San Angel Inn Restaurante Dinner - Epcot

On Mother's Day, we had dinner at San Angel Inn Restaurante in the Mexico Pavilion at Epcot.



San Angel Inn is modeled after a 17th century hacienda at the base of Mayan ruins, and the lunch and dinner menus feature traditional Mexican cuisine.  At this restaurant, you will dine in perpetual twilight while boats from the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros float by.

I was excited to see that their menus now have a "GF" next to gluten free items, and I was told that other dishes could be modified to be gluten free.  

We quickly devoured a complimentary basket of  freshly fried corn chips, which are made in a dedicated fryer.  Served with two varieties of salsa, it's a great way to start your meal.  

The five of us decided to eat family-style, sharing four entrees.  Our favorite is always the Pollo a las Rajas, which is grilled chicken breast served with red peppers and onion cream sauce, poblano rice, and queso fresco.  If you do not like the taste of onion, don't worry, because it is so subtle, you probably won't even realize it is there.  Our chicken was cooked and seasoned well, and I loved the creaminess of the rice with the sauce and the queso fresco.

We also ordered the Carne Asada, which is New York strip served with a cheese enchilada, black refried beans, red bell pepper, onion, Mexican rice and guacamole.  Our steak was tender and cooked to the recommended temperature of medium, and I thought it tasted great with a little bit of the guacamole on top.  I am not much of an enchilada fan, but I enjoyed the bite I tasted.  I did not sample the beans and rice, but everyone else must have liked them, because they disappeared quickly.

The only entree we chose that I would not order again was the Camarones a la Diabla, which is roasted diabla-style shrimp served over yuca puree and cascabel chile sauce, with a side of poblano rice.  I really liked the yuca puree with the shrimp, but I didn't enjoy the taste of the cascabel chile sauce, which was quite spicy.  I wish there had been much more of the yuca puree and way less of the chile sauce, and I would have liked to see the rice served on the same plate.  Because we had so many plates of food on the table, I didn't even realize the rice was meant to be with this dish until after I had already eaten it. Nina, our international student from China, loved the Camarones a la Diabla, and was very happy to finish this entree after everyone else tasted it. 

For our final entree, I chose the Lomo de Puerco en Pipian, which is pork tenderloin served over roasted vegetables and "pipian" - pumpkin, chiles and almond sauce.  My husband, Nina and I really enjoyed this entree.  Our pork was nice and tender, and well complimented by the pipian.  I loved the roasted squash and red pepper that accompanied this dish as well.  This was my second favorite entree, after the Pollo a las Rajas.

For dessert, my daughter Emma and I shared the Crema Bavaria and Mousse de Chocolate.  

San Angel Inn's Crema Bavaria is featured in my blog post about my favorite gluten free desserts at Disney World.  It is described as creamy bavarian mousse served with mixed berries, cinnamon, orange liqueur and vanilla sauce.  This dessert is about as perfect as dessert can get for me.  It is not overly sweet, the combination of flavors is incredible, and the creamy texture of the mousse is divine.  

I love chocolate, so I was excited to try the chocolate mousse with almond brittle candy.  The best part of this dish for me was the almond brittle, which you can't see because it's buried under the whipped cream.  My daughter Katie ordered the same dessert, but hers had a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of the whipped cream, which she loved.  I was a little sad that Emma's and my dessert did not have any cinnamon, but I didn't feel like sending it back.  On top of the mousse was some fruit, and there were chocolate pieces inside of it.  The Mousse de Chocolate was very good, but Emma and I both agreed that the Crema Bavaria is our favorite dessert at San Angel Inn.

The lunch and dinner menus at San Angel Inn are a little bit different.  Lunch is served from 11:30 until 4:00, and dinner from 4:30 until closing.  You can read my lunch review of San Angel Inn here.

Other gluten free options on the menu include the Sopa Azteca (tortilla soup), Tostadas de Tinga, Pescado a la Veracruzana (catch of the day), Peto en salsa Poblano (grilled Wahoo fish), and Helado de Dulce de Leche (caramel ice cream).  You can view San Angel Inn's menus, and make advance dining reservations on Disney's website here.

What are your favorite gluten free dishes at San Angel Inn Restaurante?