Happy Monday! Since today is the final day of the 2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts, I thought “Hey, what better day to do a little recap of the event?.” Even though the event is ending today and this information is pretty useless at this point, I still wanted to share a little bit about my time at the festival. And by “my time at the festival”, I mean talk about all the yummy food I ate while I was there.

The Epcot International Festival of the Arts is my second favorite of the Epcot festivals (after the Flower and Garden Festival of course. No shade to the Food and Wine Festival but it’s definitely my least favorite). I mean who doesn’t love looking at cool art while eating good food?! I know it’s the festival of the “arts” but warning, this post is solely about the food. (#SorryNotSorry). In this post I’ll be rating (on a scale on 1-5) all the treats I tried during the festival.

Here’s how I would rate the food at the 2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts:

Fair warning, this is MY personal opinion. There were some foods at the festival that everyone was raving about that I HATED (more on that later) and there were some foods that most people seemed to think were just “okay” but I loved. We all have different taste preferences/palates and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Okay, on to the ratings!

2.5/5 | Mediterranean Flatbread with Zaatar, Olive Oil Artichoke, Olives, Mozzarella and Feta Cheese. I was surprised at how much I liked this flatbeard. (I know what you’re thinking, “then why did it only get a 2.5.”). It was a little to spicy for my liking but it wasn’t bad at all. 

?/5 | Trio of Savory Croissant Doughnuts: Whipped Boursin® Garlic and Fine Herbs Cheese with Fresh Herbs; Chicken Salad with Shaved Fennel and Fresh Herbs; and Spicy Tuna with Wasabi and Seaweed Salad. This is one of my moms favorite things from any Epcot Festival. It’s a 5/5 for her but for me, I honestly didn’t even try them this time around. I tried them at the first ever Festival of the Arts back in 2017 and didn’t like them so I was like “nope.” They are super photogenic though.

2/5 | Paintbrush Churros: Cinnamon Sugar Churros Dipped in Colorful White Chocolate. Oh boy. So. Much. Wasted. Potential. First of all, the churros themselves were good. So that’s a plus. However, I feel like it would have been better if the white chocolate had been harden/not all melted. I don’t know. I feel like the concept was there but the execution wasn’t. 

5/5 | Crème de Brie en Petit Pain: Warm Creamy Brie in a House-made Bread Bowl. This is one of those dishes I was talking about earlier when I said most people thought it was simply “okay” but I loved it. I LOVED this brie bread bowl so much. I legit had it four times throughout my trip. My only complaint was the price but hey it’s Disney…

4/5 | Pop-Artsicle: Red, White and Blue Frozen Slushy (non-alcoholic). There’s not much to say about this. It’s your basic frozen slushy that’s perfect for those hot Orlando days.

Can we just take a second to apprentice those beautiful desserts? Any who, back to the ratings! 

4/5 | White Chocolate and Purple Sweet Potato Mousse, Caramel, Coconut and Maple Meringue. I love anything potato based so this was a definite hit for me! The only reason it didn’t get a higher score is because I HATE coconuts.

3.5/5 | Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Pretzel Crunch. I’m not a fan of pretzels but I LOVE the combination of chocolate and peanut butter! The only reason I didn’t rate this higher because there was almost, dare I say, too much peanut butter.

1.5/5 | Lemon and Blood Orange Tart. I’m not a big tart person. Don’t get me wrong, this dessert was beautiful but it wasn’t my thing. My mom loved it though (and hated the other two desserts. See what I said about everyone having different palates?).

2/5 | Beef Wellington with Mushroom Bordelaise, Fennel Cream, and Roasted Baby Vegetables. Overall this was simply okay. It wasn’t bad, but it’s not anything to write home about either. I will say, I do think that the meat was cooked beautifully. A lot of the time beef wellington is under cooked/to pink for me liking. 

Here’s how the inside looked in case you were wondering!

5/5 | Blue Sky Black Cherry Boba Freeze (non-alcoholic). I loved this drink! My only complaint is I wish there were more Boba balls! Other than that, it was amazing. 

6/5 | Dragon and Phoenix: Spicy Sautéed Shrimp with Spinach Noodles. This was by far, hands down, the BEST dish, in my opinion, at the Festival of Arts. I’m not joking when I say I ate it about five times. It was EVERYTHING.  It was beyond perfection, which is why it gets a 6/5 rating. Fun fact: I love veggies! Anything that involves spinach, potato, broccoli or any vegetable is okay in my book. 

Dear Dragon and Phoenix, I miss you. I hope we meet again one day. 

5/5 | Deconstructed Strawberry Cheesecake: Whipped, New York Style Cheesecake with Fresh Florida Strawberries and Sugar Cookies with Micro-basil. Anyone who knows me in real life is probably like “What?! You liked cheesecake?!”. Yes it is true, I normally hate cheesecake. Yes, HATE. They are disgusting and the texture is gross. But this deconstructed cheesecake was perfection in every way. Kudos, Epcot.

0/5 | Lobster Bacon Macaroni & Cheese served in a Warm Bread Cone. Remember earlier when I said there were foods that everyone was raving about that I found to be horrible? Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. First of all, I’ve been to the Disney Parks probably over 100 times (and I’m not exaggerating) at this point and I can count on one hand the number of rude cast members I’ve encountered. But the cast member working this booth was a down right See You Next Tuesday if you catch my drift. I think if this dish would have been good it would have made up for the experience but it was horrible (just like the cast member serving it). 

1/5 | Vanilla, Rose Water and Pistachio Panna Cotta. I wanted to like this so bad but the Rose water flavor was so overpowering and I hate pistachios. But at least it looked pretty, right… right?

2/5 | Sipping Chocolate Flight: White, Milk and Dark. This was odd to say the least. The melted milk chocolate was amazing but the dark and white chocolate was a little too over powering. 

2/5 | Sushi Donut: Donut-shaped Sushi featuring Salmon, Tuna, Shrimp, Avocado and Masago accented with Citrus-soy Gelée and Wasabi on the side. If this doughnut would have consisted of just the shrimp and avocado sections it would have gotten a much higher rating.

5/5 | Red Wine-braised Beef Short Rib with Parsnip Purée, Broccolini, Baby Tomatoes and Aged Balsamic. Ah, we meet again old friend. This particular dish is featured at EVERY Epcot Festival. Whether it’s the Festival of the Arts, the Flower and Garden Festival or the Food and Wine Festival, I can always count on the braised beef! No wonder it’s an Epcot Festival sample, it’s amazing!

5/5 | Seasonal Dessert: Yellow cake with peanut butter buttercream filling. Technically this dessert wasn’t apart of the Epcot International Festival of the Arts (it’s a seasonal dessert located within The Land), but I’m including it anyway. I’m a huge peanut butter lover so this was heavenly to me (but my mom thought it was way too much peanut butter!).

See you next year Festival of the Arts! (And see you in April Disney World, for the Flower and Garden Festival!).