Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is BACK! I'm counting down the days until Hanson is the Eat to the Beat concert... anyone else?

On Friday night, Christopher, Jen, and I made our way to Epcot for our first trip to the 2018 Food and Wine Festival.

Festival Center

We started by hiking what felt like 4 miles to the Festival Center. We were planning to pick up our passholder magnets, but holy crap that line. So instead of waiting in line for magnets we would just put on the sides of our garage refrigerators, we got to drinking.

Shimmering Sips Mimosa Bar

I read some reviews of the Fromosa from Shimmering Sips Mimosa Bar earlier in the day and was really excited to try it. It's still super hot here in Orlando, so frozen beverages are always appreciated.

Fromosa: Frozen Mimosa featuring White Claw Lime Hard Seltzer, $6.00

Craft Drafts

Craft Drafts is always a favorite of ours. We got Beer Flight 1, and all really liked the Central 28 Beer Company Waff-Ale.

Beer Flight 1, $9.00: Central 28 Beer Company Waff-Ale, Bold City Brewery 1901 Roasted Red Ale, Florida Beer Co. Passport Triple Chocolate Milk Stout. 

The Chocolate Experience 

 Ghirardelli Drinking Chocolate, $3.50

The last thing we tried in the Festival Center was the Ghirardelli Drinking Chocolate, from The Chocolate Experience. It was basically like drinking warm chocolate sauce and it was kind of weird. It would have made an excellent ice cream topping or nice to dip something in, but just drinking it was kind of intense.

World Showcase

After our first round of drinks and drinking chocolate we were ready to eat some food, so off we went to the World Showcase.

Mexico

 El Padrino: Blackberry Mecican Punch with Velo Blanco Tequila, $9.50, Short Rib Tostada: Corn Tortilla topped with Short Ribs, Black Beans, Salsa Verde, and Spring Onion, $6.50, Not pictured - Cerveza Por Favor: Dos Equis Draft beer with a hint of almond, $4.75

Africa

Berbere-style Beef Tenderloin Tips with onions, jalapenos, tomato and pap, $5.50

We tried the Beef tips and the Spicy Ethiopian Red Lentil Stew with Vegan Yogurt and Quinoa, $4.50 (not pictured) and none of us were thrilled about the beef tips, it was really spicy and the meat was kind of gristly. The Red lentil stew was good, and not as spicy as we were expecting considering spicy is in the name of the dish. 

Cederberg Chenin Blanc, Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz, Groot Constantia Pinotage, $6.50 

Christopher loved this wine flight, and honestly I can't remember how I felt about it.

Brewer's Collection

 Beer Flight: Radeberger Zwickel Pilsner, Hacker-Pschorr Hefe Weisse Naturtrub, Schofferhofer Hefeweizen Pomegranate Beer, $9.00

Jen got the Brewer's Collection beer flight and I tried the Pomegranate beer, which was kind of weird but not bad. I love Hefeweizens, but I was still working on my drink from Mexico when we got here so I didn't try anything else here.

Germany

Roast Bratwurst in a Pretzel Roll, $5.50

Jen and Christopher both got a Bratwurst (this picture is from last year) and I got squirted with wiener juice when Jen took her first bite. Rude. 

Spain

Charcuterie in a Cone: imported Spanish meats, Cheeses, and Olives with an Herb Vinaigrette, $6.50

Christopher was all about this cone of charcuterie. I think it was his favorite thing all night. 

Belgium

I forgot to take pictures of this stop on Friday, so I am going to use an old picture because these are festival staples and the year this stall changes the menu is the year I cry and cry and cry.

Belgian Waffle with Warm Berry Compote and Whipped Cream, $4.00

We actually got one of all the food items here, so we had both the berry and chocolate waffles, $4.00 each, and the Beer-braised Beef Served with Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes, $5.25. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we had another round of the food from here again on our next visit. 

We only had a little over 2 hours from when we arrived until the park closed so this is all we were able to accomplish on our first visit to Food and Wine festival, but don't worry we'll be going back and I'll let you know what else we enjoy when we do. 

Have you been or do you plan to go to Food and Wine this year? What are your Festival Favorites? Share in the comments!