Epic Universe Food and Drink

Well, its fair to say that we tried A LOT of the food and drink options at Epic Universe during our 3 days there. We’d been watching food vlogs from the previews and looking at pictures on Instagram of all the things that we wanted to try. So, given that we couldn’t order everything, we ate little and often, and shared some dishes to make sure we could try a few things from many places. Here’s a list of all the restaurants and stalls that we dined at, drank at, or just grabbed something in passing.

The Oak and Star Tavern looks amazing inside. Like a warm, cosy pub vibe to it with dark wood finishings, amazing stained glass windows (especially the tree behind the stage area), and some stunning scenery with the treetop canopy above and the giant fireplace/tree at the entrance. It was one of the places we wanted to visit again to try some of the main menu options, but when we visited, it was for a breakfast bite.

Consisting of 2 eggs, French fries, BBQ bacon and brioche toast. It was nice enough, but nothing to write home about. The bacon was a bit overdone, eggs were good and the fries were more like a British chip. Nice British chips though.

The kids shared this as it was a decent size. Actual sausages, not sausage patties, with egg, cheese and ketchup on a pan soban bun, so it’s more like a sub than a sandwich. Also served with fries. Looked nice and the kids enjoyed it. Wish I’d have had one of these instead of the breakfast.

It was a nice, hoppy IPA with grapefruit notes. I’m a fan of a fruity IPA with grapefruit, such as the Brewdog Elvis Juice, but this one wasn’t quite as tasty. Not bad, but not great either. I should have stuck to the Crooked Can Highstepper. That was my go-to.

This was on my ‘Top Places to Eat’ list, because 1) Pizza and 2) the theming looked awesome. The facade is brilliant, especially at night, with the Moon face with a pizza in it’s eye logo, the light, the decoration. Inside it’s like a classic circus cartoon all around, with a giant rocket at the cooking area and images along the walls and characters hanging from the ceiling, including a guy flying along with his cheese and grater. I loved Pizza Moon, but the pizza options are a bit… eclectic. We tried…

BBQ sauce base with roast chicken, pickled red onion, cheese and BBQ potato chips. Will it ever make my favourite pizzas list? No, but it was still a tasty pizza and all the flavours came through. Jo wasn’t a fan of the BBQ sauce and I’m not sure the cheap BBQ Pringles on it did anything for the flavour.

A tomato base with ‘fromage de lune’ (moon cheese) and pepperoni. This was a decent sized pepperoni pizza that the kids shared and enjoyed. I stole a slice, so can confirm it was nice.

The Highstepper was my beer of choice. Whilst I tried several other options throughout the park, I’d always go back to this. It’s a really good quality IPA with lots of flavour.

It was a very hot day, so ice creams were a necessity. We visited Frosty Moon as we’d seen a few people talking about cookie butter ice cream and had to investigate. At Frosty Moon, you can select ice cream in a cone or tub for $7.99/8.49 per cup/cone and add a selection of toppings. They also serve cookies and soft drinks.

We had to try the cookie butter and the kids chose Oreo crumble and brownie pieces as their toppings. I barely got a look in with the ice cream, but what little I tried was nice enough. The kid’s faces suggested it was more than just nice.

Whilst the kids were cooling off with their Frosty Moon ice cream, Jo picked up a cocktail from Celestiki Tiki Bar right next door. A small open bar with seating area, serving cocktails, mocktails, frozen cocktails and bottled beers.

A blend of rum, bacardi, fruit juices, passion fruit puree, honey syrup, bitters with mint and dried blood orange. Quite sharp in flavour and a little acidic. Wasn’t her favourite cocktail of the week but worth the trip for a Celestiki swizzle.

There was no draft beers at Celestiki, so I headed over to the Plastered Owl – the external bar window at The Oak and Star Tavern – for a beer. Here they also have cocktails, wines and other options along with several draft beer options. I went for the Highstepper IPA.

This is a small food stall just outside the Isle of Berk portal, serving a small selection of Asian inspired snacks like bao buns and soup dumplings along with bottled and canned drinks and soft drinks.

