Food Review: Universal Orlando Mardi Gras Carnaval (2024)

What a blunder of what should be a delicious treat. I think this treat goes overboard in all directions.

Now, I’m a big fan of cookie butter (for those who don’t know, it’s akin to peanut butter, but instead of peanuts it’s the Biscoff® cookie crushed into a thick paste) with hard-baked pretzels, so I was very excited to try it with a liege waffle (which I also am a big fan of), so you can see why I was very excited to try this.

Well, as you can see from the photos, there’s too many cookies, there’s too much whipped cream, and it all just … does a little bit too much.

Underneath all of the whipped cream, it was interesting how the cookie butter tasted a little sour, but in reality it was only in small bursts.

Eating this dish – with fork and knife – was relatively easy, but messy; the cookie, even though broken in half and stuck into the whipped cream, maintained its crunchiness and didn’t for a moment get soggy.

The waffle, littered with pearl sugar, held it’s harder texture and shape well, and it tastes delicious!

The only thing is that the cookie butter and the whipped cream take over too much of the flavors, so you get the texture, crunch and sugariness of the pearl sugar, but the waffle is overwhelmed.

If you’re up for overboard though, this is a nice shareable treat for a family.

I got this just as they were pulled out of the oven (super hot!) and there was 4 in the tray. I had ginormous hopes and dreams about this cheesy bread, but I was sorely disappointed.

The cheese (which has a neutral taste) in the center was like chewing on a rubber ball, it was chewy, gelatinous, and honestly? It reminded me of snot. I was under the impression that this was a bread combined with cheese, but it was more closely to a thinly breaded mozzarella stick but the cheese wasn’t easy to enjoy. What redeemed this was the extremely thin breading, which I presume is made with tapioca flour.

I did inquire with someone to understand what the texture was supposed to be like and they figured it was made incorrectly, so I don’t know what happened.

If you’re looking for something light, but a bit filling, try this seafood dish. If you’re not a fan of coconut, but open to trying it regardless, I say to try this dish, too as it’s got a light creamy coconut taste in the orange stew.

The cilantro is fresh and the shrimp is cooked well (but not overly so that it’s rubbery) and teeming with moisture. The rice tastes buttery and clumps together, so if you’re a fan of a stickier rice this could be up your alley.

This is a dish that is cohesive and works well because of its simplicity, but because of that there’s nothing special about this dish either.

It’s not salty or overpowering, but if you were to squeeze a bit of that lime it’ll add a bit of sharpness without taking much away from the stew.

However, it should be noted that there are visible pieces of onion in the stew – some that are a little crunchier than others – for all you onion haters, but I love it so hey, take that as you will.

I really liked this cocktail, but it had an immediate feeling of drying out my mouth. 😩

What I liked about it was that this wasn’t overly boozy, it tastes like a cocktail, but it’s not harsh or burns as it goes down. It could be due to the simple syrup, mango juice and mango purée breaking down the acidity of the lime juice.

The drink tastes like mango albeit it’s a little sweet, but I gotta say it’s real yummy.

Oh, and a Swedish friend I made during his trip to the US, agreed that this drink was also delicious, so go get it before it’s gone!

This is a huge shareable dish that is probably one of the better dishes I have had the pleasure of trying at this year’s Carnaval. I would consider this to be a full meal for one person and a decent sized snack for two and for the price that’s worth every penny. There is a slight heat to this dish but is not noticeable unless you’re really trying to see if it has any in the first place.

At the first taste (even with the fries) you can taste the sweet taste of onions. The onion in the gravy is tender and melts in the mouth. The shoe string seasoned fries aren’t overly crispy, but do have that chewy-crispiness to it which adds nice amount of texture when you’re only eating it with the gravy.

The cheese curds here are sharp and the further away they are from the gravy – nice and cold. Authentic poutine is made with white cheddar cheese curds, however, these tasted (and even looked like) as though they were mozzarella instead. I don’t think it detracted in any way, it has a neutral taste so as not to overpower any other flavors in the dish and I think it was a sound decision on the Executive Chef’s part.

