Hawaii Booth Menu & Review: EPCOT Food & Wine Festival

Hawaii’s booth at the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival in Walt Disney World is our next stop. In this Global Marketplace review, we’ll look at the menu prices, share food photos, and offer thoughts on what is worth your money and isn’t in Hawaii.

The Hawaii Global Marketplace has a front and center location, at the front of World Showcase Plaza, right as you leave Future World. It’s easily visible and prominently located while entering World Showcase, which is one of several reasons why the Hawaii food booth pretty much always draws a big crowd…and for good reason.

For the last several years, the Hawaii booth has been home to two of the best snacks in all of Walt Disney World. One of these, the Kalua Pork Slider, also contributes to the obsession with all things Dole among Disney fans, but rather than being topped with pineapple soft serve, this features a nice chutney. (Although perhaps one of the test chefs should pioneer a Dole Whip Slider!)

You’ll want to save your money for this booth, as Hawaii features delicious food items that offer reasonably good value for money, which is becoming increasingly rare among Epcot Food & Wine Festival booths.

Let’s take a look at what’s on the menu, and what’s worth buying…

First, here’s a look at the Hawaii Global Marketplace menu:

  • Kālua Pork Slider with Sweet-and-Sour DOLE Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise
  • SPAM Sushi with Sushi Rice, Teriyaki-Glazed SPAM, Spicy Mayonnaise, Eel Sauce and Nori
  • Passion Fruit Cheesecake with Toasted Macadamia Nuts (Emile’s Fromage Montage item)

Beverages:

  • Kona Brewing Co. Hanalei Island IPA, Kailua-Kona, HI
  • Florida Orange Groves Sparkling Pineapple Wine, St. Petersburg, FL
  • AULANI Sunrise: Vodka, DOLE Pineapple Juice and Grenadine

Now our photos and reviews of each item at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival…

Kalua Pork Slider ($5.75)If you’ve been to Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival in the past several years–or even read coverage of the event–you’ve tried or heard of this. It’s a fan favorite, and for good reason.

Despite the relatively small roll, this sandwich comes with a heaping helping of moist pork, topped with pineapple chutney and a liberal coating of spicy mayonnaise. The mild zest of the sauce mixes perfectly with the pineapple, and the meat is always perfectly flavored. This is a can’t miss!

SPAM Musubi Nigiri ($6) – Look how they massacred my boy!

This is a new dish featuring sushi rice, teriyaki-glazed SPAM, spicy mayonnaise, eel sauce, and nori. It’s a direct replacement for the teriyaki-glazed SPAM Hash, which was everything a dish at Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival should be: inventive, unexpected, authentic, and delicious.

By contrast, this is an abomination. If you’ve ever thought, “this sushi could really use more bologni,” then boy are you in for a treat! The sushi is very SPAM-forward, and there are no other textures of flavors to speak of. The spicy mayonnaise tries its darndest to mask the abysmal flavor, but just isn’t enough. It’s an entirely one-note dish, the rare item we couldn’t bring ourselves to finish. Avoid at all costs.

(Please, Disney, bring back the teriyaki SPAM hash next year!)

Passion Fruit Cheesecake ($4.75) – There are a few similar desserts like this at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, so we don’t blame you if you want to skip this. That’d be understandable, as the passion fruit flavor is understated and you might’ve already filled up on sweets by this point in your grazing around World Showcase.

However, the macadamia nuts provide a nice texture, and there is enough fruit flavor to give this a sense of the tropics. We like it enough to order one every year. (In other words…you might as well order the entire menu in Hawaii, because the Passion Fruit Cheesecake is good enough to justify that move!)

Overall, the Hawaii Global Marketplace is always one of the most fun booths at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. This marketplace has been solid since its debut, but had come into its own in the last few years. Sadly, it takes a step backwards for this year’s Epcot Food & Wine Festival with the removal of one item and converting the SPAM dish from one of the event highlights to one of its lowlights.

Check out our Global Marketplace Booth Menus & Photos for the 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 2024 Epcot 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 Hawaii Global Marketplace? Have you tried any of the four food items at this booth? What did you think of them? What do you think of this booth–or the idea that a single state can hang with culinary powerhouses like France in producing some of the best items of the event? 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!

9 Responses to “Hawaii Booth Menu & Review: EPCOT Food & Wine Festival”
  1. Oliver September 17, 2023
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  3. B August 26, 2022
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