REVIEW: After Years of Inedible Food, Italy Introduces New Menu for 2022 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival and One Item Was Actually Good

Back for another year at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival is the Italy marketplace. For any avid reader of WDWNT, you may remember that we’ve never had good luck with any food to come out of the Italy booth. However, we’re here, and with a menu full of new items, we’re ready to try them all (so you don’t have to!)

Menu for the Italy Marketplace at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival

Food:

• 🆕 Gnocchi di Patate: Potato Dumplings with 4-Cheese Sauce and Roasted Cremini Mushrooms – $9.00
• 🆕 Gnocchi di Patate: Potato Dumplings with Vodka Sauce, Romano Cheese, and Crispy Bacon – $9.00
• 🆕 Panna Cotta: Orange Blossom Panna Cotta with Seasonal Berries – $8.00

Beverages:

• Prosecco – $10.00
• Moscato – $11.00
• Italian Sangria – $11.00
• Italian Margarita with Tequila and Limoncello – $11.00
• Peroni Pilsner (5.1% ABV) – $6.00 for 6 oz., $10.00 for 12 oz.

Photos of Menu Items for the Italy Marketplace at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival

*NEW* Gnocchi di Patate: Potato Dumplings with 4-Cheese Sauce and Roasted Cremini Mushrooms – $9.00

This is what you would typically expect from the Italy booth, but perhaps a bit less executed than you would hope. The sauce was heavy and broken with butter or oil. It was greasy and overall lacking in flavor. The gnocchi is your typical store-bought gnocchi, which is fine if you know how to cook it, but it was not exactly outstanding.

*NEW* Gnocchi di Patate: Potato Dumplings with Vodka Sauce, Romano Cheese, and Crispy Bacon – $9.00

We’ll say it flat out — every part of this dish tastes store-bought. The vodka sauce tastes like it came from a can and lacks the balance of flavors that makes a vodka sauce good. The bacon bits do not fit this dish, and they just add more mush to an already mushy dish. We recommend skipping this booth and going straight to India, where you can get the tikka masala and more bang for your buck.

*NEW* Panna Cotta: Orange Blossom Panna Cotta with Seasonal Berries – $8.00

The panna cotta was PERFECT for such a hot day. It’s nice, cold, and refreshing. It has a light hint of citrus. It’s not the cheapest dessert option at the World Showcase, but we enjoyed it anyway. If you like orange and parfait style desserts, you’ll love this.

Italian White Sangria with Prosecco – $11.00

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 – $11.00

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 – $11.00

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) – $6.00 for 6 oz., $10.00 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 18 on the map below.

Would you try anything on this menu? Let us know in the comments below.

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