EPCOT’s Festival of the Arts: The Sushi Donut

Tastes of EPCOT. Image courtesy Richie McGinnis
Tastes of EPCOT. Image courtesy Richie McGinnis

EPCOT’s Festival of the arts is fully underway at the Walt Disney World Resort! This year’s festival brings out some of the best art, as well as art-inspired food. EPCOT”s festivals usually bring out the foodies, and for good reason! But one snack, in particular, caught my eye, and I’d been dreaming about it since I first saw it. The sushi donut.

Found at the Goshiki stall in the Japan Pavillion, this limited-time snack is exactly how it sounds. It’s a sushi donut, topped with salmon, tuna, shrimp, cucumber, and sesame seeds. Framing the donut is wasabi aioli, eel sauce, and sriracha. In the middle of the donut is ginger, rounding out this already stunning snack.

The sushi donut at Goshiki is a returning favorite to EPCOT’s International Festival of the Arts!

I tried this item closer to the end of the day as the line for Goshiki was rightfully long the whole day. First, the donut is beautifully striking. It’s a wonderous mix of colors, with the greens standing out the most against an otherwise pink donut. On the first bite, the fish was delicate, fresh, and mild in taste. I was particularly taken aback by the tuna. This cut melted in my mouth and needed very little help in order to break apart. The salmon and shrimp were delicious, but the tuna was the winning fish. If I could just have a sushi donut with tuna and cucumber, I’d be in heaven.

The rice was a little too chewy, but it’s easy to overlook that with just how good everything else was. The wasabi aioli was delicious, but it’s easily overshadowed by the eel sauce and sriracha. I personally feel eel sauce belongs on everything, and sriracha is an always welcome addition to sushi. The ginger was a nice garnish to clean your palette after every bite.

The only downside to this dish is you only get one. For $8.50 you might balk at the price, but trust me, it’s worth it. I paired the sushi donut with the Niseko Flurry, the beautiful blue drink that Goshiki also offers. The Niseko Flurry is made with sake, white cranberry juice, blue curaçao, rum, and lime juice. The rum is the strongest flavor in the drink — you can barely taste the sake. The drink was a little too sweet, but this was a nice flavor change compared to the savory sushi donut and had a pleasant floral scent. My boyfriend opted for the sake, which I, unfortunately, did not get to try.

The sushi donut is a returning snack to the festival, so if you haven’t had a chance to try it, I urge you to give it a shot! If you can’t make it to the Festival of the Arts this year, there’s a very high chance that this snack will come back next year.

Have you been to an EPCOT festival? Have a favorite snack you want us to know about? Let us know in the comments below!