Review: Rugalach L’Chaim! Holiday Kitchen at Epcot Festival of the Holidays

Between the Morocco and France Pavilions in Epcot’s World Showcase, guests can find the L’Chaim! Holiday Kitchen for the Festival of the Holidays. We tried the new food option here known as Rugalach at the L’Chaim! Holiday Kitchen.

The Epcot International Festival of the Holidays runs through December 30, 2023. This event rounds out the festival season at Epcot at Walt Disney World.

As Disney states about this Holiday Kitchen, it is a place to “Propose a toast to life as you enjoy classic deli noshes with a side of New York flair.” Though we do not think of France and Morocco when we visualize having a Pastrami on Rye or Potato Latkes, we can enjoy them at the L’Chaim! Holiday Kitchen.

This Epcot International Festival of the Holidays food location serves the following food items:

• Pastrami on Rye with house-made pickles and deli mustard
• Smoked Salmon Potato Latke
• Potato Latkes (Plant-based)
• Rugalach: Pastry filled with raspberry jam, walnuts, and cinnamon
• Black and White Cookie (Plant-based) – a Cookie Stroll option.

Rugalach at L’Chaim! Holiday Kitchen at Festival of the Holidays – $4.25

The Rugalach appeared as the only new addition at this food and beverage location. Thus, we needed to try it, right? During the first day of the Festival of the Holidays, the L’Chaim! Holiday Kitchen got backed up with orders for the Smoked Salmon Potato Latkes and the plant-based Potato Latkes. Fortunately, our group only ordered the Rugalach and the Black and White Cookie from this food and beverage location. So, we got our order within a reasonable time frame.

Based on a Rugalach being a pastry filled with jam, walnuts, and cinnamon, this sounded like a solid new option. The appearance was a little different than we expected, but not in the wrong way. We received three small rugalach pastries.

We found the pastry texture tougher than expected for this type of dessert. This new festival food item started off failing to make a great first impression. The filling tasted fine. We would have preferred a more robust overall flavor from the filling, though.

We appreciate the price under five dollars. However, this does not make a great choice for your festival food enjoyment. It needs a softer pastry or a more flavor-filled interior. Of course, if you are already ordering one of the latkes or the pastrami sandwich at this holiday kitchen, this makes a reasonable addition.

Black and White Cookie – $3.00

Also, the Festival of the Holiday involves a cookie stroll. Guests that purchase five cookies receive an additional “Wish” themed cookie and a sundae for completing the cookie stroll. The L’Chaim! Holiday Kitchen sells a Black and White Cookie. Our group ordered this. Actually, we ordered two. This started our trip on the cookie stroll with this cookie.

However, this cookie did not impress us. We found the frosting to be just average. The cookie lacked a pleasing texture. The cookie makes a safe choice, but do not expect to be overwhelmed by the quality.

We hope this helps you plan your trip to Epcot to enjoy the Festival of the Holidays. Let us know what you think about these items when you visit. As always, eat like you mean it!