A hot dog sausage and rice cake, wrapped in cheese with a yuzu aioli, topped with a sweet Japanese BBQ sauce and scallions (spring onions). This was lovely, but really messy to eat. Its basically just melted crispy cheese and BBQ sauce over a hot dog sausage so it just falls apart. Would have been nicer if it was an actual sausage, but still nice.

An incredibly fancy looking Parisienne themed restaurant, Cafe L’air De La Sirene is as nice on the inside as it is on the outside. High arches atop wooden look columns, marble effect walls, gold and silver finishings, large mirrors, tiled mosaic artworks and large opulent looking dessert displays. Serving drinks and French inspired breakfast, lunch and dessert menus, this is the home of the now famous Butterbeer Crepe, so we had to try that!

$20 for a pancake seems a bit steep, but we are at Universal Epic Universe in the middle of Orlando, so it’s hardly unexpected. It was 2 crepes filled with Butterbeer cream, topped with cream and strawberries and a thin ‘Bieraubeurre’ cookie. It was nice, but could get a little sickly, so I was glad we were sharing it. I’d say its a bit overhyped but a fun, new wizarding world item, but I wouldn’t rush back for another.

Chicken Tenders served with fries and grapes. The kids menu options always seemed to be a good value for the portion side, and these were also some nice chicken tenders. The portion was big enough for the kids to share, especially as they were hovering for some Butterbeer Crepe.

Not really a fan of floral flavoured drinks and food, but this was really nice. It was a sweet lemonade and the lavender flavour wasn’t too overpowering. Enjoyed it!

A standard issue coffee. Not the best but kept me awake on a long, tiring day!

Tucked away behind the shops on the main street buildings is Le Goblet Noir. It felt like a maze getting into the actual seating area, as it was small corridors of twists and turns. It was a much cooler, quieter area that was a welcome break from the crowds. It has more of a 3 Broomsticks/Hogs Head feel to it inside. Le Goblet Noir serves elevated sandwiches, European inspired dishes, kids menu, drinks and desserts. We were mainly there for dessert.

A grilled cheese/cheese toastie served with fries and grapes. You can’t really go wrong with a grilled cheese. Kids wolfed it down.

A round, chocolate covered black forest cake with a chocolate tree sticking out from it, served with cream. It looked good and tasted great too. Jo loves a black forest gateau and I’m not usually a fan, but this was nice.

Yeah, this wasn’t for me. Described as a light ale with malty flavour. Not hideous, but wouldn’t have another.

In the back-right corner of 1920s wizarding Paris, you’ll find Bar Moonshine. This American style bar is very small inside, with only enough room to order and pickup your drink. It has a few tables outside if you’re lucky enough to snag one. Bar Moonshine looks great inside, with the framed drink posters and Quiddich team pennants alone the walls, mirrored bar back drop and large antique looking silver till finish it off nicely. Bar Moonshine serves beers, wine and cocktails.

A pale ale with a hint of blackcurrant flavour. Nice, but I prefer a stronger fruity flavour in a flavoured beer. The blackcurrant was a little weak in the background.

Moonshine, Limoncello, Absinthe, Lime Juice, soda and syrup topped with rosemary. Its a very eye-catching drink, as it’s bright green, looks fancy and comes in a souvenir ‘Bar Moonshine’ cup. Its very strong too. As a drink, it tastes fruity at the start, then just descends into the flavour of pure absinthe and gets hard to drink. Definitely a sipper.

The theming in Das Stakehaus is amazing. A real dark, gothic vibe with large paintings of Vampires plus models of ‘staked’ vampires along the walls. The cutlery is all black, and the tables and chairs are heavy with a carved wooden effect that would not look out of place in Dracula’s mansion. Plus, they all have a bat on the top. And whilst the theming is designed to be dark and creepy, for the most part, Elliott wasn’t bothered, but did get quite upset by the creepy girl model near the exit. Just something to be aware of if you’re there with kids. Das Stakehaus serves burgers, steaks, stakes (skewers), salads, desserts and drinks.

A strip steak served with green onion mash, carrots, squash, crispy mushrooms and a ‘blood’ jus. The steak was more of a thick slice of roast beef than a steak. Cooked medium, so a bit pink and served with wooden stakes in it. It was a bit chewy and there wasn’t a great deal of flavour. The veg and sides were all nice tasting, but the jus was a little thin and watery and didn’t add a lot to the dish flavour-wise. The jus was poured on at the table for an extra bit of theatre.

