REVIEW: Shrimp, Charcuterie, & Sangria in Spain at EPCOT’s Food & Wine Festival
Hola everyone, and welcome back to the MickeyBlog coverage of the 2023 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival!
The festival kicked off back in July, and your MickeyBloggers have been sharing all the festival’s experiences, activities, and – of course – the food and wine. Now, on our journey around the festival kitchens, we’ve stopped at the Spain booth, which is offering some delectable dishes and even some new tastes for 2023. Vamos amigos, and let’s go check it out!
Located in between the Germany and Italy pavilions in the EPCOT World Showcase, the Spain booth is an unmissably quaint cottage, covered in creeping ivy and pretty Spanish detailing. This particular booth was introduced to the festival back in 2017, so it’s a much more recent addition than you might think.
And wow, the food available here sure does sound delicious!
First up is a Charcuterie option, offering a selection of imported Spanish meats, cheeses, and olives, all covered with a tasty herbed Serrano vinaigrette. The perfect dish to share with friends!
It’s also worth pointing out that this charcuterie dish is featured on this year’s Emile’s Fromage Montage experience, which helps guests experience the cheesiest dishes around the festival. You can read more about this activity here, and be sure to get your festival passport stamped after placing a charcuterie order!
MickeyBlogger Madison checked out the Charcuterie and was not impressed, saying that this isn’t even close to a decent version of the dish at a smaller scale. The dressing covering everything is incredibly spicy and takes away from the flavor of the individual items.
You also only get one piece of prosciutto at the top then a bunch of cooked sausage, which was a little odd considering the name of the dish — maybe swapping the sausage for soppressata or something would’ve improved it. There are a few big cubes of one type of cheese and some black and green olives (black olives with charcuterie? C’mon now Spain, those don’t belong here), but overall, we would not get this again.
Also on the menu is a Seafood Salad, consisting of shrimp, bay scallops, and mussels, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and smoked paprika. Yum!
However, the dish our MickeyBloggers were here to order today was this fabulous Paella!
Created with saffron rice, chorizo, and shrimp, this delicious dish sure does look like sunshine in a bowl. It cost $6.75, and we couldn’t wait to hear what our reporters thought of it!
Well, the reviews for this one were mainly positive. While the rice was mild, the chorizo had a nice spice to it, and the whole thing was rather reminiscent of a Disney jambalaya. It wasn’t our favorite, but we would still recommend it as a tasty dish if you’re a fan of Spanish cuisine.
Alternatively, this colorful rice dish from over at Refreshment Outpost could be another option to consider!
Now that may be it for the food at Spain, but the deliciousness doesn’t stop there. Excitingly, each and every one of the four beverage options on the Spain menu are completely NEW to the festival for 2023! Let’s see what they’ve got…
Well, it’s certainly a Sangria lover’s dream over here. The options available on the menu are a Viña Borgia Macabeo White Sangria, a Viña Borgia Rosé Sangria, and a Viña Borgia Garnacha Red Sangria.
Can’t choose just one? Don’t worry, as a Sangria Flight is also available to order, too… and that’s what our MickeyBloggers went for today!
For $13, our reporters got this flight of three different sangrias, along with a cute, tile-design card with all the information on it.
Red, white, and rose… which sangria sounds the tastiest to you?
Well, our MickeyBloggers reported that each of these three sangrias was very heavy on alcohol, meaning the price of $13 for three was quite the bargain!
We preferred the red and white drinks, with the rose being a little sweeter than we’d prefer. However, we know that wine is very much down to personal preference, so we’d recommend you grab one of these yourselves to see what you think!
If this beautiful menu sounds perfect to you, be sure to stop by the Spain marketplace booth on your next journey around the 2023 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.
In the meantime, make sure you stay tuned to MickeyBlog.com for all the latest festival news, reviews, updates, and more!
¡Que aproveche!