Rose and Crown/La Hacienda De San Angel
The next day found us at Epcot. I should note that we did not have park hoppers for this trip, so that confined us to one park per day. I like to save the money, and we have found that there is less stress for us in choosing just one park per day. I do miss playing what we used to call 'bus roulette' which was to board whichever park bus happened to drive up first at our resort--and we had to have hoppers to have that freedom. But that was way back in the day when you didn't necessarily have to have an ADR for every meal to eat at a table service restaurant.
Anyway, I changed my Epcot reservations around several times from Le Chefs de France and Via Napoli to Le Cellier and Coral Reef--all places we have eaten before. Then, since DS21 recently turned 21, I figured he would like the beer at Rose and Crown (he loves Guiness). In addition, we had not been at Rose and Crown for several years. So that's where we went--but it was not the best decision. We had a nice table outside, but our server was terrible. He literally disappeared forever. No water refills, no 'how is your meal,' no offers for an additional beer, etc. And he committed the greatest sin of all for a server in my eyes: he took forever to bring the check and then didn't return after he brought it. That drives me crazy--it is my biggest restaurant pet peeve. Especially when you have fast passes for Soarin that are going to expire.
DH had beer and fish and chips; DGF also had fish and chips. They said they were fine but did not rave about them. DH does love malt vinegar on both the fish and chips, so he was happy to add that. The pieces of fish were quite large.
DS had the breakfast burger with a fried egg and bacon. He liked it--he generally likes any burger. Add bacon and he is in heaven. He said it was good, but he did not rave about it. However, he was thrilled with the fried pickle that comes on the plate with the burger. That, he LOVED. He also had a Guiness and was a happy camper. Interesting side note--he was asked for ID at most restaurants--and as many newly-minted legal drinkers, he was always happy and quick to produce his driver's license. However, at Rose and Crown, he was not carded. The only other place he was not carded was BlueZoo.
After an afternoon in the sun at the pool, we went back to Epcot. We have never been for the Food and Wine Festival, so it was fun to be there with the food booths for the Flower and Garden Festival. I started with an iced mint tea at Epcot, which DS said tasted like 'backwash from chewed gum.' LOL. I have always liked it, but I had to sort of agree with his description.
DS and DH had beer from Germany and a couple other places. They also fought over the iced coffee drink with bourbon from the Joy of Tea in China. I had read about it, but it was not on the menu, so I asked and they called it their 'seasonal selection. Anyway, it is an iced coffee/tea concoction that is HEAVY on the bourbon. Topped with whipped cream. So good we had to get another one. Also, while in China, I got a steamed vegetable bun which was dry and then sugar-glazed strawberries. Fresh strawberries with a sweet sugar crunch. Those were awesome. I have to figure out how to make them. So good we got another skewer of them.
Next up was dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel. We had an ok meal there in 2011, but I was hoping we could snag a table for Illuminations, so we gave it a shot. I am so glad we did. We had an awesome table (one row back from the windows near the middle of the restaurant with an 8 p.m. ADR. Our server was one of the best we had in Disney this trip.
We started with the queso fundido (cheese with chorizo sausage) and flour tortillas. We all LOVED it. The sausage comes in the middle, so I ate the cheese around the edges. Our server brought us multiple warm flour tortillas. We also got the complimentary chips and salsa. DH, DS and DGF shared the La Hacienda platter with chicken, chorizo and and New York strip. They LOVED it. It was plenty for them after the appetizer, and luckily, they all had different favorites on the platter. It also came with grilled vegetables and rice and bean. I had the vegetarian tacos, which were also really good--grilled zucchini, peppers and onions, along with esquites (roasted corn) which was awesome. We all kind of shared everything. DH had a classic margarita and DS had an orange fire margarita. Both loved their drinks.
It was just a really nice dinner, capped off by dulche de leche ice cream and an empanada with apples and caramel. We had a good view of illuminations. They dimmed the lights and piped in the music. I am so glad we gave this place another chance. The atmosphere, the food and the service--along with capping it off with Illuminations made for a truly great dinner!
Next up: Be our Guest, many MK snacks, and Tony's Town Square
