REVIEW: These NEW EPCOT Snacks at Disney's Japan Booth Will Be DIVISIVE

We’re trekking over to the Japan booth at the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival and checking out the new and returning menu items right now!

Japan food booth

The EPCOT Food and Wine Festival runs through November 23rd this year! Throughout the festival, there are plenty of food booths, merchandise items, and concerts, too. Come along with us to the Japan booth to find out if it’s a booth you need to add to your must-eat-here list!

Eats

First up, we checked out the new Wagyu Temaki Sushi, hand-held sushi with sweet and savory American Wagyu beef topped with Takana Japanese pickles and spicy mayo sauce. This is available for $9.50.

The beef was very tender and juicy and was complimented well by the spicy mayo. The mayo had a little bit of a kick that would be considered hot by people who struggle with Disney spice, but we still enjoyed it. The Japanese pickles on top were pretty pungent and had a ginger-like taste, and the ratio of beef to rice favored the rice, but we found it was held together nicely by the seaweed and was quite tasty overall.

Wagyu Temaki Sushi

Next up is the other new sushi for 2024, the Eel Temaki Sushi. This is also a hand-held sushi with grilled eel, egg crumbles, cucumber, and pickled daikon radish served with eel sauce. Get this for $9.50!

This was probably the most disappointing thing we had because the potential was so high. The grilled eel tasted great but there wasn’t enough! Despite tasting so good, the eel, or lack thereof, was not enough to carry the dish. As for the egg crumbles, they really had no flavor and we wouldn’t have known they were there had we not read the menu listing. The eel sauce was also way too light and practically non-existent. However, the cucumber had a good crunch and we were also fans of the pickled daikon radish. Still, there just wasn’t enough happening with this dish despite the flavor profile being there. We hope it was a rare instance and you get a better plate if you decide to try it.

Eel Temaki Sushi

Returning for 2024 is the Teriyaki Chicken Bun, which is a steamed bun filled with minced chicken, vegetables, and teriyaki sauce. You can order this for $7.95. In 2023, this was one of our favorite items at the Festival.

Teriyaki Chicken Bun

Last year it was about 60% bao, 40% filling. It’s nice and meaty, but that teriyaki is sweet enough to complement the dough. We suggest checking it out again this year!

Teriyaki Chicken Bun

Now let’s check out the drinks on the menu!

Drinks

The new drink for 2024 is the boozy Kyoho Grape Sour made with Kyoho Black Grape cocktail with Japanese vermouth and Shōchū. It’ll cost you $8.75.

This cocktail was fantastic! We couldn’t taste the alcohol as it was juice-heavy, which can be a good thing especially if you decide on going all-out at EPCOT. This beverage was sweet, light, tasty, and very smooth.

A non-boozy drink on the menu this year is the Kyoho Drink which is made with Calpico with fragrant mellow and Kyoho Black Grape. This one is $7.00.

Kyoho Grape Sour

Returning again to the Japan book is a traditional Sake which you can order for $12.00, and the Sapporo Premium Beer which is priced at $5.50 for 6oz and $10 for 12oz.

OVERALL

Overall, this is a good booth with a ton of potential. While nothing blew us out of the water, we really liked the flavors the booth provides and think if you’re a fan of Japanese cuisine, you should give it a try. More adventurous with bold offerings, the Japan booth is worth a visit.

Japan booth spread

For the latest updates and reviews of each item, check out our links below and stay with us at Disney Food Blog.

Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Food & Wine Festival!

Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know:

And don’t forget to pick up our 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival e-book! See more details about the book below.

IT'S WINE & DINE TIME!

Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it's a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience.

If you're planning a day or a week at the festival, we've got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it's a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU!