Japan

Yes, you read that right. Taking a hint from the huge success of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, food kiosks will be added in the World Showcase in 2013 during Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. What does this mean? Well, we will get to try some delicious new foods and beverages as we stroll around to see Disney characters in topiary, and rock out to the Flower Power Concert series (among other things!).

tea

I can’t even tell you how excited I am about this – but if a picture speaks a thousand words…

This is how I feel.

Don’t worry – there are no squirrels on the menu.

Instead, Epcot chefs have some other things in mind.

Some highlights will include:

Smokehouse Barbecue and Brew in the American Adventure
Primavera Kitchen in the Italy pavilion
Hanami in the Japan pavilion
Florida Fresh -in the World Showcase Promenade

Menu items will include:

Shrimp with grits
Zellwood corn
Angel food cake with macerated Florida berries
Watermelon salad with pickled red onions
Feta cheese and balsamic reduction
Sweet “frushi” made with fresh fruits and coconut rice.

Specialty drinks will include:

Dole Whip with Spiced Rum
Hot Sun Tomato Wine from Florida Orange Groves Winery
Frozen Desert Violet Lemonade (non-alcoholic)
Wild Berry Slush (non-alcoholic)

Tip: Need a map so you can plan your snack attack? Click here for a link to all of them from WDWInfo.com

What are your thoughts on these menu items?

2013 Epcot Flower and Garden Fest Designers – What do they look like again? (disneyways.com)
2013 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival “Flower Power” Concert line-up (disneyways.com)

Photo from Disney Parks Blog.

Frozen Kirin draft beer?

It’s very popular in Tokyo, Japan, and sold at more than 650 locations. However, you can only find it in one spot in the continental U.S. and that is the Japan Pavilion at Epcot.

(It’s also sold in Honolulu). You canl find the frozen Kirin in the Garden House, the Kabuki Cafe and in the Tokyo Dining restaurant!

That swirl on top isn’t soft serve ice cream. It is actually a light frozen topping made of beer that is reported to keep the draft cold for about 30 minutes. The swirl actually tastes like beer! It actually keeps the beer cold so you can enjoy it a little slower in the Florida heat. But who wants to do that? This frozen Kirin draft beer will set you back $8.

Here’s what they had to say over at Disney Food Blog:

“While the beer underneath is completely liquid at all times, the head on the glass is essentially super aerated and chilled — a frozen foam of beer, pretty much. This protective foam works as a mini-refrigerator, keeping the liquid beer beneath colder for longer.

The head slowly melts back down into liquid beer if you wait long enough, but it does stay in tact for about 10-20 minutes in my experience.

It’s a bit hard to work around to get a sip of the liquid beer (if you’ve had butterbeer in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, you have an idea of the phenomenon); but it doesn’t alter the taste of the brew.”

Have you tried it? What did you think?