475.99.
Yikes! I guess this qualifies as a “planted” topiary?
Close-up of some of the detail on another one that had grown in a bit more. Sorry for the too-shallow depth of field. 🙂
These gardening hats pictured in my previous post are actually reversible. Two hats for the price of one! This will run you $34.95.
More topiaries…
The flower beds really are quite stunning this year.
Buzz Lightyear keeps watch near Mission: Space.
That about sums up today’s quick trip around the World Showcase.
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Stay tuned to the blog for future food reviews from the Flower & Garden Festival, as well as more reports from the parks, including additional rounds of RideMax Roulette.
Bon Appétit!
