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Universal Studios Brought A Bunch Of Iconic TV Food To Life For "Fan Fest," And I'm Obsessed
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I was today years old when I finally, FINALLY got to try a Scooby Snack IRL. Angelica Martinez is the Latine Editorial Lead at BuzzFeed and covers a little bit of everything, from quizzes and true crime to celebrities and pop culture. If this tickles your fancy, tickets are on sale now! The Scooby Doo cartoons deserve their flowers for several reasons, one of which being that they always made cartoon food look so, so, soooo good. Truly, who amongst us hasn't wanted to try one of Shaggy and Scooby's iconic, seemingly infinitely-layered sandwiches??? In addition to the potato chips, each level also has lettuce and tomato. From what I could tell, here's what each layer was made up of: Bottom: Roast beef, mayo, and (I think?) provolone All in all, I thought this was just OK. It's a bit on the bland side as the only condiment on it is mayo, but I definitely think it'd be refreshing after a long, hot day of walking around the park. Plus, just like Mystery Inc., it seems like an ideal treat to split with your own gang of pals, monsters not included. I couldn't get a big enough bite to eat all three layers at once, but the roast beef was by far my favorite and the most flavorful of the bunch. If you eat it right away, it might be a non-issue, but I do wanna note that by the time I sampled this, the potato chips had gone all soggy from being on top of the veggies, so I missed out on the crunch of it all. Feel like that would've added some interesting texture to an otherwise basic sandwich, TBH! As both a kid who sooo badly wanted to be a Hex Girl and a twenty-something with Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed in my Letterboxd top four, I am not being dramatic when I say eating a Scooby Snack is, personally, a lifelong dream of mine. They make them look so good!!! First of all, A+ for packaging here. Obsessed. Secondly, I really enjoyed that there were two different kinds of cookies. The paw print ones were slightly sweeter, with a good chocolate-to-cookie ratio that was complementary and not overpowering. The cookie itself is subtly sweet and heavier on the spices, giving the whole thing a Mexican hot chocolate-kinda vibe. The "SD" cookies, which are honey and cinnamon-flavored, reminded me of a cross between a shortbread and a graham cracker. They're on the drier side, but something about the flavor is soooo nostalgic. If you've ever thought, "Wow, I reallllly wonder what that straw hat tastes like!" it's your lucky day, kid. This decadent One Piece-inspired dessert begs the question, What if I made an adorably tiny version of Luffy's hat that was also really yummy? In terms of sweetness, this is pretty middle-of-the-road. It isn't overly sugary and balances the sweeter and more subtle flavors nicely. Despite all the elements to it, the texture of the "hat" (minus the brim) is pretty uniformly silky and blends into an almost butterscotch-like bite, with pops of those crunchy bits here and there. The sugar cookie underneath was softer than I expected, which I really enjoyed, actually. While I couldn't quite get a bite of the hat, brim and all, in one go without committing to getting pudding alllll over my face, I really enjoyed alternating bites of the sweeter, crunchier cookie with all the layers on top of it. All in all, this was an adorably teeny recreation of Luffy's hat, and an enjoyable little sweet treat! Real talk, this was so, soooo tasty. They did not come to play with the One Piece food, y'all! By far, this was the most substantial dish I tried all day. The meatballs had a sweet-and-savory teriyaki flavor and were served on a bed of egg-fried rice. In my opinion, the portion is pretty sizable for one person. The meatballs were also made of chicken, which meant they were filling but not overly heavy (and, honestly, feeling bogged down and on the verge of a food coma is the last thing you want when you've got a full Fan Fest agenda for the day.) Bonus points to this dish as well for being super on theme. Not only is it a dish that actually exists in-universe, but they also did a fantastic job of making it look pretty darn close to the actual thing. And it's a double whammy of being actually tasty and a fun little fan Easter egg? What more can you ask for, really? This almost Brat-green beverage is a green apple and honeydew lemonade, which is topped with a melon ball and these cute lil swords. I tried two other lemonade-based drinks alongside this one (more on these later), and this one is by far the most sweet and the least tart. It's kind of like a liquified green apple Jolly Rancher, really. Full transparency here: I am a honeydew hater. Yeeeuck. OK, sorry. That being