The EPCOT Festival of the Holidays has arrived with many locations to grab festive food and drinks! But with all the choices how do you pick where to stop?
We’ve eaten a LOT of festival food so far, but there are even more stops to go! Plus, we’ve got entertainment to check out, merchandise to shop, and scavenger hunts to explore. But up next, we’re taking you to Shi Wasu Holiday Kitchen in the Japan Pavilion!
Menu
Over at the Shi Wasu Holiday Kitchen, you’ll find a variety of available items. This year, the Sushi Tree and the New Year Celebration Soba are both returning. One new item is also joining the lineup — the Sweet Potato Mochi Cake.
For drinks, you can snag one of the three returning options — the Ichigo Milk Boba, Japanese Christmas Punch, and Sapporo Premium Beer — or the brand-new Choya Sparkling Plum Wine. Let’s dive in to the options and see if this booth is worth your time and money!
Eats
First up, we grabbed the absolutely ICONIC Sushi Tree! This is a sushi roll in a Christmas tree shape with krab meat and cream cheese topped with Aonori seaweed, Ikura salmon roe, and spicy mayonnaise. It’s available at the booth in Japan for $7.50
We were a little let down by the shape of the tree last year, but this year it was back to being oh-so-holly-jolly! We really really loved the sushi this year, as it was heavy on cream cheese and the sauce helped bring everything together. (Although, calling it spicy mayo is a bit of a misnomer because it’s not spicy at all!) The salmon roe added a good fish flavor, making this overall a really delicious savory item. No wonder it’s a crowd favorite!
Next, we grabbed the New Year Celebration Soba which is also returning! The soba is composed of buckwheat soba noodles in a hot dashi soup with yuzu, shrimp tempura, and chopped green onion. It is $8.50.
The soup is SO savory and salty, very reminiscent of soy sauce. A nice, comforting warm soup for those cold winter nights in EPCOT! The shrimp tempura is just as delicious as in the past, but we recommend eating it ASAP or it’ll get soggy while you wait. If you’re a noodle soup fan, you can’t skip this one!
The last food item we picked up was the NEW Sweet Potato Mochi Cake – a gooey sweet potato mochi cake with purple sweet potato cream, strawberry, black sugary syrup, and sesame seeds. It is $6.50.
This booth has served mochi cakes in the past, but this is an entirely new twist on the treat!
This has more of a dense texture than we expected, but it made the dish nice and chewy, which was kind of fun. The sweet potato cream was really nice, and it’s a pretty sweet dessert for those with a craving for sugar. The sesame seeds added a good textural element that made us love it all even more. The flavors and textures here just blend well together — another WIN!
Shi Wasu SCORED with the food…but what about the drinks?
Drinks
In terms of drinks at this booth, we got Choya Sparkling Plum Wine for $8.25. This is an all-new drink this year! This was incredibly light, sparkly, bright, and fruity. Honestly SO good.
We also tried the returning Ichigo Milk Boba for $7. This is a non-alcoholic drink, so everyone can enjoy it! It is a cranberry and yuzu cream drink featuring Japanese Calpico Soft Drink and popping strawberry boba pearls.
This drink was rather interesting to us because it’s incredibly smooth and tart — not like other bubble teas we’ve been used to. It feels more like a mocktail than a “kids’ drink” in our opinion.
Last, we tried the Japanese Christmas Punch for $8.25. It’s a returning drink with Shōchū, Plum wine, cranberry, and lemon. You can taste a bit more of the alcohol in this than the other drinks, but it’s still fruity and light. Overall, it’s very similar to drinking juice.
Should you go to Shi Wasu?
OVERALL
Well, well, well…Shi Wasu showed UP this year! We pretty much loved almost everything on the menu, and we’d recommend any of these items to those with more adventurous palettes — obviously, this won’t be your go-to booth if you’re not interested in Japanese cuisine.
This booth might end up ranking really high on our list for 2023, so we suggest you check it out during your visit to the festival. Delicious eats and fun drinks make for a good use of your spending money!
The sushi tree is back in the Japan Pavilion! 🎄 Shi Wasu also has the New Year Celebration Soba, and the ALL-NEW Sweet Potato Mochi Cake!
We also made sure to try the new Choya Sparkling Plum Wine! pic.twitter.com/9cF59gZeH5
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 24, 2023
That’s it for this booth, but there’s a LOT more where that came from!
Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Festival of the Holidays!
Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2023 EPCOT Festival of the Holidays? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know:
- Learn about the Candlelight Processional and Dining Packages
- Check out ALL of the 2023 Festival of the Holidays booth Menus
- See what eats you’ll need to try to get a PRIZE at the Festival!
And don’t forget to pick up our 2023 DFB Guide to the Holidays at Disney World! See more details about the book below.
DON'T MISS A MOMENT
OF HOLIDAY MAGIC
Holidays at Disney World: DFB's Merriest Guide is a one-of-a-kind resource that will help you get the most out of your holiday vacation at Walt Disney World.
It includes all the must-have information for navigating the holiday season at Disney World, including:
- The COMPLETE schedule of events for the Holiday Season
- How to avoid the crowds on Disney World's busiest days (and when Disney World closes their parks due to capacity!)
- ALL of the events, activities, and holiday additions in Walt Disney World. ALL. OF. THEM.
- And, of course, we'll tell you where to eat!
Save 20% on the Holidays at Disney World: DFB's Merriest Guide with code PEPPERMINT.
MORE Disney World Holiday INFO!
Learn About Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
Get the Latest Information About the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays
Get All the Details About Disney Jollywood Nights
Everything You Need to Know About Disney World Holiday Dining and Events
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the latest holiday news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
What items from this booth would you most want to try? Tell us in the comments!
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