The Food at Epcot’s 2018 Flower and Garden Festival (Spoiler: It’s Good)

Herb Leibacher·March 9, 2018

Disney Roundup Disney World Dining Epcot

One thing you can be sure of while on a Disney vacation is that you’ll never go hungry, and this is even truer when you’re visiting during a festival!

Sure, there are dozens of permanent restaurants and many that offer delicious cultural food inside World Showcase; however, during the Epcot festivals, there are temporary pop-up booths (sometimes called outdoor kitchens) that serve even more culturally specific dishes and beverages that you’ll love!

Let’s take a look at some of the food selections at this year’s International Flower and Garden Festival!

2018 Flower and Garden Festival Food

Heading around World Showcase, our first stop is La Isla Fresca on the World Showcase Promenade right after leaving Future World.

Tropical Mousse Cake: Layers of Passion Fruit Cake, Coconut Mousse and tropical fruit glaze with fresh pineapple

Going clockwise, the first stop in a country is The Berry Basket in Mexico. It’s also located on the promenade.

Field Greens with fresh strawberries, crisp quinoa, strawberry vinaigrette, and spiced pecans

There are a couple countries in between, but my next stop was Germany‘s Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market. The beer was tasty, and the toasted pretzel bread pictured below was on of my favorite dishes! The bread itself was soft and delicious, and the ham was very flavorful.

Ayinger Brau Weisse Hefeweizen, Munich Germany

Toasted Pretzel Bread topped with Blackforest ham and melted gruyere cheese

At the halfway point around World Showcase is The American Adventure Pavilion. The mini-sandwich here was also in my top two favorite dishes. The pickle was crispy and delicious, the meat was tender, and the sauce was simply terrific. Be sure to get one of these!

Barbecue and Brews Beef Brisket Burnt Ends and smoked pork belly slider with garlic sausage, chorizo, cheddar fondue, and house-made pickle

Florida Fresh is located between Morocco and France. Every dish and drink served here is either grown locally or represents a local company. I’m not a big grits fan, but Epcot’s version added shrimp and some fun flavors.

First Magnitude Brewing Co., Monarch Milk Stout, Gainesville, FL

Spicy Blackened Shrimp with cheddar cheese grits with brown gravy and local sweet corn relish

Carne Guisada with black bean cake and cilantro-lime sour cream

Northern Bloom is near the Canada Pavilion and represents dishes popular from that region. Whichever chef at Disney came up with the idea to put popcorn flavor together with gelato deserves a big fat promotion. It was terrific!

Griddled Maple Pound Cake with warm peach compote and sweet corn gelato

My last stop was The Honey Bee-stro. This location is hosted by the National Honey Board and includes honey in every dish! It’s on the pathway of the rose gardens before the Canada Pavilion.

Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread with white cheddar cheese, charred vegetables, clover honey sour cream, and micro watercress

Roasted Cauliflower with buckwheat honey carrot puree, wild rice pilaf, asparagus, honey blistered grapes, and sunflower brittle (GF) (V)

Recommendations

Overall the new food offerings at the Flower and Garden Festival in 2018 were winners.

My top recommendations are the Griddled Maple Pound Cake, the Beef Brisket Burnt Ends, and the Toasted Pretzel Bread.

Do you try the food at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival? Favorite?