Diagon Alley Preview Event and Photo Tour – Part IV – Diagon Alley Food and Beverage Options

This is Part IV of my Diagon Alley Preview Event Photo Tour. This post covers Diagon Alley food and beverage options.

Diagon Alley Food and Beverage

Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour

After escaping Gringotts backwards through the single rider queue, the first thing we wanted to do was eat something! The last thing we wanted to do was see another line. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what we found at Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour. There was a wrapped queue snaking through the shop as folks were lining up to try as many flavors as their hearts desired. I think most of them were there for the Butterbeer ice cream (that’s right, Butterbeer-flavored ice cream!), but I would have loved to try the other unique flavors like Chocolate Chili, Salted Carmel Blondie or event the Earl Grey and Lavender. We moved along and I didn’t get to sample any of them. Bummer.

Eternelle’s Elixir of Refreshment

We found something to drink at a kiosk called Eternelle’s Elixir of Refreshment. Not just anything, but Gillywater!

I have to preface this by noting that that I was pretty darn excited that when I heard we would be able to get Gillywater in Diagon Alley a few weeks earlier. I couldn’t imagine what the presentation would be like, but I knew I wanted it!

It turns out that Gillywater is, in fact, bottled purified water.

BUT when purchased at Eternelle’s, you have the ability to choose one of four potions which can be added to your Gillywater for a special transformation and treat. The available elixir selection includes Draught of Peace, Babbling Beverage, Elixir to Induce Euphoria and Fire Protection Potion. I choose the Elixir to Induce Euphoria, which had a mostly pineapple flavor, which was nice and refreshing. I enjoyed it, and took my empty bottle labeled “Gillywater” home with me.

The wizards and witches dispensing the potion that was to be added to my Gillywater seemed to be having a hard time with the dispensing contraption and it took a couple minutes to do. This is another area that I hope improves with practice or the line will get quite long on hot Florida summer days.

Fountain of Fair Fortune

Fountain of Fair Fortune offers Butterbeer, Gillywater, Fishy Green Ale, and five real beers on tap. Two of them are newly created just for Diagon Alley – Wizard’s Brew and Dragon Scale. Other beers including Strongbow, Fuller’s London Pride, Amstel Light are also available. I don’t drink beer, so I didn’t try any of these. Had I realized they also had Fishy Green Ale available, I may have tried that. I’m told it is creamy and has some kind of boba / tapicoa pearls in it to simulate fish eggs. Sounds weird, but I would have tried it since it was free. I may never actually buy it otherwise.

Leaky Cauldron

Our next stop was the popular wizarding pub, The Leaky Cauldron.

On their menu, they have traditional British dishes such as Bangers and Mash (traditional roasted sausages with creamy mashed potatoes), Fisherman’s Pie (salmon, shrimp and cod baked together under a potato crust), Toad in the Hole (traditional sausage baked into a Yorkshire pudding and served with onion gravy), Fish and Chips, and the Ploughman’s – a feast of English cheese, crusty bread, cornichon pickles, apple beet salad, Branston pickle and a Scotch egg) as well as a Beef, Lamb and Guiness Stew.

I can’t say that I am much of a fan of fish and chips or beef stew normally, but when we arrived after 10pm, having not eaten anything lunch since (some of us since breakfast), it seemed like the best food in the world!

Both dishes were pretty tasty, but in all honesty, I probably would never order them again as I try to eat more healthy options most of the time. I ate mine quickly so we could get back out the door to try to see more and to find a drink because we didn’t see any with the buffet. I believe we could have gone to the counter for drinks, but all we saw was food out on the buffet and we went for it. Note: I am sure there were big, swanky buffets filled with all kinds of fresh, delicious catered food, but we never made it to them in our haste to accomplish something (anything!) after the long wait at Gringotts.

During regular dining at The Leaky Cauldron, you can finish off your meal with scrumptious desserts like Chocolate Potted Cream, Cranachan and Sticky Toffee Pudding. These were not available in the restaurant during our Sneak Peek preview, but may have been out in Carkitt Market (a side street of Diagon Alley).

Even though I didn’t get to sample much at the preview, I do have to say that Universal Orlando did a great job creating these menus. Since there was no mention of the foods served in the Leaky Cauldron in the books or films (other than one reference to split pea soup), the team devised a menu with dishes you would find in a British pub. They have even gone as far as importing certain ingredients like English cheese to add to the dishes.

The team also took into consideration what guests wanted!! For example, they found there was a lot of interest in a larger beer selection in the Hog’s Head Pub in Hogsmeade, so they took that feedback and created an expanded selection for Diagon Alley.

Guests will be truly immersed in the Wizarding World with these selections of unique and well-themed dishes and specialty drinks. The drinks and desserts in particular seem like a lot of fun. They will surely be popular amongst Muggles wanting a taste (literally!) of the Wizarding World.

Continue to Part V – Entertainment and Overall Impressions

Back to Part III – Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts