Tis Me Michelle

By the time this is out there’s only one more week left of Universal’s Mardi Gras. I realized it’s probably been two years since I’ve been to Universal. When I first moved down to Orlando, over a decade ago, I ended up getting the annual pass because of Mardi Gras. I wanted to go to as many concerts as I could, so of course the pass made more sense than day tickets.

As soon as I saw Coco Jones was one of the artists in the lineup I knew I was going. Last minute, I ended up with the same annual pass logic, so hopefully that means I’ll catch a couple more concerts next year. It also meant that I didn’t have to rush my day at the park and try to make full use of a one-day ticket. If you are an Orlando or even Florida native, I do recommend the annual pass for Universal. I’ve always gotten the second cheapest option, the ‘Power Pass’. And it’s basically around the price of a 2 or 3-day ticket, totally worth it in my opinion.

I obviously knew about the concert lineup at the Mardi Gras event, but somehow… As the foodie I am, I didn’t realize there was a whole food event along with it. So this was the first year I partook in that part! Before the concert, my friend and I hit up the booths, which were similar to the Food & Wine country pavilion concept at Disney. Just a few booths throughout the park, but plenty of options to try.

The Food: We obviously started at the NOLA booth. We had big eyes and got one of everything: baked cajun mac & cheese, chicken & sausage gumbo, cajun spiced twister tator, and of course… a bag of beignets. The idea was there, and some of the flavors I really enjoyed, but this booth was probably last place overall. The mac & cheese was very creamy and cheesy, but I didn’t love the ‘cajun’ flavor. It was leaning towards Southwestern flavors, which I actually am not a huge fan of. The chicken & sausage gumbo was the highlight of this booth. Had a nice buildable heat, they didn’t skimp on flavor. A nice comforting bowl. The twisted tator had potential, much more of the cajun flavor I wanted compared to the mac & cheese. The seasoning was delicious along with the Creole remoulade sauce, however, I think the one we got may have been sitting out a bit. I was expecting it to be crispy, crunchy (like a tot), or even a bit warmer, but it was soft and room temp. The beignets were similar in the sense they tasted good but were room temp and denser than I would have liked.

We then stopped at the China booth for the Spicy Szechuan Chicken Bites and Duck Xian Bing. This was my overall favorite booth. It may be important to note I love Asian food above most other cuisines. The chicken bites came in a cute Chinese takeout box and was a pretty good portion size. This was another dish with buildable heat, but definitely more spicy than the gumbo. My mouth had a spicy coating as I kept eating, but if you enjoy spicy foods like I do, it’s really not that bad. I really did like this dish, a bit oily, but you know it is fried chicken bites after all. The Duck Xian Bing was the star of the show. It is a smaller pancake, but the duck is rather hearty and filling. It was topped with a glob of Hoisin scallion ginger butter, too much, but also delicious. A unique option, and for a theme park a pretty fantastic bite. My friend and I split pretty much everything, so with all we tried, half was more than enough. But I could easily smash one on my own if I was only having a couple items.

After all this food, we headed into the Wizarding World. Cause ya know, we just needed a break from the ‘real’ world. Wandered around and stopped by The Fountain of Fair Fortune for a lil drinky. I had been here before for a butterbeer of course. This time around I tried the ‘real’ beer. Before ordering I asked for a description of each beer, there were four to choose from. The Wizard’s Brew was described as a Guinness-like stout. If you know me, you know that is up my alley. I was already getting full so I wasn’t sure if I should go for that one. The other option that peaked my interest was the Dark Forest Ale, a brown ale with caramel notes. My friend told me that we could mix 2 beers, so of course I did just that! It wasn’t as heavy because of the ale, and still a great match in flavors with the pairing of chocolate and coffee notes from the Brew and caramel notes from the Ale. Highly recommend this mix.

After walking all that food off a bit, we got one more brewsky to take to the concert at the tried and true Finnegan’s. I always love an Irish Pub, even a theme park Irish pub. I got a Harp for a lighter option. And finally stopped at our last booth for the night, Puerto Rico. We got the Pinchos de Lechon and Pastelon Fritters. Both were very good, I was definitely super full by this point. The lechon was a grilled pork skewer, cooked wonderfully with a nice guava-flavored BBQ sauce. It came with a little slice of bread as well, I didn’t have that, but a very hefty portion of meat. I also tried one of the fritters, it comes with four. It’s a crispy sweet plantain fritter filled with picadillo beef. I love sweet plantain, and the beef was seasoned very well. Poppable, delicious bites!

Last but not least on the food and drink portion, after the park day… We stopped by the 600 Block speakeasy in Pat O’Brien’s before heading out for the night. I will say the drinks here are theme park/fancy restaurant prices, basically ~$20 per drink. They were well made and spirit-forward, but definitely on the pricier side. It is a fun experience, I always love finding a speakeasy. My favorite part was the live jazz music. It was an intimate little space and the guys playing were really great. You just need the ‘password’ to get in, I don’t think you need to get a drink to enjoy the vibe and music. Definitely a great way to chill and relax, especially after a park day.

The Concert: The main event for me was obviously the Coco Jones concert. After eating around the park, and catching a bit of the Mardi Gras parade, we still managed to get right up front for the concert. It was absolutely worth it. This girl can SING! What a great, deep, soulful voice, and she is truly fantastic performing live. I didn’t realize she still hasn’t had a full debut album. I have been listening to her EP, collabs, and singles this whole time. She’s been at it for a while, yet still so young, I can’t wait to see her do even bigger things!

Universal really pulls through with amazing artists like Coco for their lineup. In the past, I had gotten to see Jessie J twice at Mardi Gras. I hope they keep getting great talent each year. The only comparison I have is obviously the Epcot festivals. In terms of concerts, I do think the Mardi Gras lineup has been superior. In terms of food side, some of the Epcot festivals are better than others. I think the prices are a bit lower for the bites, but that is also reflected in the portion size itself. That’s nice because it allows you to try more around the park, they also generally have more booths and options. I will say, it’s pricier, but I thought the flavors and portions matched the (theme park) pricing at the Mardi Gras booths.

Have you been to Mardi Gras @ Universal this year? What were your highlights?