A Girl's Gotta Eat, A Mar '17 Dining Review *7/6 Flower & Garden Booths Pt. 4*

After our weekend trip to Pandora - I am back, caught up on sleep and ready to wrap things up with this report. If you'd like to read my dining review for my weekend excursion - I've started that thread here.
 
Day 5: Flower & Garden Booths - Part 1

Having never been to the Food & Wine Festival, I was thrilled my trip overlapped with Flower & Garden since I view this as a mini version of the Food & Wine booths.

I had plenty of snack credits and counter service credits. I skipped breakfast this morning so that I was absolutely starved by the time World Showcase opened at 11:00.

I headed right upon entering World Showcase, with my first food booth stop at Northern Bloom - just outside the Canada Pavilion.

The kitchen was ready to go with several dishes already made and ready to go...I was a little weary of this - I didn't necessarily want food that had been sitting out under a heat lamp for a long period of time.

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I ordered one of everything on their menu - and exchanged 1 Counter Service/Quick Service Credit in exchange for the three "snacks" I received.

First up was the beef tenderloin tips...

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Beef tenderloin tips, mushroom bordelaise sauce and whipped potatoes with garden vegetables.

This was a super hearty, super fancy and elegant version of beef stew. It was extremely tasty. The beef was tender (a little on the cold side, however it was cold and windy this day). The carrots and pearl onions were also tender, but not mushy. The mushroom sauce was a little salty, but it was needed to balance out the veggies and potatoes. All in all, I really liked this dish and finished it all. It was also a pretty generous size.

Next up were scallops...
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Seared scallops with French green beans, butter potatoes, brown butter vinaigrette and Applewood smoked bacon.

This dish was another winner for me! The scallops had a nice sear to them and the vinaigrette added a nice acid flavor to the buttery scallop. The bacon + vinaigrette combo was delicious! The green beans were well-seasoned and even though I generally don't like potatoes of any kind - these were served piping hot with the right amount of salt. This was another good size portion as a snack credit!

Last up was dessert...
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Nanaimo Bar Trifle

I had absolutely no idea what a Nanaimo bar actually was - and the cast member was sadly no help in describing it to me. A google search returns many recipe variations, but they are a homemade treat as best I can tell - not something you can go to the store and by like a candy bar and are comprised of three layers - the bottom or crust layer is graham crackers, coconut and almonds. The middle layer is a cream cheese/sugar mixture and the top is a melted chocolate layer. Perhaps our Canadian friends can chime in and provide a better/more accurate description.

Onto Disney's variation - the bottom layer tasted like mushroom cream/fluff to me. It had a similar consistency and was very sweet.

The second layer tasted (at least to me) exactly like Hershey's syrup. Not necessarily a bad thing. Had this been dark chocolate, I think it would have been far too sweet for anyone to manage.

Lastly, the crumbs on top were some combination of graham cracker, chocolate and a touch of salt.

While this variation wasn't very sophisticated in terms of flavors, I did enjoy it, although I did find it to be quite rich/sweet. I was glad this was a very small portion because I couldn't have managed eating any more.

While it wasn't my favorite dessert - I would certainly get it again.
 
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Our Famous Cobb Salad - with finely chopped greens, turkey breast, egg, bacon, tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese, avocado, chives and Cobb dressing $11

I ordered this without the tomatoes. I promise there is turkey in there, it just happens to be hiding under the dressing.

And here's after its all mixed together.

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I seriously LOVE this salad and dream of it all the time. I've attempted to recreate this many times - but its never as crisp, and fresh and amazing as HBD's version. They have some kind of magic here!

I dream of this salad, too, though I always get ranch dressing. If I can talk my husband into going back next year, we WILL go to Hollywood Studios, and we WILL eat this salad.

Next up were scallops...
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Seared scallops with French green beans, butter potatoes, brown butter vinaigrette and Applewood smoked bacon.

This dish was another winner for me! The scallops had a nice sear to them and the vinaigrette added a nice acid flavor to the buttery scallop. The bacon + vinaigrette combo was delicious! The green beans were well-seasoned and even though I generally don't like potatoes of any kind - these were served piping hot with the right amount of salt. This was another good size portion as a snack credit!

3 of us shared this dish when we went, and it was big enough for all of us to have enough. Yummy!!!
 
I dream of this salad, too, though I always get ranch dressing. If I can talk my husband into going back next year, we WILL go to Hollywood Studios, and we WILL eat this salad.



3 of us shared this dish when we went, and it was big enough for all of us to have enough. Yummy!!!

I never even thought of getting this with a different dressing! I love the dressing they serve with this, but changing it up is a whole new world of possibilities!

I was overall, pretty impressed with the portion sizes I received at F&G. I can only hope the ones at Food & Wine are similar!
 


