Busch Gardens VA Food & Wine Review w/ pics...
We actually went to the very first Food & wine at Busch Gardens Williamsburg quite a few years ago & were very impressed then & am still impressed now. You definitely get a lot more food/alcohol for your money over the Epcot version of this festival but there are not as many booths as Epcot's.
My husband purchased the 15 items ( food or alcohol)for $60. We saved SO much money by doing this. Just as a warning some things aren't covered like cocktails & certain items but it clearly states it on the menu before you get in line.
I couldn't find all of the Busch Gardens Food & Wine booths/offering typed up anywhere on the internet so I went ahead & typed this up for everyone. I will post the menus at the very end of this article. :)
My husband tried several of the wine tastings but I will post those pictures & reviews in a different article. ;)
Here is the map for the festival. I'm going to talk about each item that we had in order that we had them.
This was our first stop and we had the Tuna poke, Blue Hawaiian in a pineapple, & Evolution Craft Brewing Co. Pine 'Hop'Le IPA
Unfortunately my husband scarfed down the poke & beer before I could take a picture of it but he said it was excellent.
It was 96-100 degrees the day that we went to Busch Gardens & I was impressed how they got the frozen cocktails all day to stay in a frozen consistency. Epcot definitely had issues when we went last year with frozen drinks being melted already & it wasn't even as hot as it was the day as BG was. So far BG wins this round.
We shared the banana hazelnut crepe here & my husband had the Moet & Chandon Brut Champagne.
We were fighting over this & I think it was my favorite sweet treat of the day. I saw them making these fresh over a crepe maker while cutting fresh bananas. These are AMAZING! The Epcot crepes are NOT good so BG wins this round again!
My husband had to make a phone call so I didn't get a picture of his Bold Rock Pear Cider. I got to try his cider & it was excellent. We shared the beignets which were so light & airy. Instead of just topped with powdered sugar they gave us a rum caramel sauce which was excellent!
My hurricane tasted nothing like a one. It had more of an orangey flavor but it was still really good! You get SO much of a cocktail with this that my husband had to help me. The plastic cup was good quality too!
The beignets here are better than the ones I had at the French Quarter hotel at WDW!
I didn't want anything here but my husband chose to have the Malbec wine with the Churrasco. I tried one bite but thought the steak was way overcooked. My husband didn't find that at all & LOVED that chimichurri sauce. I'm not a fan of that sauce in general so you can listen to my husband on this one. ;) He said the wine was good as well.
I kept hearing that the Virginia booth was the best one at the Festival so I HAD TO try it. :) We wanted to try everything here but opted to share the She-crab soup & bacon & cheddar hush puppies. They ran out of all the beer except the Wild Wolf Blonde Hunny so that is what he had to drink.
Yes, we ate soup when it was 100 degrees outside & it was worth it! We were fighting over it! The hush puppies were overly crispy & I didn't taste cheddar or bacon in them. They were ehhhh. Art Smith's hush puppies put theirs to shame. ;)
I heard that the dumplings here were great so my husband & I each got our own dumplings. These are the real deal & they steamed them fresh & the sauce was heavenly! It was sweet w/ a little heat. I'm a super picky eater & loved these! My husband had the sake along with it & thought everything was great.
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| Getting our dumplings out fresh! :) |
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This was one of my most favorite booths & I was most excited for. This location had no tables by it so we had to walk down further to a bench to enjoy. We shared the beef bulgogi & korean BBQ pork ribs. I loved both a lot. I got mad at my husband because I only got ONE bite of them beef bulgogi & he ate the rest?! It was sweet with slight heat. The BBQ ribs were a little bit more spicy but SOOOO good!
The pork was easy to eat with a fork & was falling off the bone. They were really juicy & not dry which I was worried about.
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| BBQ Ribs |
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| Beef |
My husband was a little disappointed with the Brauhaus because it was local Virginia beer & not Germany beers like he was hoping for.
We shared a pretzel which was not on the food & wine menu. We both hate capers so skipped out on the F&W menu items. He chose to try the Join the Dark Side Porters, Stouts, & Bocks.
He had no complaints with his beer & the pretzel was very good but be warned they serve them HOT!!!!!! It was a very nice chill bar with leather couches & nice tables. You can find the Brauhaus in the back of the Das Festhaus restaurant.
The last thing we did was get the 40 cent beers which were in the same area as the Brauhaus but down the hall from it. They marked your hands with a sharpie pen so they know you are only getting two 40 cent Rolling Rock beers 7 oz. cups for the day.
If you want to complete the whole Food & Wine festival
here I would suggest aiming for 2-3 days. There are 17 booths & then a Scotch tasting, Tequila tasting & 5 different wine tastings.
