Epcot France Pavilion - Hit or Miss Food Review
Travel to France via Epcot with two francophiles on a mission to find the most authentic French food
Champagne flight anyone???
If you find yourself craving the perfectly flakey pain au chocolat or the most ooey gooey buttery, sugared crêpe, and either don’t have the time or money to drop everything and jet off to Paris, check out my review of the French treats at Epcot, found at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida.
Andy and I are coming up on our third year of splitting our time between the U.S. and France, which leaves us hunting authentic French treats anytime we’re back in the states to curb our cravings. How did Epcot measure up??? Let’s find out!
Known for its large “World Showcase”, Epcot takes guests around the world to eleven different countries, allowing you to not only experience the architecture, music and specialty goods, but also each country's unique food. Each “pavilion”, as the countries are called, hosts “cast members” from each respective country, giving you an extra layer of authenticity when immersing yourself into that country's atmosphere.
At this point, we haven’t been back to France in four months, and are counting down the days until we get to return to our sweet little house in Provence. While I wouldn’t say that Epcot quelled our desire, it definitely lessened it and that is all thanks to the food…. well… some of the food. Follow along as I lead you through a Disney Epcot France list that includes the total hits, food that tasted so authentic, we could have gotten it at our favorite French establishments, and the total misses, some of which we couldn’t even finish! While there weren’t too many “misses”, the ones that didn’t hit the mark, really left us wondering how the item found itself in the country most revered for its food.
Walking into the France Pavilion!
Thanks to Disney’s new Skyliner, a cable car transport system, resort guests get dropped off literally next to the France pavilion, which made it easy for us to immediately begin exploring the food items. One of the first things we tried when walking into the park was the classic Christmas favorite, bûche de noël, which is essentially a swiss roll cake designed to look like a yule log. While some high end bakeries go pretty heavy on the details, you could easily make the log with basic decorations and still have it be the perfect holiday treat. The iconic dessert can be found in stunning patisserie windows all throughout the country of France, stopping onlookers in their tracks with its beautiful piping and sugar work. You can also find the treat at local chain grocery stores like Intermarché or Simply, where the dessert will be a bit more scaled back when it comes to decorations and the price.
The first holiday kiosk menu
Epcot’s version of the cake was a “Bûche de Noël au Pain D’Épices, Ganache Chocolat au lait et Noisettes,” or for our English speakers, “Gingerbread Christmas Yule Log with Milk Chocolate and Hazelnut Ganache.” The holiday inspired flavors sounded wonderfully warm and rich for the season and we were excited to try this little treat.
Buche de Noël??
Unfortunately, we did not start our morning out strong with this selection. The bûche was a total miss and we ended up not even making it through half of it despite how small it was. The cake was cut down the middle and filled with a heavy hazelnut ganache, completely losing the iconic swirl. It was then topped with piped chocolate ganache globs, which completely overtook the spiced gingerbread cake, which was a bit dry and dense.
Look at that beautiful swirl on that bûche in the case!!!
I’ve seen bûche de Noëls made in avant garde ways where the cake does not resemble the typical log. While those are fine, I’m a bit old fashioned and the fact that this cake in no way, shape or form resembled a log made me worry that this list may be full of misses, making it a pretty one sided review of French food. A little disheartened, we moved on to try another classic winter item.
Beef Bourguignon
After what could only be described as a sugar bomb of a dessert, we were in search of something a bit more savory; enter the French classic beef bourguignon. After ordering the hearty dish, you head to a window where disposable bowls are being kept on a warmer… hmmm this isn’t looking promising.
I want to acknowledge that I do understand a lot of the foods you will find throughout the different parks and resorts are created with a generalized population in mind. You’re rarely going to find a dish that is heavily spiced or too out of the ordinary in order to cater to the most people. With that being said, I began to wonder if the cuisine we’d be partaking in today would be an Americanized version of French food; a watered down version of French classics that were almost unrecognizable to the French cast members working there.
I was handed my bowl and stepped aside to inspect it. I don’t eat beef bourguignon often, but the five or so times that I have, the dish has had a rich, dark-brownish, purple color from the red wine used in the base of the dish. This had almost a grayish tint to it, leading me to mix it a bit with my spoon before digging in.
Holiday Decor!
I first tried the potatoes, which were red-skinned mashed potatoes, which I love. They were creamy and well seasoned. Then, I tried the bourguignon. Despite lacking the traditional purplish, wine tint, the dish had a deep wine-infused taste to it. Once I kept digging in a bit more, I noticed they had used real lardons in the dish, not just some bacon, which they could have easily gotten away with when it comes to Americans potentially trying this for the first time. The beef chunks were good and fell apart easily under my plastic spoon and a mix of mushrooms and pearl onions were scattered throughout. With the potatoes, the dish was perhaps not the most robust or hearty bourguignon I’ve ever had, but it was really quite good for the French classic reimagined at a Disney park. To me, this dish was a total win and an absolutely perfect remedy for crisp air and on again, off again rain. Guests who have never had this dish before will enjoy it, along with those who have tried this before and know what to expect. The only thing this dish was missing, which would have sent it over the edge was a crusty piece of baguette for dipping!
Peppermint Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich
Feeling a bit more enthusiastic about our food tour, we decided to attempt another sweet at “L’Artisan des Glaces” where they had a peppermint ice cream macaron. While I have seen macaron ice cream sandwiches in the U.S. before, I have actually never seen one in France. That doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. It does, however, mean that I can’t really judge this item based on the original French dish.
When it comes to the macaron itself, despite being kept in a freezer, the shell was your typical classic, French macaron shell. It was chewy and light with the iconic macaron feet at the base of it. The ice cream was a light, peppermint flavor, which perfectly accompanied the holiday-colored shell. A little side note, some people don’t realize that the macaron shell is made out of almond flour, so this treat is not for our friends with nut allergies.
The peppermint ice cream macaron sandwich was a great treat that was a total hit. It was bigger than a typical macaron, making it easy to share and much lighter than the buche de noël. I would suggest this item to anyone who is not only a fan of macarons and peppermint flavored things, but desserts in general.
Poutine anyone??
Wanting something savory, we found ourselves wandering a little outside of France in order to try a French-Canadian classic, poutine. For those not in the know, poutine is a dish that consists of French fries, beef gravy and cheese curds.
When Andy took his first bite he perked up, stating that the cheese curds tasted just like the cheese curds from his childhood. Andy’s family used to run a multigenerational farm stand at a covered market in Buffalo, New York. As a child, he would work at the stand with his dad and grandfather and, on most days, the woman running the cheese curd stand next door would always give him some curds during his “shift.” The squeaky, white chunks brought him right back to the memory of the market, 20+ years ago. As someone who has had poutine in Canada, I thought this dish was spot on. The fries were crispy, which is so important. The last thing you want is to have limp, soggy fries with poutine. The beef gravy was flavorful and not overly salty and the curds were the typical curds you’d expect. This poutine was a total hit! While it’s a little heavy, it’s the perfect snack to split while walking around and visiting other countries or passing time in between rides. They did have another version that was a nod to thanksgiving called “turkey poutine.” This consisted of sweet potato fries with turkey gravy, cranberry relish, cheese curds and crispy onions. As stated above, I am kind of old fashioned when it comes to my food and really love the classics, but did hear that it was a pretty tasty alternative.
Les Chefs de France Restaurant at Epcot France Pavilion
Sitting down for dinner at “Les Chefs de France,” we were interested to see how a full meal would be at the restaurant. Wanting to stick with the French classics, we ordered a prix fixe menu, which included an appetizer, main course and dessert. We both opted for soupe à l'oignon, or French onion soup, which was a total hit. The beef broth was rich and flavorful without being too salty, the chunks of fresh baguette in the soup were still perfectly crispy despite being dunked in the soup and the cheese was baked on top to gooey, melty perfection.
The perfect French onion soup!
