Tink Tested: Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie Lunch

Location: France pavilion in Epcot
Meals Served: B, L, D (Though technically, their menu lists all items as "snack")

Type of Cuisine: French Pastries and Sandwiches

Dining Plan: Yes
Full Menu: Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie Menu
Atmosphere: Parisian cafe

Photo Credit: DisneyWorld.com

Fun Stuff: Not really anything special here for kids. It's attached to a gift shop but since it's mostly French souvenirs, I don't think kids would find it particularly exciting. 

Stand out dishes: Fresh French Baguettes, Creme Brulee, Croissant Jambon Fromage, really ANYTHING
Best Use of Dining Plan Point: Bleu Salad  ($9.50) + Duo or Macaron ($5.75) + Strawberry Smoothie or Cappucino ($4.64) = $19.89
Experience: I. Love. Les. Halles. I have been here many, many times and before Les Halles even existed, used to frequent the old Patisserie. There are few better edible things on Earth than French pastry and French bread, so when my mom, K and I got caught in a rain storm while trying to take in some of Food and Wine Festival, it was an easy choice to settle on lunch at Les Halles instead. The tough part would be choosing what to order. Too many delicious options in one place! 
     Though Les Halles does frequently have a VERY long line, we were there early enough that it hadn't built up yet. Most Guests probably don't realize just how many choices there are here for lunch, including soups, salads, quiches and sandwiches. And the nice thing is, you can get a super reasonable meal here, and still have money left over for dessert! You can get a bread bowl filled with potato soup for only about five bucks! Desserts average around $4, so for just about $10, you can have a fantastic meal AND dessert too! 
     Mum picked the Jambon Beurre, (Ham and Cheese with Dijon Mustard Butter, on a Demi Baguette). I asked about egg allergies, so I knew what to get K, and the girl that was helping me got a supervisor. The supervisor told us what he could have and K chose the Pissaladiere, which he thought was pizza. Really it is more of a focaccia bread with tomatoes, black olives and Gruyere Cheese on it. I adore the freshly made baguettes here, so I just got one of those, since I knew K likely wouldn't finish his lunch, and I'd be having some of that. And of course, we HAD to get dessert. My mom doesn't feel like she has been to Disney unless she has had creme brulee from Les Halles, so I knew what her choice would be. K and I went with one of the only two egg free options, chocolate mousse. Not that I had a problem with that. Their chocolate mousse is awesome, and a really good size serving. 

K couldn't wait to get his hands on this one!

     After getting our order, I went over to the seating area to meet Mum, who had gotten a table for us. It can also be extremely hard to get seating here, since the place fills up, and is very small, but we were able to grab a table here this early with no problem. K took two bites of his "peezza" and decided he didn't like it, so I ate it. I thought it was tasty, but I could tell why K didn't like it. Gruyere is a rather sharp taste and the fococcia was on the drier side. It wasn't bad, but I probably wouldn't order it again. My baguette, on the other hand, was as flawless and fresh as ever. Crusty and crunchy on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside. With some butter it was heavenly. K stole some too. Mum enjoyed her sandwich a lot. The meat and cheese was flavorful and the mustard butter complimented the sandwich nicely. 

     Once K realized there was chocolate mousse sitting on the tray, his eyes were locked in, like he was a lion stalking his prey. When I gave him the ok to dive on in, his eyes lit up and he went for it! I managed to wrestle a couple of bites out of his little paws. I love that their mousse is rich, chocolaty and smooth, yet has a light, airy quality to it. Many people miss the mark with mousse and it ends up like an overly sweetened pudding. Not the case here. And the chocolate crisp balls on top of the cup are yummy too! 

     Mum was not disappointed with her creme brulee. As always, it was insanely creamy and delicious. There's something about cracking the sugar topping with a spoon that is super satisfying. Especially when it's on top of the best creme brulee ever! I've said it in the past, and I'll say it again... The French do something magical to their pastry cream and custards. Heavenly.

     The desserts were incredible and there was plenty of my fabulous baguette to take the rest home to The Hubs. Always good to earn some extra "best wife ever" points!

