La Hacienda de San Angel -- Dinner -- Table Service -- Epcot
*This dining experience took place in October 2014.La Hacienda de San Angel is my go-to for Mexican food in the Disney Parks and Resorts. I'm not as much of a fan of San Angel Inn, but I find the food at La Hacienda to be bright, fresh, and plentiful. Nestled on the World Showcase Lagoon, it has terrific views and is gorgeous when visiting around sunset. On this particular occasion, I stopped by the evening before the Happy Haunted 5K race. This seemed like the perfect pre-race dinner spot. I was pretty keen to order one of the platters available here because I've had them several times, and they are delicious!Once seated, our server took our drink orders and go the chef for me. That was a La Hacienda de San Angel first, as usually the server works with you on your order. I was pleasantly surprised and really appreciated that the chef came out to chat with me. He let me know that both of the salsas along with the chips were safe for me to consume, which is great. A few years ago only 1 salsa in the chips and salsa duo was safe so I'm glad they've maintained the safe options lately. For my entree, I ended up splitting the seafood platter which needed no modifications (the spicy mayo on the corn is mayonnaise based), except for the removal of the cheese on the corn and beans. I love the chips and salsa here, although be warned the red salsa is sweet, smoky, and spicy! I am a big fan of salsa verde which always hits the spot. Every time I eat here and get chips and salsa, I wish that La Cantina de San Angel would still serve safe gluten free chips. I haven't dined there since that happened, and I miss that as a good quick service option. Both of these locations are non-Disney owned, so they don't have to adhere to all of Disney's special diets policies. The view from our table was lovely. It's a great spot to catch IllumiNations or have a nice sunset dinner. The platter itself has changed ever so slightly since last year. Gone are the griddled onions (which I loved) and the corn now has a spicy mayo (delicious). Otherwise, most components are still the same. I love the zucchini and squash and the corn. All 3 of the seafood components were well cooked, though I have to say the scallops were my favorite. One other slight change was the rice. Gone is the red/salsa based rice. And thank goodness. I loved this version which was much lighter and matched the main entree so much better. The black beans are fantastic and great to dip your extra chips in! Served with corn tortillas, this was a huge meal. We did have second helpings of the rice and beans, but couldn't manage another bite by the time we finished. I definitely did a good job carb-loading that night!Overall, La Hacienda de San Angel is still a great table service location in the World Showcase. You can tell they've become more popular because the prices have raised and the portions have diminished slightly. Still, the platters are your best bang for you buck with tons of food to share among the table! Have you been to La Hacienda de San Angel? What do you recommend ordering there?