The bacon is a little sweet (as the name implies) as it was baked with sugar, maple sugar, or brown sugar. I’m of the opinion that it was an Applewood bacon as well to cut down on how much extra sugar they would need to add to the pork. I like how the bake on the bacon was very even throughout and while some parts were a little softer than others there are a lot of crunchy pieces throughout the dish, too.

Everything in this dish works very well together. Nothing detracts from the other and when you try different combinations (fries + gravy; fries, gravy + bacon; fries, cheese curds + bacon, etc) it just fits. The sweetness and savoriness of this dish makes this dish worth every penny.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t know that this was beer and I’m not the best person to give a review on beer as I don’t typically go out of my way to drink them. However, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with this drink.

I will say that I probably liked it a bit more than I normally would because it is light and had citrusy notes (oh, and it’s smooth, so that’s good). Outside of that no matter how hard I tried to figure out anything about this drink I couldn’t figure it out, but I do think it’s an enjoyable drink.

Note: Even though this is paired with the Poutine it does not come in a souvenir cup, it was considered at the refill price and is not eligible for your UOAP discount.

I was a little disappointed in the potstickers and it’s more my fault than anyone else’s. One of the things I stressed in the food guide? Eat early and don’t grab food towards the end of the night.

Because of time constraints after work I headed into the park and didn’t get around to grabbing this dish until they were ready to close, so, please take some parts of this review with some skepticism, but not all.

The black vinegar chili oil dipping sauce came cool (not cold) and because the oil’s density was lighter you’ll have to shake it before using or else you’ll mainly have all oil on your potstickers. The vinegar wasn’t too strong and it was a nice tang which I liked a lot. I really liked the dipping sauce as it added a nice spicy kick.

Even without the oil though there is a little bit of heat with the potsticker, but still relatively tame, therefore if you’re looking to up the ante I would definitely try it with the dipping sauce.

What I didn’t like about it was the edges were dry and a little tough instead of being chewy like the rest of the wrapper, but that could have been due to it sitting in a warmer for too long. These potstickers aren’t overly salty although they do lean on the salty side.

Otherwise, the potstickers tasted like generic ones you can buy at your local club store (i.e., BJ’s, Sam’s, Costco) and steam at home. If anything I felt like what I paid for it wasn’t worth the price at all.

The meat inside tasted like it could have been pork, maybe even chicken, but it was seasoned well so I wasn’t able to really tell. I’m not saying that it wasn’t good, definitely not, I just expected more I guess.

I did like how the vegetables added a nice sweet onion flavor profile to the dish.

This dish is 50/50 for me, but let me explain.

I didn’t like the coleslaw. I went into this dish pretty blind as I didn’t read the overall ingredients list for it and I feel like if I had known I would have gone in with different expectations.

If you’re used to a coleslaw with mayonnaise this ain’t it, chief. The coleslaw is essentially infused with Sprite/7-Up/Mountain Dew … what-have-you and I did not think that it was a good choice in the slightest.

The one thing that it had going for it was the fresh crunchiness of the cabbage, radish, and carrots.

Now the sliiiideerrrsss were so tasty! The pretzel bun and the carnitas were sweet; the pork was tender and the BBQ sauce wasn’t too salty and thankfully they weren’t overly sweet.

I couldn’t tell that they were infused with cherry cola though aside from the fact that I felt like the sauce wasn’t as sticky as it normally is, however, I would think it would be the opposite considering the high sugar content of soda, so I’m unsure what I missed here.

I tried to eat the pork with the slaw, however, it just did not hit and I would’ve expected some level of enhancement, but … nope.

In between a slider and regular sized burger, this burger is … fascinating. For me, personally, I like a medium burger so I enjoyed how it was cooked, but if you’re not then you may want to stay away from this burger (or see if they’d be willing to cook it longer before assembly – I don’t know if they’d do it though).

