We arrived at EPCOT fashionably late for our second day of touring the Festival of the Arts. Our plan for this day was to spend most of our time in World Showcase and do minimal rides. I had several dishes I had my eye on for lunch and our first stop was Germany.
We made our way from the front of the park to world showcase at a leisurely pace. Stopping to enjoy the scenery along the way.
We made our way into World Showcase and headed the “right” way around, to the left towards Mexico. Though we had no plans to try any food offerings in Mexico we had to make a stop for a ride on the Grand Fiesta Tour featuring the man himself, Donald Fauntleroy Duck!
Probably needless to say, but I love this ride. Nothing about it’s ground breaking or awe inspiring, but it’s Disney story telling and my favorite character. I appreciate it for what it is.
I worked up an appetite during our tour across Mexico and it was time to end to Germany for the first courses of our lunch. We stopped at the Pastoral Pallet for two dishes in particular, the Boar Cassoulet and Short Rib. Here is the full menu:
Food
- Red Wine-braised Beef Short Rib with parsnip purée, broccolini, baby tomatoes, and aged balsamic – $8.50
- Wild Boar Cassoulet with duck confit, ham hock, and wild boar sausage – $9.25
- Black Forest Cake: Chocolate Mousse with morello cherries and Chantilly cream (New) – $4.75
Beverages
- 3 Daughters Brewing Rosé Hard Cider, St. Petersburg, FL — 6 oz. $5.50 /12 oz. $9.50
- 81Bay Brewing Co. Rosé Blonde Ale, Tampa, FL — 6 oz. $5.50 /12 oz. $9.50
- Frozen Rosé — $7.00
- A Play on Rosé Flight — $11.00
- Marietta Old Vine Rosé, CA — $5.50
In addition to the Boar and Short Rib, we ordered the Frozen Rosé to help wash it all down.
First up was the Wild Boar Cassoulet. This was probably my favorite dish of the festival. I don’t often eat Boar and have never had it in a sausage, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. This was smoother and more nuanced than your typical Italian Sausage. The flavors were outstanding. The dish was fairly substantial as well, though I would have gladly eaten twice as much.. It was around half a sausage atop a nice helping of beans in the stew like sauce that completed the cassoulet. Overall, this is a definite winner and a dish you should save room for on your travels.
Taste – 10/10
Value – 7/10
Next was the Short Rib. This was tender, juicy, and full of flavor. If you like short rib you’re going to like the texture of this offering and the flavors are what you’d expect given the description. That’s not a bad thing. Red wine braised short rib sounds great and it was. The accouterments played their parts well. The parsnip puree was a nice counter to the short rib and I am a big fan of broccolini. Overall a very well executed dish, if not earth shattering.
Taste – 8/10
Value – 8/10
The frozen rose was tasty and refreshing and a steal at only $5. Highly recommended on a hot day. On a cooler day or if I went back I’d like to see how the normal Rose offering paired with the meat dishes.
For the next lunch course I had my eye on two of the offerings at The Artist’s Table at the American Adventure Pavilion, the Duck and the Meatloaf. I also enjoy the occasional or more than occasional adult beverage, so the beer flight seemed like a good idea to wash everything down. Here is the full menu:
Food
- Three-Meat Meatloaf with “Peas and Carrots”: Green pea pudding, carrot ketchup, shaved carrot salad, and snap peas – $6.50
- Duck and Dumplings: Smoked duck breast, ricotta dumplings, petite vegetables, and duck jus – $7.00
- Hummingbird Cake: Banana cake with pineapple, coconut, pecans, and cream cheese frosting with banana sorbet – $4.75
Beverages
- Sipping Chocolate Flight: White, milk, and dark chocolates (Non-alcoholic) – $9.00
- Boulevard Brewing Co. Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale (New) – 6 oz. $5.50 /12 oz. $9.50
- Parish Brewing Co. South Coast Session Amber Ale (New) – 6 oz. $5.50 /12 oz. $9.50
- Brewery Ommegang Three Philosophers Belgian Quad (New) – 6 oz. $5.50 /12 oz. $9.50
- Lange Estate Winery Pinot Noir — $7.50
- Symphony in Chocolate Flight: Mozart Chocolate Liqueurs paired with sipping chocolates — $13.50
- Beer Flight — $10.00.
I was generally disappointed by both of these dishes. They looked great. So great that I dug into the duck before remembering to snap a picture. The presentation was there but you don’t buy food to admire them like a painting, at least I don’t.