Tink's Tots Try It Out: According to K (3 yo boy)  K, did you like your lunch?   "I haff dinna. I eat da peezza."   Well, no, not dinner, you had lunch. And yes, you ate what you thought was pizza. Did you like it?   "No like da peezza."   Yeah, I think that cheese was a little too sharp for you. But you loved the chocolate mousse, huh?   "Oooo, I like da choc-a-lit."   You, my friend, have excellent taste.   "I like da tays of it, yeah!"

Will we be back: I will go to Les Halles any day, any time, with anyone. Who wants to go?

Tink in the Parks: More Bites from Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival

Good afternoon, Tinkers!

     Hope you are all well, especially our friends in the Carolinas and Virginia. Stay safe and I'll keep my fingers crossed that Hurricane Joaqin decides to go easy on you!

     Down in O-Town today, it was another hot, hot day, but it looks like cooler temps are on the way this weekend, so we will start to get a small taste of fall. The Hubs ended up having the day off, so while D was still at school, we took K and hit up Epcot for some Food and Wine fun before the weekend crowd rolls in. Well, we were pretty surprised to see how already mobbed Food and Wine was! At 12pm, almost every booth we passed had a line. I think this year's festival is going to be one of the busiest yet, which I guess is great for Epcot, but not so great for those that don't like crowds.

     First we went to Innoventions West, to get our stamps so that we can get our free commemorative Food and Wine glass when we come back for the third time. If you are an annual passholder, make sure you're getting your stamps too! You can get a free glass every third visit to the Festival, as long as you have all of the passport stamps from the booths too.

Pork Spareribs

     For eats, we first visited the two newest booths, Sustainable Chew and The Chew Lab. From Sustainable Chew, we decided to try the Pork Spareribs and the Vanilla Panna Cotta. The ribs were fantastic! They were on a bed of cheesy marscapone grits, which were creamy and SO yummy! The ribs were topped with a red wine sauce, fennel and a slice of jalapeno. The meat was fall-off-the-bone tender and the flavor was really wonderful. I wish larger portions were available! For $5.50, there were two small bones, and about a half a cup of grits. Absolutely worth the try, though!

Vanilla Panna Cotta

     Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the Panna Cotta. The vanilla cream was topped with a thick gel with pistachio brittle in it, and a fig on top. The gel was a rather unpleasant texture to have in my mouth to begin with, but then I tried the actual panna cotta and found that even MORE offensive. It was mealy and lumpy, more like cottage cheese than panna cotta. It was also rather tart, which I have never experienced with this type of dessert before. It was so unpleasant that I only ate one bite. The Hubs tried it too, but was even more grossed out than I was, so we ended up tossing it in the trash. I wish I could have gotten my $4.25 back, especially since that was a high price for such a small portion.

     After that less than stellar dessert, I told The Hubs to go get one of the Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffles from The Chew Lab.  I had tried it a couple of days ago and loved it. It is well worth the $4.00! The Hubs loved it as much as I did. The semi-frozen, creamy, chocolaty goodness is only made even more delicious by the whiskey caramel.

Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle

At this point, K literally decided to stop and smell the flowers, so we paused in the cute little dining area next to The Chew booths. There are about 8 high tables, as well as some small counter tops, in a grassy area next to the booths, where you can stop and chill for a bit. This is a nice feature, since almost everywhere else throughout the festival, there seemed to be a shortage of places where you could put a plate down. Guests were using trash cans and benches as table tops. They could definitely use more tables placed throughout World Showcase during the festival weeks.    

     When we were able to move on, we next stopped off at the Canada marketplace, for some Chicken Sausage and Le Cellier's Wild Mushroom Beef Filet. While we ate, we got a little rain shower, but since the sun was scorching hot, it felt nice to get a sprinkle. K liked it so much that he got up from his stroller and did a rain dance. The Hubs said he needed a drink, so he went over to the Refreshment Port to grab a Diet Coke and magically reappeared with a Cronut, a croissant/donut hybrid, covered in cinnamon and sugar. Honestly, I can't say I was upset that the cronut appeared. Cronuts are incredible. If you haven't tried one, you MUST. They are served hot and are basically fried dough from the heavens. One Cronut is a pretty huge portion and totally worth the $4.99. And great news.... They are on Refreshment Port's regular menu, so even if you aren't visiting until after Food and Wine, you should be able to enjoy one of these incredible treats!