But while this burger is small, it sure is mighty in flavor.

The pineapple cabbage slaw is sweet, tastes heavily of pineapple, and smothers everything in its path, whereas the cilantro garlic sauce was earthy, but I liked the garlic sauce far more than the pineapple slaw.

The slaw actually tasted less like a slaw and felt more like a sauce, so, you don’t have to go looking for something that doesn’t exist.

The potato sticks are thin and crispy and add a nice texture to this burger. The cheese is slightly tangy and slightly salty and the burger meat is au naturale – the flavors really shine as it takes in the seasonings and flavors the onion, lettuce, and sauces around it.

I do think this burger is pretty decent, just not a home run for me.

This was unexpectedly pretty good. The spicy curry ketchup on top of the 7 pieces of bratwurst sausages reminded me of a slightly-sweet pasta sauce though from the texture to the taste.

However, that probably is due to the fact that I am used to Heinz ketchup which is a sugared up strained tomato sauce. But when you get this dish you’ll immediately smell the indian curry powder, it wafts even when you’re not nearby.

There is a deceiving moment when you think this may be pretty spicy, but there is only the slightest spice coming from the sausage, and I mean slight. The heat lingers a little bit and I wish the ante was a bit higher with it as it could’ve used something contrasting to it, but personal preference.

The bratwurst was easy to cut through and it was very flavorful which I really thought helped amplify the dish.

I accidentally dropped my lemon wedge as I was taking photos, y’all; what a life. 😭

But aside from that blunder, I thought that the schnitzel was pretty decent. I’m a fan of dark meat so that’s major points for the fact that this was made of chicken thigh as it was decent moist and tender.

The crunchy fried layer was a nice contrast to the softness of the chicken, but the spicy brown mustard (it wasn’t spicy!) I ended up really disliking.

The vinegar of the mustard really unsettled my stomach enough to make me like the meal less than it was without, so, if you’re sensitive to mustard (or in my case, the acidity in large swaths of ketchup consumption) maybe pass on the mustard in large quantities.

However, without the mustard I thought the fried elements outside of the chicken held all of the flavor while the meat did not and I’m someone who likes flavor in everything. I do wonder though if I didn’t lose my lemon and was able to squeeze some of the juice on the chicken if it would change my mind.

First impressions when cutting into them are that they look like mac and cheese bites, right? Yeah, they even gave off that vibe when I was eating it, except … risotto.

It reminded me of when mac and cheese bites are at room temperature and congealed a little bit.

The suppli has a nice crunchy texture and the inside is packed full of cheesy goodness and combined with the vodka sauce, all the cheeses explode around you.

The roasted red pepper aioli tastes exceptionally of parmesan cheese and does have more of a saltier taste because of it, but it’s tempered slightly due to the heavy cream. I really thought the aioli pairs well with the suppli and I wish there was more red peppers in it, but I understand why cause it would have been pretty overwhelming.

And no, if you’re worried about spice, you’re all good. It’s nonexistent.

I had to look up what a Zabaglione was, but did you know that this was considered a beverage? Yeah. I’m confused, too.

And while this does come with hazelnuts, I was asked if I wanted to leave them off which I said yes to considering my allergies. (Thank you Universal for the option).

The strawberries and blueberries were fresh and bursting with flavor. The cream on top is a frangelico anglaise and it tastes as rich (and sweet) as it sounds.

As someone who makes homemade ice cream, I feel validated in knowing this is a custard. If you’re unfamiliar with custard, it tastes heavily of eggs, but I think it tastes really nice with the berries that add sharpness to the overall sweetness of the custard.

This aperol is boozy (and really cold). And when I mean boozy, I mean boozy.

I’m pretty sure they forgot to add the club soda since it’s a combination of aperol aperitivo, prosecco, and club soda, but I was getting a little woozy off this one drink (I’m a lightweight, don’t judge me).

