France Review – 2019 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival

    Welcome to a 2019 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival review! Epcot’s biggest festival of the year is upon us and that means that it’s time to eat and drink our way around World Showcase. The 2019 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival runs from August 29 – November 23, 2019 and doesn’t cost extra to attend (food and drink are an additional cost). Scattered throughout Epcot are “Global Marketplaces”, which showcase culinary delights according to a specific theme. Global Marketplaces open at 11am unless otherwise noted. Please enjoy our France Global Marketplace review from the 2019 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival!

    Here’s how Disney describes France Global Marketplace:

    Fall in ooo-la-la-love with the classic cuisine and finest wines of France—bon appétit!

    France Menu

    Food:

    • Fondue Savoyarde: Fondue of Imported Cheeses and Chardonnay served with Croutons (V)
    • Croissant aux Escargots: Escargot Croissant with Garlic and Parsley
    • Boeuf Braisé à la Bordelaise, Pomme Dauphine: Beef Braised in Cabernet Sauvignon with Red Onions and Puffed Potatoes
    • Crème Brûlèe: Crème Brûlèe with House-made Chocolate Hazelnut Cream (V) (GF) (KA)

    Beverages:

    • Kronenbourg 1664 Pale Lager Draft
    • Chardonnay, Maison de France
    • Cabernet Sauvignon, Village la Tourelle, Bordeaux
    • Kir à la Grenade: Sparkling Wine with Monin Pomegranate Syrup
    • La Passion Martini Slushy: Vodka, Grey Goose Le Citron, Cranberry and Passion Fruit Juice

    Fondue Savoyarde – $5.25

    Fondue of Imported Cheeses and Chardonnay served with Croutons

    This whole presentation is rather underwhelming, but the taste is anything but! The fondue is some of the best you can probably find at Walt Disney World, let alone out of a Food and Wine kiosk. Rich in flavor from the “imported cheeses”, we found ourselves running out of the “croutons” before we ran out of interest in the fondue. I put croutons in quotations because these were nowhere near the typical texture that you’d expect from a crouton in, say, a salad. I’d just call it bread at this point. It’s soft and can easily be torn for dipping if you’d like. Our only complaint with this dish was that we ran out of the bread too early. Double the amount of bread, and you should be able to soak up enough of this fondue to really have a solid dish. As it stands, we still recommend it, but make sure you get a spoon to enjoy every bit of fondue offered.

    Croissant aux Escargots – $5.75

    Escargot Croissant with Garlic and Parsley

    France is one of the few booths each year where we pretty much order everything, new or not. This year was no exception and we were happy to see that the Croissant aux Escargots is just as good as in years past, without seeing a price increase. While this serving might have been a little light on the escargots compared to previous visits, it’s still as buttery, garlic-y as we could have hoped for. It’s a solid dish that we can definitely recommend.

    Here’s a comparison of portions that we’ve received in the past.

    Boeuf Braisé à la Bordelaise, Pomme Dauphine – $6.50

    Beef Braised in Cabernet Sauvignon with Red Onions and Puffed Potatoes

    In front of us we find a braised beef that is equal parts tender and flavorful. As you can see, we received a healthy portion of sauce which we used the puffed potatoes to soak up a bit. It’s a good dish, but I wouldn’t say it was great. We find ourselves bringing up portion size again if only for the fact that we only had one noticeably decent block of braised beef. A second helping of the same portion size might have put this over the top for us in terms of recommendation. Things can add up at the France Global Marketplace, and the braised beef is probably at the bottom of the menu for us.

    Crème Brûlèe – $4.75

    Crème Brûlèe with House-made Chocolate Hazelnut Cream

    We were pretty big fans of this Crème Brûlèe! It’s an interesting take on Crème Brûlèe that adds the chocolate hazelnut cream for a rich chocolate taste with a pudding-type texture. As you can see in the photo below, we still have the traditional burnt caramelized sugar top, which presents a wonderful crunch throughout the dish as pieces are broken through and find their way into even the last few bites. A custard and chocolate hazelnut cream mixture inside produces a complimentary texture and flavor profile that makes this a nice version of a traditional Crème Brûlèe. We can recommend this dish.


    France still reigns supreme as one of the most visited Global Marketplaces at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. Whether it’s the centralized placement of the kiosk, the food, the drinks, the fact that it’s France, or a combination of all of it, this will be a popular booth throughout the festival. We enjoyed everything we tried here. While the full booth purchase of $22.20 plus tax can be a bit high, we think that the variety offered here and the quality of delivery is high enough to replace a sit down meal for the on-the-go World Showcase traveler.

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