Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival 2013

PlanetValeya-Epcot_2733

Yesterday my husband, brother, mother, and I went to Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival.  My husband isn’t a big fan of the Disney parks.  He would rather do most anything than go to any of the parks.  He occasionally humors me, like the first year we were married and I actually convinced him to get a season pass.  What?  Crazy.  This must be true love.  The rest of my family, however, is the opposite.  When my family would come and visit us in LA we would go to Disneyland.  My brother works for Disney.  I worked for Disney back when.  And my parents retired in Orlando to be close to Disney World.  My poor husband.  So when he says, “I would love to go to Epcot for that,” we go before he can change his mind.

For those who have never been, Epcot is comprised of two parts.  The front part has most of the rides and shops, and it goes into detail a bit about the original Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow (E.P.C.O.T.  Get it?) that was Walt’s vision of the the perfect city.  The back half of Epcot is a world showcase.  It features a multitude of pavilions, each styled to look like it’s from the country it represents.  Each country has restaurants, shops, and the occasional ride relating to the original country.  During the Food and Wine Festival this concept is expanded to feature the food and beverages of more countries.  Each has a pop-up kiosk featuring a few small tasty morsels.

PlanetValeya-Epcot-ChicknCurry_2752Trick’n chick’n curry with basmati rice featuring Gardein™ chick’n breast from the Terra kiosk

Please forgive the washed out photo, but I had to include this one.  This was the first thing we had.  Husband and I shared this vegan chick’n curry from the Terra stall.  We are big curry fans, and have tried a multitude of curries both good and bad.  This one was oh so good.  Savory, full of heady spices, and just a touch of heat.  The vegan chick’n was on par with other vegetarian chickens I’ve had.  Which is to say that you know it isn’t chicken.  This was Husband’s favorite of the night.

PlanetValeya-Epcot-bao_2763Mongolian beef in a steamed bun from the China kiosk

I love bao.  This bao bun had spicy Mongolian beef, onions and peppers, fried chow mein noodles, and a spicy sauce.  The bao was nice and sweet, which went really well with the spiciness of the sauce.

PlanetValeya-Epcot-lettucewrap2_2771Lettuce wrap with roast pork and kimchi slaw from the South Korea kiosk

This one takes me back to LA.  In LA’s Koreatown there are a ton of Korean barbecue joints, and all the ones that I went to were fantastic.  When we had a Korean roommate I pored over his Korean cookbooks, and when he had surgery and wasn’t feeling very well, Hubs and I made him a Korean feast.  There aren’t many Korean places in Orlando though, so I had to jump on the opportunity to have a Korean lettuce wrap.  This one was super fresh, with a nice crunchy lettuce leaf.  The meat was juicy and had a great marinade on it.

The Disney parks have a lot of events throughout the year, and this is one of my favorites.  I try to make it every year, and I look forward to going again next year.

So tell me, which kiosk would you go to?  Or which country do you wish they would feature?