Sunday, May 11, 2014

La Hacienda de San Angel - Epcot

Last night, we met my friend Shelley and her husband Eddie for dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel in Epcot.  


As we walked around the World Showcase towards the Mexico Pavilion, I couldn't resist taking this picture, showing some of the beautiful flowers on display for the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival.  


We have eaten at La Hacienda de San Angel at least two or three times for dinner, but we hadn't been there in over a year. The lighting is spectacular, as are the views of the lagoon.  


Our server brought out a chef for Shelley and I to speak to about gluten free options.  He said we could have anything on the menu except the Empanada de Manzana for dessert.  Some dishes were naturally gluten free, and some would need some modifications.  


La Hacienda de San Angel serves complimentary corn chips and salsa.  


I don't know if they are the same salsas served at San Angel Inn, but I prefer the green one to the red, which has a slight smoky taste.  


My husband and I decided to order the Costillas en salsa de Chile (beef short ribs served with potato puree and chile de arbol sauce) and the Pescado a la Talla (grilled tilapia served with roasted corn, cactus leaves and mango chutney).  The short ribs were amazing!  They were tender and flavorful, and perfectly complemented by the potato puree.  


I have had the tilapia at La Hacienda de San Angel before, and knew it was served with some kind of creamy sauce that I was not fond of.  Assuming it was sour cream, I asked for my tilapia without sour cream.  When it arrived with a creamy pink sauce, I asked what it was, because it tasted like sour cream to me.  When our server said it contained mayonnaise, which I told him I don't eat, he was willing to take it back.  I can eat mayonnaise and sour cream, but I just don't like them.  


My second plate of tilapia arrived quickly.  The fish was seasoned and cooked well, and I loved the corn and cheese on top.  The salsa and vegetables were quite good as well.  I preferred the short ribs, but this dish was very tasty, and is something I would order again.  


All entrees are served with fresh homemade corn tortillas, rice, and black beans.  


We received large bowls of the rice and beans for everyone at the table to share.  


For dessert, I was torn between the chocolate mousse and the corn ice cream.  I am so glad I ordered the corn ice cream served with candied popcorn.  I loved this dessert!  I have no idea what was sprinkled on top of the ice cream, but it was a little savory and perfectly complemented the ice cream.  If the corn ice cream was served at La Cantina de San Angel, the quick service restaurant in the same building, I would be there every time I visit Epcot.  A third gluten free option for dessert is Nieves, traditional Mexican sorbets.  


Shelly and Eddie ordered two appetizers and the short ribs.  I tried their Queso Fundido, which is melted cheese with poblano peppers, chorizo, and flour tortillas.  Instead of the flour tortillas, they were brought corn tortillas, but this cheese dish would be great with corn chips too.  I liked this appetizer so much, I am going to try to recreate it at home.  Our server told us it is a mix of queso fresco and cotija cheese.  Shelley also ordered the Gorditas, which are corn cakes stuffed with chorizo, potatoes and arugula, topped with chipotle sauce and sour cream.  I didn't try them because of the sour cream, but Shelley told me that she would not order them again, because the corn cake was much firmer than expected.  


Overall, we had a great meal.  The food was excellent, the restaurant is incredibly beautiful and has spectacular views of the lagoon, and it was great to have a double date with friends, minus the kids.

June 19, 2014 Update


Last night, my girls and I met my best friend and her daughters for dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel.  My twins and I shared the Queso Fundido with corn tortillas, and the Pollo al Pastor, which is described as achiote marinated chicken served with roasted vegetables, beans and pineapple relish.  My daughters ate some chicken with black beans and rice, the two sides, wrapped up in corn tortillas.  I loved the Pollo al Pastor.  The dish was a little bit sweet from the pineapple relish, and had a little bit of heat.  


We ordered both the corn ice cream and the chocolate mousse for dessert.  The chocolate mousse was so good!  It had little pieces of chocolate in it, and a slight hint of cinnamon.  Next time we go to La Hacienda, I will have a hard time deciding between the two desserts, because they are both so delicious!

December 1, 2014



Last night, we ate at La Hacienda de San Angel before watching the Candlelight Processional.  We finally got to try the Parrillada "La Hacienda", which is a mixed grill of New York strip, chicken al pastor, chorizo, and vegetables.  Everything on our platter was delicious, especially the vegetables and the chorizo, which had a slight spicy kick that I really enjoyed.  


We also ordered the braised short ribs with potato puree and chile de arbol sauce.  The fried potatoes on top were a nice addition to an already incredible dish. 


We love La Hacienda de San Angel and San Angel Inn Restaurante, which is inside the Mexico Pavilion.  The last couple of times I have dined at San Angel Inn, I have ordered the Pollo a las Rajas, which is grilled chicken breast served with red peppers, onion cream sauce, poblano rice, and queso fresco.  If I had to pick between the two restaurants, it would be very hard.  We have dined at both of them at least twice this year, and have been really impressed with all of our meals.

La Hacienda de San Angel is only open for dinner, and does not accept Tables in Wonderland, but we did receive a 20% discount for being DVC (Disney Vacation Club) members.

You can view the menu for La Hacienda de San Angel, and make advance dining reservations on Disney's website here.

You can read my updated review of La Hacienda de San Angel here.

What are your favorite gluten free dishes at La Hacienda de San Angel?  


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