Tasty theming makes the Epic Universe worlds even more immersive

Disney4me · 2025-05-23T09:00:13Z

“You have to try the Labotocotta,” Robert Martinez Jr. tells me.

“The what now?”

He laughs.

“The Labotocotta,” he repeats.

Das Stakehaus features dining in the setting of an old dining hall within Dark Universe at Universal Epic Universe. It's where you'll find the Labotocotta. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)

We are sitting inside the soaring space at Mead Hall, the most epically designed dining space in the How To Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk world at Epic Universe. And on this morning, the space that perfectly captures the town-hall essence of this whimsical Viking world, so beloved by fans, feels surreal for many reasons.

For one thing, Martinez points out, he and everyone else here have been working on the park (four parks in one, really, not counting the gorgeous centrally located Celestial Park, the sun around which these worlds orbit) for seven years.

“I still don’t think I’ve taken the proper time to sit down and look at where we are,” he says, gazing up at the ceiling of this massive assembly hall, its art and chandeliers and towering columns creating this world’s culture all around us.

For another, this place — save the hours when it is being cleaned and prepped for another day of service — will never be this empty again.

My kingdom for a not-too-sweet theme park cocktail! Celestial Park's CelesTiki bar won me over with this Waturi Punch, made fresh before my very eyes. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

Even as a few dozen people mill around, most of the Viking-heavy seats are empty, the massive tables bare. It is a singular moment.

The park has been soft-opened for a while now, allowing peeks to trickle out, allowing some food items to enjoy early success in social media posts gone viral — but in roughly 48 hours, the throngs will be here, testing every aspect of the culinary teams’ collective work: creative, production, logistics, all of it.

The Labotocotta, he explains, is a dessert in the Dark Universe world, one that perfectly encapsulates a word that he and every other member of the food and beverage team I will engage has on repeat: it is IMMERSIVE.

“It sounds like it’s an easy task when you say it out loud, but to truly dig deep into the stories, to know what to put on menus, to sometimes use constraint and know what not to put on menus, it’s challenging,” Martinez explains.

There is so much incredible theming going on with food and drink at Epic, it's near-impossible to pick a favorite, but these caramel pears, designed as turkey legs, at How To Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk are definitely a contender. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

“Our one true intent at Epic Universe is to make sure that guests are truly immersed in the world they are visiting.”

The Labotocotta, a Greek yogurt vanilla panna cotta brain with bloodlike raspberry sauce and crispy bits that may or may not be the shattered skull fragments of an unwitting human caught unawares while stumbling around the world’s town of Darkmoor, does a good job of it.

Bonus points for the chuckle-worthy name.

For two days I was immersed here and in the other worlds of Epic Universe. Here are some of my favorite tastes, whether on my palate or off the creative palettes of the top-shelf F&B team Universal has assembled.

The newest Wizarding World experience takes us to 1920s Paris, as does the quick-service venue Le Goblet Noir, where the Jägerschnitzel is a favorite of Sueann Cotache, Epic Universe vice president of food and beverage. She knows her stuff. We loved it, too. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

Jägerschnitzel, Le Goblet Noir, Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic

This was a recommendation I might not have tried save the effusive input from Sueann Cotache, vice president of food and beverage for Epic Universe.

Here, in what was likely one of the most anticipated worlds Epic Universe would offer, most have flocked to the large and truly, truly stunning Café L’air De La Sirène to try the butterbeer crepes, but across the way, tucked into an alley, lies another quick-service venue Cotache calls “a sleeper hit,” Le Goblet Noir, and a crispy-fried pork schnitzel that’s gravy-slathered and served with frites.

A staffer who I came with dispatched the rest after my taste, which was, as Cotache promised, quite delicious.

“I don’t think you’re going to find a better schnitzel than that,” she said.

It’s a good’n.

The Lobe Blaster from Ministry of Magic may be more oft Instagrammed, but the Fleur 75 (London dry gin, elderflower liqueur, brut sparkling wine, lemon juice, simple syrup, lemon spiral) gets my pick for Bar Moonshine's most sippable. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

Fleur 75, Bar Moonshine, Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic

While we’re here in 1920s Paris (and while we’re amid the pre-summer’s first heatwave) let’s stroll just over to the quaint Bar Moonshine where the Lobe Blaster’s wild look has garnered the absinthe-tinged cocktail some viral buzz, but where I’ll take the Fleur 75’s light and bubbly cooling properties (London dry gin, elderflower liqueur, brut sparkling wine, lemon juice, simple syrup and a fetching lemon spiral) any day of the week.