VIRGINIA
She Crab Soup- Crab bisque finished with sherry, Old Bay, crostini & Chesapeake Blue crab salad ( We shared this)
Smithfield Ham Tasting- Red Eye country ham, applewood carved ham & ham pate served with honey biscuit , apple butter, honey mustard & whole grain mustard
Bacon Cheddar Hushpuppies- Cornmeal fritters served w/ honey butter (We shared this)
Pecan Bacon & Chocolate Bars- Sweet Pecan caramel bars topped with smoked bacon & chocolate drizzle
Beer
VA Beer Co. Elbow Patches ( Marsh had )
Wild Wolf Bewing Co. Blonde Hunny
Hardwood VIPA
Burskey RVA Cider
WINE
Barboursville Vineyards
VA Pinot Grigio
Virginia Merlot
COCKTAILS
Apple Pie Moonshine
Non alcoholic- Strawberry lemonade
Scotch Tasting-
Talisker Storm
Highland Park 12 YR
Macallan 12 YR
American Southwest
Ghost Pepper Guacamole - Spicy Hot guac with tajin seasoned tri color tortilia chips
Fish taco- chile spiced tiliapia w/ red cabbage slaw, pico de gallo & cilantro lime sauce
Sonoran Spice pork taco- spice rubbed pork carnita w/ jicama chayote slaw in soft flour tortilla
Chocolate Lava Cake- Fudge brownie cake with molten ancho- spiced chocolate filling
Beer
O' Connor Brewing Co.El Guapo Agave IPA
Bell's Lager of the Lakes
Port City Optimal Wit
COCKTAIL
Margarita
non alcohol- Horchata
IRELAND
Bangers w/ Colcannon- Irish sausage with mashed potatoes, cabbage & Guiness brown sugar gravy
Irish Cheese Sampling- Sage Bandon Vale Farmhouse cheese & Dubliner cheese w/ apple raisin chutney & cream crackers
Guiness Mousse- Dark chocolate & Guiness mousse with whiskey infused whipped cream
BEER
Magners Irish Cider
Traditional Brewing Co. Red Willie Irish Red
O'Connor Brewing Co. Dry Irish Stout (ODIS)
Argentinian Wine Tasting - get free glass (MARSH HAD)
Pulenta Estate Pinot Gris XIV Agrelo
Tillia Torrontes
Punto Final Cabernet Sauvignon
Catena Zapata Malbec
HAWAII
Spam Slider- fried spam w/ siracha mayo & grilled pineapple served w/ pineapple coconut coleslaw
Hawaiian mac & cheese- Ham & pineapple mac & cheese with macadamia nut crust
Huli Huli Chicken- Sweet pineapple & soy BBQ chicken with orange & purple sweet potato salad
Tuna Poke- Soy & sesame sushi tuna in wonton flower with wasabi aioli & wakame seaweed salad (MARSH HAD )
Haupia- Sweet coconut mousse w/Kona coffee ganache
BEER
Kona Big Golden Ale
Evolution Craft Brewing Co. Pone'Hop'Le IPA (MARSH HAD)
Golden Road Brewing Mango Cart
COCKTAIL
Blue Hawaiian in souvenir cup or pineapple (KATE HAD)
non-alcoholic- hisbiscus lemonade
CREPES & COFFEE
Banana Nutella Crepe- hazlenut crepe- hazlenut chocolate spread & bananas in traditional crepe (We SHARED)
Chocolate strawberry crepe- Hazlenut choc spread w/ strawberries in a chocolate crepe
strawberry cheesecake crepe- cheesecake batter with strawberries & graham crackers in chocolate crepe
WINE
Bieler pere et fils rose
Moet & chandon Imperial brut champagne (MARSH HAD)
French wine tasting ( 4 choices) ( MARSH did this)
Charles Bove Vouvray
Francois Montand Demi Sec Ice
Joseph Drouhin Beaujoiais Villages
Domaine Le Saint Andre Rose
La Closeire Des Lys Pinot Noir
Chateau de Parenchere Bordeaux Superieur
French Quarter
Shrimp etoufee- creole spiced shrimp stew over cajun rice
Muffaletta- sliced mortadella,salami,ham & provolone w/olive spread on sesame bread w/ cajun coleslaw
Bananas Foster Cheesecake- vanilla & pecan crusted cheesecake w/ orange rum caramel sauce & sliced banana
Beignets- fried donut squares topped with powdered sugar (WE SHARED)
BEER
sweetwater blue
founders brewing co all day IPA
Traveler beer co curious traveler
Bold rock pear cider (MARSH HAD)
COCKTAIL
frozen Hurricane (KATE HAD)
CUBA
Cuban sandwich- Roasted pork w/ ham, dill pickle & yellow mustard pressed in Cuban bread
Ropa vieja- shredded beef in criollo sauce served over black beans & rice
tostones- fried green plantains served w/ mojo mayo
flan- custard
cocktail
cube libre - rum lime juice coke
non alcohol- batido de trigo - puffed wheat milkshake
BRAZIL
Churrasco- grilled beef w/ chimichurri sauce ( MARSH had)
Abacxi grilled pineapple w/ coconut caramel sauce
Linguica- brazilian sausage served w/ grilled portabellas & peppers
wine
dona paula los cardos chardonnay
trapiche broquel malbec (MARSH HAD)
cocktail
caipirinha-razil's national cocktail, made with cachaça, sugar and lime. Cachaça,
