“Food” & Garden ’17 | It's "All in WDW"

Without delay, my friends, here is my final verdict. I’ve attended Flower & Garden’s first two opening days. What did I like? Here’s the scoop!

10 – Crabless Cake – Urban Farm Eats

The odd taste of this “cake” saved the American Adventure’s smokehouse from itself.

The so-called Crispy Vegetable Slaw was not crispy but was uninspiring. The remoulade was bland.

9 – Pulled Pig Slider – THE SMOKEHOUSE: Barbecue and Brews

What an incredible disappointment. Seriously, folks. This might be the poorest presentation of a returning dish I’ve ever seen.

Look, for a festival item, I don’t need the full sandwich that they’ve offered in the past. It has always been called a slider, after all.

Having said that, the entire dish (stale bread, dry pork, tasteless slaw) was awful.

8 – Battered Poblano Pepper filled with Ground Beef – Jardin de Fiestas

“Filled” is a very generous description when it comes to this item’s beefy-stuffing.

Then, I didn’t think about this until after I published the “Flash Report”, but this recipe was supposed to include Queso Fresco and Toasted Almonds. Is it just me? I don’t see either.

7 – Baked Chicken with Crawfish – Fleur de Lys

It wasn’t a bad dish, but it wasn’t great either.

The crawfish was nice, I’ll say that much. Otherwise, it was pretty unremarkable.

6 – Sugar Cane Shrimp Skewer – La Isla Fresca

Other than the tails, we failed to mention one of the other critiques we have of this offering.

It was pretty hard getting the shrimp off of the sugar cane skewer. So, why is that a problem?

Well, you see that lovely-colored sauce? I almost splattered it on Mrs. All in WDW’s white top while tugging shrimp off the “stick”.

My friends, that would have been the end of my All in WDW “career”.

5 – Lamb Chop with Quinoa Salad – The Berry Basket

I took one bite. I thought it was OK. Mrs. All in WDW didn’t agree.

The lamb was chewy. She hated the Blackberry Gastrique. Still beat five other dishes, though!

4 – Seared Scallops – Northern Bloom

Looking past my frustration with Northern Bloom’s disorganized service, these scallops were well-prepared.

Plus, did I mention this earlier? There were TWO! Much more generous than in the past, Disney! Thanks!

3 – Shrimp and Stone-ground Grits – Florida Fresh

Still a great dish, it just fell to stouter competition. Nothing more complicated than that.

I watched the chef prepare this dish from flat-top to presentation. I’ve told Mrs. All in WDW that I’m going to try to make it at home.

2 – Meatball Parmigiana – Primavera Kitchen

Chuckle, if you’d like, but there were two dishes that left me with a “I’ve got to have that again” feeling.

Italy scored with the first of them. I’ll say it again. Great comeback from your years-ago ravioli “disaster”, Italy! Utterly delicious!

Might just be me, but I loved, loved, loved it!

1 – Smoked Pork Ribs – THE SMOKEHOUSE: Barbecue and Brews

Well, this came as a shock to me, but I can’t deny the fact that both Mrs. All in WDW and I instantly wanted a second serving.

It may be a, more or less, mundane item – as you can find good ribs in a lot of places – but this dish’s “fall off the bone” goodness can’t be denied. It WINS the festival!

There, you have it, everyone. If you’re going to get a chance to visit “Food” & Garden, then, please, enjoy! In the meantime, here’s the entire list … in order!