Review: America's Festival of the Arts new food is surprisingly delicious

The new Festival of the Art dishes at the Artist’s Table have wonderful and unique flavor combinations that you don’t want to miss!

Festival of the Arts

EPCOT’s International Festival of the Arts is right around the corner beginning January 13th through February 20, 2023. From dozens of food and beverage items to fun photos and a special light show on Spaceship Earth, this festival provides so much fun, merchandise and entertainment.

Read everything NEW for this year’s festival in this post HERE. In addition, look at the fun Magic Shots for this year HERE.

And check out these great food reviews from this festival:

The Artist’s Table

Located in The American Adventure Pavilion, The Artist’s Table doesn’t serve contemporary American food like burgers and barbecue but food from our nation’s history and culture.

All of the food items are new this year, but the sipping chocolate flight returned! Check out Monica’s review of this flight HERE. Now, let’s dive into each new food item…

Three-Meat Meatloaf

After trying a few festival items that fell flat, I wasn’t expecting much from this dish. And looking at it didn’t make me feel any better. This three meat meatloaf is made from beef, pork, and lamb. When I took my first bite, I was shocked! It was tender, had a perfect texture and had a depth of flavor like it had cooked for hours.

The carrot ketchup added a hint of sweetness and went well with it. I think the square item was the carrot salad. It had flaky layers like a pastry puff and tasted like a root vegetable without much flavor. Finally, the green pea pudding is a slightly sweet creamy side. I really liked it but didn’t eat the snap pea or other garnishes.

The three-meat meat was tender and had a perfect texture and depth of flavor.

Duck and Dumplings

I’m not sure I’ve ever tried duck before, and I had no idea what to expect. Being a dark meat, it was a little fatty, but it was quite tender and flavorful with brown gravy. After trying this, I would order duck again.

Admittedly, I am not a huge dumpling fan. And these were prepared well but didn’t have any flavor. The petite vegetables consisted of turnips and carrots. They were both a little on the crunchy side.

Try this duck dish with dumplings and roasted root vegetables.

Hummingbird Cake

Hummingbird Cake is a southern tradition, but sometimes it has too many flavors for my liking. And this dish had lots of that going on, but I decided to give it a try anyway. And I’m so glad I did!

The banana cake was dense and had a wonderful carrot cake like taste. Cream cheese frosting is my favorite and didn’t disappoint. Then, the banana sorbet had a mild taste that blended nicely with the cake. And the candied pecans were my favorite part.

The hummingbird cake is delicious and beautiful!

Slow Service

I would order all of these items again but would be prepared for the long wait next time. A cast member said that it takes extra time to plate Festival of the Arts dishes because they have so many pieces. It took 30 minutes to receive my food and there were only about 15 people in front of me.

It takes extra time to plate Festival of the Arts dishes because they have so many garnishes and artistic touches.

Do you enjoy visiting the during EPCOT’s Festival of the Arts? If so, do you try new food items? Please share your thoughts below and share this post with a friend.