The Cronut. The picture doesn't do it justice. That's a full dessert plate. It's huge. 

     Ok, back to our Canadian goodies... The Chicken Sausage was served on creamy polenta with Minus 8 onion jam on it. The sausage had a lot of kick to it, which we were not expecting. It was tasty, but whew! Unexpected heat can really throw you off! The polenta was sweet and creamy, and really cut the heat nicely. The portion was good for the $4.50 price tag and I'd definitely recommend it, especially if you like a little spice. 

Chicken Sausage with Polenta and Onion Jam

     The Filet was fantastic! Pretty much everything from Le Cellier is awesome anyway, but the filet was perfectly seasoned, and cooked to a nice medium. It was fork tender and the truffle butter sauce was a great compliment. I am not a mushroom eater, so I let The Hubs have those. Actually, K ended up eating the majority of the beef, and loved it. It is $7.50 and probably only about  2-3 oz., but what I would recommend is to skip the sirloin from The Chew Lab, and go with the filet in Canada instead. 

Le Cellier Filet with Truffle Butter and Mushrooms

     We skipped Ireland and decided to head over the bridge to France, instead. I had been dying to try the Vanilla and Chocolate Creme Brulee. While in line, the smell of the Boeuf Bourguignon on the man's plate who was seated nearby was enough to convince me to order one of those too. The Boeuf Bourguignon had a rich, red wine flavor in the brown sauce, and the beef was super tender and delicious. K also at a good share of that. The mashed potatoes that were served with it were unfortunately a bit like cafeteria potatoes and ended up being discarded. The serving had two large chunks of meat, and about a quarter of a cup or potatoes, and was $5.95. I was glad I tried it, but probably wouldn't order it again.

Boeuf Bourguignon

     The creme brulee had the magical, silky creaminess that only the French can create. I swear that the France pavilion has some of the very best creme brulee that I have ever had, and I have had it in actual France before. This special Food and Wine version is a smaller portion that what they serve in Les Halles, but it is ribboned with a melty chocolate swirl. C'est Magnifique! $4.25 well spent. 

Vanilla/Chocolate Creme Brulee

      We were starting to fill up and I knew I wanted to make a stop at the Desserts and Champagne marketplace, so we hopped the boat back over to the Future World side of the lagoon. At Desserts and Champagne, we went for the Chocolate Cherry Explosion, The Cream Soda Float and the Chocolate Seashells. The seashells were quickly claimed by K, since they were the only thing served in a package, and therefor, the only thing that we knew for sure was egg free. I guess they were good, but since he gobbled each of the two shells in one mouthful, I wouldn't know for sure. The $1.75 was worth it, since he seemed so content shoving them in his mouth like he had never eaten before.

     The Cream Soda Float was tasty. I would say that the portion of caramel ice cream included in it was pretty large for the cup size. I was surprised to find that the soda was pink, and I actually asked a Cast Member if I had picked up the right order, just to be sure. It was good, but for the $4.50 price tag, next time I will pass. I really want to try the Frozen S'More, which looked awesome and is only $3.25.

Don't be fooled. My husband has a freakishly large hand. This is probably a 5 oz. cup. 

     The Chocolate Cherry Explosion had an awesome presentation. The chocolate mousse triangle had a chocolate covered cherry on top, and a chocolate straw decorating it, plus the cherry sauce on the top of it was wondrously iridescent. Oooo.... sparkly! 

  

The mousse was very dense and had cherry bits throughout, giving it a hint of tartness. I really liked it and thought the portion was plenty big enough to share. And it was only $3.75! Score!

     We only had about 30 minutes until we had to leave to get D from school, so we started walking toward the front. K was dying to get out of his stroller and run amok, (amok, amok, amok, amok!), so we let him loose at the splash pad and he damn near lost his mind. He had SO. MUCH. FUN. He splashed and played for twenty five minutes, and was hooting and hollering the whole time. Guests were stopping to watch him because he was clearly having massive amounts of fun. 

