New Zealand Booth Menu: Epcot Food & Wine Festival

New Zealand’s Global Marketplace at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival offers Kiwi classics, including savory dishes and award-winning wines. It’s one of our favorite booths, and that’s mostly for those savory plates. This post covers New Zealand’s menu this year, along with some thoughts on it.

Ah, New Zealand. Home of Russell Crowe, clouds, and all of the goblins from Lord of the Rings. The menu for New Zealand is heavy on meats, which should come as no surprise, because 95% of New Zealand’s inhabitants are animals–but not snakes, as there are no snakes in New Zealand. (Guess who just read 69 Fun facts About New Zealand!)

Known for its Pacific Rim cuisine that draws inspiration from Europe, Asia, and Polynesia, food in New Zealand features a lot of outdoor barbecues, which are particularly prominent in the summer and feature a relaxed vibe. Popular offerings include lamb, pork, venison, salmon, crayfish, Bluff oysters, whitebait, abalone, mussels, scallops, and shellfish. Fruits are also popular, as are sweet potatoes, and pavlova is the national dessert (we’d love to try that at a future F&WF!).

The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival has officially kicked off, and we have updated this menu with food photos, thoughts on value for money, best use of Disney Dining Plan snack credits, and more!

Here’s what you will find on the New Zealand marketplace booth’s food menu this year at Food & Wine Festival:

Lamb Meatball with Spicy Tomato Chutney – Served on top of a stylish (THATS RIGHT!) bread puff, meatball here is almost a misnomer, as this large ball of meat (okay) is quite sizable for the price. It’s also well-seasoned, and has that distinct lamb taste that I really enjoy–and think works well in “balled meat” form. Highly recommended.

Steamed Green Lip Mussels with Garlic Butter and Toasted Breadcrumbs – “Garlic butter” and “bad” are not words I use in the same sentence under any circumstances. (Oops…in almost any circumstances.) With that said, the garlic butter and crumbs topping these were fantastic. I could’ve (but didn’t) slurped this up with a spoon. Three of my mussels were tender and delicious, while the fourth was slightly rubbery, so your mileage may vary on the preparation here. Recommended.

Seared Venison Loin with Wild Mushroom Marsala Sauce and Kumara Dumpling – I’m in the minority on this one (amongst our group, at least), but I was underwhelmed here. The was no rub or noteworthy seasoning that works well with the game-y taste of venison wasn’t present, and the meat was not good enough to stand on its own. It’s an objectively solid way to burn a Disney Dining Plan snack credit, but if you’re paying out of pocket, I can’t give it an enthusiastic endorsement.

We don’t intend upon sampling all of the beverages at Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival (particularly because most are not unique to Epcot, so you can find a ton of info and reviews of them via Google), but here is the booze menu for New Zealand:

• Nobilo Icon Pinot Noir
• Kim Crawford Pinot Gris
• Mohua Sauvignon Blanc

Check out our Epcot Food & Wine Festival Booth Menus post if you want to see and read more about every menu this year! You’ll also want to read our full Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival Guide before you go to get an idea of what to do, strategy for the festival (yes, you will need a strategy), and much more!

For Walt Disney World trip planning tips and comprehensive advice, make sure to read our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide and related articles. Also make sure to read our other Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews and Disney Dining Plan Resources.

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Your Thoughts

If you’ve tried any of the New Zealand booth snacks, what did you think? Favorites? Least favorites? What was and wasn’t worth it? Anything on the menu you’re excited to try this year? Hearing from you is half the fun, so please share your thoughts in the comments below!