REVIEW: The One EPCOT Country We Can Always Count On Let Us Down Today

We’re at the 2021 EPCOT Festival of the Holidays, and it’s a holly jolly blast!

Le Marche De Noel Holiday Kitchen

There’s so much to check out at this year’s fest, from holiday decorations to merchandise to delicious eats. And next up, we’re heading to Le Marche de Noel Holiday Kitchen in the France Pavilion!

This booth is filled with traditional holiday eats from France, in addition to wine and specialty cocktails. We’ve got quite the list of things to try, so let’s dive right in!

Food

Let’s nosh! First, we’ve got the Napoléon de Saumon Fumé en Brioche. This item is returning from 2017 and is made from smoked salmon napoleon with layers of smoked salmon, dill mousse, and crème fraîche mousse served in brioche. You can get it for $8.50.

Smoked Salmon Napoleon in a Dill Brioche

Next up, we’re trying out the Dinde Forestière, Patates Douces Rôties. This eat is not ENTIRELY new to the France booth, but it has different ingredients this time around. This year, it’s made of turkey with bacon, mushrooms, and onions in a mustard cream sauce served with roasted sweet potatoes. Last year, the potatoes were puffed potatoes. This dish is $7.25.

Dinde Forestiere Patates Douces Roties

The turkey was…okay, but it was cold when we ate it (which might have been our fault because we didn’t eat it right away). There was a little bit of dark meat on the bottom, but it was mostly white meat. The pearl onions on the bottom were yummy! We also liked the sweet potatoes, which is the change in this item from last year. Here’s the thing, though — this didn’t blow us away, although it did feel like a holiday meal.

We liked the sweet potatoes!

And finally, it wouldn’t be Le Marche de Noel without a little bit of holiday chocolate! This year you can order the Bûche de Noël Chocolat Blanc, Framboise for $6.25. It’s made of a chocolate Christmas log with a chocolate biscuit, white chocolate mousse, raspberry cream, and chocolate fudge coating. WOAH! Last year’s Buche de Noël was with made with caramel, so how does this new version compare? Well, to start with, it’s certainly pretty to look at!

It’s certainly pretty!

This dessert is RICH, and almost too much so (but we have been eating ALL DAY). We also found the chocolate biscuit inside REALLY dry, but there’s still a ton of sweetness in the layers with the mousse and chocolate. Again, we wanted to be blown away because we usually LOVE the France offerings, but this reminded us of a Little Debbie Swiss Log with raspberry filling.

Layers

That’s not NECESSARILY a bad thing, and if you like chocolate and raspberry, you’ll like this. But the frosting is SO rich and none of the other flavors really balance that out.

Beverages

The drinks here include a Cabernet Sauvignon for $6.50, a Rosé Sparkling Wine for $12.50, and a Cranberry Mimosa. The mimosa is made with sparkling wine with orange juice and cranberry syrup, all for $9.75. We had high hopes for this drink, but it’s a typical mimosa with a bit of extra fruitiness. It’s fine…REALLY, it’s fine, but you can tell they used cranberry syrup instead of juice and it’s a little TOO sweet.

Cranberry Mimosa

We’re big fans of the Frozen Hot Chocolate Martini made with vanilla vodka, vodka, chocolate milk, and whipped cream. It’s $12.50and made our best of the fest list last year!

Frozen Hot Chocolate Martini

No matter what you order, there are options for all kinds of palettes here!

Overall

When it comes to booths at EPCOT festivals, we can usually count on France to blow us away. Although everything was okay, that’s just it — we expected more than okay. We expected best of the fest, but this year, the France booth underdelivered. However we were still a fan of the Frozen Hot Chocolate Martini, so the booth is worth a visit for that alone!

That’s everything for now, but stay tuned to DFB for more updates from the 2021 EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays as we taste our way around the world!

Click Here to See All the Festival of the Holidays Menus!

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