Welcome to the 2022 EPCOT Festival of the Arts! This festival has got some incredible art, stunning performances, and oh-so-tasty snacks.

We’ve been giving you LIVE updates throughout the day as we check out this year’s fest. We already visited the popular Pop Eats! booth (where we snagged that adorable Figment popcorn bucket) and the brand-new Deco Delights, but now we’re taking a look at a returning booth that we can’t wait to visit again.

The Painted Panda can be found in the China pavilion in EPCOT’s World Showcase.

When we visited, this booth was HOPPIN’ with a lot of guests looking for tasty snacks. The line stretched back all the way out of the China pavilion 😮‍.

And we don’t blame everyone for heading here! This booth has been one of our favorites in the past, with strong flavors and gorgeous food.

Menu

The menu here looks very familiar…in fact, most of the menu items are the same as last year! The menu got a complete re-haul last year, but it looks like some items have decided to stick around for the 2022 fest.

But there are still a couple of new things to try. Let’s see if they hold up to the offerings of years past!

Food

First on this menu is General Tso’s Chicken Shumai, which is new this year. We’ve seen a similar dish in the past (2020’s version had beef inside), but the General Tso’s Chicken version is new.

We thought these little dumpling were delicious! The sauce on top had a bit of a kick, which we expected from General Tso’s flavors. The cucumbers on the side were pickled, and we loved them. We would order those cucumbers by themselves if that was an option — they were that good.

General Tso’s Chicken Shumai (The Painted Panda 🐼) #ArtfulEPCOT pic.twitter.com/OG1riXnEcA

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) January 14, 2022

 

 The chicken inside was very filling, and you can tell that there’s more sauce on the inside.

Plus, isn’t this dish just so pretty? We loved the bright colors and little pops of texture (like the sprinkled sesame seeds on top). You can grab the Shumai for $10.75.

The second returning dish is a Char Siu Pork Bun. This is pork with a tasty sauce on a bao bun.

Our reporter had one word for this dish: Glorious! The pork was very tender, and there’s a little bit of sweetness coming from both the bun and the sauce.

You also get a generous portion — our bun had three pieces of pork inside. We’ve loved this in the past, and we’re still big fans today. You can find this one for $8.50.

We might be full from some very excellent snacks, but that won’t stop us from getting a few drinks to wash them down!

Beverages

First is the “Panda” Bubble Tea. This fun favorite is a classic milk tea with black and white boba, and it’s non-alcoholic. We’ve had this drink at previous Festivals of the Arts, and we love the creamy texture and not-too-sweet flavor. Plus those boba pearls are just fun to chew on! You can get this drink for $7.75.

For the 21+ crowd, there’s the Jasmine Draft Beer. You can get it for $5 (for an 6oz pour) or $8.50 (for a 12 oz pour). This beer is usually very mild and not too hoppy, and we’ve tasted some floral notes in the past.

The Eastern Dynasty is a new cocktail that features vodka, light rum, strawberry syrup, piña colada mix, soda water, and magic boba pearls. This drink is $12.50.

We thought this cocktail was very sweet! Make sure to stir it before you take your first sip, or else it might taste a little like cough syrup. Piña colada is the most dominant flavor, but you can definitely taste strawberry in it as well. We tasted more vodka than rum in our drink.

We would’ve liked a little more soda water in this cocktail to cut the sweetness a bit, but overall we thought it was a really fun and refreshing beverage.

Eastern Dynasty cocktail!🍹Vodka, light rum, strawberry syrup, pina colada, soda water, and magic boba pearls ✨ pic.twitter.com/kuVUu8Q5QF

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) January 14, 2022

 The Kung Fu Punch and Sea Butterfly are both returning cocktails as well. The Kung Fu Punch has vodka, triple sec, mango syrup, orange juice, and soda water. It’s available for $12.50, and it’s a very refreshing and sweet drink to sip on.

The Sea Butterfly is a butterfly pea flower-infused cocktail with vodka, light rum, lychee syrup, and magic boba pearls. This beautiful drink is $13.50.

It’s perfect for lychee lovers, since that’s the dominant flavor in the cocktail.

Overall

This booth is super popular, but we thought the eats and drinks are worth waiting in a long line. We loved both the dumplings and the pork bun, although that pork bun is probably still our favorite! Both of the snacks were large portions, which makes them great for a light lunch or shareable snack.

The drinks are fun here as well, with many different flavors and options. In general, we definitely recommend stopping by this booth during your Festival of the Arts adventure!

We’ll be in EPCOT giving you Festival of the Arts updates all day long, so stay tuned for more!

Click Here to See ALL of Our Festival of the Arts Reviews

 

What are you looking forward to trying the most? Let us know in the comments!