Celestial Park
As you walk through the Chronos, the main entrance and hub for Epic, you enter a cosmically-themed hub designed to feel like a city promenade on some sci-fi/fantasy world. But throughout this area are 11 food and drink spots serving up a variety of cuisines local to 21st Century Earth. Along with quick-service walk-up spots, and bar options, the area includes two table service restaurants: the seafood and steak restaurant Atlantic, and The Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant.
After walking under the titular Blue Dragon, you enter into an Asian courtyard where it’s always nighttime, with lanterns and stylized neon signs lighting the sky. I really enjoyed the Crispy Orange Chicken with snow peas and jasmine rice. It’s accessible and pretty standard fare, and could be spicier, but it hit the spot.
I admit I was on a mission for drinks here. A favorite was the Thai Boba non-alcoholic drink, which was Hokkaido milk tea powder, vanilla almond milk, black sugar syrup, coffee boba, and Dalgona coffee foam. This packed a caffeinated punch, and though sweet, it wasn’t overly so. Rather, it was a refreshingly smooth coffee drink.
On the alcohol front, Blue Dragon has an impressive selection of sake, a bunch of good Japanese whiskeys, and about six house cocktails. I tasted a handful of these, and my favorite was the Szechuan Smash with Kikori rice whiskey, crushed Szechuan peppercorns, yuzu juice, honey syrup, sparkling water, topped with ginger aromatic fog. It’s a classy, foggy presentation and it’s not an over-the-top spicy drink. I’d say it’s a light, refreshing whiskey drink.
Atlantic sports a steampunky nautical vibe and my favorite item was the Mushroom Ceviche with tomato, cilantro, jícama, lime. This was a surprisingly flavorful plant-based take on the seafood dish. I am not a vegetarian, but I wasn’t missing the fish in this fresh, tart, balanced app. On the drinks menu, the Northern Lights is the cocktail visitors are talking about. Made with Beluga Noble Vodka, Pallini limoncello, Ferrand Dry Curaçao, lemon juice, simple syrup, it’s the butterfly pea blossom ice sphere, and gold luster dust that makes this a gorgeous drink. It’s a riff on a lemon drop martini, but the blue sphere and gold dust alters the color of the beverage as it melts. But if the sweetness here is not appealing (and I did find it sweet), the Spice Route Old Fashioned is a good alternative. Made with High West Distillery bourbon, date syrup, Fee Brothers cardamom bitters, Angostura bitters, orange twist and a cherry, it’s a nice take on the classic Old Fashioned with just a bit of bite.
If I was going to select a favorite food item at Celestial Park, it would be The Giant Mushroom pie at Pizza Moon, an eatery set in a 1900s Victorian theater. I am not an especially huge mushroom fan, but this was excellent. Made with creamy roasted garlic bechamel, fromage de lune, wild mushrooms and drizzled with truffle aioli, it was almost too heavy, and very filling. But it was so dang savory and delicious.