Andy had decided on “Filet de boeuf grillé, sauce poivre, gratin Dauphinois, avec haricots verts”, or a grilled tenderloin of beef with green peppercorn sauce, potato gratin with green beans. For my entre, I decided on “Poulet fermier roti, pommes Lyonnaise et haricot vert,” or half all natural rotisserie chicken, Lyonnaise potatoes and green beans.
While my chicken was tender and juicy, the sauce they had topped it with was a bit thicker than the normal poulet roti pan sauce that accompanies it. Typical pommes Lyonnaise are slices of potatoes that have been boiled then lightly fried with some onion. The pommes Lyonnaise that came with my plate, though, were more like mashed potatoes that had been rolled into balls and deep fried. They were good, but not exactly what was advertised.
Each table was given a small baguette and a pad of butter to share. The butter in France is so incredibly different from the butter in the United States. This is because the French use around 85% fat, which makes the butter richer and creamier. We were interested to see if the butter was imported and quickly slathered some onto our baguette. Unfortunately, the butter, and the baguette, were total misses. The baguette was soft and doughy, missing that crusty, crunchy exterior a classic French baguette has. As for the butter, it was your standard American butter, leaving us a bit underwhelmed.
Andy’s steak with a pepper sauce, green beans and gratin Dauphinois potatoes
As for Andy’s steak, he liked the sauce that accompanied it and the gratin Dauphinois was spot on. If heading to “Les Chefs de France,” I would say the steak is a total hit, where the chicken was a miss. If you are familiar with French food, it leaves a lot to be desired.
For dessert, we decided to split the opera cake, which is one of my favorite desserts. Opera cake is made up of almond sponge that has been dipped into a coffee liqueur. It’s then layered with a chocolate ganache and coffee French buttercream before being covered in a chocolate glaze.
When it first came out, I had to take a closer look, thinking we were given the wrong dessert. Again, it didn’t look like the classic opera cake, but more a thinner cake, turned on its side. When we dug in, we were surprised by the texture, it was a little drier than the typical coffee liquor soaked sponge.
Up close and personal!
It was a decent chocolate, coffee cake, but a total miss when it comes to a traditional opera cake. The table next to us had ordered “Cygne profiterole, glace à la vanille, sauce chocolat” or swan cream puff filled with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and the choux pastry looked great, so perhaps we just didn’t order well.
Our overall experience at “Les Chefs de France” was a hit and miss experience. Some items were perfect clones of their original French counterpart, while others really missed the mark. I think if you go into the dining experience thinking you are getting to try a little taste of France, you wouldn’t be disappointed.
For our last stop, we made our way to “Les Halles,” a food court-esque dining hall that has a mix of sandwiches and pastries for take away. Despite just finishing dessert, we decided to try two items from their case.
Just a few of their many beautiful desserts!
I’m a sucker for a good tarte au fraise, or strawberry tart, and Andy a “duo” or a white and dark chocolate mousse cake.
These two pastries were a total hit. The strawberry tarte had the perfect amount of vanilla pastry cream and the base was a perfect tender shortcrust pastry. As for the duo, it was a moist chocolate cake that was topped with a layer of dark chocolate and white chocolate layers of mousse. The mousses were light and rich without being too sweet and the chocolate mirror glaze that coated the outside was the perfect consistency, making the dessert a total hit.
When it comes to the authenticity of the French pavilion at Disney’s Epcot, there are some gems hidden between a few misses. Some of the items sampled transported us straight back to France, while others really missed the mark. It was fun exploring the France pavilion and try their take on some iconic French foods, but nothing beats walking to your favorite boulangerie and ordering your usual from the same person who molded your baguette for the oven just hours ago.
Macaron collection!
What about you?
Have you visited Epcot and sampled something from one of their countries that tasted just like the original? What are your favorite snacks from the World Showcase? Which country do you think has the best food? Are there any particular treats that they’ve retired that you wish they’d bring back? Leave your comments below and let’s discuss!
Happy New Year!!
-R