Trader Sams does look like fun. We love the GF between the piano player and the band it's such a great place to have a drink and relax.
We enjoy BOG but for breakfast more. It's great both of these are CS. We love 'Ohana and that's great the chef was able to accommodate you.
Both your meals at Tiffins and Sanaa look so good.
Totally agree with CG Brunch we dined there in March and have it booked again for November.
HBD also a favorite the last time we went we had the Margarita and Martini Flights both were incredible.
 
Trader Sams does look like fun. We love the GF between the piano player and the band it's such a great place to have a drink and relax.
We enjoy BOG but for breakfast more. It's great both of these are CS. We love 'Ohana and that's great the chef was able to accommodate you.
Both your meals at Tiffins and Sanaa look so good.
Totally agree with CG Brunch we dined there in March and have it booked again for November.
HBD also a favorite the last time we went we had the Margarita and Martini Flights both were incredible.

I did Naroossee's brunch on my June trip to compare - you'll have to stay tuned to find out how that went.

Its been awhile, but I did enjoy the margarita flight greatly.
 
Following along... I'm having a really difficult time deciding between Narcoossee's and California Grill brunch for my husband's birthday on 7/2. Your review has tipped the scales slightly towards CG.
 


Following along... I'm having a really difficult time deciding between Narcoossee's and California Grill brunch for my husband's birthday on 7/2. Your review has tipped the scales slightly towards CG.

I'll also being Narcoosee's brunch in my more recent Dining Review from this past weekend.
 
I never even thought of getting this with a different dressing! I love the dressing they serve with this, but changing it up is a whole new world of possibilities!

I was overall, pretty impressed with the portion sizes I received at F&G. I can only hope the ones at Food & Wine are similar!

I'm a little stuck in my ways when it comes to some foods. I don't venture outside of ranch and fruity vinaigrettes for the most part. My husband got the regular dressing once and said it was peppery. Now, he was having some health issues at the time, so it could have just been him. I don't like pepper, though, so I'll stick with my ranch. (AAAAAAND I think I've convinced my husband we should go next year. Yay!)

We went to Food & Wine a couple of years ago and I'd say the portions were similar. My husband and I shared everything we got and were happy (plus, that let us get more things!)
 
We went to Food & Wine a couple of years ago and I'd say the portions were similar. My husband and I shared everything we got and were happy (plus, that let us get more things!)

Absolutely! I'm looking forward to trying a little of everything!
 
This was a super hearty, super fancy and elegant version of beef stew. It was extremely tasty. The beef was tender (a little on the cold side, however it was cold and windy this day).

That's what I thought too (that it was a fancy beef stew). Except mine didn't have a lot of beef in it.
 
Day 5: Flower & Garden Booths - Part 2

Without skipping a beat, I was on to my next booth - Cider House. I again decided to order one of everything - using up another counter service credit.

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First up...
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House-made Potato and Cheddar Cheese Biscuit with Smoked Salmon Tartare.

I really liked this but it took a second to get used to it. I'm so used to Asian-inspired tartare, like what you would get a sushi restaurant. My brain was expecting that, but t is very different. The salmon is light, refreshing and the cream fraiche adds a bit of richness to it. The biscuit was light and fluffy on the inside and a li buttery/crispy on the bottom.

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Pear Cider-brined Shredded Corned Beef with braised cabbage and pears and Branston dressing.

Ok. So let's talk about this dish for a second. It is certainly not visually appealing - at all. This was the BEST item I sampled at the festival this year. It was bursting with flavor, had a great mix of acid from the braised cabbage and dressing, the corned beef was tender, juicy and well seasoned. I could have eaten more of this, but it too was a HUGE portion.

To finish my meal off, dessert:

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Freshly Baked Lemon Scone with Crème Fraiche and mixed berries.

I loooove the lemon flavor of this scone, but I wish they didn't put glaze on it - its so unnecessary.

The berries had plenty of natural sweetness (and I'm sure probably had added sugar as well) which was evened out with the crème fraiche. I love this dessert!

Things were definitely off to a great start!
 
I have to remember that tip for next year using a CS credit for 3 items at the food booths. We were using our snack credits but it's good to know CS credits can be used as well.
 
I have to remember that tip for next year using a CS credit for 3 items at the food booths. We were using our snack credits but it's good to know CS credits can be used as well.

Definitely! There were a few cast members who needed to ask for help on how to run it through, but they were always able to figure it out in the end.
 
Day 5: Flower & Garden Booths - Part 3

I had to make my FastPass+ reservation for Frozen Ever After, so I skipped ahead, and trying to get a record number of steps in, repeated my loop again instead of backtracking!

My next stop was at Jardin de Fiestas. One of my all time favorite desserts is Tres Leches cake. So I couldn't resist this!

