As part of our 2019 Epcot Flower and Garden Festival coverage, we review the all-new The Citrus Blossom Outdoor Kitchen. This outdoor kitchen debuted in 2019 and is located near World Showcase Plaza. Here’s how Disney describes The Citrus Blossom.

Lobster Tail (NEW) – $8

Lobster on a stick, that should do well. Despite being some of the first guests to get to the outdoor kitchen (thanks to the Orange Bird sipper), the lobster tasted bland, like it had been sitting out for hours. While the Meyer Lemon Emulsion added a bit of citrus to the dish, it wasn’t nearly enough to help the lobster “tail”. While I’m happy to see a lobster offering at an Epcot festival, Disney would have been better off not serving it at all if this is what they were going to produce. It earns a pass from us.

Tuna Tataki (NEW) – $6.25

Next up we have the Tuna Tataki. For as old and bland as the lobster was, the tuna was nice and fresh. Or maybe the tuna seemed fresh because of how bad the lobster was. Either way, it’s a better offering than the lobster, but still pales in comparison to what comes next. At over $6, it’s hard to recommend buying just a few bites of tuna, some unsubstantial glaze, and a decent crisp. You can pass on this dish too.

Crispy Citrus Chicken (NEW) – $5.75

This was the winner of the booth for us! It’s hard to mess up chicken, but it seems equally as hard to produce it as wonderfully as it was here. The citrus crust with Orange Aioli was phenomenal and the chicken was cooked perfectly. The baby greens were a nice topper to the chicken, and the amount of chicken was great too! We highly recommend this dish and will be back to enjoy it again and again.

Citrus Shortcake: Orange Chiffon Cake, Lemon Curd, Mandarins, Whipped Cream, Citrus Crumble (NEW) – $4.25

We also enjoyed the dessert. The shortcake was spongy and soft and was wonderfully topped with the lemon curd and whipped cream. The orange came through nicely, and didn’t overwhelm the dish. We recommend the dessert for those looking for a refreshing dish.

Orange Cream Slushy in a Souvenir Orange Bird Sipper Cup – $14

This has been the hit item of the Flower and Garden Festival. While the sipper itself is cute, the orange cream slush leaves some to be desired. The promoted orange flavor was way too subtle for us and the cream nearly completely removed the citrus flavoring we were hoping for. Ultimately, I could say that this is the worst specialty drink we had, but there will still be long lines for the sipper.

Orange Sunshine Wine Slushy – $6.50

This was what the Orange Cream Slushy should have been. It’s true to the orange flavoring and actually quite refreshing. It’s incredibly reasonably priced for an “alcoholic” beverage, even if it doesn’t necessarily deliver on an alcoholic taste. We can recommend it.

Beer Flight – $9.50

For the beer flight, we find the Islamorada Beer Company Coconut Key Lime Ale, First Magnitude Brewing Lemon Hefeweizen, Heavy Seas Brewery TropiCannon Citrus IPA.

We actually really enjoyed all of these options. We noticed a bit of a lime at the front of the Key Lime Ale. This was probably our favorite out of the bunch just due to how well executed the key lime flavor really is. Next would be the lemon hefeweizen, which nicely introduces lemon into a beer and is very refreshing. Finally, we find ourselves with the Citrus IPA. It’s not nearly as offensive as a traditional IPA might be to non-IPA fans. It rounds out the flight as the least interesting, but that doesn’t ruin the flight as a whole. If you’re intrigued by the descriptions, we can recommend the flight.

Beverage

• Islamorada Beer Company Coconut Key Lime Ale, Fort Pierce, FL
• First Magnitude Brewing Lemon Hefeweizen, Gainesville, FL
• Heavy Seas Brewery TropiCannon Citrus IPA, Halethorpe, MD
• Orange Sunshine Wine Slushy
• Beer Flight