Flower and Garden Reviews

I’m no professional food reviewer, just a foodie with an opinion.

Meh…..I was so excited to try some delish festival foods and to bring y’all some positive reviews only to be met with dishes that fell short of my expectations and I don’t expect much. Let’s talk about it.

Entree- 5/10: The winner of the entree poll was not a new dish, but one I had not tried previously. The beef tenderloin tips with mushroom bordelaise sauce, whipped potatoes and garden vegetables was not my crockpot roast for sure. Strike one- it presented in a paper bowl, swimming in wet gravy and runny potatoes with a couple teenie slivers of mushroom. A couple sprigs of greenery were garnished on top for color. Sort of reminded me of the mud pies my boys used to make me for snack. There were two preemie carrots buried in a massive sea of gravy. Strike two- The tips were not tender. Big no for me. Strike three- no flavor. Whatever the greenery was on top, just didn’t provide any deep flavoring for the meat. A little garlic would have been nice or even some Mrs. Dash would have been better than nothing.

Dessert Tie #1- 9/10: Now this is what I came here for. The liquid nitro honey-mascarpone cheesecake was worth every bit of $5.50. It was the prettiest dish I had. It came on a cute little square paper plate with a perfect little edible Johnny Jump Up placed right on top smiling at me with her big eyelashes. It was cold and refreshing. Smashed just right, this delectable blob of flash frozen cheesecake had the perfect outside crunch and creamy middle. There was a hint of lemon flavor in the cheesecake, which made it even more refreshing. The blueberries were fresh- not mushy at all and I am sure there was lemon juice in the compote also which was just warm enough to compliment the cold cheesecake. The honey drizzle counteracted the cheese perfectly. The only thing that would have made this dish a 10 would be if the cheese was a little more creamy and less gritty, but that’s just the nature of the cheese. (The sweet little flower was too cute to eat.)

Dessert Tie #2- 5/10: I can imagine what this dessert was supposed to have looked like, but it just didn’t work out, sort of like when you try to do a tiktok hairdo and it goes awry. The soft serve was too soft and runny, so the blueberries were just too heavy and rolled away like the meatballs on top of sad Mr. Snuffleupagus’s spaghetti. This dish would have been better with a Gelato. The cake was too dense for my taste and didn’t have much of a cake flavor of any kind. There was not enough crumble on top. It just sort of blended in to the cake. The best thing about this dessert was that it was served in the Communicor Hall which was decorated beautifully for the festival, so the atmosphere definitely made this dish more enticing.

Drink Tie #1- 2/10: You have to be a triple sec fan to love this one and it was heavy on the triple sec. This drink would have been better as a slushy or at least just ice and a salt rim.

Drink Tie #2- 6/10: When you want some very cold milk with alcohol and a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs, grab this treat. There was no peach or blueberry flavor for me. Just milky vanilla-y, but there was vodka in it. Lots of it! The vodka upped it’s score. End of story.

Although these are special treats for the festival and they were fun to try, I prefer to stick to my go-to favorites. Nothing beats the Caramel Butter Bar in Germany and the Orange Slush near France!!