As many times as we've been to Epcot, we've never really taken the time to eat around the World Showcase. We usually just ride some of the rides and eat some curry rice in Japan or churros in Mexico. This time, I really wanted to try some of the treats, particularly after doing some research online. REALLY what I wanted to do was get a reservation at Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom, but apparently you need to do that months in advance. If you want to do lunch, that's probably very possible, but I was advised that you have to get there when it first opens, and we didn't want to have to schedule our whole day around it.
And the World Showcase goodies did not disappoint! First, we started off in Norway to try the School Bread -- which I read beforehand was a custard bun topped with coconut...so, naturally, it was a must-try. It. Was. Awesome. I could eat this forever. My sister and I were surprised while in the shop because when we asked to get the school bread, and the lady asked us if we wanted two. But, now I get it. This is not a bun you want to share.
Next, we made a small stop at Japan. I was so tempted to get a curry rice, but luckily we exercised some self-control. The annual Flower and Garden Festival was going on while we were there, so they had special food stands. We picked up two different "sushi" plates from Japan -- I ordered a pressed salmon sushi and my sister ordered what they called "Frushi"...a sushi roll made with coconut rice and filled with fruit. I think I'd rather just eat fruit, but it was an interesting little bite.
We grabbed our lunch at London's Rose & Crown pub. I had read a lot about their Scotch egg, which is a hard boiled egg, wrapped in ground meat and then deep fried (aka deliciousness). I also read about mushy peas. Unfortunately since we ate in the pub area, they had a limited menu and we didn't get to try the mushy peas. We did order the fish and chips, which were nice! I definitely enjoyed the experience; the bartenders are so friendly.
AND THEN. Hello, France. How many sweets can one find in France?! It's good we didn't start at France, because we may not have had room for anything else. Since, by then, we were a little full, we decided to stop only at the ice cream shop and skip the bakery (I'm coming for those napoleons next year!). We did have to order two things -- the ice cream stuffed brioche and the ice cream macaron sandwich. No regrets. So good.
Afterwards, we went to the other parks to get in some rides and shows. We did stop at the Writer's Stop in Hollywood Studios to get a carrot cake cookie. I had read about a PB & J milkshake that you could add alcohol to, but we were running out on time and stomach space. At dinnertime, we stopped at the Columbia Harbour House in Magic Kingdom for some clam chowder and chicken pot pie. We were planning on grabbing a fried chicken waffle sandwich at Sleepy Hollow, but they stop selling them at 5PM :( And, OFC, we had to get a Dole whip pineapple float before leaving the park. Because, you know, Dole-whip-pineapple-float.
Universal doesn't seem to have as many popular eats as Disney, most likely because people will go to the City Walk to get a meal. We just decided to eat whatever was available in the Harry Potter parks, which was a great idea. We got a scotch egg, bangers and mash, and lamb, beef, and Guiness stew at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley. The scotch egg apparently is flash fried in order to be a little healthier, and it definitely was not as tasty as Disney's version. It came with a nice pickled beet salad, though.
Over in Hosgmeade, we grabbed a turkey leg and some fruit at the Three Broomsticks. The potato wedges that came with the turkey leg were great, but the turkey leg may have been a little ambitious.
But to get to the really important part -- the BUTTERBEER. Hello, favorite beverage. Buttery and sweet and wonderful. We tried three different varieties..the normal, frozen, and butterbeer ice cream. I will say my favorite is the regular butterbeer, since I could only drink/eat so much of the frozen and the ice cream. The regular butterbeer I could treat like water. Maybe there's a pinterest recipe out there somewhere. Maybe it's best for my well-being that I do NOT look it up.
We also tried an earl grey and lavender ice cream (yum) and a pumpkin fizz (YUM!).
It was a lot of food (WEATESOMUCH), but I feel better seeing we walked probably an average of 25,000 steps per day. I can't wait for our next visit!
Oh! I mentioned a lot of ice cream in this post. It reminded me of Jeni's ice cream, which, as some of you may know, temporarily shut down their locations after finding listeria in their product. They're opening their locations back up tonight!
