In case you didn’t catch my recent posts on Instagram, a couple of weekends ago I hopped on a plane to Orlando for a weekend at Disney World. My sister and my mom met me there, and we spent our Friday afternoon wandering around Epcot. Right now, the Flower & Garden Festival is going on, so we wandered around and found all the topiaries, spent a little time in the butterfly tent, and tried a whole lot of the festival food. This was my second visit during Flower & Garden season, and it’s SUCH a great season to visit Epcot. (The Food & Wine Festival is a good time, too, but the topiaries are a treat during Flower & Garden!) Full disclosure, we definitely didn’t stop at EVERY booth in the festival. But we did try quite a few different things, and these were our favorites.
Here’s What We Tried from the Festival Booths…
Our first stop was the National Honey Board’s “Honey Bee-stro,” where we picked out two items from the menu. There was no question about trying the Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread (you could smell it when you walked by and it smelled amazing), and it definitely did not disappoint. It was the perfect size for the three of us to share, since we knew we’d be trying out a lot of the food. It was a yummy little flatbread, with chicken, white cheddar cheese, charred vegetables, clover honey sour cream and watercress. So. Good.
We also ordered this Roasted Cauliflower from the National Honey Board‘s booth. If you are a veggie-lover, you’ll probably enjoy this one (we all did). The cauliflower is server with buckwheat honey carrot puree, wild rice pilaf, asparagus, honey blistered grapes, and a little sunflower brittle. I’ll be honest, this one didn’t have as much flavor as I would’ve liked, but it was fresh and went well with the flatbread that we tried.
At the Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market booth, we grabbed a savory potato pancake that was topped with with caramelized ham, onions, and herb sour cream. Since I’m not a fan of ham, I picked around that, but really who doesn’t love a good potato pancake? They were serving a couple of different versions of a potato pancake at Bauernmarkt, and I bet they were all pretty tasty!
I made a point to stop at the Hanami booth and order the Frushi! I tried this one last year, and honestly couldn’t decide whether I enjoyed it or not. It’s a sweet sushi roll with fresh pineapple, strawberries, and cantaloupe. The fruit is rolled in coconut rice, sprinkled with toasted coconut, and topped with a little whipped cream. (Whew, that’s a lot!) I came to the same conclusion as last year, that the Frushi is…interesting. The flavors are really good, but I always wish for a little more fruit and a little less rice!
I promise, we’re almost at the end!
There are always great cocktails to try at the Flower & Garden Festival, and I was tempted to try quite a few of them. I held out for the Key Lime Sparkling Wine because doesn’t that sound refreshing on a hot day? This sparkling treat can be found at the Florida Fresh booth and it is just…delicious. Perfectly tart and refreshing, if you’re a fan of sparkling wine, you’ll want to give this one a try. YUM.
We all love chocolate, so we made our way to the France pavilion and made a beeline for the Fleur de Lys booth for a giant chocolate macaron. And HOLY COW was that thing delicious. It’s listed on the menu as the Macaron au Chocolat en Sucette (Large Chocolate Macaron Lollipop). It was chocolately and rich and perfectly gooey in the middle—it was a wonderful sweet treat. We did split it three ways, and I don’t think I could’ve finished one on my own.
Our last stop was The Berry Basket, where we made sure to order the Field Greens with Fresh Strawberries. By that time we were all feeling full, but a fresh salad sounded perfect for our last food stop. After this one, we headed off to ride Soarin’ and go back to the hotel to get some sleep. The salad was topped with fresh strawberries, crispy quinoa, cheese, spiced pecans, and strawberry vinaigrette.
So, what are my top 3 that I don’t think you should skip at this year’s Flower & Garden Festival?
Savory: Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread (National Honey Board “Bee-stro”)
Sweet: Macaron au Chocolat en Sucette (Fleur de Lys)
Drink: Key Lime Sparkling Wine (Florida Fresh)
If you’ve been to the festival, what were your favorite things to eat & drink?