Annie N.
Yelp
Rosa Mexicano is located inside the Dolphin Hotel at Walt Disney World. This is a newer restaurant with only being open for maybe a year. This has been on our list for quite some time, so I am happy we finally got to try it. It is fantastic and I must recommend it. The parking is a little challenging, the Dolphin charges $30 to park. But what we learned is if you eat at any of the restaurants inside, they will give you a validation ticket which actually covers the entire parking. So, make sure you ask for it. They asked us, but she did tell us not everyone asks. Just make sure you get that validation. The parking lot is way off to the side of the main entrance. We have not been to the Dolphin in a long time, so we went through the first door we saw. This was actually the convention center. We walked which seemed like forever trying to find the main hotel. I would recommend, just walking outside to the main entrance. It will be much easier. Once we got to the main lobby, we had a really hard time locating the actual restaurant. I would say just find an employee and ask. The lobby is very large and has a few "wings" that go off with elevators. You basically have to go through one of those wings, take the elevator back downstairs and then down a hallway and finally you will see Rosa Mexicano.
We noticed that they had a bar, where people were both eating and just having drinks, high-top tables around/near the bar and then the main dining room. We checked in, which is also where you grab your validation pass and were seated pretty quickly. We were pretty much on time to the reservation, but it seemed there were lots of open tables. We were seated next to a window which had a nice view. The first thing I noticed was it was very hot in the restaurant, I'm not sure if it's because there are a ton of windows and it's getting really hot outside, or it was just hot. But it did feel much hotter in the main dining room.
Our server came by pretty quick with waters as well as someone else bringing us chips and salsa. Their chips were hot and crispy and salty, they were delicious, and their salsa was also really good. You can get refills on both but be careful and not fill up on these, we did because they were so good. I will say the water was served no ice, not a huge deal but I am an ice fan, and it was already hot inside and the last thing I wanted was warm water. For drinks, I ordered a frozen watermelon margarita which was absolutely fantastic. I really enjoyed it and not your typical frozen margarita you usually see. My husband ordered their version of the old fashion. He was able to choose from 3 different tequilas. He actually really enjoys a tequila old fashion, so he was excited about this. I think personally it was very expensive for a cocktail, at $22 it could have been a little larger.
For food, I had decided to get the birria tacos before we even got there, but when I looked over the menu, I decided on a different meal. I went with the Tampiquena, which had 10oz steak, cheese enchilada, Mexican rice, refried beans and queso fresco. I am not a fan of beans, so I asked to substitute it, they offered black beans to which I still didn't like. I asked if they had any avocado or anything. I was able to sub for avocado, but they charged me $5 which I did not know. It was not worth that! This was ok, I'm not a huge fan of this dish. I was sadly disappointed. The steak was delicious, but it was tough and hard to cut, they did not give me a steak knife, so it was extra hard. The cheese enchilada tasted weird, it was very sweet and just not what I expected. The rice also had a strange taste to it, it had a seasoning on it, that I could not pinpoint. The avocado was fine and the guacamole was good. It also had some roasted peppers. The queso I thought was going to be ore crumbly not a huge brick of cheese. This was weird and just didn't go with the dish. I would have liked it better if it was crumbly. This unexpectedly also came with corn tortillas. These were raw, they did not even taste like they were cooked. I am a bigger fan of flour, but these were just not my cup of tea. My sister ordered the half chicken which came with a different rice, I actually liked her rice better. The chicken was cooked very well, had really good flavor but she wanted more sauce. She asked for more mole sauce, and she then said it was perfect, so ask for more sauce. My husband ordered the camarones al mojo de ajo. This had jumbo shrimp, very small noodles, avocado, and a chili guajillo-lobster butter sauce. The dish looked very saucy with not much else in it. But he loved it. He had a decent number of shrimp, the noodles were different but good, it gave the starch to the dish and the sauce was fantastic. He really enjoyed it saying he would order it again.
All in all this is a great place to eat at. We will for sure be coming back even if it just for chips and drinks!