Char Siu pork belly with a ‘blood’ dipping sauce, onion mash, carrots, squash and crispy mushroom. The pork dish was much better than the steak. The pork had flavour, though it could have done with being a bit more charred on the fat, and the sides were all nice, but the carrots were a little salty. The sauce had a fruity flavour and went well with the dish. I’d probably have this again.

A red velvet heart ‘beet’ cake, shaped like a coffin, filled with cream cheese frosting and topped with a chocolate skull, served with chocolate crumb dirt and puffed rice maggots. It was a tasty dessert that we enjoyed and it looked the part too! It’s not often you’d let your kids eat dirt and maggots.

A brown ale with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. It was pretty grim, which matched the surroundings. Struggled to drink this one.

One of the most stand out spots in Dark Universe, and Epic as a whole, is the Burning Blade Tavern. Designed to look like the mill from the original Frankenstein films, the blades burst into flames every 15 minutes. Under the mill is a heavy metal doorway into the rock that leads to the bar. It looks great in here, with some dark and sinister vibes, monster heads over the bar and monster hunters popping in to check we’re not werewolves and to warn you of the dangers of Darkmoor. You can either order drinks at the bar, or for food, mobile order and collect from the hatch outside. The bar serves snack foods and some theatrical, novelty drinks.

A very garlicky stake shaped pretzel, served with some incredibly garlicky garlic sauce. It was really nice, and did I mention it was very garlicky!

Pineapple, raspberry and passion fruit syrups mixed with sprite and emerald lustre dust for a sparkly effect. Served in a souvenir scientific flask, it’s a potion said to render the drinker invisible. It may, however, render them diabetic as it was sooooo sweet. Needless to say, the kids enjoyed it.

A small glass of a strong fruit flavoured mead with a very blood-crimson colour. A nice fruity sipper drink on a hot day and fun to try as one of the themed drinks. Plus, I’ve never had mead before, so had to try it.

DeLacey’s is a quick service hatch in Dark Universe, serving snacks, bottled water, energy drinks and canned beers. There’s a few barrels outside as makeshift tables and the coke freestyle machines next to them. It only has 2 snack options, and we tried both.

A lovely, warm pretzel, served with a cheese dipping sauce, shaped like the head of Frankenstein’s Monster. Bolts and all. We’ve enjoyed a few Shrekzels over at Universal Studios Florida, so we had to try this one. We managed to get a nice, fresh one which is always a bonus. Soft inside, not too salty and great with the cheese dip. Kept calling it the FrankenShrekzel.

A tray of warm cinnamon sugar donut bites, with a cream cheese icing and sugary streusel topping. These were a nice sweet treat. Good for sharing, great flavours and a bit messy!

Toadstool Cafe is awesome. Its massive inside. Far bigger than the giant Mushroom entrance leads you to believe. Inside is all cartoon style, wooden look tables and chairs with mushroom finials on the top, warp pipes on the ceilings and screen ‘windows’ all around showing Chef Toad and his friends going about their business. Keep an eye on the screens though, as darkness descends and Bowser arrives, firing Bullet Bills around and sending the Toads running for cover. Once Bowser passes, its back to work for Toad and the gang. Toadstool Cafe serves Italian inspired meals and kids options, salads, sift drinks and Nintendo themed desserts.

A creamy mushroom soup topped with super mushroom crackers. This one was one of the food items I was looking forward to as the presentation looked awesome. Its a lovely mushroom soup, served in a Super Mushroom bowl, with a fancy red and white mushroom lid.

My enjoyment of the bowl was somewhat marred by the server rudely asking for the mushroom lid back. I didn’t know he was waiting. We were just enjoying our fancy Nintendo food!

Some mushroom shaped garlic knots, topped with parmesan and served with a marinara dip. You cant go wrong with garlic knots. These were warm, fluffy and tasty.

A cheeseburger, not particularly mini, served with fries, broccoli, corn on the cob and a ‘?’ block cookie. Another decent portion for the price off the kids menu. The burger had a plastic 3D Mario toy skewer stuck in. The burger itself was tasty, as were the fries. The broccoli was a bit dry and the corn o the cob was nice. The cookie was a chunk of white chocolate covered gold coin presented in a ‘?’ block box. The whole meal went down a treat.

