We review Butter Chicken and Chickpea Marsala at the India Cabin during Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s Food & Wine Festival—see what surprised us!
The Food & Wine Festival at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay runs on Fridays through Sundays until May 18. Guests can enjoy a variety of savory and sweet festive food themed to different countries. On Friday, March 21, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay made some unexpected changes to the menus, in a good way. They added several desserts. You never know what to expect at the Food & Wine Festival at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
On a recent visit, we tried the two savory options at the India Cabin at the Food & Wine Festival: Butter Chicken and Chickpea Marsala. The gigantic irony of this situation is that we received complimentary portions of both entrees from the India Cabin during the VIP/Media event on the Food & Wine Festival opening night.
Of course, the food blogger spirit took advantage of that. We tried both of these items several times. In fairness, they were not good. They may have been safe options to serve at a media event to avoid allergy issues. However, they both tasted bland. On the opening evening, we polled many trusted colleagues about the Butter Chicken and Chickpea Marsala they had. Most of them possessed a lower opinion of the quality than we did.
Of course, food preparation can go wrong even when one desires to impress the media. In that vein, we ordered Butter Chicken and Chickpea Marsala to try at the festival cabin.
Butter Chicken at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Our experiences with similar Indian chicken dishes at theme park festivals have not been stellar so far this year. We did not have high hopes when we added our media night experience to the mix. The ambassador serving us was terrific and incredibly polite. However, we could tell he knew this dish was being tested.
The menu description reads, “Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice—Tomato, curry, garlic, butter, ginger, marinated chicken served with basmati rice.” Despite that description and great service, our entrée lacked much chicken and sauce to make butter chicken work. Still, the entrée was served very warm. This looked like we were back with very rice-heavy dishes, as during Mardi Gras at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
We enjoyed the rice, which tasted better than during media night. Also, we tasted a more robust flavor this time than on opening night. The chicken was clearly on the dry side, but that is hard to complain about too much. We did find the overall flavors better this time. Readers should remember that we did not place this dish on the worst list even after it flopped opening night. This could make a sound choice for some guests.
Chickpea Marsala at Busch Gardens
The second savory entrée at the India Cabin is Chickpea Marsala, which is served as a vegan item. The menu description reads, “Chickpea Masala with Basmati Rice—chickpeas, tomatoes, turmeric, garlic, spices.”
In simple terms, the Chickpea Marsala tasted far better than on the media night of the event. This Chickpea dish offers a slightly spicy kick compared to butter chicken, as expected with this food option. The Marsala components are not as powerful as needed for those who do not prefer chickpeas. However, it offers a better value and quality than the butter chicken.
India Cabin at Food & Wine Festival
Both items tasted better than at the Food & Wine media event, which surprised us. However, theme parks take feedback from guests, which may have caused a change in preparation strategy. This would still not make the best list for this year. Nevertheless, it would qualify as a solid “safe” item that everyone should enjoy or at least not dislike.
The Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival makes a wonderful time to visit the theme park. Do not forget about the concerts and other entertainment associated with this festival. Our current schedule involves another visit or two to the Food & Wine Festival. Thus, we will report back with any juicy (or not so juicy information.
For more theme park-related news and reviews, please visit MSM News. As always, eat like you mean it!
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