A Couple of Great Meals at La Hacienda de San Angel

By Nick

Located across from the Aztec Pyramid in the Mexico Pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase, La Hacienda de San Angel has a prime location on World Showcase Lagoon.

We've eaten here twice, both times with another couple.
On our first visit, we had an 8:00pm Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR), and arrived a few minutes early. We don't usually eat that late in the evening, but we planned to watch Illuminations at 9PM from there.

We were immediately called, and escorted to a dining area nowhere near the large windows looking out over the lagoon.

I asked if there was anything available by the windows, and was told it may be a few minutes. We waited only about 10, before we were again called, and this time we were brought into a much lovelier dining area overlooking the water.

Pictured below is the regular menu. Our friend Kandi is a vegetarian, and asked for vegetarian suggestions.

 

Our server brought a Vegetarian Menu. If you have a special dietary needs, don't hesitate to bring this to your server's attention.

My friend John and I shared the "La Hacienda," which came with New York strip, chicken al pastor, chorizo sausage, vegetables, rice and beans. Everything was perfectly cooked, and flavorful. The corn was amazing!

My wife had Tacos de Vegetales, grilled vegetables and queso fresco on flour tortillas served with roasted corn. She really enjoyed it.

Our friend Kandi had the Enselada de la Casa, Spinach salad with queso fresco, tomatoes, pomegranate, pine nuts, and avocado with mustard vinaigrette dressing for.

Just as we were finishing dinner, the lights dimmed and the music from Illuminations began to play.
We had front row seats for one of the most beloved shows at Walt Disney World.

After a great show, we had dessert. Our friends shared the Corn Ice Cream. Yes, Corn ice cream! It came with popcorn, and was sprinkled with paprika. We had a taste, and it was very good.

My wife and I shared the Empanada de Manzana, puff pastry filled with sauteed caramel apples, served with dulce de leche ice cream and cajeta (caramel sauce) which was also very good.

Our last visit was in December with our friend's Jill and Josh. Upon check in this time, I requested a seat by a window, and we waited only a couple of minutes before we were brought to the exact same table we'd had on our first visit!

Josh and I shared the exact same thing I'd had with John on our previous visit, the "Hacienda."

Barbie had the Taquiza Taco Trio featuring beef taco with chipotle salsa, roasted chicken taco with salsa verde and chilorio (marinated pork) taco with cream and queseo fresco.
Jill had the Crema de Elote, corn cream soup served with Julianne spicy tortillas, roasted corn kennels and mexican sour cream.
I also had a beer and a shot of Tequila. Be warned, the drinks are expensive!



Again, we enjoyed Illuminations.



This was a really great meal, and a really great location from which to view Illuminations, and look forward to our next trip and visit to La Hacienda de San Angel.

December '14 Walt Disney World Trip Report : Part 5

By Nick

Wednesday, December 10th

Barbie and I had breakfast at Roaring Forks, the counter service restaurant at the Wilderness Lodge, and met up with the rest of the gang and headed to the Magic Kingdom for the day.

 Jill, me, Barbie, Josh and Nicole

We stopped at Gaston's so Jill, Nicole and Josh could get a bite to eat.

Have you seen the Cinnamon Roll at Gaston's? It's the size of a small child.

We rode Under the Sea-Voyage of the Little Mermaid and followed it up with a photo with Ariel.

We hit several more attractions before breaking for lunch at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe.

A few more attractions, various photo ops...

...and a lot more walking made us hungry for dessert, so Josh, Jill and I got ice cream from The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor while Barbie and Nicole got popcorn.

Barbie got me the Mickey Elf popcorn bucket!

We picked a spot for the Festival of Fantasy Parade.

We headed back to the Wilderness Lodge where we had to sadly say goodbye to Nicole.

That evening, Jill, Josh, Barbie and I headed to Epcot, where we stopped at several photo spots, really trying to get the most out of Memory Maker.

We had dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel...

 ...with the perfect end.

No, not a shot of tequila and a beer!  Illuminations Reflections of Earth, with the special Holiday tag.

Earlier Parts of the trip report:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
                                         

Epcot's Spice Road Table

By Nick 

My wife, friends and I had dinner at Spice Road Table in the Morocco Pavilion in Epcot shortly after they opened this past January.

 Left to Right: Ron, Kathy, Marilyn, Barbie and me

Located on the shore of the World Showcase Lagoon, it offers a lovely view if you can snag a window seat. 

There is also a large seating area outside, but we chose not to sit here, as it was a rather chilly evening.

Though we had no Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR) we had no trouble getting seated. Indeed, the restaurant was surprisingly empty. As the evening went on, it did get more crowded, almost certainly due to the fact that, like La Hacienda de San Angel in the Mexico Pavilion, Spice Road offers a view of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.

The decor is lovely, with, obviously not surprisingly, plenty of Moroccan touches.

It was warm and inviting.
Sadly, we didn't feel the same about the service. It wasn't poor service, it just didn't seem attentive, and it seemed a bit on the cold side. Some people prefer this, as they don't like a server to constantly be hovering, so this may not be an issue for some, but I feel there is a happy medium.
This could very easily be due to the fact that the staff was still working out the kinks.

On to the food!
The menu states that Spice Road Table serves Mediterranean Small Plates.

The menu has 2 Tapas sample platters, which were $16 each, and Barbie and I both each got one.

The Mogador Sampler includes Salted Cod Croquettes with a dab of Sundried tomato aioli and black olive tapenade, Mussels Tagine with cilantro, garlic, lemon confit and tomato sauce, and Fried Calamari with spicy Harissa and Remoulade sauces.

The Tingis Sampler has Merguez Sausage, which is a North African lamb sausage served with tomato, red onion and cilantro salad, a Lamb Slider served on Brioche with cucumber dill and mint tzatzikiki sauce, and Harissa Chicken Rolls.

Everything was fine, with my favorite being the Harissa Chicken rolls, but nothing really knocked our socks off. 

Each of the items offered in the sampler can be ordered as a small plate. In addition to those offerings are Spicy Shrimp with fried chillies and fried garlic, a Mediterranean Omelet with potato, red peppers and caramelized onions, Rice Stuffed Grape Leaves with Fried capers, raisins and fresh nutmeg, and Hummus and Imported Olives with Cornichons and Za'ata Flat bread, which I tasted, and thought was maybe the best thing I'd eaten that evening.

For dessert I had the Chocolate Pyramid with almond ice cream which was okay, but, again, not "Wow."

Everyone thought that their meal was good, but I can't recall anyone being overly impressed. 

In my humble opinion, the food at the Tangierine Cafe which is only a few steps away from Spice Road is better, and you get more food for less. 

I would likely only return if I was with friends that really wanted to try it.