#7 — Ceviche

Shrimp with mango, avocado, cucumber, lime, cilantro, tomato, and jalapeno served with plantain chips

The entirety of this dish tasted like cilantro, and we would describe it as very overpowering and ruining the rest of the dish. The shrimp was cooked perfectly—tender, no fishiness—but you couldn’t taste anything else, not even spice from the jalapeno. The presentation is neat with the coconut shell, but flavor-wise, you can skip this.

#6 — Sakura Beauty Sake

This sake tasted like water. There was no burn, no sake flavor, nothing distinctive. Added to that, it had a small pour as well. If you’re looking for sake, this isn’t it.

#5 — Insalata de Pasta

Penne, apple, raisins, scallions, almonds, honey, and lemon dressing (Served chilled)

The Italy booth continues to disappoint like it does at every festival. It’s the worst macaroni salad you’ve ever had at a picnic. It is thrown together, and it’s a tiny portion for the price. Avoid the whole booth if you can —arancini, drinks, everything. Chilled pasta salad shouldn’t be this bad.

#4 — Coca-Cola Cherry Float & Cherry Coke Zero Float

The disclaimer that should come with these is that they are, in fact, not floats. They are just literally bottled sodas for $5.50 each. There is no mixing, no real float experience. We got duped by the name, as the menu and festival passport both say float. The Zero was better in the heat, but this is still a scam. Skip it unless you just want a Coke.

#3 — Flower Power Margarita

Dulce vida blanco tequila, orange pineapple juice, Blackcurrant lavender liquer and Empress 1908 Gin with a rose petal flower salt rim

This tasted medicinal, akin to Chloraseptic or throat lozenges. Weird and off-putting. The festival margaritas at the Mexico booth rarely work. You’re better off going to Choza de Margarita or La Cava del Tequila, or even Frontera Cocina at Disney Springs for the same drink, but properly made.

#2 — Garden Vegetable Flat Bread

featuring Boursin crumbles, garlic & fine herbs cheese, topped with roasted vegetables and arugula salad

This fails on every level. It tastes like an old, cold pizza that sat out too long with a salad dumped on top. The vegan cheese congealing didn’t help, and the arugula wasn’t fresh.

#1 — Zwiebelkuchen mit Spargel

German onion cake with asparagus, caramelized onions, bacon, herbed goat cheese, and a savory custard

On a warm day, this is not immediately something you would like to eat. It’s substantially similar to the onion tart at the French booth, though a lot worse here. This was akin to eating straight onions.

#7 — Miso Cola-Glazed Sticky Pork Rib

Topped with spicy pickled peppers and peanuts

A fantastic dish. While the rib itself is a little dry, it is saved by all the accompaniments. It was sweet yet spicy. The peanuts worked really well with the Asian style sauce. This is one of the better savory items in recent memory, despite one of us not being a fan of ribs. The one who likes ribs says this dish was fantastic.

#6 — Honeycomb Bowl

with herb quinoa, honey-whipped goat cheese, poached apples, and hot honey cauliflower topped with a honey tuile.

This is the best one of the best healthy dishes that has ever been available at any festival. Quinoa and spiced cauliflower are a good combination mixed with the goat cheese. This is a dish you will not feel bad about if you want to go to the festival with people and not overdo it. This is a great way to balance out some of the desserts.

#5 — Frozen Peach Cobbler

with blueberry vodka and streusel

This is our favorite alcoholic item at the festival this year. It’s a must get and tastes like eating a piece of pie with a scoop of ice cream and vodka.

#4 — Florida Strawberry Shortcake

with vanilla pound cake, fresh Driscoll’s strawberries, strawberry sauce, whipped cream and strawberry crumbs

A lot of fresh strawberries for a festival item. It caused us to even compare it to the strawberry shortcake at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, though it doesn’t quite reach that level.

#3 — La Vie en Rose Slush

Vodka, Grey Goose L’Orange Vodka, St. Germain Elderflower Liquer, and white and red cranberry juices

Half the drinks for this festival appear to consist of white and red cranberry juices, but this is the best item using these. If not for the frozen peach cobbler, this would have been the winner. This is a must-get item, which will undoubtedly be as popular as the Grand Marnier Slush, as it shares the same amount and prize. A really good citrus and floral slush.

#2 — Bananas Foster Funnel Cake

Funnel Cake with banana-chocolate chip ice cream and powdered sugar, topped with whipped cream, rum-caramel sauce, and a banana-cinnamon sugar dusting

The funnel cake stand never misses when it comes to the festivals. The banana ice cream is the same as the soft serve on Disney Cruise Line ships, which is very good.
We did notice the portion appearing a little smaller as opposed to the regular size at the stand, though this was more than likely a fluke. There was not as much ice cream as the group would have liked, but a win, per usual, for the funnel cake.

#1 — Shrimp Po Boy

lettuce, tomato and Cajun rémoulade

A good contender for the picky eaters in the group who might not like some of the international dishes, this is something a little more recognizable for some and serves as a crowd pleaser.