REVIEW: EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival's New Italy Menu for 2023 is 'A Small Step Above SpaghettiOs'
For the 2023 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival, the Italy marketplace has returned with an entirely new food menu. This tends to be par for the course for this marketplace, as many of the dishes are usually flawed. However, we were a little sad to see the panna cotta offered last year didn’t return, but we’re going into trying the Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake with high hopes!
Menu for the Italy Marketplace at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival
Food:
🆕 Focaccia Ripiena: Freshly Baked Focaccia, Beef Meatballs, Tomato Sauce and Burrata Cheese – $9.00
Focaccia Ripiena: Freshly Baked Focaccia, Beef Meatballs, Tomato Sauce and Burrata Cheese – $9.00 🆕 Cavatelli with Sweet Sausage Ragout and Crispy Applewood-Smoked Bacon – $10.00
Cavatelli with Sweet Sausage Ragout and Crispy Applewood-Smoked Bacon – $10.00 🆕Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake with Vanilla Cream and Strawberry Compote – $8.00
Beverages:
Prosecco – $11.50
Moscato – $12.00
Chianti – $11.00
Italian Sangria – $12.00
Italian Margarita with Tequila and Limoncello – $12.00
Peroni Pilsner (5.1% ABV) – $6.50 for 6 oz., $11.00 for 12 oz.
Moscato and Chianti are both back on the beverage menu in 2023, having skipped last year.
Photos of Menu Items for the Italy Marketplace at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival
*NEW* Focaccia Ripiena: Freshly Baked Focaccia, Beef Meatballs, Tomato Sauce and Burrata Cheese – $9.00
The dish is large and shareable, and it has a good presentation as well.
We feel like the meatball is of the same quality that you would get in a canned pasta and meatball dish, kind of like SpaghettiOs. It’s a small step above a microwaved meatball.
The cheese is very rich, but we don’t mind that. It’s not the worst thing we’ve had at the Italy Global Marketplace over the years.
*NEW* Cavatelli with Sweet Sausage Ragout and Crispy Applewood-Smoked Bacon – $10.00
This isn’t an authentic Italian dish; it’s much more of an American Italian.
it’s not bad, the portion size is okay, and the sauce has a nice creamy texture.
It bears repeating that it’s kind of like an Italian restaurant that you would find in America that’s a massive chain like Olive Garden.
*NEW* Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake with Vanilla Cream and Strawberry Compote – $8.00
The cream on top of this cake is fantastic, and the cheesecake itself is really good. It kind of tastes like the tie-dye cheesecake at Disney’s Pop Century Resort.
It has a nice vanilla cream flavoring, which is really delicious and balances out the cheesecake well. It’s not a huge portion, size but it will kick your sweet tooth.
We would get this one again. It’s probably the best thing you can get at the Italy Global Marketplace.
Italian White Sangria with Prosecco – $12.00
Usually, when a Sangria beverage of this price contains more juice than wine, we would complain. However, since the wine in this drink tasted particularly cheap and unpleasant, it was somewhat of a relief. The drink was supposed to contain Prosecco; however, this was unidentifiable from the lack of fizz.
Italian Red Sangria with Cabernet Sauvignon – $12.00
Have you ever put red wine in the microwave? That’s what this is. We thought sangria came with ice and fruit, but this was just a room-temperature liquid. The flavor was fruity, so it could have been really good, but as it got hotter, it was just too warm to drink.
Italian Margarita with Tequila and Limoncello – $12.00
The margarita was quite good as it tasted almost like a melting lemon ice dessert. However, there didn’t seem to be much liquor in the drink, as we didn’t taste much besides the faint hint of tequila. Overall, this is a tasty drink, but don’t expect to get much alcohol for your money here.
Peroni Pilsner (5.1% ABV) – $6.50 for 6 oz., $11.00 for 12 oz.
Peroni Brewery describes their beer as “a crisp and refreshing beer with a delicate balance of bitterness, citrus and spicy aromatic notes, combined with a fast and clean finish.”
Location of the Italy Marketplace at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival
The Italy Marketplace is located across from the Italy Pavilion on World Showcase Promenade. You can find it at number 19 on the map above.
The 2023 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival is running from July 27 through November 18.
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Source: WDW News Today
