Review of India Booth at EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival 2022
Hi everyone!
We have attended several days of the 2022 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival, and have so far tried most of the items from two booths – India and Morocco. The latter was my favorite location last year for the festival and we stopped there often for lunch. The choices at India at the 2021 festival were not great, but this year I’m really happy with the dishes. The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival runs through November 19th, 2022. Here is a look at our experience with the India booth!
The India booth is located near the China pavilion.
The dishes offered are Crispy Paneer with Mango-Curry Ketchup, Potato and Pea Samosa with Coriander-Lime Cream and Chicken Tikka Masala with Fennel-Spiced Yogurt and Naan Bread. We also ordered the non-alcoholic Mango Lassi.
During our first visit, we ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala and Vegetable Samosas. One side of my family is from India – my stepmom and her kids (my brother and sisters) introduced me to Indian food when I was young. The first time I had vegetable samosas, they were brought home (probably a couple of dozen) in a large paper bag. I know I had too many that day. So this will be a go-to spot for me all festival long.
The samosas as we’ve had them are a good value, $5.25 for 2 that we split between us. The cream I’m not a big fan of, I rarely like squeezed-on additions to food. A plain vegetable samosa is perfect for me and that is how we ordered them the next visit.
The Chicken Tikka Masala was really good, pretty hot and spicy. For fall, this will be the perfect dish. For 90+ degree weather, it was too hot for me. I make Indian food at home quite a bit, and each dish is so different than the next. This doesn’t taste like the chicken tikka masala I make at home, nor like I’ve had elsewhere.
During our next visit, we ordered the Vegetable Samosas plain and the Crispy Paneer – which I’ve never had before – and a Mango Lassi. The paneer is a cheese and pretty mild. I don’t like heavy cheese and thought this was pretty tasty. Jeff ate it with the mango-curry ketchup, but I didn’t care for the ketchup. The Mango Lassi is fine and really perfect for a hot day, but I still don’t know why mango chunks are added (I had to stop the Cast Member from a second scoop).
It was raining out as we enjoyed the samosas.
The India Booth is so much better than last year, definitely a regular stop for us (along with the Morocco booth). I’d love to see a permanent, dedicated Indian restaurant on Walt Disney World property. Yak & Yeti does offer a decent Chicken Tikka Masala (which is very different than the one we tried at EPCOT) at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park. Sanaa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge also offers some Indian-inspired dishes. I love Indian food and am glad to have this booth over the next few months.