Over at this jungle themed stall, you’ll find another one of Epic Universe’s viral sensations. Its a quick service stall and only sells one item, but still manages to get the 3^rd biggest queue in Super Nintendo World,

The DK Crush Float is a Pineapple Fanta drink with a banana and pineapple soft serve ice cream float, in a waffle bowl, topped with toffee pieces and caramel popcorn. Now, whilst it does sound like a big, disgusting mess, it was really enjoyable. The flavours all went well together, and I’m not usually a fan of banana flavoured things, but this was good. The only downside is, you’ve got to eat it quickly, as no one wants a soggy waffle in their drink. Ice cream, yeah, but not the waffle.

You can get the float in a plastic cup for $12.99 with a souvenir spoon, or for $18.99 you can get it in a large plastic Donkey Kong barrel mug. That’s $6 for a mug that would probably be $15-20 in the shop. A bargain souvenir.

Over in the Isle of Berk, the main dining spot is Mead Hall. You can’t miss it, it’s the big mountain looming over Berk, with Viking statues at the entrance. Inside, it looks like the dining hall from the films, with thick wooden tables and chairs, carved-looking statues of Viking effigies, dragons and Viking artworks on the walls and a giant candle chandelier overhead.

Swedish meatballs, served with onion gravy, mashed root vegetables and Lingonberry jam. Sound familiar? Yes, it’s fancy Viking Ikea meatballs. It was a really nice dish and the mash was lovely.

This contained Mac and Cheese bites, slices of grilled sausage, fries, carrots and grapes. This was from the kids menu and yet another great portion of food for the price, plenty to share as a snack or a decent size for a meal for one hungry child. It’s served in a cardboard Viking longboat too, which looks great. Mac and cheese is always a hit with our kids and the sausage slices were good too. Chips were also nice here, and its not often I big up carrots, but these were good tasting carrots.

An orange-coloured, fish-shaped chocolate mousse dessert, served with cereal crumb. A nice flavour and texture to the mousse, not overly sweet. Looks fun too!

A nice wheat beer from the Crooked Can arsenal. Nice flavour and easy to drink, especially on a hot day.

A small food stand that had bigger queues some days than some of the rides. It serves canned drinks, freestyle cups and another of Epic’s viral sensation foods – the Mac & Cheese Cones.

A garlic bread cone filled with mac and cheese, with goldfish crackers.

Garlic bread cone filled with mac & cheese, with a BBQ harissa pork, maple candied bacon and parsley.

Both cones were great. Good bread, with some tasty mac and cheese filling. We weren’t fans of the goldfish crackers, but the PB&J filling was good and added some extra sweetness, and definitely the winner for me. The filling did run out quite quickly which did leave you with some dry bread, at the end of the cone, so could probably do with being a bit more saucy for the bread to soak up. Messy to eat, but a good, fun snack. I’ll definitely try the Dragon Fire cone next time!

And that is it! That’s everything we ate and drank over the course of our 3 day visit to Universal Epic Universe. We tried a lot, but there are still many more places to eat and foods to try.

We’d definitely like to eat at the Atlantic and the Blue Dragon, Spit Fyre Grill in Isle of Berk, get a Red Shell Calzone over at Yoshi’s Snacks in Super Nintendo World, get a burger from Meteor Astropub, and try the BBQ foods at the Oak and Star Tavern. Plenty of ideas for our next visit, whenever that may be.

Generally though, everything we ate was good. It’s still theme park food, so not expecting Michelin Star quality, but the offerings were a lot better than some of the places we’ve visited. Nothing was awful, but there were a few ‘could be betters’. The theming of the food and the restaurants was fantastic and made dining at Epic Universe an experience in itself.

Whist we’re advocates for saving money and taking a packed lunch to parks when you can, its great to have lots of great options like these to sit in and enjoy a meal or just grab a snack from.

We cant wait for our next visit and more Epic treats in the future.

The full list of Epic Universe’s restaurants, snack carts and bars, along with menus, can be found on the official Universal Orlando website.