The annual EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival if back and in full bloom at Walt Disney World. We had the chance to check out several options throughout the festival. From sweet to savory, there is something for everyone!
Frushi! This is one of the more popular menu items year in and year out at Flower & Garden. Located in the Hanami booth at the Japan Pavilion, Frushi is made up of Strawberry, Pineapple, and cantaloupe wrapped in sweet rice and pink soy wrap served with whipped cream, drizzled berry sauce, and toasted coconut. In my few visits to this festival, I had yet to give it a try. Now, I am a big fruit fan, but this was just weird. I think it was the mix of rice and fruit together. It just seemed strange in terms of consistency. It most definitely was not bad but was my least favorite of the offerings I did have.
Over at Bauermarkt: Farmer’s Market in Germany, I sampled the Toasted Pretzel Bread which is topped with Black Forest Ham and melted Gruyère cheese. To go along with it I also got a small sample of the M.I.A. Brewing Hugo beer. Bread, cheese and ham, there isn’t much you can screw up here and they certainly did not with this. I loved this offering and would definitely get it again. As for the beer, the M.I.A. was a solid option but not my favorite. I often struggle with certain types of beer. I would get this again but it is not on top of my must get options by any means.
One of the best part of the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival is the flowers! Throughout the entire park there are loads of gardens, flowers and of course topiaries! I love walking around and seeing them all. This is just a small sample of the ones you can find.
At Trowel & Trellis near Disney Traders, I opted for the Chocolate Cake. This is topped with whipped cassis mousse, raspberry gelato, and fresh raspberries. Honestly, this was the best thing I had at Flower & Garden. The raspberries tasted fresh, the chocolate cake was great and paired really well with the gelato. I will recommend this to anyone looking for dessert.
That brings us to one my repeat items. At The Honey Bee-stro near Port of Entry, everything is related to honey and of course bees. This is where you can get the Spike the Bee sipper. I instead opted for one of my favorite things, Local Wildflower Honey-Mascarpone Cheesecake. This is served with orange blossom honey whipped cream, whipped honey, crystalized honey, honeycomb, dehydrated honey, and fennel pollen meringue kisses. I know what you’re thinking, you have to like honey to like this. To some extent yes, but I am not the biggest honey fan myself. I do love cheesecake though and this is a fantastic option I think. It doesn’t edge our the chocolate cake but its a good second choice.
At Flavor Full Kitchen between Imagination! and Refreshment Port, I opted for sweet and savory. First up we have the sweet option. The Strawberry Mousse with chocolate crisp pearls. This is also topped with ever fun gummy worms and some strawberries and “dirt” on the side. The mousse has a thin base layer of chocolate and is not overly sweet nor overly strawberry but as a strawberry lover, I loved this. If you have sensed a theme, I love desserts/sweets more so than the savory options. I really cannot say anything bad about any of these dessert options at the festival.
Now as for the more savory option at Flavor Full Kitchen, Corn on the Cob with Savory Garlic Spread. This is grilled corn and made right there on site. I really enjoyed this option but, I did wipe some of the seasoning/spread off because it was pretty messy and a bit too much. If they went a little lighter on the seasoning I think it would’ve been perfect. I will definitely get this again.
At Northern Bloom in Canada, I took part in the Beef Tenderloin Tips which are served with mushroom bordelaise sauce, and whipped potatoes with garden vegetables. To start off, I do not like mushrooms so I pushed those to the side. The sauce itself however was good and complimented it well. I found the potatoes and carrots to be the bigger highlight here. The beef tips were a bit tough for my liking but good nonetheless. I would like to try this again to see if it wouldn’t be as tough next time. I also tried Gutenberg Blonde Ale at this booth which is from Montreal, Quebec. A light but refreshing beer option that I felt was a good compliment to the dish.
There are so many more things to try at Flower & Garden that one person can’t do it all. I had a blast checking out what I could on this visit. I would love to hear your thoughts on what you tried or if you agreed with any of the offerings I had. The festival runs through July 4th at Epcot. If you are looking to visit the festival this year or even next year, your Crescent Lake Club agent would be happy to assist in booking your next Walt Disney World visit!
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