REVIEW: Go HERE if You Want Fancy Cheese and Epic Universe Theme Park Views While You Eat

Universal itself says, “The views alone are worth the visit,” but are they right? That’s what we’re here to find out. We stopped by Bar Helios at Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a circle bar with 360-degree views, drinks, and comfort food like burgers and sliders, salads, seafood, and more.

Now, right off the bat, the appearance is stunning. Universal didn’t lie about the views, either. You’ve got an incredible view of Epic Universe from high above the park. But we can’t judge a bar solely on vibes. So, we returned for a few small plates — let’s dive in!

 

We opted for a few plates from the “For the Table” part of the menu, starting with the Heritage Crispy Chicken Wings for $24. These are described as chicken wings with honey lime, pomegranate, and labneh (a soft Middle Eastern cheese). We’ll admit — these are some pricey chicken wings; $24 for six wings is $4 a wing. That said, the wings were a good size, and they had quite a bit of meat on them. Our plate was served with four drumstick-shaped wings and only two flats, though we suspect they were randomly selected.

As we mentioned, these were served with labneh, which reminded us of plain Greek yogurt. If you can imagine plain Greek yogurt, this labneh had almost a sour flavor — this isn’t the type of dish with a blue cheese or a ranch-type sauce like you might expect with a buffalo wing. It’s a slightly different take that added a nice creaminess to each bite.

Additionally, it came with some pomegranate seeds, and we even picked up on the honey lime flavor, which was in the marinade on the skin. These wings had a real sweet, savory thing going on that we really enjoyed.

Up next was the Fried Halloumi for $19. Surprise — more fancy cheese! Halloumi is a semi-hard cheese, and this one came with spiced honey and kibbeh. Again, this meal was NOT cheap; $19 for a small pile of fried cheese cubes is a lot. That said, this is a great appetizer. Remember — it’s not a melty cheese, so this isn’t like a mozzarella stick where you can streeeetch the cheese. But ultimately, it’s still fried cheese, so what’s not to like?

The breading on this is a fine bread crumb texture, which gives the cheese a lot of crunch. The spiced honey was quite nice as well. You could probably share this with a few people — we estimated about ten to twelve little cheese cubes on the plate.

If we had to choose, though, the Farmer’s Cheese (Whipped farmer’s cheese, honeycomb, citrus, local seasonal fruit, pistachio, grilled focaccia) was a little better.

Overall, this is a relaxing, quiet spot to grab a small snack or enjoy a drink. The music wasn’t too loud, and the bar is very well stocked. We’ve visited both around golden hour (just before sunset) and after dark, and we found that the atmosphere is better represented with a little daylight to shine through the space.

One strange note we wanted to pass along is that there is no ginger ale here, so don’t try to order any drinks with ginger ale. This felt like a bit of an oversight for a full-service bar. Additionally, this bar does not have a blender, so you cannot order any frozen drinks.

In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more.

FULL REVIEW: Bar Helios at Universal’s Helios Grand Hotel at Epic Universe

Would you order these menu items? Let us know in the comments!

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