BE WARNED. If you are reading this post while hungry, your stomach may start to grumble louder than you’ve ever heard it grumble before.
Why? Well, the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival has officially begun and there’s a LOT of food (and drinks) to enjoy. But don’t let the Festival overwhelm you, we’re here to guide you through it all. For now, we’re heading to the Greece Booth to tell you everything you need to know!
Menu
Over at the Greece Booth, you’ll find a variety of available items. There are four different food options available, three of which are returning and one of which is a NEW plant-based option. There are also some returning drinks to pick up, including a wine flight.
Now that we’ve taken a look at the menu, let’s dive into the food itself!
Eats
First up, we grabbed the Spanakopita, which is a savory pastry with a filling of spinach and cheese. This is priced at $4.75. In 2022, we LOVED this item because…well…it was full of cheese! The cheese also had a hint of sourness to it that paired really well with the spinach. So, how did it hold up in 2023?
Well, this year our team member who tried it felt like it was…fine. But, sadly, they shared that it would likely be the last item at this booth they’d get if they had to visit this booth again. On the plus side, the pastry was nice and flaky — we loved that.
But, on the bad side, things were a little bit drier than we would have liked. We also would have liked for it to be cheesier (we do love a good amount of cheese). This year, it felt like the Spanakopita was mainly spinach based, so if you’re going into it hoping for an overflow of cheese, your expectations won’t quite be met.
Now, let’s move on to the Griddled Cheese with pistachios and honey, which is also part of Emile’s Fromage Montage (a.k.a. the Festival’s Cheese Crawl). It is priced at $5. In 2022, this dish made our Best of the Fest list as a CONTROVERSIAL pick. It is essentially cheese covered with honey and pistachios, and while some members of our team have loved it in the past, it can be a little off-putting for others.
Last year our reporter who tried it was less than impressed as they found the cheese to be oddly pungent and were not a fan of the honey. So we just had to try it again in 2023 to see if opinions would differ this year.
This year, we found the cheese (which was goat cheese, by the way) to be quite rich, which can be good depending on what you like. (Truthfully it probably would have been better if we had eaten it right away, but you gotta get those photos and videos to show the world what you’re eating before you dive in!)
The honey paired really well with the cheese, and the pistachios gave it a great crunch and nutty flavor that helped to bring out the cheese even more.
But now we have a special DFB HACK for you — We mixed a bite of the cheese with the Spanakopita, and it took things to another level so that’s a little pro tip you should totally try if you get this!
Next is the returning Lamb Gyro with shaved lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, and tzatziki on warm flatbread. It is priced at $6.75. This was new last year and it pleasantly surprised us. In 2022, the lamb was a little tough to eat, but the whole thing was smothered in tzatziki sauce, which made things nice and tangy. So what did the 2023 version have to offer?
Well, our reporter shared that this was fine overall. It wasn’t quite as smothered in the tzatziki sauce as last year though. Instead, it felt like the sauce was mostly mixed in with the lettuce on top. That, sadly, left us wanting MORE of the oh-so-good tangy tzatziki. It also would have helped the dish to have placed a layer of sauce on the bread first because the flatbread was very dry.
On the plus side, the lamb was nice and not too gamey. We would have loved some cucumber and feta on it though, as that could have taken things to the next level.
Our last dish (and the only NEW item on the list this year) is the Plant-based IMPOSSIBLE Moussaka. Moussaka is traditionally a sort of Greek lasagna dish made with eggplant and a meat sauce. We actually REALLY liked this new addition to the Festival booth! It was heavy, rich, and felt like a mini meal.
On a super hot day in EPCOT, we’re not sure that you’d want to eat this heavier dish unless you’re very hungry though. But, if you’re looking for something that has a sort of casserole, hearty, comfort food feeling to it — this is IT.
The bechamel sauce on top was a very generous portion and was wonderfully sweet and creamy. The Impossible meat was fine and didn’t have an overly unique flavor (in other words, it doesn’t jump out at you as Impossible meat, which is nice). That all blended together well with the eggplant and potato base.
In terms of flavor, nothing is overly powerful or strong. It doesn’t really slam you with a ton of flavor, but it is a solid, hearty option. It’s not spicy, and it’s not trying overly hard. But it goes a good job of being that sort of casserole you’d love to tuck into on a night when you just need some comfort. It’s also a great plant-based option that’ll fill you up. Get it for $5.50.
Drinks
In terms of drinks on this menu, we got The Wine Flight, which comes with small glasses of each of the wines on the menu, which are the Mylonas Winery Assyrtiko White Wine ($6.50 on its own), Skouras ‘Zoe’ Rosé ($6 on its own), and the Kir-Yianni Naoussa Xinomavro Dry Red ($6.50 on its own). The wine flight is $7.50.
We grabbed this flight last year and really enjoyed it! The Kir-Yianni Naoussa Xinomavro was very sweet, the Zoe Rosé was fruity and crispy, and the Mylonas Winery Assyrtiko White Wine was light, crispy, and wonderfully fruity.
In 2023, we felt like the wines were fine but nothing that’ll really blow your socks off. The red didn’t taste all that dry to us (which can be a good thing depending on what you like). The white was actually drier (to us) than the red — which, again can be good or bad depending on your preferences. And the Rosé had just a tiny amount of sweetness to it.
Overall, we’d say the red wine was our favorite of the bunch and something we’d get again. But, as a whole, they weren’t anything too spectacular.
OVERALL
Overall, there were some solid picks at this booth, with some little things in certain dishes that could have been better. The Moussaka was filling, comforting, and had ingredients that really blended together well. The Lamb Gyro was good but we could have more sauce.
The spanakopita was fine but could have benefitted from more cheese. The griddled cheese was rich with a nice crunchy and nutty flavor from the pistachios. And we’d get the red wine again but maybe skip the other 2 options in the wine flight.
Off to Greece! We’ve got a few returning items here including the Spanakopita, Griddled Cheese with pistachios and honey (an Emile’s Fromage Montage item 🧀), and the Lamb Gyro.
New this year is the Plant-based IMPOSSIBLE Moussaka! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/8c2CXQ68k5
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) July 27, 2023
And that’s only ONE booth — we’ve got tons more to cover!
Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Food & Wine Festival!
If you’re trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, we’re keeping you updated on all of the latest news. Click our links below for the information you need to know:
- Learn about the Eat to the Beat Concert Series and Dining Packages
- Check out ALL of the 2023 Food & Wine Booth Menus
- See what eats you’ll need to try to get a PRIZE at the Festival!
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IT'S WINE & DINE TIME!
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