said, I wasn't a huge fan of this in part for that reason, though it is admittedly much heavier on the green apple flavoring than the honeydew. The green apple flavor is also very much that of green apple candy and not, like, actual apple. I also found it way too sweet, personally. I enjoy an occasional soda, but I don't often tend to reach for anything that has that distinctly syrupy-sweet taste, like an orange soda. If you feel similarly, you might want to go with a different drink. If that's your vibe, though, you'd really enjoy this! This ruby red refresher is flavored with guava, honey, strawberry, watermelon, and grenadine, with a base of lemonade. It's also topped with strawberry popping boba. OK, hear me out here. Remember those huge, swirly rainbow lollipops (which came in stick-form and circle-form) that they always sold at gift shops or candy shops back in the day? This tastes exactly like those. And while the drink itself is candy-like, the popping boba offers a more subtle sweetness that pairs well and is just plain fun to eat. If you're a fan of Hawaiian punch or a Baja Blast, I think you'll like this. A Harry Potter-spin on an English classic, this trifle is made up of layers of spiced brown sugar cake, a whipped frosting, and crumbly oat bites, then topped with a hippogriff biscuit. Overall, this was so-so for me. I appreciated that it wasn't overly sweet — it was much more understated than I expected. The cookie was fine, if not a bit basic. It's definitely heavy on the frosting, making it pretty rich overall. It gets points for being a sweet treat that I imagine would be super easy to eat while on the move from one part of the park to the next, but I wish it were a bit more on-theme like some of these other treats! Another British classic, this simple and savory dish consists of toast topped with a slightly spiced cheese sauce, which is broiled until the top gets all deliciously bubbly. For my fellow Americans out there, it's a bit like a toned-down version of pizza bread. I wasn't a big fan of this one, in all honesty. It was fine, but — as you can see in the image above — most of it is just straight bread. The cheese sauce is ever so slightly zingy, but not enough so that the thin layer of it makes up for all the carb-y real estate underneath it. I think there are much better dishes out there at the park, TBH. While a cockatrice has the head of a rooster and body of a dragon, this one's wings and drumsticks are, decidedly, chicken. I wouldn't necessarily call these "hot wings" — rather than a spicy buffalo sauce, these are coated in a sweet teriyaki sauce and topped with sesame seeds and grilled onions. These were quite nice! They were well seasoned and similar in flavor to Luffy's "Meat on the Bone." I appreciated that they were baked rather than fried, which not only made it a bit of a lighter bite, but also made it feel a bit more like I was actually biting into the delectable drumstick of a mythical creature I heroically slayed in a D&D campaign. I really enjoyed these, a victory feast for all! First of all, these look cool as hellllllll. A shiny dragon's egg...filled with chocolate cheesecake? Say less, truly. This was BY FAR the sweetest and most decadent dessert I tried. It's a chocolate lover's dream, without a doubt. I wouldn't necessarily say it's giving "cheesecake", though — the mousse surrounding the core was much more similar in taste and texture to a chocolate pudding than the denser texture and tangier flavor of a cheesecake. It was a bit too rich for me to have more than a few bites, but if you're looking for some chocolate to fuel the last leg of your Fan Fest agenda, look no further! Also, pro-tip if you do try this: I totally bent the prong of my fork (and hehe, maybe almost broke it completely <3) trying to cinematically cut into this for a photo, so don't be like me! Your best — and least messy — bet is to flip it upside-down like above and enjoy. This bright blue elixir is made of lemonade, coconut water, blue curacao syrup, and club soda, served with this cute lil wand- I mean, rock candy stick. I looooved this. It's delightfully refreshing and the perfect balance of sweet and tart. I'm convinced it's pretty impossible to make it through a day at Universal Studios without breaking a sweat, and the thought of sipping on a nice cold Detect Magic while cooling down in the shade sounds reallll nice to me. I absolutely will be enjoying one of these myself at Fan Fest, I cannot recommend it enough! Editor’s note: BuzzFeed does not support discriminatory or hateful speech in any form. We stand by the LGBTQ community and all fans who found a home in the Harry Potter series and will work to provide a safe space for fans. If you, like us, feel impassioned about trans rights, learn more or donate here.
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