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Tres Leches: Vanilla sponge cake, cajeta, condensed milk and evaporated milk and garnished with orange zest.

And it was...awful. The cake was SO dry and over baked, even though it was drenched in milk, it still crumbled and fell apart. I kept eating it hoping it would get better, it just never did.

Desperate for something to quench my thirst after this dry little lump, I went to the Pineapple Promenade. In hindsight, I wish I would have gotten the hot dog here, but I 'settled' for:

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Florida Orange Groves Winery Sparkling Pineapple Wine. This was light, crisp and refreshing - but I was surprised to find it was very very dry. I would have expected this to be sweet. It was still very good and it went down rather easy on such a hot day.

My next stop was Hanami, where I ordered this:

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Not a great picture, but used to illustrate this was mostly lettuce in the cup.

Ahi Tuna Poke Sesame Ginger

As you can tell, my cup was really oxidized, but I did see a new tray of this being brought up that had bright red, beautiful tuna in it.

Mine still tasted fine and even though most of the cup was lettuce, it was a decent size portion of tuna. I wish this had a different dressing on it, as overall it was pretty generic. If they made an Asian slaw and put the tuna on top, this could have been so much better!

Next up...Bauernmarket. I went with one of everything.

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Potato Pancakes with House-made Apple Sauce.

The potato pancakes were served cold, but were savory. I was a little surprised by this, but with the tart apples, it really worked. It was not like a dessert at all (which was what I was expecting) and was more along the lines of a pork/apple dish. Super zesty and rich in flavor. I liked this a lot!

Next:
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Currywurst with Paprika Chips: Roasted Bratwurst with curry ketchup and paprika spiced chips.

This was good too! The bratwurst was a normal bratwurst (I live in Wisconsin, so I've eaten a few hundred in my life) but the curry ketchup worked well and wasn't spicy! I didn't really find the chips all that exciting, so after sampling a few, I left the rest.

And for dessert...

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Warm cheese strudel with mixed berries.

This was delicious! The puff pastry was tender, the cheese was flavorful and nicely sweetened and the mixed berries were fresh and flavorful!

Overall, I was very satisfied with the offerings at Bauernmarket!
 
Warm cheese strudel with mixed berries looks heavenly.
Sorry the Tres Leches was not good.
 
Day 5: Flower & Garden Booths - Part 4

Next up on the rotation was a stop at The Smokehouse. I again ordered 1 of everything.

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I intentionally did not add any of the barbecue sauces to my dishes - as I think true barbecue (especially from a place called the smoke house, shouldn't need it). *Spoiler Alert*, this was a mistake.

First up was...
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Beef Brisket Burnt Ends Hash with White Cheddar Fondue and Pickled Jalapeños

I started with this one, because I thought I would like it the least - but I enjoyed it the most. While the name indicates 'burnt' ends, it was really just well done bits, that were actually extra flavorful and well caramelized. The jalapenos added a nice kick to it which was mellowed out by the cheddar fondue. The potatoes were also well done, and crispy on the outside. I really liked this dish.

Next up,
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Pulled Pig Slider with Coleslaw and Crispy Onions

I was certain this would be my favorite. I spent my early years in North Carolina, and this was sandwich combo was pretty standard fare growing up.
I wanted to love this. I really did. This was the least favorite thing I ate all trip.

The pork was completely dry. This was the real 'burnt ends'. I also didn't get any smoke flavor, or any flavor for that matter, at all. The coleslaw also didn't have much flavor. No acidity, no salt, nothing. The bun was dry. Combined with the dry pork was like eating a saw dust sandwich. I ending up drowning this in barbecue sauce, but, it couldn't be saved. A charming couple from New York originally that now lived in Florida joined me at the table.

She asked how I liked the sandwich. :rolleyes1 I said I would reserve my judgment until she had tried hers. Mainly because I didn't want to poison her mind against it - maybe she would really like it?

But yeah - she knew I didn't like it, the jig was up. She took one bite and had the same thoughts.

On to dessert we went -

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Warm Chocolate Cake with Bourbon-Salted Caramel Sauce and Spiced Pecans

So.....maybe I would have had different thoughts on this if it wasn't such a hot day. Or if the cake weren't a brick. The sauce was yummy and the salt on the pecans made the sauce extra tasty. There was a definite alcohol flavor to this, which I enjoyed but might put others off. But unfortunately, the cake was completely over done and crumbly beyond salvation. It was extremely rich and overly sweet with the caramel, so I had two bites and was beyond done with this.

I have to say, I was really surprised by this since this booth gets rave reviews. I must have just been here on an off day. Even though I enjoyed the burnt ends dish, I wouldn't rush back here for it.
 
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