Belgium Review & Menu: 2022 Epcot Food & Wine Festival
The Belgium booth will be located in World Showcase during the 2022 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, as we continue with Walt Disney World’s fall foodie event. In this booth review, we’ll look at the menu prices, share photos, and offer thoughts on what is worth your money.
We’ll begin with a brief synopsis of what’s happening at the 2022 Epcot Food & Wine Festival. This year’s culinary event started much earlier than normal and will run significantly longer than usual (129 days!) for a variety of reasons beyond the scope of this food booth info post for Belgium’s Global Marketplace.
The Belgium Global Marketplace has been an Epcot Food & Wine Festival mainstay for the last decade-plus, offering a waffle-centric menu since its debut, occasionally swapping out the non-waffle item for something different. Of course, people love waffles and the lines at the Belgium booth are a testament to the endearing popularity of them. So it’ll be good to have that dynamic duo back.
The waffle choices have been unchanged for the last several years, featuring the following:
- Beer-braised Beef served with Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes
- Belgian Waffle with Warm Chocolate Ganache
- Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream
Belgium Beverages:
- St. Bernardus Witbier
- Belgian Abbey Ale
- Delirium Red Fruit Beer
- Chimay Dorée Gold
- Chilled Coffee featuring Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
- Beer Flight
Now for our reviews of the food items at the Belgium Global Marketplace at the 2022 Epcot Food & Wine Festival…
Beer-braised Beef ($5.50) — This type of dish is a crowd-pleaser, and you’ll find variations on this concept around World Showcase. I’m of mixed minds about this incarnation of the dish.
On the one hand, the beef is tender and tasty, with the gouda mashed potatoes being a great side. On the other hand, this is a heavy dish with a stew-like quality that is far from ideal in the hot Florida sun during the earlier months of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival.
Chocolate Belgian Waffle ($4.25) – We don’t rave about these waffles like some others, but we don’t dislike them, either. They’re consistently good, and the chocolate version is rich and decadent.
At the end of the day, it’s a small, freshly-made waffle. If that’s what you’re craving, have at it.
Berry Belgian Waffle ($4.25) – Same idea, but topped with berries instead of chocolate. The compote adds a nice sweetness, but it’s going to come down to personal preference.
In terms of value for money, both of these waffles are fine, but their relatively low price makes them a poor use of a Disney Dining Plan snack credit.
Overall, this is a fun and crowd-pleasing booth that it’s tough to criticize too harshly. As compared to other desserts at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, the waffles are middle of the pack. However, a lot of people love freshly-made waffles–if you do, go for it. If you’re wanting something ambitious and unique, look elsewhere.
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!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the Waffles booth? Have you tried any of the waffles here? What did you think of them? Questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I definitely read these reviews! Please keep them coming.
I enjoy these reviews too. It would be nice though to have a wrap up with “best of” and “worst of” items, sometimes reading through review after review can get a little tedious, even though the information is useful and appreciated.
Tom, like many others I almost never comment on posts, but I do read them and appreciate your insights. My trip is coming up, and I have never been to the Food and Wine Festival, so I am using your reviews to guide our choices, since we will only have one day at Epcot. We only go to WDW every few years, so your posts alert us to updates and allow us to spend our time wisely. Thank you for helping us have a wonderful experience.
I am at the exact same position! Trip coming in a week!
Just letting you know that I rarely comment on these posts but I still enjoy reading them very much. Keep up the great work!!!
Your reviews are great, we know what to avoid, as to not waste time and money! Thanks.
Belgium is my FAVORITE stop around the world of food booths. We’re planning a big trip in December, but my husband and I are trying so hard to plan a quick trip in October so I can grab a waffle. I’ve been digging for copy-cat recipe for the fruit compote. I consider myself a ‘foodie’ and a true lover of breakfast food, so this berry waffle is one of my most indulgent cravings.
Thank you for your time and information on all things Disney!! My husband and I are lovers and passholders, as well. Your pictures are wonderful and make me want to get back ASAP.
The Disney wine and food cookbook has the recipe in it ! Waffles and the Compote
I’m going to Disney next week and I really appreciate your reviews of the food booths! We only have time for one day in Epcot so it’s helpful to know which food options are a must try and which ones are not worth wasting our money (and calories)!
Appreciate the time you take to write the reviews, I do enjoy reading them, even if I don’t comment.
I’ve greatly enjoyed the reviews, but if you’ve got construction updates to post then those should take priority! I also endorse making the best of/worst of list, but maybe use some of the other criteria you mentioned in your reviews like “Most Improved Booth.” I’d get a kick out of the “Not as Bad as We Thought it Would Be” category. You’re very creative. I’m sure you can think of lots of cool categories.
I have tried both of the waffles, and I agree with you have found them to be good, but nothing special. Both myself and my daughter found the berry ones better. I am a chocolate lover and found those very disappointing because I hoped for more. I do loved the braised beef there though and it is one of my comforting go to’s, and I also always enjoy the combo of the beef with the potatoes. I have to agree with your assessment of it being stew like, but I always attend in November so it’s fine at that time of year. I am actually going this weekend in the heat so I will probably avoid this dish then and save it for my November return.
Thank you for the awesome reviews! I know it may be tedious for you but for those of us who have never been and only one day to experience….these are a great planning tool.
Would like to see Coastal Eats; Germany; Hops & Barley reviews before you give up!!
Love reading the reviews. Not able to go for another couple of years, so this is the next best thing!
I’m with you on not needing to review menus that are the same, but maybe in the future a post that says the menus didn’t change and links to the old reviews would be a sufficient coverage? I would honestly prefer to see what your big takeaways are: what was the best thing you had, what was the worst, I’d like a top 5-10 list of what to try since we usually won’t try more than 5-10 things anyway. I get especially burned out on food and wine. I’ve had very, very few items at Epcot that I would order again (that weren’t alcohol) which puts a damper on my willingness to keep spending money on food that’s just not that great. I’d really like advice on what to hit up to get away from the dread of food and wine.
🙁
We hope to have best of/worst of lists done by early next week! 🙂
Love your reviews, my first food&wine festival experience next month and your pages are my bible!
Hi Tom, yes really enjoying the reviews. Going for the first time ever, all the way from Oz, in early October. These are helping me plan what booths to try. Can you please do Australia?
Thanks for all your sacrifices!
Thanks fro the reviews of F&W Tom. Very appreciated.
You know how we all love to mostly comment on anything slightly controversial – this is food – what’s not to love 🙂
We never get to go to F&W I eat vicariously through these reviews haha. Though I totally understand the monotonous nature of writing them!
Thanks Tom! Long time reader, first comment ever. Really enjoyed this and all food reviews from the Festival. I could really see the effort you put forth and want to say thanks!
Hi Tom. Just wanted to let you know that I read all your reviews and kept looking forward to the next one. Your insights are helping me plan what booths we will attend in a few weeks. Thanks for trying everything and writing about your honest opinions.