     Of course, he wasn't pleased when it was time to go, but I bribed him with a lollipop and we were on our way! We had an fantastic afternoon and tried some tasty treats. I totally can't wait to come back and get some more. Next on my list will be hitting up the Italy marketplace and trying that yummy frozen s'more ar Desserts and Champagne! Watch for reviews soon! 

Tink In The Parks: More Food and Wine Tastes!

Good afternoon, Tinkers!


     Today was my mom's last day in town and she wanted to see some of Food and Wine, so we went into the park.... and got soaked. Oh, well. At least it was relatively cool, (when the sun wasn't peeking through), and we got some tasty treats!

       Today I tried the New York Strip with Parsnip Silk, Balsamic Glaze and Arugula Foam and the Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle, with Warm Whiskey Caramel, both from the Chew Lab marketplace. The strip was $6.25 and had two slices of beef, cooked to a tender and juicy medium. They were on a bed of creamy parsnip silk, and had dots of balsamic glaze the the side. On top, there was green argula foam, which resembled a bizarre science experiment. I found the meat to be tender and flavorful, though it was only room temp, or even a little cooler than that, which was not exactly pleasant. The parsnip silk was creamy and smooth, and was almost like a more liquid version of a mashed potato. I didn't care for the arugula foam, though luckily, it was easy to scrape off. Overall, I thought the dish was flavorful and enjoyable, but for the $6.25 I paid, I wouldn't get it again.

      Now, the truffle was another story. The Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle is basically a light, silky chocolate mousse, which is flash frozen in liquid nitrogen. (Even Elsa herself would be impressed with this unique freezing technique!) The ball of frozen mousse is then cracked with a little hammer-like utensil, and almond crumble is added, and liquid whiskey-infused caramel is poured over the top. It is as delicious as it sounds! And at only $4.00, it's not badly priced. Especially since it's a decent portion, which could be shared. Though once you have a taste, you'll likely want your own. I know I'll be back for more!

     Over in Poland, I tried one of my favorites from festivals past: Kielbasa and Potato Pierogi, with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream. It was as good as I remember! The kielbasa was smoky and salty. Well, I think it was. K ate all three slices of it and barely left a bite for me! The two small potato pierogis were tasty, though a bit greasy from the kielbasa oil and mine could have been cooked a bit longer. Nevertheless, with the onions, they were delicious! And we even got a "hidden Mickey" in our sour cream! That dish was $5.50, and a fair portion for that price. And while we were over near the Germany Pavilion, K checked out the toy train's local village, where it looks like they were celebrating Food and Wine Festival too!



    My mom tried the Sweet Goat Cheese Panna Cotta from the Cheese Studio Marketplace. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of it, but I did not try it at all. I am NOT a goat cheese fan, so I knew I wanted to steer clear. Mum said it was "okay". Not great. She felt like goat cheese just shouldn't be served sweet. It had a guava gel on the top that didn't look too appetizing to me. If you LOVE goat cheese, definitely give it a try, especially at only $2.50 for the reasonably sized serving. If you realize goat cheese is gross like I do, avoid it.

     Mum also had some of the Loaded Mac and Cheese from Farm Fresh, on my recommendation. Though she liked the flavors, she found her portion to be a little dry. Bummer, since the one The Hubs and I had the other day was AWESOME!

     That's all we got to today! As soon as I am back to try more, I will post pictures and reviews. For now, happy eating everyone and I hope to see you out at Epcot's 20th International Food and Wine Festival! For my all of my booth menu pictures, check out my first review on The Soft Opening of the 20th Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.

Tink In The Parks: Soft Opening of the 2015 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival (PART 2)

Hello again, Hungry Tinkers!

      Let's get to the good stuff, right? Time to check out the booth menus at the 2015 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, and to review some of the awesome eats I got to try! Let's jump on it! (If you didn't read Part 1 yet, click HERE!)

     So we headed toward Canada first. At this point, it was only about 10:45am and the booths were not open yet, but I was able to grab photos of the menu items so you know what you have to look forward to!