non alcoholic- brazilian lemonade
Niagra region wine tasting
heinz eifel eiswein
Inniskillin Ice Wine
Rockbridge V d'Or dessert wine
Ravines Chardonnay
GERMAN Wine TASTING
Heinz Eifel Riesling Auslese
Villa Wolf Gewurztraminer
Villa wolf pinot noir
Heinz Eifel Dornfelder Shine Sweet Red
Caribbean
Jamaican Jerk Chicken- jerk marinated chicken drumsticks w/ guava BBQ & grilled pineapple salsa
gamba fritters- caribbean fried shrimp dumplings with pickapeppa dip
mojo shrimp- citrus & garlic marinated shrimp on heart of palm, black beans & corn relish with lime cilantro vinagrette
pineapple upsidedown cake - w/ sweet pineapple rum sauce
BEER
Heavy seas Tropicannon
Virginia Beer Co free verse
Landshark Lager
Coelacanth Brewing Passionfruit gose
frozen cocktail- Caribbean sunset
non alcolic- giner limeade
TEQUILA TASTING
Don julio Blanco
Herradura Reposado
patron extra anejo
BRAUHAUS (Marsh disappointed)
Schnitzelwitch- pork schnitzel slider w/ lemon caper sauce
german meatballs- traditional meatballs w/ lemon & caper sauce
BEER FLIGHTS
Hop Heads- IPA & Pale Ales
Join the Dark Side Porters, Stouts, & Bocks (MARSH had)
Not Beer- Ciders & Lemonades
Cloudy Daze- Unfiltered Wheat/ Belgian style
Rolling rock 40 cent 7oz pours were also down hall from here only 2 per person for the whole day allowed.
ISLAND FREEZE
BEER:
Larry's lemonade- also available frozen
New Belgium Tartastic
McKenzie's Black cherry HARD cider ( also avail frozen)
Alewerks weekend lager
Frozen cocktails
pina colada
bahama mama
strawberry daquari
shark bite
bellini
aquamarine
INDIA
Tandoori chicken- spiced yogurt marinated chicken w/ caramom ginger rice & cucumber raita
samosas- savory pastry filled with curried potatoes & peas served w/ mango chutney
lamb kofta- spiced ground lamb on a stick with cilantro lime yogurt sauce
non alcoholic- masala chai iced tea
ITALY
Tiramisu- italian parfait w/ sweetened marscarpone cheese, layered w/ espresso- soaked lady fingers
panna cotta- vanilla cream pudding served w/ strawberries
mini canoli trio- traditional, strawberry cheesecake & choc hazlenut mini canollis w/ choc dipped shells
pizelle cookies- fresh pressed italian cookies filled with sweet mascarpone cheese
biscotti- almond or chocolate cookie
WINE
Ruffino Moscato d'asti
roscato rosso dolce
COCKTAILS
Limoncello
sambucca
grapa
amaretto
Italian wine tasting
G.D. Vajra Langhe Rosso
Annalisa Moscato
Zenato Pinot Grigio
Chianti Classico
Bera Brachetto
SPAIN
Chorizo Empanada- spicy pork sausage pastry pocket w/ cilantro lime cream
gazpacho con ceviche- chilled tomato cucumber soup with citrus oyster mushroom salsa
tapas- paprika roasted marcona almonds, marinated olive medley & manchego cheese with membrillo-quince paste
Venera con jamon- scallop wrapped in cured ham with saffron rice & romesco sauce
COCKTAILS
beso del sol REd Sangria
beso del sol white sangria
JAPAN
lettuce wrap- vegetables & tofu wrapped in tender butter lettuce with toasted almonds & sweet chili dipping sauce
Mushi-Gyoza- Japanese style steamed chicken dumplings with citrus ponzu sauce ( Marsh & Kate got their own each)
CA roll- sushi filled w/ crab surimi, avocado & cucyumber served w/ pickled ginger & wasabi
soba noodle bowl- dashi broth with pickled veggies, green onions, edamame, egg & shitake mushrooms
matcha ice cream- green tea ice cream w/ sweet soy glaze service w/ sesame cookie
WINE
Takara Plum Wine
Takara sake (MARSH had)
Non alcoholic- bubble tea or kombucha by coke
SOUTH KOREA
Beef Bulgogi- grilled korean style marinated beef skewer ( shared)
kimchi sampler- cabbage,cucumber & daikon radish varities
Korean BBQ ribs- spicy chili BBQ glazed ribs served over Gochujang slaw (KATE)
COCKTAIL
Korean Soju
Non alcoholic- Barley Tea
MEDITERRANEAN
Lam burger slider- seasoned ground lamb on pita bread with feta cheese spread, cucumber, tomato & olive
Falfafel- chickpea fritter with sesame dipping sauce
Spankopita- spinach & feta in crispy filo dough w/ spicy lemon sauce
Dolmades- rice & herb stffed grape leaves w/ tzatki sauce
Baklava- sweet pastry w/ nuts & honey btween thin crispy filo pastry layers
WINE
Alta Mora Etna Bianco
Alla Mora Etna Rosso
COCKTAIL
Ouzo
Non alcoholic- iced cafe au lait
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