Went again yesterday for a lunch date with my husband.
We had a few new items:
French Onion Tenderloin Slider: this was disappointing. The tenderloin was cooked perfectly, and nice and tender, but had ZERO flavor. Honestly, it wouldn't kill them to salt and pepper the steak before cooking. There was also not enough onion, considering it's a French Onion slider. The bun was cold and hard. The cheese sauce was good, although that was the dominant flavor. More a "beef and cheese" slider than french onion. 3/10
Chile Relleno Empanada: AMAZING! I did not expect to like this as much as I did. I don't even like Chile Relleno, really. This was basically a cheese empanada with some tiny bits of pepper inside. What made it amazing was the sauce on top. It was spicy, so beware, but the flavors in this item were perfect. 9/10 (kinda small for the price and for sharing...get your own)
Grilled Top Sirloin from Garlic Kissed booth: This was another fantastic item. It reminded me of dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse. So much flavor in this one too! The sirloin chunks were tender and the chimichurri was excellent. The smashed potatoes were creamy and just slightly cheesy. There was nothing wrong with this dish, except I would have loved a portion 2X the size. The portion was generous, but we were sharing and I wish I got my own. Maybe next time, I'll get one all for me. 10/10
Also from the Garlic Kissed booth, I tried the Rosemary Bitter Orange Mule. I liked this a lot. The rosemary flavor was super subtle, so don't be turned off by that. I struggled to find the "bitter" in this drink. It was very refreshing, not too sweet, and had a strong orange flavor. The presentation was nice, with a thick slice of orange (which I ate later). This was a weak drink, not gonna lie, but I enjoyed it. Won't get you buzzed though, and for $14, it really should. I'm a lightweight, FWIW, so that's how I know this drink was, at most, 1oz of vodka and 15oz juice and ginger beer. I might get it again, I might not. 8/10
Brisket Fries at Paradise Garden Grill: I had been looking forward to these and they were just okay. It was a giant plate of crappy, skinny theme park fries, so naturally they were cold by the time we started eating them. They lumped all the toppings in the center, so we had to kind of mix them up to get everything evenly distributed. These kind of reminded me of the pulled pork bbq fries from Flame Tree BBQ at Animal Kingdom in WDW. The brisket and sauce was good. I think real shredded cheese melted would have been a better choice due to the soggy factor of liquid nacho cheese, although these could also have been improved by thicker, heartier fries (like they switched to at Red Rose Tavern). Im also a bit suspect that this is actually brisket. In my experience, brisket is usually sliced or cubed. This was shredded, with some larger chunks that you could shred. Not sure I've ever had brisket like that. Makes me think it's just another cut of slow smoked and pulled beef. Glad we tried them, and they filled us up, but once and done. 5/10.
And now, not a F&W Fest item, per se, but we had the Blueberry Lemon Bread Pudding from Pacific Wharf Cafe (this item has been around before) and OMG, YUM! This is SO good. It's my favorite of the seasonal bread puddings. Definitely try if you are a fan of lemon/blueberry. The lemon is subtle. It's mostly blueberry. The whipped cream on top is chef's kiss perfection. 10/10
FWIW, I did not find the crowds too heavy yesterday. It was certainly less busy than last Saturday had been, in terms of lines at the food booths. Glancing at wait times for rides and most were 60 min or under, which is not too bad. We didn't do any rides this time, but not because of lines. We just were there for lunch, and people watching. It was sunny, though and I got my first sunburn of the year, so watch out and sunscreen up, because the strong sun is back! I don't typically wear sunblock in the winter months (except on my face), so this is my cue to start up again.
that stuff is amazing. I ended up getting it again right before we left DCA so that was the last thing my taste buds encountered. 