This drink was leaning on the bitter side and if there was an addition of an extra 1.5 oz of prosecco I feel like it would eliminate that immediately.

As for the blood orange sorbet, it very obviously was freezing in the drink, and it if you really enjoy regular oranges and mandarins, this is just as citrusy but more tart.

It unfortunately adds more to the overall bitterness of the drink, but because it’s also sweet it brings up the sugar content which can make having alcohol worse on an already hot day.

Social media famous, this Quesabirria was high on my list of things to try at the festival. And I really liked it!

The birria broth, or consomé, is part of the experience – don’t forget to use it – as it’s typically dipped into the broth prior to being served.

It’s ridiculously delicious and I felt it was really well-balanced with nice amounts of chunky bites of white onion, cilantro, and green onions. I didn’t think it was spicy though (as there are typically lots of dried chiles in this birria), which I was a bit disappointed about, as this dish deserves the heat.

But the actual quesabirria is incredible. I, again, would like to say that this should have some level of heat, but there is none. I liked the chewiness of the tortilla and the how edges were nice and crispy and the inside was soft.

They really loaded this with this gorgeous tender flavored pulled beef and the Oaxaca cheese and Monterey taste pretty much the same (especially considering that Oaxaca cheese tastes similar to Monterey in the first place).

This comes from my friend as I personally did not have this drink: “good, but not strong.”

This is most likely due to the fact that they don’t want people walking around the park getting drunk off this huge mixed drink or any other drink for that matter of this size (for reference: in Washington, DC you would get this drink for the same amount, but get ½ the amount).

As you can see though, the souvenir cup is large. It’s made of durable plastic (we … dropped it, lol) and there’s a button at the bottom to turn on purple lights!

This came out hot off the presses in a white paper bag. They supplied me with four large, light and fluffy beignets that had massive inside pockets of air inside and loads of powdered sugar.

To be honest, this is the one thing I go into the parks for repeatedly just because. Unbelievably worth the calories.

I looked like I came out of a flour factory after eating these, but these light and chewy pastries are worth every penny. Since first going to the parks, I have had this multiple times and the consistency is good even at the end of the night.

There’s honestly not much to say except do not leave the park without trying these quintessential Mardi Gras treats.

With one scoop of rice, a ladle of gumbo, and a decent amount of shrimp (5), this gumbo was delicious.

The gumbo has nice chunks of root vegetables (onion, celery, and okra – okay, it’s a fruit, but potato/po-tat-oh). All of the vegetables had a nice bite to it, but you could definitely feel the slime associated with the okra.

The nice thing is that the onion wasn’t overpowering in the gumbo.

The rice was cooked well and the shrimp was seasoned well, delicate, and tender. The entire dish was exploding with fresh shrimp flavor and the peppers in the gumbo added in a nice spicy kick.

The flavors meld well and don’t crowd over each other and you can taste the complexity of the flavors in the dish.

I was trying to determine if the dish was too salty, and I’ll say a slight yes, especially in the hot Florida sun. Washing it down with some water washes it down though.

Would definitely recommend, especially as a shareable plate.

The rum is rummin’!

The lime juice adds a nice zest to the drink and pulls more of the citrus out in the drink. I like how the orange juice helps round it out by giving it more of a citrusy flavor and the passionfruit in this is pretty darn delicious, too.

The drink is on the sweeter side most likely due to the simple syrup and grenadine. The drawback is that this drink is half ice which makes this an overly expensive drink for no reason (hint: ask for light ice).

I think this is a decent watered-down version of Jambalaya; it’s not authentic by any stretch, but it’s OK. This mostly is due to the andouille sausage and blackened chicken on the side, though.

The rice has black eyed peas, tomatoes, celery, and green peppers, but… it’s mushy. I’m sorry but it is and I don’t expect rice (especially jambalaya) to be mushy.

It’s almost like they forgot they were making rice and not oatmeal and added far too much water.

