Frontera Cocina -- Lunch -- Table Service -- Disney Springs
*This dining experience took place in July 2016.
Frontera Cocina, located at Disney Springs, has quickly become one of my new favorite table locations. With authentic Mexican food, this restaurant is the brain child of celebrity chef Rick Bayless, who is well-known for creating classic Mexican cuisine.With a menu that's almost entirely gluten free naturally, it's not hard to see why I love Frontera Cocina so much.
On this particular visit, I stopped by with my mom for a quick lunch. Frontera Cocina opens at 11 a.m., and on this visit, we were actually the first guests in the restaurant. Yes, rope dropping Mexican food; that's how we roll in my family!
On my last visit, I got the bacon guacamole and loved it, but I've been dying to try the Sikil Pak -- a classic Yucatan dish made with pumpkin seeds. It's actually something I learned to make when I visited Mexico for my birthday in 2015, so I was excited to try Frontera Cocina's version.Served with tortilla chips (which are made in a dedicated fryer), cucumber, and jicama, this was a nice refreshing appetizer. The pumpkin seed dip does have a bit of a bite, as it contains habanero, but it's not overly spicy. I preferred the dip with the fresh cucumber with the tortilla chips coming in as a close second. My mom loved the jicama.My only complaint about this dish was that our tortilla chips seemed a bit stale. They weren't warm and freshly fried, which was a bit of a bummer.
For my entree, I decided to order the zucchini and roasted poblano pepper tostadas topped with black beans, goat cheese, and a bit of frisee. I do really well with non-cow's milk cheese, so I was looking forward to trying this goat cheese based dish.Overall, I really enjoyed these -- though after seeing my mom's chicken tostadas, I sort of wish I had ordered those minus the crema and queso fresco. The zucchini and poblanos were really well cooked, and I liked the combination of the beans and tang from the goat cheese. I wasn't a fan of the frisee, but it was easily removed.I didn't ask, but I actually don't think this is a vegetarian dish, because the menu indicates that the black beans contain pork (probably pork fat). Next time I visit, I will try to ask about vegetarian dishes.
My mom ordered the chicken tostadas, and she raved about them. They looked really delicious and flavorful. Topped with black beans, chicken, avocado, crema, queso fresco and cilantro - these are gluten free and can easily be made dairy free by removing the crema and queso fresco.Overall, we really enjoyed our lunch at Frontera Cocina. I hope to go back for dinner to try out some of the other gluten free options. I'm dying to get the shrimp mojo de ajo that my friend Ron ordered. You can see some of the other gluten free dishes over on Alexis's Gluten Free Adventures.What are you most looking forward to trying at Frontera Cocina?