I’ll start with the meatloaf. It was just ok. The flavor wasn’t really what I associate with meatloaf. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it just wasn’t what I expected and wasn’t an improvement to “Mom’s” meatloaf. The other things on the dish were all good, the carrot ketchup, the pea pudding, and the carrot salad, all quite nice on their own. However, they didn’t really do much to bring the dish together. The serving size was pretty substantial, and if this hits your palette better than mine it would be a great value. Just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Taste – 5/10
Value – 5/10 – could be higher for you if you enjoy the flavor more than I did. Serving size was good
The duck was similarly disappointing. It looked the part on the plate and was juicy and tender when I bit into it. It had a smoke forward flavor and that went well with the fattiness of the skin. I moved right onto the ricotta fritter. This was exactly what you’d imagine and turned out to be the best part of the dish. I dipped a little in the just and that made it even better. At this point I was singing the praises of this dish. So what happened? Well, the more I ate the duck the more i found the smokiness to be overpowering. It got to the point that it became difficult to taste anything else. And this is coming from someone that enjoys peaty scotch, BBQ, and smoked cheeses. I would only get this dish again if I was going to split it with a couple other people. On the plus side, the service size was once again substantial, especially for the relatively reasonable $7 price point.
Taste – 5/10
Value – 5/10 – again nice serving size, but I just didn’t enjoy the dish that much.
I washed everything down with the beer flight, which consisted of the 3 beers listed on the menu above. I find beer to especially be a matter of preference. I will enjoy almost any variety of beer if it’s well done, from porters and stouts to pilsners and IPAs. The beers were pretty good, with the amber ale being my favorite. I live not too far from Brewery Ommegang and know that some people absolutely love the Three Philosophers. At $10 I thought it was worth the price to sample 3 different beers though. Would recommend any beer drinkers to at least give it a go. Who knows, maybe you’ll find a new favorite.
We did some shopping around World Showcase before heading back into the front of the park to try another dish. I originally headed to Moderne with an eye on the Scallops. I am a big fan of Scallops. Once we got there though I had a change of heart for some reason and decided I wanted to get the Beef Wellington from the Craftmans Courtyard, right around the corner. I’m glad I called this audible.
Food
- Beef Wellington: Mushroom duxelles, prosciutto, and puff pastry with red wine demi-glace and baby vegetables – $8.50
- Cast Iron-roasted P.E.I. Mussels with sautéed tomatoes, garlic, and fresh herbs – $7.50
Beverages
- BrewDog Jet Black Heart Nitro Oatmeal Stout (New) – 6 oz. $5.50 /12 oz. $9.50
- Cold Fashion Coffee Cocktail – $11.00
The Beef Wellington was surprisingly well done for a food stand in the middle of an Epcot walkway. The flavor was spot on. The beef was tender, but perhaps a bit overdone for someone who enjoys a nice mid rare steak. That didn’t take much away from the dish though. The pastry was flaky and buttery. The duxelles flavorful and adding that almost creamy texture of the original pate component. The saltiness of the prosciutto cut through the richness of the other components nicely. I found the serving to be a good size for the $8.50 price point. This one would be hovering around the top 3 but probably fell just outside it for me.
Taste – 8/10
Value – 8/10
Finally we went to Figment’s Inspiration Station at the Odyssey for some dessert. We opted for the Rainbow Cake with Freeze Dried Skittles. This unfortunately fell over on the plate on the way to the table and was no longer very photogenic. It would be injustice to this vibrant dish to show you what our serving looked like after this mishap, so I’ll refer you to the stock photo here <link to dis photo>.
This was very delicious and refreshing. It tasted almost exactly as you’d expect, which in our case was definitely a good thing. The cake was moist and frosting perfectly sweet without being too sweet. I found the freeze dried skittles to be a nice change of texture to round out the dish. I would get this again in a heartbeat.
Taste – 7/10
Value – 6/10
This was our last food booth of the trip as we had reservations at Rose and Crown in a few hours. We made our way back up through the World Showcase. Did some more shopping and touring before stumbling upon a hidden gem in Morocco – Sangria at the Souk.
This is a small courtyard tucked in the back of Morocco right by where Jasmine meets guests if you’re at all familiar. The scene out in the main promenade around world showcase was crowded and a bit hectic and quite frankly I was getting a bit worn out with the scene. The souk are was the exact opposite. Quiet, clam, uncrowded, and relaxing. We asked the cast member what sangria was her favorite and she steered us towards the red. We didn’t try the white but both agreed the red was fantastic. This was just what we needed to recharge our batteries before continuing on with the day. Highly recommend a stop here as you’re making your way around the world showcase, even if you don’t want any sangria.
We continued around the World Showcase before making our way to the Rose & Crown for our early dinner ADR. It was nice to sit down and we enjoyed the views across World Showcase lagoon while enjoying a “light” dinner of Fish & Chips, Scotch Egg, and a salad split between us. Oh, and we of course washed everything down with a few beverages.
During dinner I decided that I wanted a Figment popcorn bucket. I placed a mobile order for the popcorn bucket and we headed over to the festival pavilion.
Popcorn bucket in hand we headed towards the front of the park to catch our bus, stopping to admire the light show on Spaceship Earth along the way.
It was a perfect end to a great day at EPCOT.
