Trowel & Trellis Menu & Food Review: EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival

Trowel & Trellis is the Outdoor Kitchen hosted by Impossible Burger at the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival. This food booth features a variety of plant-based options for vegans and vegetarians…or flexitarians like us. In this Walt Disney World dining review, we’ll look at the menu prices, share food photos, and offer thoughts on what is worth your money or Disney Dining Plan credits.

Consider this post a “two-fer” as we’ll also share some details about Disney’s partnership with Impossible Burger, which doesn’t necessitate a standalone post, but is still interesting news. This corporate alliance makes Impossible Burger’s products the preferred plant-based “meat” of Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort, and the Disney Cruise Line.

You might recall that last year, Walt Disney World introduced a slew of new vegan options, and began actively promoting its plant-based push. We cover the best & worst of these in our Vegan & Vegetarian Walt Disney World Dining Guide: How to Find Plant-Based Foods. The new partnership with Impossible Burger should further elevate the plant-based menu options, and offer some predictability…

Even prior to Walt Disney World’s partnership with Impossible Burger, the majority of plant-based burgers in the parks had quietly moved to Beyond or Impossible Burger patties. We always inquire before ordering–not because we prefer one brand to the other (they’re about the same to us), but to make sure they aren’t still the dreaded black bean burgers. Hopefully this partnership totally vanquishes those bean burgers.

Big pushes of the Impossible Burger and Disney partnership is the debut of new Impossible “meat” menu items at Disney California Adventure’s annual Food & Wine Festival. Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival is essentially the springtime Walt Disney World counterpart, and the Trowel & Trellis Outdoor Kitchen hosted by Impossible Foods serves some similar offerings.

Here’s a look at the menu for the Trowel & Trellis Outdoor Kitchen:

  • Grilled Street Corn on the Cob with Savory Garlic Spread (Gluten/Wheat-Friendly) (Plant-Based Item)
  • Impossible™ Sausage and Kale Soup (Plant-Based Item)
  • Boneless Impossible™ Korean Short Rib with Cilantro-Lime Rice, Danmuji Slaw and Kimchee Mayonnaise (Plant-Based Item)
  • Lavender Pot de Crème with Blueberry Cake, Pink Peppercorn and Lime Whipped Cream (Plant-Based Item)

Now our photos and reviews of each item…

Grilled Street Corn on the Cob with Savory Garlic Spread ($5.75) – Being from the Midwest, I’m an absolute sucker for grilled corn on the cob. We used to eat the stuff every evening, all summer long. From that perspective, it’s just fine–the garlic spread adds a bit of flavor and allows the grilled corn to mostly speak for itself. Good so long as you ignore the preposterous price tag.

Having lived in Southern California, I’m also an absolute sucker for elote or Mexican street corn. We used to eat the stuff…well, not every day, but a lot. From that perspective, this falls woefully short. It could’ve been caked with chile powder, butter, cotija cheese, lime juice, mayonnaise, and crema fresca for the ultimate indulgence. I get that it wouldn’t have been vegan at that point…but so what? Make it worth the money and move it to that booth.

Impossible Sausage and Kale Soup ($5) – This year’s Flower & Garden Festival has a few heavy soups that are downright delicious. This is great news for soup enthusiasts, but a head-scratcher for an event that runs from the spring through July.

This one is rich, delicious, and packs a punch (by Disney standards). The sausage is great and the kale adds to the flavor without overpowering. The pita that accompanied ours was stale, so hopefully you’ll have better luck there. Recommended by me; highly recommended by Sarah.

Boneless Impossible Korean Short Rib with Cilantro-Lime Rice, Danmuji Slaw and Kimchee Mayonnaise ($6.75) – We love Korean rice bowls, especially those with pork belly or short rib.

This is a very good Korean rice bowl, but not a very good short rib bowl–if that makes any sense. The ingredients work in harmony together, delivering a flavorful bowl with a little kick. But that “meat” is nothing like short rib in terms of texture, consistency, or flavor. It’s more like breakfast sausage. We still loved this and highly recommend it, just be aware of what’s advertised versus delivered.

Lavender Pot de Cr̬me with Blueberry Cake, Pink Peppercorn and Lime Whipped Cream ($5) РThis pot de creme is a sharp departure from previous desserts at Trowel & Trellis, which were literal pots of cream.

There’s a lot going on here, and it works for varying degrees. Appearances deceive here, as inside the outer white chocolate shell is creme with the viscosity of pudding. It’s a mix of the flavors in the title, with the lavender, blueberry, and lime all working surprisingly well together. The peppercorn is a bit too pronounced for our tastes. We’d recommend it, with hesitation, if only because it’s inventive, ambitious, and others may favor its flavors more than we did.

There are also plenty of options on the alcohol menu for the Trowel & Trellis Outdoor Kitchen:

  • Twinings of London Energize Matcha Cranberry & Lime Green Tea (nonalcoholic)
  • Parish Brewing Co. Bloom Hazy IPA, Broussard, LA
  • Twinings of London Energize Matcha Cranberry & Lime Green Tea with Hanger 1 Makrut Lime Vodka Served in a Mason Jar

Overall, how you’ll feel about the Trowel & Trellis Outdoor Kitchen at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is a matter of perspective. If you’re vegan or vegetarian, you’ll likely be pleased to see Impossible Meats hosting an entire booth of plant-based fare. If you’re not grading on that curve and just want excellent food, this Outdoor Kitchen is a bit of a disappointment. One item is solid, but the other two feel like missed opportunities.

Check out our Epcot Flower & Garden Festival Outdoor Kitchen Food Booth Menus & Photos 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 Flower & Garden Festival Guide before you go to get an idea of what to do, strategy for the festival, photos of the topiaries and floral displays, 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 Trowel & Trellis Outdoor Kitchen? Have you tried any of the plant-based foods at this booth? What did you like or dislike? Portion-size or quality-wise, did you have better or worse luck than us with what you ordered? 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!

One Response to “Trowel & Trellis Menu & Food Review: EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival”
  1. Melissa C April 10, 2021

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