We’re back at Frontera Cocina in Disney Springs for the debut of several new offerings at the Disney Springs restaurant headed by celebrity Chef Rick Bayless!

While you can always find classics on the menu such as Carnitas, Queso Fundido, and more, Frontera Cocina has a great reputation for switching up offerings on a fairly frequent basis, so you will likely always find something new when you visit.

We were invited to taste items from the new Taste of Mexico City menu along with some seasonal offerings at Frontera Cocina, and are excited to share them with you today. Remember that these menu items are served a la carte, so you don’t need to order an entire prix fixe meal here — you can mix and match items as you please!

Taste of Mexico City

We’ll begin the Taste of Mexico City offerings with the Shrimp Ceviche Tostadas.

The Shrimp Ceviche Tostadas bring together ceviche made with Florida Pink Shrimp, sun-dried tomato, crunchy jicama olives, serrano chiles, lime, and cilantro with tostadas in a fun fashion with a slice of lime served on the side.

(The Chef always recommends a fresh squeeze of lime juice on top!)

This delicious dish is complete with an avocado spread, and the reason anything made with avocado tastes so good at Frontera Cocina (case in point: any of the Guacamole varieties) is because they are never frozen here.

You could also really taste the sweetness from the jicama, adding another flavor variation.

The Swordfish al Pastor brings back the swordfish we loved from the last specialty menu in a new way: grilled swordfish is prepared with “pastor” flavors of red chile, garlic, and achiote and presented with plantain rice and a smoky pineapple-chipotle salsa.

Once again, it doesn’t disappoint. The fish was prepared perfectly with just the right amount of seasoning.

And the combination of pineapple and onion complements the dish very well.

Tacos are always a great option here, often plated so you can prepare them yourself at the table. The Pork Belly for Making Soft Tacos, though, is an unexpected departure from your typical taco fillings!

Our server explained that the recommended way of assembling the tacos is spreading the refried black beans over the warm corn tortilla first, followed by a layer of the pork belly topped with guacamole.

A three chile agave salsa is also dished up for a final touch, but only if you desire some spice because it carries a nice, strong kick!

The pork belly itself presented that terrific soft-yet-crispy texture. We likened the sauce on the pork to a Mexican barbecue sauce because you could taste the smokiness from the bacon and chile while also picking up on a hint of sweetness.

A new dessert option, the Mexican Chocolate “Flan” (made panna cotta style) sets itself apart from the usual flan with the inclusion of dark chocolate with Mexican cinnamon and sweet plantains.

Cajeta caramel and tasted almonds along with a spicy cinnamon sugar complete the dish.

The entire flan is topped off with salt which resulted in kicking up the flavors a notch!

We’ve grown to accustomed to looking forward to the cocktails that come along with the specialty menus. The Taste of Mexico City features the Dark Aztec Margarita with Montelobos mezcal, charcoaled pineapple lime juice, homemade piloncillo syrup and mole bitters finished with a powdered peanut rim.

We’ve tried other drinks with mezcal at Frontera Cocina with their distinctive super smoky flavor. The difference with the Dark Mezcal Margarita is that the lime, pineapple, and piloncillo serve to tone down the smokiness so it comes through more in the aftertaste.

The bitterness from the mole and the sweet and salty rim were very light, but very good.

La Bandera, on the other hand, brings its sweetness to the forefront with this mix of El Velo blanco tequila, prickly pear puree, orange liqueur and lemon juice finished with a lime foam and garnished with cilantro. Though the alcohol is very much present, the flavor emphasis is on the fruitiness of the drink.

The freshly made lime foam on the top was a great touch. Surprisingly, it kept its integrity throughout the drink so the fresh lime flavor came through at the top of every sip.

La Trajinera Flight is, first of all, unique in its presentation in a mini version of a wooden raft like you might see in Mexico City.

And the flavors are strong. Take note that you really do need to appreciate and enjoy the taste of mezcal because the Flight is comprised of two straight shots of mezcal (Montelobos Tobala and Bozal ensamble) served with one chaser shot of Suave de Agave Sangrita.

The Sangrita offers a really pleasant sweet and spicy mix which nicely complements the mezcal (and honestly, I would’ve loved more of it).

Overall, the Taste of Mexico City presents several fun and new ways to enjoy the delicious flavors served at Frontera Cocina!

Winter Seasonal Menu

We still have a few more additions to check out thanks to the current Seasonal Menu items.

The Winter Green Ensalada combines shaved black kale and Arcadian lettuce with grilled pineapple, toasted pepitas, Cotija cheese, red onions, jicama, and a roasted tomatillo-serrano vinaigrette.

It has a nice kick to it, with an enjoyable spiciness alongside the pineapple.

The Three Chile Roasted Brussels Sprouts are served with crispy bacon and Cotija cheese.

These were one of the real surprises of the evening. Basically, it’s difficult to pick a favorite from the new selections, but if I had to, this might be it. We noticed it seemed to be a huge hit with both the guests and servers.

The sheer amount of flavor was insane, and it hit on both the fried crispy and soft textures.

Finally, we have the Café de Olla Sorbet. Straight off the bat, you absolutely need to be a coffee lover for this sorbet blend of Mexican coffee, brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, and orange zest.

The hints of brown sugar, clove, and orange in the dessert were lovely, and think it would have been nice to have even more of the orange come through in the taste. (In fact, I dined with someone who was not a huge coffee fan, but kept eating the sorbet because these additional flavors were so delicious.)

But what was most striking was the fresh, true coffee flavor here. You know how coffee ice cream typically has an artificial flavor to it? Not here. The flavor is very fresh and very strong.

As you can tell, even if you’ve already visited Frontera Cocina in Disney Springs, Chef Bayless and the team here will always offer you plenty of new and tasty reasons to come back!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. We were invited by Frontera Cocina to experience the new menu items. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ

Have you dined at Frontera Cocina? Please let us know with a comment!