 

We ended up trying the Kalua Pork Slider, when the Hawaii booth opened, later in the day. It normally comes with a pineapple chutney on it, but since it also contained mango, and The Hubs and I are both allergic to mango, we ordered one without the chutney. It was nice to hear that you could make slight alterations like that. Of course, they can't totally customize items for you, but if you need something without a sauce, etc, it seems like they are happy to oblige. The pork had a delicious seasoning, which was very reminiscent of the flavors of 'Ohana, over at the Polynesian. I believe the seasoning was coriander. It was slightly smoky and quite good. The "spicy mayonnaise" didn't have too much heat to it, and the sweet Hawaiian role was the perfect accompaniment. I bet with the pineapple chutney, it's amazing! I highly recommend it!

Kalua Pork Slider

 

 Can't wait to try the Cream Soda Float from Desserts and Champange!

 

The Dominican Republic stand looked tropical and fun!

 

 

Canada is always a crowd favorite and with the Cheddar Cheese soup AND Filet Mignon on the menu, this year will be no exception!

 

 

Over at the International Gateway, we ran into Ariel and Prince Eric, whom I have never seen in Epcot before. K was super excited to get a hug and since they had no line, he stayed to chat. 

Over in France, the Cast was getting coached before the booth opened. I'll be back for Creme Brulee!

 

 

 

 

  

 

When we hit the American Adventure, we ran into even more characters with virtually NO wait time, so K got to grab a whole bunch of more hugs and photos!

 

 

Moving on...

 

 

 

 

Something in South Korea smelled AMAZING! I'll have to head there this weekend!

 

We finally hit another open booth when we got to China! So of course, we HAD to stop and sample! We had the Chicken Potstickers, which came with a sweet/salty dipping sauce and were some of the BEST potstickers I have ever had! We also tried the Beijing Roasted Duck. It came in a steamed bun and had some scallions and onions and a Hoisin sauce. It was delicious! The bun was fresh and doughy and the meat was tender. There was a little more raw onion than I could handle, but it was still very tasty. I'll return for the Potstickers, but I won't get the Duck again. I'd rather try something else.

I do want to address something very important... This is the first time I have ever attended the event with our son, who had an egg allergy. I was very surprised to learn that there are NO allergy menus available at the kiosks. In fact, for allergy info, the booth's cashier will likely have to call a coordinator or chef for you, which, the couple of times we did it, was very time consuming. I am hoping that this was just because it was the soft opening, and not how allergies are handled for the whole festival. We shall see! Let me know if you have had experience with Food and Wine Festival and dietary restrictions! I'm interested.

 

Chicken Potstickers

Beijing Roasted Duck

I was disappointed to not see Watermelon Juice back in Mexico this year. I love that stuff!

 

The Craft Beer area, (in the old Odyssey building), wasn't open yet, but Guests were already buzzing about it!

 

 

 

Farm Fresh was open and had an incredible sounding mac and cheese, so we had to try it! OMG! The Loaded Mac and Cheese has peppers, onions, cheddar and bacon and it is SO good! The Hubs and I shared one and were kinda bummed we hadn't gone for two orders! I could have made this lunch on its own. DELICIOUS! I think it'll be a favorite this year!

 

Loaded Mac and Cheese

Over on the walkway between World Showcase and Future World, toward Imagination, there was a really nice space for the Artistry of Cheese and Wine booths. There was a good amount of seating and the booths were very nicely laid out. 

 

We had to try something from The Cheese Studio, because... it's CHEESE! We went for the Cheese Fondue with Sourdough Bread. The fondue itself was creamy and rich. The bread was just ok. Not a nice, moist, hearty sourdough like I would have expected. I'd skip this one next time. 

Cheese Fondue with Sourdough

     By the time we had reached back to Future World, it was time to leave to get D from school. Overall, I was very impressed with this year's festival offerings, even though we only got to see a few booths open. I can't wait to come back and devour more of the event! I'll be sure and pop a review in whenever we get a chance to sample some more Food and Wine goodness, but for now, Bon Appetit, Tinkers!