Review: Deconstructed Dish Food Studio Epcot Festival of the Arts

It “feels” like this year would have been a good opportunity to go full tilt and rename this kiosk “Deconstructed Epcot,” since that’s about where we’re at. They could have served candy “progress walls” circling chocolate-dipped pretzels that resemble the exposed beams of Electric Umbrella that will eventually collapse. You could also have a number of items on the menu that won’t actually come to fruition anytime soon. Perhaps a Mary Poppins Supercalifragilistic Red Umbrella Lollipop or a Multi-Level Festival Center Gingerbread House Kit.” If you buy them, you could always come back in 2035 and see if they’ve materialized. As long as you have the receipt.

The Deconstructed Dish booth has actually been deconstructed this year, at least in terms of its location, which is just off to the right of World Showcase before you arrive at Refreshment Port. That’s also along the walkway up to World Showcase on the Imagination side, across from Temporary Starbucks. If you’ve seen the equivalent of the Hawaii booth over the last few Festivals, you know where we’re at.

Deconstructed Dish has also taken apart a couple of their dishes in a slightly different manner than past years, which I would imagine is slightly easier than putting together a cohesive dish. It’s crossed my mind to call this website “Deconstructed easywdw.com” and you can figure out how to put it back together.

This year’s menu:

All three food items return in name with slightly different takes on the ingredients in the savory items. Wine can apparently not be deconstructed this year, as we lose both the red and the white, but the Rainboba and Deconstructed Breakfasts return.

Deconstructed Reuben: Rye Popover, Corned Beef, Gryuère Panna Cotta, and Brined Brussels Sprouts with Broken Thousand Island Dressing – $6.75

Here’s last year’s version.

And the one the year before that.

And now this year’s. One might argue that a Rueben is a Rueben because the ingredients work together in tandem as you take each overflowing bite. This “feels” like Corned Beef and Sides, none of the latter of which stand really out. The corned beef should bring a sourer flavor and a softer, tenderer texture, instead of requiring one of those chainsaws from one of the guys standing in the hole in the middle of Future World to cut through it. Last year, they went with a Jarlsberg Cake on the side that turned out to be more grit than anything. This year, it’s Gryuère Panna Cotta, which is kind of like if you made goopy cheese that may or may not not turn into Flubber when you’re not looking. The texture is about the same. The single half of Brussels Sprout can head in the direction of whoever likes them most. Ours was saltier and mushier than you might hope, not that there is much of it anyway. The Broken Thousand Island Dressing was oilier than you’d probably like, which is probably why they typically mix the salad dressing ingredients together. They’ve tried several different versions of this dish over the years, but it’s probably time to go in a different direction after failure three or four. Then again, we’re going on year 40 of Epcot or something and it’s still here. Potentially, the large portion of Corned Beef brings some value, but there are more cohesive dishes that are actually assembled coming up.

Taste: 3/10

Value: 4/10

Deconstructed BLT: Crispy Pork Belly, Soft-poached Egg, Brioche, Watercress Espuma, and Tomato Jam – $7.

I had the previous iteration of this under “Must Buy” for a couple of years with 9s on Taste and Value, but it’s apparently not nearly deconstructed enough as the various ingredients touch each other. Above is last year’s version.

And this year’s. The dish is likely one that depends on the freshness of the Pork Belly, which is on the left. At best, it’s a salty, rich, tender couple bites of pork. More likely, yours will come out drier, with a nice snappy exterior that gives way to a couple bites of pork that you may or may not want to try to gnaw through. The egg helps, but it would do more to mitigate some of the dryness of the pork if it sat on top as before. The brioche adds an opportunity to dab up the leftovers, but a second piece would be welcome. The Watercress Epsuma is more like a vegetable butter of questionable color than anything and the Tomato Jam lacks the citrus and sugar to differentiate it much from diced tomato. I’m not sure or why they needed to go in a different direction with this one, but the Pork Belly and Brioche sort of act like Progress Walls for the egg, which may or may not sprout up into a new attraction. So there’s that. It was disappointing compared to the last couple years.

Taste: 4/10

Value: 4/10

Deconstructed Strawberry Cheesecake: Whipped New York-style Cheesecake with Fresh Florida Strawberries and Sugar Cookies – $6.25

The cheesecake, which is incredibly fresh with bright, ripe berries doesn’t “feel” as substantial whipped up in this fashion, but the bold flavors are still present, and the sugar cookies provide a nice, sweet base for the bite that you’re going to have to put together yourself. It’s delicious, but it seems hard to justify for the money. It’s not as big as it might look.

Taste: 8/10

Value: 4/10

Rainboba: Sparkling Water layered with Fruit Boba and topped with a Foam Cloud – $8

This is mostly Dasani Raspberry Lemonade Sparkling Water, the many cans of which you’ll see inside of the booth.

Some sweet Boba line the bottom and then there’s a somewhat unattractive layer of sweet, frothy raspberry foam on top. Potentially, the reason you would want the drink is the fact that it has Figment printed on the other side of the thin plastic cup, along with the event logo printed on this one. It’s still a disposable cup, though, so I’m not sure how much use anybody is going to get out of it after the Festival. You could certainly wash it gently over a couple of future uses, but you’re not really getting a reusable souvenir cup here. Considering the drink is basically half a can of Dasani Sparkling Water for eight dollars, you probably want to skip this one. The dish does change colors and may be a fun aside for children you have $8 to spend on.

 Twinings of London Chai Tea Shake with Maple Syrup garnished with a Waffle Crisp and Candied Bacon – $4.50 or with Cream Bourbon for $11

I actually preferred the flavor and texture of the non-alcoholic version (GASP), which enjoyed a thicker consistency, and those tiny little ice crystals that make a drink like this sparkle on the tongue. I think the liquor in the alcoholic version melted the Shake so much that it was more like drinking milk, while not adding a whole lot of booze. Overall, the non-alcoholic version is more refreshing and the much more expensive alcoholic version isn’t going to pack much of a punch. I’d probably save the extra $6.50 and still with the booze-free option. Canada Cart and Rose & Crown are in the vicinity.

Deconstructed Dish loses a couple points for switching up dishes that probably didn’t require it. Particularly when they couldn’t come up with any dishes for Citrus Blossom in the meantime. You could do worse, and the Shake is very good. But the food is middling. You may get lucky on the Pork Belly, which can be very good when it’s fresh.

Citrus Blossom is up next.