Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival is always a must. The whole park gets decked out with tons of beautifully crafted topiaries and lots of eye catching flowers and plants. The festival also bring tons of amazing eats and sips. While I only had a day to try out some of the foods and drinks, I definitely had some eats and sips that I would one-hundred percent get again from this years festival.
Foods
Orange Sesame Tempura Shrimp with orange-chile sauce ~ $7.00
I’ve recently become a shrimp tempura fan. Out of all the kinds I’ve tried, this one was by far my absolute favorite. There were about 6 pieces which for the price I thought was a decent deal. The tempura fry was nice and light compared to others I’ve had that were just super greasy. The orange-chile sauce had a nice tang and sweetness to it. If they served this year round, I would be getting it quite often.
Beef Tenderloin Tips with mushroom bordelaise sauce, whipped potatoes, and garden vegetables ~ $7.25
Any festival I go to, I ALWAYS have to get the Beef Tenderloin Tips (or it’s counterpart the Filet). This dish has become a staple for me and is always a must to get. The beef was soo tender and had soo much flavor. The best way to enjoy it, or at least in my opinion, is to have a bite of the beef, mashed potato and carrot all together that way you can truly enjoy the cohesiveness of the dish.
Ramen Cup: Ramen salad shaken in a cup with fresh vegetables, grilled chicken, and dashi broth with chili oil and yuzu ~ $8.50
This brand new dish caught my attention right off the bat. I’m a huge ramen fan so I knew I had to give it a try. I learned, that to enjoy it the best way, you had to shake the cup therefore all the noodles, vegetables and chicken got coated in the broth. This cup was packed with a TON of flavor. Considering the price, I honestly wish it was a little bigger however, I would definitely recommend trying it.
Honorable Mentions
I thought I’d add in some honorable mentions as well. Although I did not try them this time around, based off of having tried them last Flower & Garden festival, I wanted to give them a little shoutout as good eats to try.
My first honorable mention is the Fried Cinnamon Roll Bites from Brunchcot. They were super fluffy and packed with a sweet-sugary flavor. The cream cheese frosting and candied bacon add a nice flavor to off set the sweetness from the sugar coated bites.
My next honorable mention is the Chicken and Waffles from the Honey Bee-stro. The chicken was crispy and had an amazing hot honey glaze on it. The mini waffle that went with it added a nice carb component. I think they missed out on making it into a mini chicken waffle sandwich to be honest but nonetheless, it was a great dish and I was very happy to see that it came back this year.
My last honorable mention is the Spicy Chicken Gumbo from Magnolia Terrace. When I tried this last year, I was with my dad who is a big fan of gumbo. This was my first time ever trying it and I was not disappointed. The chicken was very tender and the andouille sausage had a nice bite to it which also included a good spice element into the dish. Even though it’s very hot down and Florida and this is a dish that will warm you up, considering the spiciness from the sausage and the overall temperature of the dish, this is a bite you do not want to miss out on trying.
Drinks
Frozen Desert Violet Lemonade ~ $4.75
This drink was a big hype up. I instantly knew I had to try it when all of my friends who work down at Disney told me it was so good. Their recommendation did not disappoint. Even though I thought it was a tad too sweet, I really enjoyed it especially considering it was almost 90 degrees on the day I got it.
Cider Flight ~ $10.25
Kind of like the beef in the food section, every festival I always get the cider flights since I love a good cider. This year, they only had one at the Tangerine Café. From left to right: Keel Farms Pear Honeysuckle Hard Cider, Woodchuck Imperial Sippin’ Citrus Hard Cider, and 3 Daughters Brewing Pomegranate Hard Cider. My personal favorite out of the three was the pomegranate one. I would highly recommend trying this flight out especially if you’re a hard cider fan like myself.
Mango Bubble Tea ~ $7.75
The Mango Bubble Tea was a nice refreshing drink to have after all the walking you will do around the showcase. The major mango flavor was just perfect to sip on while I walked around. The only thing that turned me away was that the boba pearls were not flavored. I think if they did a fruit flavored boba popping pearl instead of the classic tapioca boba pearl, the drink would have been so much better.
Honorable Mentions
Like the foods, here’s a little shoutout to past drinks I’ve tried from last years Flower & Garden festival.
My first honorable mention is the Honey-Peach Cobbler Freeze with Streusel from the Honey-Beestro. I remember trying this for the first time and loving it. It basically tasted like a milkshake! You got small hints of the honey and the peach. The streusel on top went so well with it as well.
My next honorable mention is the Glutenberg Blonde Ale from Northern Bloom. For someone who likes light beers, this was a nice one. I remember it not tasting bitter like some darker beers taste. I actually had this beer during last years Food & Wine festival and I remember it went well with the filet I got from the Canada booth so seeing it this year on the Flower & Garden list, I would recommend giving it a try.
My last honorable mention is the Orange-Lemon Smoothie (which comes in an Orange Bird sipper cup) from The Cirtus Blossom. I remember this being a hit at last years festival. I got to try a sip of it from one of my friends and remember it tasting so so good. A little fun fact, if you don’t want to get the souvenir sipper to get dirty, cause they’re a hassle to clean afterwards, you can ask to get the drink in a separate cup.
These are just a few of the many amazing eats and sips you can try around the world showcase at Epcot during this years Flower & Garden festival. Go out and enjoy the beautiful topiaries and flowers while also getting some great food and drinks!
Simply Ali 