Now, as for the rice, it is full of flavor and there’s a very subtle heat to the rice, but nothing that someone who is afraid of heat couldn’t enjoy (or if that’s the case, just buy some milk and you’ll be OK).

There is andouille sausage in the rice and is good, however, the extra sausage on the side has more richness in flavor and that familiar snap you get from this sausage from the outside casing as it seems to be fried up in a pan rather than steamed in the rice.

And the blackened chicken on the side is moist and has a nice amount of seasoning that won’t overwhelm the senses.

You’ll have to watch out for the extra oil at the bottom of your bowl under the sausage, but if you’re fan of that, mix it into your rice and you’ll increase the oiliness and flavor of your rice.

For what you get with this dish, this isn’t something that can be shared unless you’re looking to truly sample as there’s not much here, but for two people it’s decent enough to get a taste of NOLA.

This was a treat for my mom at home as she doesn’t come into the parks with me and she was raving about this cake.

While this cake isn’t traditionally set up, I think this little cake packs a moist punch that reminded me of banana bread in texture and density (well, when I make banana cake it’s a little dense, but has that airiness to it that you expect from a fluffy cake) with a muted spiced cake flavor with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg.

From what I’ve heard a traditional king cake tastes like a mix between a danish and a cinnamon roll and I’m afraid to say that I didn’t get that overall feel from it. And from the recipes I have been looking at online everyone has a different way of making these famous treats during Mardi Gras.

I suspect everyone makes their frosting the same way though – sweet as can be! And of course, to top it off (pun intended) those sprinkles are just as sweet, too.

I do think that this is a nice treat to share. But don’t eat the plastic baby, please! You get to keep that as a souvenir.

The dipping sauce is called Sukang Sawsawan, which is a sweet and sour sauce. It tastes vinegary and sugary all at the same time and is actually decently delicious.

It’s packed with red onions, garlic, and sugar (the original recipe is made with fish sauce and a few other things, but I’m unsure if the Universal version makes it with those ingredients).

From first glance, this lumpia is definitely crispy, however, I wouldn’t put this into the ultra “crispy” category of dishes like Korean Fried Chicken where it sounds like you sat on a bunch of empty plastic bottles. It’s like … medium-crispy.

Does that make sense?

To clarify, the center of the lumpia was softer than the ends. And to make matters a bit worse, I personally felt like the dipping sauce siphoned flavor from the lumpia itself if you eat it at the end of the lumpia.

However, as I ate it and dipped it in the sauce the sauce and the meat mixed well as it adds a bit of sharpness.

The inside of the lumpia wasn’t dry which is good as the pork flavor shines. The onion and the scallion, that I presume are in this, are subtle and light with bits of cabbage and carrots inside, too.

I do think that this is a nice dish to try, but I do think it’s a bit expensive for what you receive though.

I really like Filipino food, but I feel like this dish was sub-par at best. There’s nothing to go crazy about anyway.

The rice noodles, which are a translucent-ish noodle were chewy and bouncy and cooked in a way that allowed there to be a nice bite to them. The garlic and soy sauce were nicely incorporated and it mainly tasted of the saltiness of the soy sauce. The large snap pea (why just the one?) had this hard vein in it, however, I liked how soft it was until the grittiness of the vein.

There was one large piece of tender onion and without that the dish overall tastes pretty one-dimensional. Is it good? Yes, but is it good enough for seconds? I beg to differ probably from popular opinion, but no.

If you love tropical fruit, you’ll really like this guava pastry. Covered in powdered sugar, this pastry is full of sweet guava paste. The pastry is light and flaky with a nice cream cheese center (which they don’t mention as a major ingredient, so just be aware). The cheese pairs well with the guava and even though the inside is basically wet, the dough wasn’t doughy under the weight of it all. This is a dish that can be cut in half and shared easily for a decent sized dessert.

My nephew is half Puerto-Rican so I have had the pleasure of eating some bomb pastelón from his bisabuela (great-grandmother). And this is a decent version, but it can be done better.

