REVIEW: Hawai’i Returns with Disappointing Tuna Poke at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival 2021

Alicia

Updated on:

hawaii-food-9963

REVIEW: Hawai’i Returns with Disappointing Tuna Poke at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival 2021

Hawai’i has been a popular booth at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival since it joined the lineup in 2011. While the booth didn’t add much to their menu this year, their delicious dishes are still worth the stop when making the rounds at EPCOT. Let’s take a closer look!

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Menu for the Hawai’i Marketplace at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival

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Food:

  • Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour DOLE® Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise – $5.75
  • Teriyaki-glazed SPAM® Hash with Potatoes, Peppers, Onions and Spicy Mayonnaise – $4.50
  • 🆕 Tuna Poke with Eel Sauce, Spicy Mayonnaise, and Crispy Shrimp Chips – $7.00
  • Passion Fruit Cheesecake with Toasted Macadamia Nuts – $4.25

Beverages:

*Price per bottle is an average price of the spirit at your local liquor store.

  • 🆕 Kona Brewing Co. Hanalei Island IPA, Kailua-Kona, HI (4.5% ABV) – $5.00 (6 oz) / $9.00 (12 oz)
  • Florida Orange Groves Sparkling Pineapple Wine, St. Petersburg, FL ($30/bottle) – $10.00
  • AULANI Sunrise: Vodka, DOLE® Pineapple Juice, and Grenadine – $14.00

Photos of Menu Items from the Hawai’i Marketplace at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival

Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour DOLE® Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise – $5.75

Epcot Food and Wine 2018 Hawaii
(Photo courtesy of easywdw)

The pork slider has become a Food & Wine staple, much like the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. Expect a small bun full of tender pulled pork topped with potent pineapple chutney and slathered in spicy mayonnaise. After a bite, most of the sandwich falls apart, so we recommend grabbing a fork to help pick up the remainder. It’s a really great sandwich that feels worth the money.

Teriyaki-glazed SPAM® Hash with Potatoes, Peppers, Onions and Spicy Mayonnaise – $4.50

Epcot Food and Wine 2018 Hawaii

This one is SPICY. Well, not overwhelmingly spicy, but enough to bring the heat among the other relatively calm items at Hawai’i. Plus, grilled SPAM is actually delicious; who knew? The entire hash mixture is comprised of the aforementioned grilled SPAM, peppers, potatoes, onions, and a nice squeeze of spicy mayonnaise on top. It’s a unique, flavorful, and interesting dish. Recommended.

*NEW* Tuna Poke with Eel Sauce, Spicy Mayonnaise, and Crispy Shrimp Chips – $7.00

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To be honest, we found this to be disappointing. The tuna poke just tasted like cubes of tuna soaked in soy sauce.

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The sauce overpowered the taste of the fish and kind of ruined it.

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The crispy shrimp chips didn’t have a strong flavor on their own.

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They would be a nice conduit for the fish, if the fish was better. At least the other items here are good, because this one isn’t worth waiting in line for.

Passion Fruit Cheesecake with Toasted Macadamia Nuts – $4.25

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This cheesecake is rather tame on the fruit flavor; the passion fruit on top is subtle enough to be noticed without overbearing making this cheesecake nice and balanced. The macadamia nuts paired with the cheesecake are excellent. It’s not the most exciting dessert at the festival, but it’s worth a second look, especially at the price tag.

*NEW* Kona Brewing Co. Hanalei Island IPA, Kailua-Kona, HI (4.5% ABV) – $5.00 (6 oz) / $9.00 (12 oz)

From Kona Brewing Co.: “Hanalei Island IPA is an easy-drinking, sessionable beer that combines the hoppy aroma of an IPA with a tropical Hawaiian twist. Passionfruit, orange, and guava balance the hops to deliver a coppery, session-style ale that reflects the flavors and spirit of the islands.”

Florida Orange Groves Sparkling Pineapple Wine, St. Petersburg, FL ($30/bottle) – $10.00

From Florida Orange Groves Winery: “Our sparkling Pineapple wine offers you and your palate a crisp and refreshing taste of Florida in a bottle. Made from 100% pineapple juice, you won’t need to imagine hints of flavors or finishing notes.”

AULANI Sunrise: Vodka, DOLE® Pineapple Juice, and Grenadine – $14.00

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Want to get your drink on during the festival? This is the drink for you! While fourteen dollars is a bit steep for a festival drink, it’s a full-size beverage (a full ounce of vodka) and comes in this cool souvenir glass! However, there are a few problems with this drink as we found the vodka to be of the bottom shelf quality, and they tried to mask that taste with the pineapple juice and grenadine. However, at the end of the day, it’s a full-size drink, and we can’t say no to that!

Location of the Hawai’i Marketplace Booth at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival

The Hawai’i Marketplace is located at the entrance to World Showcase Plaza from Future World, near Disney Traders. It’s number 3 on the map below.

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Did you enjoy the trip to Hawai’i? Which of these dishes was your favorite? Sound off in the comments below.

1 thought on “REVIEW: Hawai’i Returns with Disappointing Tuna Poke at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival 2021”

  1. There was a year where the Spam hash was the best dish I tried at the festival (and I had almost everything over the course of 2-3 days….no boozy drinks unless they were light on the booze, and I had veggies withheld when possible). Great job on almost finishing this year’s booth offerings – just waiting to see what you think of Italy, Ireland, China, Swanky Saucy Swine now (and the Oct. 1st booths that eventually come).

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