Japan Improves on Last Year at the 2025 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival
Who’s feeling hungry?
Today marks the very first day of the 2025 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival – the most delicious celebration of all kinds of culinary delights from around the globe. The EPCOT World Showcase is alive with marketplace kitchens serving eats and drinks sure to satisfy all tastes – and our MickeyBlog reporters are ready and raring to try it all!
Japan
The next stop on today’s adventure across the World Showcase is the Japan pavilion, where the country’s dedicated kitchen is offering quite the range of treats for guests to try.
Japan is always a popular booth so we knew we couldn’t miss out on this one – so come with us to see what’s on offer!
Menu
There are three dishes on this year’s Japan menu – with two of them being brand-new additions to the festival. We’ve also got a gorgeous range of new drinks available too… our mouths are watering at the thought of it all!
Food
To start, the only dish returning to the Japan booth for the 2025 festival is the Teriyaki Chicken Bun. This is a steamed bun filled with minced chicken and vegetables, all mixed in a teriyaki sauce, costing $7.95.
The first new dish on the Japan menu is the Beef Wagyu Don, a traditional Japanese rice bowl treat. Here, this consists of American wagyu beef blend served over steamed white rice, with homemade pickles, shredded togarashi pepper, and pickled ginger all in there too. This costs $9.50.
Now, you might remember that last year, this dish was served inside a bun here in Japan. The good news is that our MickeyBlog reporters believe that this year’s version of the dish is much better!
The rice was cooked beautifully, and the flavor of the wagyu was delicious. A great update to the offering, in our opinion!
Lastly, the third menu item is also new for 2025, and it’s the Osakana Karaage. This is a crispy-fried pollock, served with spicy mayonnaise and a sweet-and-creamy yuzu sauce, costing $8.50.
For our reporters, this dish was only okay. The pollock had a bit too strong of a fishy taste, and we’d have preferred it to be crispier.
That being said, the spicy mayo and yuzu sauce sure were yummy condiments!
Drinks
If you’re looking for fun and fruity drinks at this year’s Food & Wine Festival, Japan has got you covered! All four beverage options on the menu are new this year – and there’s something for everyone!
First, we’ve got the Fuji Apple IPA from Brewlando Brewing, which you can get a 6 oz. pour for $5.50 and a 12 oz. pour for $10. There’s also the Sparkling Sake Otokoyama here, which is $14.
If you’re after a cocktail, check out the Sake-Politan, which mixes Sake with Simple Cranberry juice and a hint of yuzu for $8.75. Yum!
Last, we’ve got a Peachy Mango Boba, which blends Crafted Calpico Peach juice with mango popping boba for $7. This is a non-alcoholic option, and sounded a lot of fun – so we had to give it a try!
Upon tasting this, we realized that the peach component of the drink was much stronger than the mango – but this was fine by us! The drink was sweet and milky, and definitely a great option if you’re looking for a fun, non-alcoholic treat with a twist at this year’s festival!
Japan is always going to be a popular spot at any EPCOT festival, so be sure to check it out for yourself on your next visit to the Food & Wine!
