Not in my Top 25, but Mrs. All in WDW is a big calamari fan. So, we tried it. The htipiti (at the top left in light orange) is a dip of feta cheese and roasted red peppers. It was outstanding. The eggplant dip (greenish near the bottom right) was only so-so. An acceptable but not noteworthy dish. Honorable mention status is all it gets for 2013. I’ll tell you this much, it beats 2012′s Taste of Scandinavia.
A lot like Greece’s Chicken Souvlaki (from previous years), it was good but not “Earth-shattering”. The tzatziki sauce kind of grows on you, actually.
Have I mentioned that I was disappointed that Canada’s Chicken Chipotle Sausage with Sweet Corn Polenta was replaced by this trout? Well, I am. And, the fish, although well-prepared, wasn’t good enough to make me forget the chipotle sausage. The bacon was a nice touch, but it was a bit on the “rubbery” side.
Uh, don’t “kill” me, but … we tried this two times. All in all, it has been a bit of a disappointment. For me, at least. I think it was much “tougher” than any filet has a right to be (both times), and I don’t like mushrooms enough to make up for that fact. I don’t know what to say … I thought this one was a ‘contender’. It isn’t. Not this year.
Much better than what we were served at the Tables in Wonderland preview dinner. At first, I thought this actually had jumped ahead of Singapore’s Mahi-Mahi. Then, we tried Singapore’s dish again today. Its (Thai-style sweet-hot) “Singa” sauce keeps their fish one step ahead of Scotland’s. Oh! Smaller portion than Singapore, by the way.
Like the Fisherman’s Pie, this was much better than I remembered from my sampling in 2011. Filled with plenty of beef, it was very tasty in a spicy-flavorful sort of way. If I have a “complaint”, the pastry shell was a bit on the dry side. Rick Howard kindly explained that, if I had listened to him and asked to have some of the beef skewer’s Chimichurri Sauce spilled on top of it, I would have been much happier. Live and learn. He’s right.
Much better than I had in 2011. Having said that, it’s still not at the top end of my list. It just needs a little more seasoning for my taste.
Breakfast! What a way to start the day! An Orange Dole Whip with Crème de Cacao White. Yum!
First off, I’ll tell you what we liked better about Thursday – the “soft” opening of Epcot’s 2013 International Food & Wine Festival. There were virtually NO lines.
On Friday, it got crazy! Frankly, I’m thinking that most WDW guests never guessed that there would be a soft opening on Thursday and just made their plans to hit Epcot’s World Showcase on Opening Day!
The line is this long for Singapore? Are you kidding me?!
As you know, yesterday, we had the honor of joining Rick Howard and John Donahue of Kingdom Magic Vacations in recording three episodes of the Travel with Rick video-cast. We spent time with them in Brazil, Australia, and Singapore in reviewing the cuisine from each marketplace. What a whirl-wind, world tour!
The first Travel with Rick episode to feature an appearance by Mrs. All in WDW and myself will drop next week. I’ll post a link when it’s available for consumption. In the meantime, check out this pictorial tour to see what you missed yesterday! We wish you were all here with us! Cheers!
Pre-Festival #14: Crispy Pork Belly (Brazil)
Pre-Festival #19: Seared Scallop (Brazil)
A Brazilian “feast”!
Pre-Festival #20: Garlic Shrimp (Australia)
Pre-Festival #18: Grilled Lamb Chop (Australia)
Pre-Festival Desserts #10: Pavlova (Australia)
Big “ups” to Rick (left) and John (right). Recording video-casts is a LOT of work!
Pre-Festival #22: Lemongrass Chicken Curry (Singapore)
Pre-Festival #10: Seared Mahi-Mahi (Singapore)
Finally, we capped the day off by building a city with rock ‘n roll! Appearing at America Gardens Theater was Starship Starring Mickey Thomas! It was a great 30-minute concert and very much worth the time to be able to hear favorites like “We Built This City”, “Sara”, and ”Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” in person.
Remember how I said that Singapore should have upgraded their menu by adding Butter Chicken? At first tasting, this dish was just OK. We’re going to have to try it again.
Like last year, this dish was quite tasty. The fish was perfectly cooked, and I really liked that there was a generous helping of “Singa” sauce.
You have to thank Rick Howard and Kingdom Magic Vacations for this one. All in WDW is not too tangled up in desserts when we make one of our typical quests through Food & Wine. As we were helping review Australia, however, this was included on the Travel with Rick menu. We all decided that we liked the vanilla custard but we could do without the crispy meringue shell. Just OK, in my book.
Here. Let me quote Mrs. All in WDW. ”Yum! Best in show!” OK, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, dear. We’ve got a lot of things to try yet. Actually, as lamb goes, Australia’s combination of “lamb lollipop” (as Mrs. All in WDW likes to call them), pesto, and potato chip crunchies (who would have guessed that crumbled chips would just MAKE this dish) are pretty darn outstanding!
