We continue from Flavor Full.
Refreshment Port is the permanent building on the right as you head towards Canada. For the last few years, it’s offered an assortment of Festival-exclusive dishes for the various seasons. Citrus Blossom is across the way with Northern Bloom just ahead and the Honey Bee-stro and Pineapple Promenade nearby. You can pretty easily collect food and drink from those kitchens and share them at one table in the vicinity alongside anything you might pick up here. There are some nice tables lining the water as long as your eyes ignore the monstrous floating barges in the water.
Somebody at Disney thinks “poutine” is anything with french fries as the base of the dish, so the miffed Canadian crowd will have to take the title and ingredients of the dish up with them. The House-made Italian Sausage and Pepper version is $9 and may be the first time that we’ve seen a vegetarian option. The Starcut Ciders Cidre Colada Hard Cider is also available. The Cutwater drinks are “new” to the Festival, but can be purchased in cans around property, largely at resort quick services and Sunshine Seasons. They at least pour them nicely into cups instead of just flipping the tab and handing you the can.
House-made Italian Sausage and Pepper Poutine – $9
See, it’s centered.
A big thing to keep in mind here is that it’s a vegetarian dish, so meat-lovers looking for hunks of spicy chorizo covered in hot peppers will be disappointed.
I’d only recommend this to vegetarians looking for a very hearty snack or meal. There is quite a bit of filling food here that probably isn’t spicy enough for those looking for a serious kick or meaty enough if you’re not vegetarian. If you do order one, prepare for a gut bomb with all of those fries and quite a bit of “sausage” on top. It’s best shared among three or four people or you’re probably not going to be in the mood to sample anything else for a while. At nine bucks, you’re looking at each person putting in three dollars, which isn’t a bad value to give them a shot.
Taste: 8 out of 10 for vegetarians and 5 out of 10 otherwise
Value: 7/10
There are definitely enough calories here to get your money’s worth, but you’ll find finer flavors and more attention to detail elsewhere.
Popsicle Trio: Honeydew, Raspberry-Mint, and Coconut-Lime – $5
This is a fun trio of flavors that will melt faster and faster as temperatures rise. Much to my own amusement, highs are already approaching 90 degrees, so I didn’t have an opportunity to take a glamour shot before the popsicles started melting and I got yelled at for trying to walk them over to Japan for the perfect shot with the koi fish. Some people are just unreasonable. Each Popsicle is on the small side, and we ended up eating them with a fork, rather than trying to lift them up only for the Honeydew, Raspberry-Mint, and Coconut-Lime cream to slide right off and either back onto our hands, onto the plate, or on the ground. So be prepared to eat these immediately, unless it’s unseasonably cool or late at night. The popsicles are far from overwhelming in size, but for less than two dollars each, and with each flavor standing out as fruity, natural, and unique, we think it’s worth adding them to an order. Each member of your group may like some flavors more than others, but that will only make divvying up the Popsicles that much easier. Just be aware that you’ll probably need to eat them first. There are worse problems to have.
Taste: 8/10
Value: 8/10
Starcut Ciders Cidre Colada Hard Cider – $9.75
I’m not sure if they’re going for search engine optimization within the title of the ciders cidre cider or what, but there isn’t much question that this is a cider whether you’re reading the menu or taking a sip. Reactions were mixed. It’s a dry, crisp, semi-sweet cider with a lot of apple up front followed by a lingering artificial coconut flavor. I’d might add one to an order if you’re picking up something else, but unless you’re big on artificial coconut, there are safer bets.
Here’s the full Refreshment Port menu:
Should you elect to add other items. The Port also offers complimentary cups of water, so consider asking for a few of those when you put in your order.
It strikes me as odd that they didn’t give the “sausage” poutine some sort of clever vegetarian-sounding name like “So beyond impossible you-won’t-believe-it’s-fake-sausage sausage” or something. I suspect lots of militant carnivores will order unknowingly and cause much grief for the long-suffering cast members behind those mercifully tiny windows.