The Donkey Kong Crush Float is an Instagrammable sensation, in particular in the mug upgrade you can keep, and as refreshing as it looks with dueling pineapple and banana flavors. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

DK Crush Float, The Bubbly Barrel, Super Nintendo World

Now, if you want cool, refreshing and something that will deliver a serious dose of envy to your social media friends and followers, this is one of the ones to beat, especially if you go for the souvenir mug upgrade. Here, a spiral mountain of pineapple soft serve is mingled with banana atop a foundation of pineapple soda. Tucked into a waffle bowl and studded with caramel popcorn it’s a stellar Venn diagram of where “theme” and “delicious” overlap.

"Peach is her name but it doesn't define her." Quite possibly the best answer to any question I've ever asked a Universal Orlando Resort chef. This is Princess Peach's Cake, available at the Toadstool Cafe inside Super Nintendo World at Epic Universe. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)

Princess Peach’s Cake, Toadstool Cafe, Super Nintendo World

“Peach is her name, but it doesn’t define her,” says Christopher Colon, executive sous chef of research and development for Universal Orlando Resort.

This, after I point out with some disappointment that the gorgeous cake I couldn’t wait to try (bring friends, the menu says it “serves 3 to 4” but we found it served four with a slice leftover), has no actual peach in it. At all.

Touché, chef. It’s a great answer. And a great cake, actually — simple, moist, yellow cake with whipped topping, fresh raspberries, apple bits and beautiful white chocolate star theming and a cookie letter from her Highness herself — but still, the name.

Arts writer and theater critic Matthew J. Palm agreed with me.

We ate every bit our our slices, though, while we armchair quarterbacked all the pastry chef decisions. C’mon. Those apples on top could have been peaches, couldn’t they?

They could have. But the cake is solid.

A plant-based comfort food wins on all levels, "Our Favorite Vegan Familiar's Stuffed Cabbage" at Das Stakehaus in Dark Universe, like the Lobotocotta, offers up brain-and-guts vibes. This dish features Impossible meat wrapped in cabbage leaves, served in a bell pepper tomato sauce and accompanied by beet bucatini. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

Our Favorite Vegan Familiar’s Stuffed Cabbage, Das Stakehaus, Dark Universe

“Vampires have been alive forever,” Martinez theorizes. “They know what the good things in life are. We call it ‘vampiric elegance.'” Supposedly these ideas went into all kinds of things at the Das Stakehause quick-service venue, which was built atop centuries-old catacombs and looks every inch of it, with spooky details that go right down to the blood-red floor.

Vampires, though, don’t eat food. They eat people. And some people who come to theme parks don’t even eat animals. And for them (and people who just want something good that’s lighter), there’s this plant-based offering of Impossible-stuffed cabbage and beet bucatini, in a bell pepper tomato sauce. It’s a dish that not only does that immersive thing quite well (it appears as a brain atop squishy, guts-like noodles) but ticks an Eastern Euro box, as well. And that’s where vamps were born.

I know vegan fare isn’t for everyone, but I really liked this dish and would get it again if I were looking for something hearty enough to fuel the L20 sprints required to outrun the Wolfman.

Hiccup's Salmon Bowl at Spit Fyre Grill was my hands-down favorite of all the things I tasted at Epic Universe. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

Hiccup’s Salmon Bowl, Spit Fyre Grill, How To Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk

Dragon-flamed deliciousness is afoot at this outdoor dining venue where ample shaded seating is the spot to enjoy this dish, quite possibly the best thing I have ever eaten at a theme park. Yes, it’s THAT GOOD.

“We needed a salmon dish,” says Colon, who watched and rewatched the film during development. He has three little girls at home.

“It’s a direct tie to the movie, that great scene where Hiccup is making a peace offering to Toothless … he throws him a piece of salmon and it’s their first moment of trust.”

This is a dish that will make you trust the culinary team.

Grilled citrus salmon, beautifully done, sits atop ancient grains, with crunchy jícama slaw and thin-sliced red onion, blistered cherry tomatoes and feta cheese, topped with really nice avocado crema. The best thing I ate while on the property. And seriously, I ate a lot.

Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.