UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- The email's subject line was all it took to capture my interest.
"You’re Invited: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Food Tasting, 2/17 at 7 p.m."
It was two of my favorite things in one sentence: Harry Potter and food. Plus, the opportunity to see Hogwarts (West).
To prepare, I ate Muggle food sparingly on Wednesday. I packed a quill (I'm sorry, pen) and notebook, à la Rita Skeeter (minus the unethical reporting, of course). I journeyed across to Universal Studios, which took a full 1 hour and 45 minutes. Muggle mistake: I should have just apparated.
"We planned the rain!" one Universal Studios employee joked, noting that the unusual L.A. showers mirror London's typically overcast skies.
Because California's Wizarding World of Harry Potter doesn't technically open until April 7, we couldn't take snapshots of the rest of the park. (Spoiler alert: Hogsmeade, Hogwarts and the Hogwarts Express all look amazing.) But once we arrived at The Three Broomsticks, all bets were off.
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The pregame: Butterbeer
First things first: A butterbeer. A kind employee -- er, I mean, wizard? -- greeted journalists with a tray of Harry and co's favorite drink, both classic-style and frozen (like a slushie). I grabbed one of each.
As expected, the Butterbeer was very, very sweet. It's a creme soda-esque drink with butterscotch flavoring and whipped cream on top. The sugar was really getting to me -- but thankfully, the Three Broomsticks also serves real beer (for 21+ visitors only!).
Sorry underage wizards: No (real) beer for you, just butterbeer. #WizardingWorldHollywood pic.twitter.com/hhdV66AnpR— Saba Hamedy (@saba_h) February 18, 2016
"We have the Wizard's Brew, which is a stout, the darkest of our three," one of the bartenders told me. "We have the Hog's Head, that's a medium, Scottish ale. Then we have the Dragon's Scale, which is the lightest of the three, a pale ale." They sell other varieties of well, but those three are the only ones exclusive to the Wizarding World.
I tried them all, of course.
The ambiance
Rather than sit down, I opted to explore. The first thing I noticed was the pub's spot-on resemblance to the set we know from the films.
From the art along the walls to the three broomsticks themselves, it's a perfect recreation.
Many of the tables were packed, making me feel like we were all Hogwarts students on a Hogsmeade weekend trip. Sadly, there was no sign of Harry and friends.
FYI #threebroomsticks at #WizardingWorldHollywood fits 442 ppl. If you're # 443, you'll need an invisibility cloak pic.twitter.com/Yq6WgHO0pS— Saba Hamedy (@saba_h) February 18, 2016
442 may seem like a sizable amount -- but I've got a feeling that a lot of visitors will need invisibility cloaks to get in. Or, more realistically, reservations. (They're not a thing yet at The Three Broomsticks, but they should be.)
The Great Feast
By 8 p.m., attendees were given small menus outlining what the Three Broomsticks has to offer guests. Little did we know that we'd get to sample basically all of them.
YUM.
"Our cuisine inspiration was really the movies," Eric Kopelow, vice president and corporate executive chef of NBC Universal Studios Hollywood, told Mashable. "The movies...gave us that unique latitude to create English food items and bring them to the next level.'"
Kopelow and his team tested menu options for months. Though they selected the best of the bunch for the pub's opening menu, other items are in the works so that the restaurant continues to "stay fresh," he said.
Dinner was served buffet style, though a Universal employee told me that won't be the case when the pub actually opens to the public. I opted for a three-course meal, putting a little bit of everything on each plate. Yep, I said "each" -- because I had five plates of food all for me.
Round one: Classic fish & chips. Because I studied abroad in London, I am used to this ale-battered cod, deep fried and served with potatoes and tartar sauce. Oh, and I made sure to add peas (#vegetables). Like most fried foods, this was delicious -- and filling. Not pictured: A small bowl of English Ale and Cheese Soup, which I picked out as my side from five different soup options.
I knew I had made the rookie mistake of consuming too much on my first plate of food. So with Plate No. 2, I ditched the veggies (though there were plenty of options, including salad) and went straight for the main courses: Shepherd's Pie, Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken, Spare Ribs and (of course) Bangers & Mash.
Of these, my favorite was definitely the Bangers & Mash. You can't go wrong with sausage and mashed potatoes.
Last, but not least: dessert.
Course three: All the dessert my stomach can't fit anymore #threebroomsticks #WizardingWorldHollywood pic.twitter.com/AripKZVCud— Saba Hamedy (@saba_h) February 18, 2016
The most notable of the four offerings was, of course, the Butterbeer Potted Cream -- a pudding-like shortbread topped with whipped cream and served in a cute jar.
Honorable mention: The Sticky Toffee Pudding, which was creamy, steamed and topped with toffee, butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream.
The aftermath
Calorie count: Infinite.
Happiness level: Same.
Guess I'll have to burn it off playing Quidditch.
Living my best life at #threebroomsticks at #wizardingworldhollywood (check my post tomorrow!) @geminla #neverleaving #foodcoma #butterbeer A photo posted by Saba (@sbhamedy) on Feb 17, 2016 at 8:41pm PST
Correction: This post has been corrected to reflect that the employee handing out Butterbeer was dressed as a wizard, not an elf. Blame the confusion on the hats.