Food & Wine is back! Woot woot! I am so excited for this year’s festival, and I am happy to announce that Epcot has introduced numerous new dishes to this year’s festival. I am still working my way around to try all the dishes before I post my Best of the Fest. In the meantime, though, we worked our way through Emile’s Fromage Montage and I want to tell you all about it!
Emile’s Fromage Montage is an optional stroll that requires you to collect stamps by purchasing 5 dishes from the list. Once you have collected the 5 stamps, you can proceed to Shimmering Sips to collect your prize! The prize has no additional cost, but you will need to pay for the 5 dishes to receive the stamps. You can get all 5 stamps by purchasing the same dish five times, or you can try five different dishes. Each festival has their own stroll with their own unique prize, and this year’s Food & Wine stroll is all about cheese!
You can check out more details about the stroll here. I am happy that Disney added more options this year on dishes to choose from. In fact, there are 10 dishes that qualify for stamps! However, two of the booths (Hawaii and Mac and Eats Marketplace are not open until August 15th). These are the 10 dishes you can choose from:
- Crispy Barbecued Pork Rinds with Pimento Cheese
The Swanky Saucy Swine marketplace - Smoked Corned Beef with Crispy Potatoes, Cheese Curds, Pickled Onions and Beer-Cheese Fondue
Flavors from Fire marketplace - Crispy Paneer with Mango-Curry Ketchup
India marketplace - Schinkennudeln: Pasta Gratin with Ham, Onions and Cheese
Germany marketplace - Raclette (any)
The Alps marketplace - Griddled Cheese with Pistachios and Honey
Greece marketplace - Pão de Queijo: Brazilian Cheese Bread
Brazil marketplace - Canadian Cheddar and Bacon Soup served with a Pretzel Roll
Canada marketplace - Passion Fruit Cheesecake with Toasted Macadamia Nuts – Available Beginning August 15
Hawaiʻi marketplace - Mac & Cheese (any) – Available Beginning August 15
Mac and Eats marketplace
I think these options are fabulous! Some of my festival favorites are even included so I knew we had to try out the stroll this year. Let’s get to the food and my reviews on the 5 dishes we selected! In total, we spent $25.75 for all the dishes we bought. I have presented the dishes in order from my favorite to my least favorite and then also gave them ratings out of 10.
Dish #1: Griddled Cheese from Greece, $4.75
9/10
I was so impressed by this dish. It sounded very plain and unimpressive, but this dish has so much flavor! The flavor of the cheese blends perfectly with the honey and pistachios. The cheese has a wonderful crunchiness that brings it all together. While it is not a super filling dish, I highly recommend trying this dish out. Your taste buds will thank you! It was also the cheapest dish we got on our stroll.
Dish #2: Crispy Paneer from India, $5.00
8/10
The Crispy Paneer is new to the festival this year. I would compare them to fried mozzarella sticks that are coated in Indian spices such as turmeric. The crispy paneer is served alongside mango-curry ketchup that is super tasty. The paneer had a wonderfully crispy coating that was packed with flavor. When you combine the crispy paneer with the mango-curry ketchup it was very delectable. This dish was much more filling and could easily be shared.
Dish #3: Smoked Corned Beef from Flavors from Fire, $5.50
8/10
You can’t go wrong with this dish! Crispy potato chips, lots of smoked corn beef, pickled onion, chives and beer cheese fondue. It is a little messy to eat and hard to get a good ratio of all the toppings to each chip, but it is well worth the hassle. The flavors complement each other so well and you get a really great portion size. This has been a returning favorite of mine for several years and everyone I know that has tried it really enjoys it.
Dish #4: Schinkennudeln from Germany, $5.00
6/10
This dish is a pasta-gratin with ham, cheese and onions. I would compare it to a baked mac & cheese and the top layers has a wonderful crispiness. I thought flavors were a bit lacking and this dish was blander, but I still really enjoyed it. It was very cheesy, and the ham added a great touch. This would be a great dish for kids and adults who love mac & cheese.
Dish #5: Warm Raclette from the Alps, $5.50
6/10
I really wanted to like this dish and all of the elements sounded so interesting together. Overall, I did enjoy the dish but the ratios of the elements was hard to manage. We only got two small slices of the cranberry toast and I really enjoyed when I was able to combine all the elements onto the toast. The poached pears were very tasty; however the wine-braised figs were not my favorite. The cheese was flavorful and slightly stinky (in a good way!). I would probably not get this dish again, but I have no regrets trying it once!
The Prize! Strawberry Cheesecake Soft Serve in an Adorable Cup
8/10
The moment we have all been waiting for! The grand prize! The prize for this stroll is a plastic cup with “Emile’s Fromage Montage” printed on the side. It is filled up with strawberry cheesecake soft serve and adorned with cheesecake bites. You receive your prize at Shimmering Sips and they will stamp your final spot to show you have received your prize. I think the cup is adorable (although it is indeed plastic, do not be surprised) and the soft serve was very tasty! I wish they would sell the soft serve as a festival offering because I would definitely purchase it!
There you have it! We so enjoyed our stroll around the International Food & Wine Festival, and it was so much fun having a goal to work towards. The prize was adorable and delicious. I think the stroll is well worth it, especially if you were already planning on trying some of the dishes included. The choices this year are wonderful, and I also want to recommend the Pork Rinds with Pimento Cheese as it was super tasty last year. You may as well start acquiring stamps in your passport if you purchase any of these dishes, and worst case you do not have to finish the challenge! Bon Appetit and Happy Travels!
Thanks so much for stopping by and reading? Have you completed Emile’s Fromage Montage? What was your favorite dish that you got or which dish sounds the best to you?
