I’ll bet you’ve all spent a day or two (or more!) strolling around Epcot’s World Showcase…walking right past the Joy of Tea in the China Pavilion.
Epcot’s China Pavilion
After all, with all of China’s gorgeous themeing inside the gate, who would happen to look outside of it?
Huzzah! The Joy of Tea Kiosk!
Many folks assume it serves… well, just tea.
Joy of Tea sign
So they may not give it much thought as they make their way towards Kringla Bakeri og Kafe in the neighboring Norway Pavilion for a fix of School Bread.
But this fun grab-and-go stop actually offers so much more!
The Joy of Tea Menu — click to enlarge
And here’s a DFB tip! You can try all of their snacks at once via the Lucky Combo.
The Lucky Combo is a terrific way to sample the eats at the J of T: the Curry Chicken Pocket, Chinese BBQ Pork Bun, and Egg Roll (if you order the snack portion of any of these, you get two of the item – for the Combo, you get one each).
The Lucky Combo also includes your choice of ice cream (Caramel Ginger or Strawberry Red Bean), AND a can of soda to quench your thirst!
Lucky Combo!
The price? $9.98 for everything. Score! That’s less than the cost of one turkey leg!
I took my Combo over to the seating area at the Lotus Blossom Café.
Seating at the Lotus Blossom Cafe
Let’s go down the list, shall we?
The Lucky Combo
Starting with the Curry Chicken Pocket (AJ’s a fan!), the center is great: the chicken is flavored with a generous-enough amount of curry that you can taste it in every bite. It’s not a ton of curry, but I think you definitely need to enjoy curry to appreciate this snack (which, fortunately, I do!).
Curry Chicken Pocket
Center of the Curry Chicken Pocket
But, as AJ noted in her review, the standout here is the pastry surrounding the chicken: it’s light, flaky, and buttery, and I enjoyed the touch of sesame.
The Egg Roll here is pork and vegetable. The wrapper was not as crispy as I like (in fact, I’d even say it was a little rubbery), but overall it’s your basic, decent egg roll.
Pork and Vegetable Egg Roll
Center of Pork and Vegetable Egg Roll
The Chinese BBQ Pork Bun is a pretty great little snack. The pork inside the bread was very tender, and I enjoyed the presence of onion in addition to the mild BBQ flavor.
Chinese BBQ Pork Bun
Center of the Chinese BBQ Pork Bun
But my favorite part was the roll surrounding the pork (even though it gets a little messy because it’s so flaky). It’s thick, super soft, and has great flavor.
As you may have noticed, there is lots of bread all over the Combo. I think that’s why it’s so filling — even more so than the protein in the meat. I started to feel a bit of fullness setting in before digging into the final course: ICE CREAM!
Strawberry Red Bean Ice Cream
I chose the Strawberry Red Bean Ice Cream, and it’s definitely my favorite part of the Lucky Combo. I don’t even particularly care too much for regular strawberry ice cream from the store, so I don’t know why I like this so much.
It’s definitely a cream versus a sorbet, yet it’s still quite refreshing thanks to its fruity flavor. The red bean makes it less sweet than a typical strawberry ice cream. And the size of the carton is pretty generous, too. The ice cream is packed dense, so you are getting a lot with each little bite.
Strawberry Red Bean Ice Cream
So, now I’ve tackled all the food at Joy of Tea. Next time I’m actually gonna try some TEA!
And I might be more than a little tempted by that Mango Gingerita, too… one thing at a time, I guess. But if you can’t narrow down which thing to try on your next visit, then the Lucky Combo is a lovely way to go!
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Thank you for the review, but with lots of curry and a rubbery egg roll I will just keep walking by.
The Pork bun did sound promising though.
“After all, with China’s gorgeous themeing to your left, who would happen to look to their right??” – AJ
I’m confused… I could have SWORN that the china pavilion was on the right, and the Joy of Tea stand was on the left. Did they renovate and move everything around? 🙂
So nice to see this place reviewed, it’s one of my favourite stops when wandering the world as a cold mango or peach tea, or a strawberry tea slushie is just so refreshing on a hot Florida afternoon. Not tried the chicken pocket but the pork bun makes a nice little snack, and yes, the ice cream is good too.
I like both the caramel ginger and the strawberry red bean and because as you say, they’re ‘dense’ desserts as opposed to light n airy whipped ones, they take some spooning out and so they’re not ‘gone in a moment’. I dithered for ages over trying the strawberry one (mainly because it had ‘bean’ in the title which put me off) but we had them on the QS DDP and I was hooked. It’s kind of a shame they don’t make more of them really, as they’re something different, but in those plain little pots, someone is unlikely to as you where did you get that from. =P
One thing I wish they would add to the menu here (or over in Japan) would be bubble tea, they used to do the choca-bobba type (with choc milk) in the Lotus Blossom but sadly it’s long gone the way of the dodo, ah well…
Jeff, I think it depends in which way you approach China…for me too, the cart would be on the left with the pavilion in the right. I always go counter-clockwise around, and it sounds like you do too! 🙂
Jenny — Thanks for your comment! You can get the pork bun individually, if you ever care to try it — you get two for the snack portion, as opposed to one with the Combo :).
Jeff — HA!! You’re totally correct, nothing’s moved around. I failed to mention which direction I was coming from (the Outpost), but did mention about the Norway Pavilion later on, which would indeed put the kiosk on your left… I updated the wording to avoid any confusion :). Thanks, Jeff!
Rune — It would be fun to see Bubble Tea added permanently here! Right now, it’s part of the Flower & Garden Festival (in the temporary booth), and I think a lot of people would love to see it back as a regular option.
Wendy – I hope you understand I was just being funny. I was very clear on the fact that it would depend which direction you were walking, and was just making light of the way you said it. You didn’t have to change anything, it was a well written post, and very informative.
Jeff, that’s so nice of you to write, but no worries — I totally understood you were being funny (I wish I had expressed that better), and in fact your comment made me smile and laugh when at the same time it dawned on me, “Gosh, he’s totally right — that can completely change things , depending on your direction… best to make that more clear.” 🙂 I just appreciate you reading it :)!
Kaiti — isn’t it funny how we all have a traditional direction :)? Before I lived here and would come on vacation, for some reason I always had to start in Mexico!
can anyone describe the other type of ice cream? The caramel ginger? I think that sounds like quite an odd combo but I bet its delicious too!
Could this be a quick serve on the dining plan?
Looks great!
And for a beverage the tipsy ducks in love is a must. It’s chocolate, coffee and Jim Beam I believe which is always a quicker picker upper. Even my wife and I who despise coffee love this drink.
We love to stop by Joy of Tea; especially for the Peach Snap!
Oh, I forgot to mention how nice the workers are at this booth. They really want to make sure you enjoy their product and provide superior service. Well worth stopping by for the smiles.
I just love red bean ice cream! There’s a tea shop a block away from my house that makes a killer red bean shake. Next time you’re in town we’ll go there!
I have to disagree on the egg rolls, I was very dissapointed, in fact they turned me off to trying anything else inthe china region. Now I come from Pittsburgh where we have a large Asian population and many good places to eat, but the fact that I could get a better egg roll at any old take out place in the city was a huge turn off.