First thing’s first, let’s not completely burn the bottom. Throughout the tasting the burnt plantain (pronounced plan-TIN; don’t @ me) seeped through and it threw off the entire meal.

The natural caramelization from plantain helps to add a lot of sweetness to this dish and at the bottom it was almost syrup-y.

The Edam cheese reminds me of mozzarella cheese, chewy with a bit of spring to its step and a neutral cheese that doesn’t try to be anything other than something to accompany the main part of the dish.

The picadillo beef is flavored nicely with bits of capers, but this isn’t an authentic Puerto-Rican beef dish. I think between the plantain and the beef, combining these two things seems unnatural, but I assure you they’re delicious.

I do think that if this dish were served more on the hot side though that it would taste better, but I got this on the cooler side of warm so everything kinda congealed. Anyway, try this before the end of the festival!

These are a yummy, but simple dish at the festival. But it’s really just that – simple. They are quite literally baked potato wedges with an aioli on top – it’s giving ketchup and french fries, you know?

The paprika aioli tasted heavily of mayo, I feel like even though the paprika was mixed in it doesn’t do much (which paprika tends not to do since it is such a subtle seasoning). I did like the infusion… however, an aioli is typically made of an emulsion of garlic and olive oil and I didn’t get that from this at all. Anyway, the potatoes are cooked well, but for some reason I wonder if this is just how the meal is supposed to be.

There’s nothing distinctly special about this dish; don’t let the sprinkled paprika make you think anything fancy is happening here as it’s not.

My skewer had four pieces of grilled chicken on it that were so incredibly juicy (definitely chicken thighs!) and was flaky. However, as you can see in the third photo, I’m very unsure if this piece was cooked thoroughly. All the other pieces were white all the way through, though. I actually really liked this Chicken Satay as it was very flavorful and you could really taste all of the spices that the meat was marinated in.

The cucumber was fresh and crunchy and marination of sugar and vinegar brought out the flavors in a vegetable I’m not usually a big fan of. Now, I’m allergic to peanuts, but I’m a, “If I die, I die” kinda gal, so I had to try it. It tastes like thin peanut butter, nothing impressive, and to be frank, it was a waste of a potential epipen. (And yes, I was fine, my allergy is pretty mild).

I liked eating the chicken with the cucumber as it gives an already delicious meal a sweet and salty taste, whereas with the peanut sauce I didn’t necessarily care for it, however, it wasn’t too bad. But, if you do like peanut butter you might find it to be right up your alley.

I went out of my comfort zone and tried this curry and I almost wish I hadn’t. This dish was flavorless outside of the creamy coconut sauce.

The basil wasn’t fresh and I’m already not a fan of mushrooms, so it was all just … a lot for me. However, the mushrooms were chewy and bouncy like they always were and they were smothered in the sauce taking away much of the mushroom taste.

The snap peas had no peas in them (whhhyyyy?) and some were tough, the chicken – white meat – was unseasoned and while not dry, they were still dry. Upside is that the roasted red peppers and scallion were very tasty.

I think this meal has a lot of potential but it’s lacking so much flavor I can’t get over it. I felt restrained to eating the rice and sauce (since that is where all the flavor was) and that to me is such a waste and makes this dish not worth it.

I feel bad, but, this drink was boooooorinnggggg and uninspiring. I expected so much from this trendy drink, but that was my fault. It tastes of matcha and chamomile; it’s mild and a little sweet, most likely amplified by the simple syrup.

There’s mint syrup in this, but I felt like I didn’t taste it which was a shame really.

Now, the pipette has lime juice in it. If you’ve ever seen videos of the tea changing color due to the acidity, well, I didn’t get that. It also barely changed the flavor of the drink, for me it felt like it detracted.

And that’s OK.

But I did hear a girl nearby say that she didn’t like the drink either and called it boring, too. So, take that as you will.