Our Comprehensive Culinary Review of Kings Dominion's 2022 Grand Carnivale

The (clearly fresh) bananas were startlingly warm and creamy and served with a delicious caramel sauce. We actually wished there had been more of this not-too-sweet topping on our fritters.

The flavors in these generously-sized and sauced Asian sandwiches were on point. We found the meat tender and tasty. We were disappointed in the bao buns, however. Rather than the expected moistness of steamed bread, we found them dry throughout and crunchy on the bottom.

The texture of this dish surprised all of us. The cauliflower was smooth and had an interesting, almost nutty flavor. Although we thought this was a nice, light summer entrée, it may have been a bit too mild and would have benefitted from a bit more spice.

The spice socks you in the mouth. It burns. And it is delicious. The snow peas are sweet and crunchy, a perfect contrast to the well-cooked noodles and shrimp. This dish impressed us so much that it was awarded the highest score at the booth.

This pastry was a fantastic, flakey, joy to eat. The fruit filling was smooth and creamy, and the glaze was bright and sweet. We agreed that a dessert this good deserved real whipped cream, however.

This dish has almost everything I want in a sandwich—at least in theory. To be clear, it was the highest scoring savory item at the booth, it just didn’t quite hit the culinary bullseye. It was a cool and light dish, perfect for a warm afternoon, and the sweetness of the pear chutney was not cloying or overwhelming. Many of the components were expertly prepared from the crunchy pecans to sweet raisins to the fresh arugula. The croissant, however, was not flakey, and while we enjoyed the flavors together (what isn’t improved by brie?), I felt it needed some kind of meat to balance the cheese and fruit.

Surprisingly, this sandwich was very controversial. While Zachary and Renee enjoyed it, I didn’t think the flavors worked together at all. I am honestly struggling to identify what precisely I disliked about this specific combination of butter, cheese, and garlic, but it all seemed to be at war in my mouth. We did all agree, however, that the baguette was fresher than the bread at the Spanish booth.

This dish, while not the most interesting thing we sampled, was executed well. The goat cheese was a tangy compliment to the slightly bitter spinach, and the crepes were light and tender. We thought an additional component would have improved it, but we still enjoyed our sample.

We really enjoyed the apple cake. It was moist and soft and had a lovely tangy flavor, coupled with tons of cinnamon. We were surprised by the sweetness of the apples, as we were expecting something a bit tarter. Regardless, this was easily our favorite dish at the booth.

The currywurst was our favorite savory item at this booth. Both the flavors and the textures were good. We could taste the curry in the sauce, and the flavorful sausage had excellent textures and a nice snap.

We were confused by the mound of greasy potato that bore little resemblance to pancakes. They had an odd, stringy texture that reminded us of burned hash browns, seemed oily, and were visually unappealing. We also expected some onion, but only tasted potato. We found the chutney to be too sweet and didn’t enjoy it with the pancakes and sour cream.

The cheese sauce was the highlight of this dish, but not good enough to save the poorly made pretzel bites. The dipping sauce was served warm and boasted a pleasant, creamy texture. Moreover, the cheese and beer were very well balanced. Unfortunately, the pretzels were too bready and unevenly salted.

Even setting aside my unabashed love of South Asian food, I thought this was one of the strongest entrees at the event. It was also our highest scoring savory at the booth. The rice was well prepared, the chicken was tender, and the spices were spot-on. We might have wanted a bit more creaminess in the sauce and perhaps a hint of sweetness, but overall it was a great dish.

Yes, the cheese in this snack is supposed to be mild, but we felt it was overwhelmed by the sauce, which tasted more like a spicy marinara than anything else. We also found the breading to be a bit greasy. Overall we found this dish somewhat puzzling.

The cardamom bias is real. Not only was this our favorite dessert at the event, it was also the highest scoring dish overall, beating out all of the savory items, as well. We thought the flavors in this warm and creamy sweet were perfect. If we had any complaints at all, it was that the rice was slightly crunchy in spots.

The filling in this little slider was the perfect balance of heat and sweet. The chutney contrasted with the spice in the potato dumpling, but didn’t overwhelm it. While the potato roll is a classic component of this dish, ours were a bit dry. If you like samosas, we recommend you give this—its cousin—a try.

This entrée was the highest scoring savory offering at the event. It was prepared fresh, when I ordered our food, and it absolutely was worth the wait. The pasta was perfectly cooked and coated in a lovely, savory, buttery sauce. All of the components came together to create a complex (and delicious) dish.

We thought this classic bread dish would be nice during a Summer afternoon, with its fresh and cool tomatoes. We would have preferred that the parmesan have a bit more bite, but overall we thought this simple snack was well executed.

This dessert was perfectly fine fried dough. We might have liked it to be slightly fluffier, but it didn’t have an oily aftertaste, making it a nice, if boring, option.

While this was an interesting idea, we did not enjoy our fried and stuffed pasta. While the outer shell was nearly too hard to cut, the lasagna noodles inside were mushy, giving the whole dish a gluey consistency. We expected herbs, but instead found ourselves eating an oddly lemony and sweet cheese filling. The universally low scores reflected these views.

This dish may have had the most startling presentation of anything we tried at the event. The peppadews provided a great pop of color against the breading on the calamari, but that wasn’t what caught everyone’s attention. In addition to the rings of breaded squid, there were lightly-coated, clusters of purplish tentacles. They looked almost sinister. The sauce provided most of the flavor and we really enjoyed the sweet and sour with a hint of heat.

All three of us loved this dense and flavorful cake. It had a delicate lemon taste and was adorned with delicious little candied almond slivers. It also paired perfectly with the fresh strawberry. We were forced to mark it down a notch, however, because it was slightly dry.

This satisfying dish was the highest scoring savory item at the booth. The rice was well cooked and the peas were not mushy. The light flavors all complimented each other, creating a tasty entrée.

We were served a nice variety of olives with distinct flavors. We would, however, have liked more Manchego cheese and pancetta. The small amounts we were served paired perfectly with the olives, cutting the vegetable’s strong flavor. Our main complaint was the bread, which was unbearably chewy. It improved marginally, however, when we dipped it in the leftover oil at the bottom of the olive bowl.