Catching the Last Few Days of the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival

 by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

May 23, 2024

 

There are just a few days left to the 2024 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival. And given that we don’t know if there are any summer surprises coming our way to fill the nearly three month gap before EPCOT returns with the 2024 International Food & Wine Festival on August 29, 2024, we decided yesterday that we would try to squeeze in one last visit to the Flower & Garden Outdoor Kitchens (food booths) to grab a few dishes we’d missed.  And we were glad we did!

The Avocado Toast ($6.00) at the BRUNCHCOT kitchen near Test Track has been a family favorite every time it’s been offered at an EPCOT festival, and it didn’t disappoint this year, either.  This year’s rendition may have even been a bit better than the usual, because while the toasted ciabatta was crispy, it wasn’t as hard to bite into as the baguettes can sometimes be. And this year’s mashed avocado?  Excellent, with a thicker-than-remembered, slightly salty slather on the bread.  The marinated tomatoes came in a variety of colors, and while the tiny flowers didn’t add any flavor to the dish, they sure were pretty!  A sprinkle of plant-based cheese stood in for the blue cheese crumbles you’d typically find on such a breakfast treat, but if you didn’t know better, you’d be completely unaware that these bits weren’t the traditional cheese.

Without planning to, we leaned heavy on the veggie dishes on this trip. We also stopped at The Honey Bee-stro to try the Honey-Glazed Cauliflower ($5.00).  This economical and filling plate was served on a pool of honey-roasted carrot puree and wild rice pilaf, and topped with a handful of asparagus and spring peas.  Four “honey-blistered grapes” decorated the dish, and “sunflower brittle” gave a touch of texture to an otherwise softer dish.  I personally had been looking forward to the choice earlier in the season, but for whatever reason, just hadn’t made it to the booth.  Now, I’m disappointed that I didn’t try it earlier, because this was a lovely dish that I would have been happy to be enjoying for the second time, instead of the first!

A colorful dish, there was an unexpected touch of heat in the follow-through of the cauliflower.  (No worries, it was just the teeniest hit.). While the asparagus could have been cooked a bit longer, this plate of goodness was full of flavor.  With so many components labelled as “honey-roasted” and “honey blistered,” I expected this dish to be on the sweet side, but it truly wasn’t.  The carrot puree was by far the sweetest part of the combination. While the multi-colored cauliflower bites were labelled “honey-glazed,” the half-dozen florets weren’t sweet, but it certainly was the most flavor I’ve ever gotten from cauliflower.  The wild rice, a blander element to the entrée, was still a welcome choice, because it helped give a firmer foundation to the rest of the veggies.  A toss of micro-greens on top of the green veggies offered a fun presentation to this wonderfully vibrant plate.

Since not all of our family members are as veggie-friendly as others, we also made a quick stop at the Lotus House booth in the China Pavilion, where we selected the Spicy Mala Chicken Skewer with Creamy Peanut Sauce ($6.75).  Weirdly, where the cauliflower at the Honey Bee-Stro was not listed as spicy, but had the tiniest bit of heat, this chicken dish was supposed to be spicy, and wasn’t. There was plenty of sauce on this single chicken-thighed skewer, but there was an odd undertone to the sauce.  It wasn’t a bad flavor, just a slightly unexpected one underneath the predominant peanut ingredients. This dish wasn’t the best quality chicken, but it wasn’t the worst either.  Overall, it was the least spectacular dish of the day.

One of our favorite drinks of the festival, however, is the new this year “Lucky Peach” ($14.25), which happens to be available at the Lotus House kitchen, so that made up for the lackluster chicken skewer.  Made of peach whiskey, Oolong tea, honey, lemon juice and water, it is light and refreshing, perfect for a hot day at the park.  We’re hoping that this drink either finds its way back to next year’s festival, or even finds a permanent home at EPCOT year round!

 
The EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival ends May 27, 2024. If you are interested in any of these dishes, you’d better make your way there soon, because the Memorial Day holiday weekend is sure to pass quickly.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

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