6 days ago
The Food at Epic Universe Is Wild, Weird, and Shockingly Good
Courtesy of Epic Universe
When Universal Studios opened the first major US theme park in over 20 years on May 22, they promised immersive restaurants with wild theme dining. I've eaten theme park snacks from around the globe for over 20 years, so I knew I would go.
Did I travel several hours to eat a black-bunned burger with a bubbling green mocktail? Reader, I did.
I learned very quickly that the food at Epic Universe is different from other parks. For fans, 'theming' is a big deal. You visit these parks to escape reality for a little bit, and the more all-encompassing the theme, the more likely you are to lose yourself in the world of the park. For us theme park adults, we love when a park and its experiences feel part of that specific world.
The rides and Epic themes are getting a lot of attention, but the food almost feels like a secret. A far cry from standard hot dogs and cotton candy, ingredients like saffron labneh, coconut nectar, and mango bread create exciting and immersive dining experiences here. Burnt nuggets are actually tasty pimento cheese bites. Mustachioed Luigi grilled chicken sandwiches are packed with basil pesto.
Yeah, theme park food is weird. Generally, it's a lot of handheld stuff you're eating while walking, like pretzels or turkey legs. It's sensory overload, with bright, artificial food coloring or strange textures. It's served by people in costume and out of adult sippy cups. But done right, theme park food is freeing, a chance suspend reality and eat something drawn from imagination.
At Epic the food is fantastical and it tastes good. The park is made up of five lands: Dark Universe, Isle of Berk from 'How To Train Your Dragon', The Wizarding World of Harry Potter's Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World and Celestial Park. Even better: You feel like you're actually visiting that world, whether you're eating in a cafe from Harry Potter or a restaurant Dracula might own.
Right now, there are 25 food and drink options, enough bars, snack stands and restaurants to actually eat three full meals at the parks. Only Atlantic, The Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant, and Toadstool Cafe require booking ahead—they're popular, and in the case of Toadstool, it's the only place to really get a sit-down meal in Super Nintendo World.
My verdict: Throughout the park, the menus are completely unserious, with unnatural shapes or colors based on the stories of their respective lands, served in cone-shaped bread or topped with glitter—but really delicious too.
Dark Universe is the spooky park celebrating classic monster movies, with a Frankenstein ride, an oddly sexy Invisible Man, and Dracula's spot, Das Stakehaus (get it?) serving vampire-themed dishes.
Compared to other theme parks that only provide plastic—quelle horreur!—Das Stakehaus serves salmon, chicken and cuts of steak on real plates with real black silverware, which makes me feel like an adult who can be trusted with cutlery. The meat is flanked by gorgeous sides of nutty maitake mushrooms, roasted carrots and buttery acorn squash. The vegetables were incredibly fresh, unexpected for theme park fare. By far, the very best item at Das Stakehaus is the Greek yogurt panna cotta called Labotocotta. One silky bite of bright pink raspberry sauce and I forgot that I was spooning into a brain-shaped dessert while a vampire familiar played the violin nearby.
I've found hearty theme park breakfasts are a unicorn, but there's a full petit déjeuner menu at Café L'air De La Sirène, the main restaurant of The Ministry of Magic. While superfans line up for Bièraubeurre Crêpes (French for Butterbeer, if you didn't pick that up), the Oeufs en Cocotte— poached eggs with mornay sauce and gruyère cheese—is super filling and feels authentic to lounging at a Parisian cafe.
Later on, I came back for the bright yellow and green cocktail called a Lobe Blaster cocktail at Ministry of Magic's Bar Moonshine just around the corner. Made with punchy moonshine, limoncello, and absinthe, it's a fan favorite for the immediate punch of lemon-lime, gummy candy-like sweetness, and smooth minty finish. It goes down easy, but the real draw is the fantastical advice from bartenders in striped, tailored vests to avoid using Portkeys after imbibing.
If there's a more gorgeous pizzeria than Pizza Moon, I haven't found it. In Epic's main hub of Celestial Park, the vintage theatre setting is like stepping into the 1902 Georges Méliès film 'Le Voyage Dans la Lune,' complete with a pizza oven shaped like a steampunk rocket. Whimsical theatrical cutouts make the perfect backdrop for Pizza Lunare, an actual work of art consisting of a thick purple ube crust, which evoked a muted, earthy sweetness and topped with mountain peaks of custardy ricotta dotted with crispy pancetta and garlic confit. I never expected to gobble down garlic béchamel at a theme park or even crave a heavy pizza between zippy coaster rides, but I have been converted.
People visit theme parks for the rides and shows, but at Epic Universe, Universal Studios presents transportive meals as another reason to book your ticket. These dishes open park goers up to new ingredients and fresh presentation. Gone are the days of simply stuffing a pretzel into your face while waiting in line. (Though we love that, too and the Frankenstein's monster pretzel is pretty cool!)
With unconventional ingredients and creative menus, Epic Universe is showing park goers that good theming and quality can make a great meal.
Originally Appeared on Bon Appétit
