Welcome to a food studio review for the Epcot International Festival of the Arts, taking place in the park all week long from January 12th to February 19th, 2018. This review will cover the “El Arista Hambriento” Food Studio. Take note the menu prices do NOT include tax.
El Arista Hambriento
Food:
- Mixiote de Cordero: Wrapped Slow Braised Lamb marinated in Tres Chiles Paste and Spices
- Tacos de Puerco: Two Corn Tortillas with Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder marinated in Ancho Paste, served with Sweet Plantain Purée and garnished with Pea Tendrils
- Atole de Fresa and Mexican Concha Bread: Warm Strawberry Drink served with Mexican Concha Bread
Beverages:
- Frida Guava Margarita
- Diego Passion Margarita on the rocks
- Allende Craft Mexican Golden Ale
Mixiote de Cordero: Wrapped Slow Braised Lamb marinated in Tres Chiles Paste and Spices $8.95
No, it’s not a diaper, this is slow braised lamb served in a wrapped-up package. There’s nothing wrong with the meat, but there’s really nothing special about this item unfortunately. The packaging should be enough to steer you away. Try the tacos instead…
Tacos de Puerco: Two Corn Tortillas with Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder marinated in Ancho Paste, served with Sweet Plantain Purée and garnished with Pea Tendrils $9.95
The tacos were perfectly marinated and honestly one of the better new items of the festival. It’s kind of hard to stomach nearly $5 a taco, but we feel the quality overcomes the higher price tag. After all, this is an Epcot festival. Recommended.
Atole de Fresa and Mexican Concha Bread: Warm Strawberry Drink served with Mexican Concha Bread $3.95
This is a breakout item at the festival, absolutely a must get. The bread is super soft, light and crispy in all the right ways. You wouldn’t believe that strawberry milk would go well with bread, but this is really one of the best items we’ve had at any Epcot festival.
Frida Guava Margarita $13.75
La Cava has been touting about their ‘fresh-made’ margaritas coming to the festival for the past few days on social media, unfortunately both of their margaritas came pre-mixed from large canisters. Anyway, this one received a mix response from the group, mostly because it was served rather warm. Try to imagine a flat soda, but in margarita form, and you have the guava margarita. Skippable, especially at the price tag.
Diego Passion Margarita on the rocks $14.25
Now this was a much better margarita, served on the rocks so it was cold. Very straightforward and refreshing, a welcome change after the guava. Again, the price tag with tax puts it above $15 for a single drink. You can do better. Also, we were told the art is edible: it’s paper, it’s not…. we tried.