EPCOT’s 2022 International Food & Wine Festival kicked off back in mid-July, but not all of the food booths were open, until now!
We’ve already tried a ton of food from the festival, like some old favorites, new surprises, and a few disappointments. But, we’ve been waiting for the rest of the booths to open up! A handful of booths are finally opening up today, including a big fan favorite — Hawai’i! So, let’s see if this booth still lives up to the hype.
Menu
Over at the Hawai’i booth, you’ll find a variety of available items, like the returning Kālua Pork Slider and Passion Fruit Cheesecake. But, there’s also an exciting new item that we’re itching to try — the SPAM Musubi Nigiri!
Now that we’ve taken a look at the menu, let’s dive into the food itself!
Eats
We’ve got a LOT of things to try, so let’s get into it!
Next stop: HAWAI’I 🌴
Kālua Pork Slider w/ sweet-and-sour DOLE pineapple chutney & spicy mayo
Musubi Nigiri with sushi rice, teriyaki-glazed SPAM, spicy mayo, eel sauce & nori
Passion Fruit Cheesecake w/ toasted macadamia nuts
AULANI Sunrise: Vodka, DOLE pineapple & grenadine pic.twitter.com/FFq0KVTcPd— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) August 15, 2022
First up, we grabbed the new SPAM Musubi Nigiri of course! This has sushi rice, teriyaki-glazed SPAM, spicy mayonnaise, eel sauce, and nori for $6.
This was absolutely delicious! The SPAM had the soft texture that you would get from raw fish in sushi but it tastes meaty (duh — it’s meat!).
The seaweed was also not chewy at all and the spicy mayo was mostly mayo with little to no spiciness, so don’t worry about it being too hot for you!
This was super easy to snack on and we think it’s a great dish for people who want an introduction to sushi or for people who don’t like raw fish! It’s also a great way to introduce some of those same textures and flavors to kids — it’s a lot of the same textures minus that of the raw fish.
This is a good one for picky eaters as well! And, the seaweed salad was also tasty.
Next, we got the returning Kālua Pork Slider. This slider comes with sweet-and-sour DOLE pineapple chutney and spicy mayonnaise for $5.75. This one is usually pretty tasty, but how is it this year?
Good news, folks — this is still really good! The flavors of the Hawaiian roll, pineapple chutney, and pork are all on the sweeter side, but they make a great combo when you put them all together.
The spicy mayo helped cut through some of that sweetness and complimented the other flavors well, but it’s not very spicy at all, so don’t expect a bunch of heat from this dish! If you’re looking for a snack that’s a bit heartier or meatier, this is a great option!
For the final food item, we have the returning Passion Fruit Cheesecake with toasted macadamia nuts for $4.50. This one is also a part of Emile’s Fromage Montage, AKA the Cheese Crawl, so it can count toward your journey on eating a bunch of cheese at the festival! We’ve loved this creamy dessert in the past, so hopefully it’s still as good!
The cheesecake lived up to our expectations yet again! The texture is super smooth and is similar to a regular cheesecake, so if you don’t like that texture, this might not be the treat for you.
It’s a very sweet dessert with a ton of fruitiness from the passion fruit.
The macadamia nuts also add a subtle saltiness and crunchiness that went really well with the cheesecake!
Now, for the drinks!
Drinks
All of the drinks on the menu this year are returning from previous years. First up, we have the AULANI Sunrise, which has vodka, DOLE pineapple juice, and grenadine for $14. In the past, this has proven to be a VERY sweet drink with a lot of pineapple flavor.
This drink was as delicious as usual! It’s a simple cocktail that we think will appeal to a lot of different people.
The main flavor we first got was pineapple, but the more we drank, the more it turned into a mostly vodka flavor. So, we’d recommend stirring this drink WELL to get those flavors all together!
This drink is super refreshing as well, and it has that signature DOLE pineapple flavor!
Also returning to the drink menu this year is the Kona Brewing Co. Hanalei Island IPA, which is $5 for a 6 oz. and $9 for a 12 oz. This beer made us feel like we were on a beach — it’s fruity and it’s not as heavy as a lot of other IPAs tend to be. The sweeter notes stand out which makes it great in the warm weather!
Finally, the Florida Orange Groves Sparkling Pineapple Wine has returned to the booth for $10. We’ve seen this wine at various booths at several different EPCOT festivals over the years.
This wine has a strong pineapple flavor and is very sweet, so it’s should be refreshing on a hot day, but only if you enjoy sweet wines.
Overall
Overall, the Hawai’i Booth has lived up to the hype! This is a delicious booth with a lot of options for all kinds of eaters. The food here is adventurous while still having some familiarity. We can honestly say we enjoyed everything we tried! If you want some tropical flavors or some unique dishes that you most likely won’t be able to find at home (unless your home is Hawai’i!), then this is definitely a booth that you shouldn’t miss! And, that Passion Fruit Cheesecake is a great dessert option to help you fill out your Cheese Crawl!
If you’re planning a trip to the 2022 Food and Wine Festival, you can click here to see the FULL menus for all of the food booths this year, click here to see all of the merchandise at the festival, and click here to see how EPCOT has UPGRADED its cheese crawl.
We’ve been checking out the festival for over a month now, and we’ve got a bunch of helpful info like A FULL List of Vegan and Vegetarian Dishes at the 2022 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, Everything You NEED to Eat and Drink at the 2022 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, and ALL of the Entertainment at the 2022 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival. You can also check out our DFB Guide to the Food and Wine Festival for 200+ pages of tips, tricks, and advice.
We’ve already shared a bunch of our FULL reviews of the booths at the festival, and we’ll be sharing ALL of our reviews for the booths that just opened up as well. So, check back with us for all the latest Food & Wine Festival news!
Click here to see our reviews for EVERY single EPCOT Food and Wine Festival booth!
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What items from this booth would you most want to try? Tell us in the comments!
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