Review: Cider House 2017 Epcot Flower and Garden Kitchen

Cider House returns in the same location in front of Rose & Crown in the United Kingdom Pavilion.

All three food items return in addition to the McKenzie’s Black Cherry Hard Cider and Marinelli’s. The other two ciders are new. Fortunately, the Land Harvested Field Greens from last year, which I reviewed as a one out of ten on both flavor and value, disappeared.

$5.50 Shredded Corned Beef

Pear Cider-brined with Braised Cabbage and Branston Dressing with Pears. This was a large portion, but I didn’t personally care for the flavor or texture. Corned beef is naturally kind of soft and grainy already and then you’re topping it with soft pear on top of what basically amounts to sauerkraut which is then topped with a creamy dressing of unknown origin. It just kind of combined in the mouth into this soggy mess. I really wanted to like it because I really like corned beef, but I didn’t think it worked at all and nobody I was with would take a second bite.

Taste: 1/10 from me, but that doesn’t mean it’s “bad.” I think this is a personal taste thing.

Value: 6/10 – This is kind of arbitrary as I would not personally order a second, but it’s a big portion with seemingly high quality ingredients, particularly on the corned beef front.

$5.25 Potato and Cheddar Cheese Biscuit

House-made with Smoked Salmon Tartare, which has a pronounced, overwhelming lemon flavor and some unadvertised capers. It remains a hearty, freshly baked roll with a generous scoop of smoky salmon tartare. If you like lemon and don’t mind the texture of salmon tartare then this may be a winner, but I don’t care much for it personally.

Taste: 4/10 though you may enjoy it more.

Value: 6/10 – Disney wanted $12 for a similar amount of salmon with accompaniments for the Arts Festival. The quality of this is comparable and the biscuit is arguably better than a side of onion and egg.

$3.75 Freshly Baked Lemon Scone

With Crème Fraîche and Mixed Berries. The price on this isn’t bad, but the scone always seems so dense with a lemon flavor so artificial tasting. I’ll return to it later in this year’s Festival.

Taste: 3/10

Value: 5/10.

$4.50 McKenzie’s Black Cherry Hard Cider

Like a lot of hard ciders, this one is sweet and artificial tasting with a light body and low carbonation. Four or six ounces will probably be enough, but the black cherry flavor is a little different than your typical apple. The Ciderboys Strawberry Magic Hard Strawberry is another average entry, but at least doesn’t suffer from the overwhelming sweetness of the McKenzie’s. The Caribe Blood Orange Tropical Hard Cider is the local choice and lighter and drier than the other two. It should be the least sweet of the bunch, but still nothing to necessarily write home about. If you’re curious, I’d recommend the flight where the price is virtually the same per ounce for the three 4-ounce pours compared to a single pour of six ounces for $4.50. You never know which style you’ll like best.