Arrival Night:
My best friend and I arrived at the Beach Club around 10:30pm for the start of a food-centric long weekend. Sadly, it was after the nearby bar lounges (i.e. Abracadabar, Crew’s Cup) had stopped serving food. Otherwise, I would’ve dragged my friend over to one of them for a late night snack. But we did arrive in time for at least one treat and it was a Halloween one. I was so excited to grab the last Captain Hook Cookie at the Beach Club Marketplace! That night was actually Halloween and I wasn’t sure if any Halloween treats would be served the following day after the holiday had passed. Well, joke’s on me as there were actually about 20 of them for sale the following morning. 
But it was still tasty despite being the last of the batch.
Captain Hook Cookie: Vanilla sablé with strawberry jam, peanut butter ganache, buttercream, and chocolate décor
Onward to the first full day of gluttony!
I woke up bright and early, super excited to be at Disney. As became my morning routine over the next few days, I walked around Crescent Lake with a cappuccino in hand and traded pins with the staff at various Epcot resorts. My haul after industrious trading:
During this trip, I also got to try some treats at the newly opened Cake Bake Shop on the Boardwalk.
Breakfast. And yes, it literally glittered. They are NOT shy with the glitter in this bakery.
Magic Bar: Graham cracker European all butter crust topped with sweetened condensed milk, butterscotch chips, Callebaut Belgian chocolate, walnuts, and toasted coconut
This was a HEFTY treat. All the butter was evident in its weight. 
Unsurprisingly, it was super sweet. I think the sweetened condensed milk pulled it over into “sickly sweet” territory. I liked this treat but not enough to splurge $14 on it again. While I could tell that high quality chocolate was used, I don’t think this Magic Bar was better than other Magic Bars I’ve had that were less than half the price. Instant regret that I hadn’t chosen to try the “cheaper” $9 Banana Orange Nut Bread.
We entered Epcot via the International Gateway a little after 10am and browsed some shops in the France area and started our leisurely Remy Scavenger hunt. We were also skulking around the France booth to see if it would open early. But we couldn’t pass up the delicious smelling crepes so we split one from Crêpes À Emporter by La Crêperie de Paris:
Bechamel, Cheese & Ham Galette
This was a great savory breakfast. Nice mix of saltiness from the ham and creaminess from the cheese and bechamel. The edges of the crepe were also slightly crispy, which I loved.
Shortly after we inhaled our crepe, the France booth opened early. We were second in line and basically filled my food tray. Yes, I have a food tray. I don’t play around at Food & Wine. 
- Mango passion crème brûlée with fruit compote
- Egg moelleux, goat cheese, and caramelized onions
- Frozen French Cosmo: Vodka, Grey Goose Le Citron Vodka, Grand Marnier, and cranberry juice
- Escargot brioche with garlic and parsley cream
As always, France was a solid booth. The drink was one of our favorite drinks of the entire trip as it gave a hint of alcohol and wasn’t overly sweet. Since it wasn’t swelteringly hot that day, we got to enjoy the frozen part of it before it eventually melted. The egg dish was yummy and went well with the brioche since I thought the latter was slightly dry. The crème brûlée was tasty but pretty much like all the crème brûlées I’ve ever tried.
As we proceeded counter clockwise around World Showcase, we got henna tattoos done in the Morocco Pavilion.
To keep ourselves from accidentally smearing our tattoos as they dried, we relaxed in the indoor Morocco exhibit for quite a bit before continuing our food/drink trek.
At the American Pavilion, we got the Tiramisù Funnel Cake with vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate rum sauce and cream cheese whipped cream and dusted with cocoa and espresso powder. This was probably my favorite dessert of the entire trip. I love fried foods and I love ice cream. Easy win.
From the Joffrey’s in the America Pavilion, I picked up the Coconut Banana Cream Pie Latte (espresso, milk, coconut syrup, and banana syrup garnished with whipped cream and toasted coconut flakes) while my friend obtained a frozen Ice Tea Lemonade Slushy from the bar outside Regal Eagle Smokehouse. The espresso drink was average, not bad but not much to write home about. It convinced me to forego the specialty espresso drinks from the other Joffrey’s locations to save room for other treats instead. The frozen Ice Tea Lemonade Slushy was refreshing.
At the Spain booth, we shared the Paella Negra (Squid ink rice with shrimp, Bay scallops, and octopus served with garlic aïoli). This was quite good considering it’s counter service paella.
We then rode Gran Fiesta Tour for a seated AC break. Following Mexico, we ran around looking for the Photopass photographers who provided the Muppets Food & Wine Magic Shots. Following our success, we were hungry enough again to resume our food adventures.
From Mexico:
- Flauta de Barbacoa: Fried tortillas filled with barbacoa beef topped with salsa verde, crema Mexicana, and queso fresco
- Mango Sunrise Margarita: Dos Hombres Mezcal, Centinela Tequila, mango purée, and black currant liquor with a chile-lime salt rim
- Tostada de Camarones: Tempura battered shrimp atop a fried corn tortilla with guacamole, cabbage, chipotle aïoli, diced mango, and chile-lime powder
We really enjoyed both of the food options but the drink fell flat for both of us. It just didn’t leave any kind of impression aside from disappointing.
First up from Flavors From Fire:
Steakhouse Blended Burger: Beef and wild mushroom slider with truffle brie cheese fondue, arugula, and truffle potato chips on a sesame seed bun. This was tasty but needed slightly more filling.
Smoked Corned Beef with house-made potato chips, cheese curds, pickled onions, and beer-cheese fondue. Always a banger and must get from Food & Wine.
From Connections Eatery, we finally tried the curiously constructed Baumkuchen. It’s currently Chocolate Matcha flavored, which was fine with us as we like both flavors. I don’t know why but I expected the layers to be crispy. Maybe because they faintly resembled wafer cookies? Regardless, it’s not crispy. It’s just multiple thin cake layers. This was fine but not that memorable.
We also got the Blackberry Lemonade (Lemonade, Lime Juice, Blackberry Syrup, and Frosted Mint Syrup). This was yummy. I didn’t get much mint flavor but that’s ok as I wasn’t sure it would play well with the other flavors.
Following more browsing in the Creations shop and Remy hunting, we rode the Seas with Nemo before leisurely exploring SeaBase. We then rode Living with the Land and Soarin’ before walking back towards World Showcase to eat just a bit more.
From Bramblewood Bites:
- Grilled Cider-brined Pork Tenderloin with fennel apple slaw and apple cider gastrique
- Grilled Bison with butternut squash purée, roasted mushrooms, and huckleberry gastrique
Both dishes were very good but we preferred the pork tenderloin. Probably because we’re not huge fans of game meat. Plus, the accoutrements for the pork were a solid match for it as the slaw provided some nice texture and flavor contrast.
At the Forest and Field booth, we selected the Autumn Chili with bison, lamb, pork belly, root vegetables, jalapeño cornbread, smoked cheddar, and Crème Fraîche. This was very good and the mix of flavors hid the gaminess of the bison.
The last dish of the night was unfortunately a fail.
Maybe it was a hint of things to come that I could NOT get a flattering picture of it no matter where I went. This was Refreshment Port’s Braised Beef Poutine (French fries with braised beef, Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese sauce, cheese curds, and gherkin relish). First fail: the fries weren’t crispy! Second, I felt that the beef/sauce was way too salty.
The poutine was not an ideal way to end the first day but I was still happy from all the good food/drinks we had throughout the day. And nothing beats ending a Disney day snuggling into bed while watching Happily Ever After on the TV.
