Sanaa - Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

From AllEars...

Dining at Sanaa

Sanaa has become one of our favorite Disney restaurants - we look at the menu and it all looks good, and we have a hard time deciding what we want! They updated their menu within the last couple of months, so there were some new items since our dinner there in December.

We had a really terrific server, Rico, who made the evening an even better experience. He was really good about telling us what was new and suggesting things we might like to try.

For those not familiar with it, Sanaa offers more of an Indian-style cuisine along with some African-inspired dishes, including a variety of Tandoor oven dishes and curries.

Sanaa also has a wonderful selection of vegetarian dishes. While I am not a vegetarian, I don't eat a lot of meat, and I really enjoy a good vegetarian dish. At Sanaa it's a difficult decision! Fortunately their Vegetarian Sampler allows you to select two different dishes, so I only have to whittle it down to two.

One of the other special things about Sanaa - it's on ground level of Kidani Village, with windows that look right out onto the Sunset Savanna. And they conveniently have feeding stations near the windows, so there are almost always giraffe or zebra grazing within view. We did not have a window table this time, but we still could get a glimpse of what was going on outside. At one point there were several zebra and an impala that were running laps - we weren't sure who was chasing who, though it looked like the impala was just kicking up its heels and showing off how effortlessly it could run as compared to the rather lumbering zebras. :-)

But back to our dinner...

As our appetizers we ordered the Potato and Pea Samosas and the Lamb Kefta. The samosas are always good - a little bit spicy but not too hot for me.

The Lamb Kefta meatballs seemed to have a lot more of a kick this time - these were too hot for me, so Lee got to have the extra one.

We also ordered the Bread Service, with Naan, Papadum, and Paneer Paratha. The bread service includes three types of bread and your choice of four sauces (there are 8 or 9 on the menu). I could make a meal just out of this! The naan is usually served fresh out of the cooker but this time it had been sitting around for a while and was a little tough.

We REALLY liked the paneer paratha - I don't think we'd had that one before. It has paneer cheese on top, and it was just delicious - it didn't need any of the accompaniments! I always enjoy the papdum, too - it's cracker-like but has a distinct crunch and flavor.

They have two new sauces: coconut chutney, and jalapeno lime. We tried the jalapeno lime and it was definitely kicky - not my favorite. I thought we were trying the coconut curry, also, but that didn't seem to be on the plate. We also had the cucumber raita, mango chutney, and red chile sambal.

I tried two of the items from the Vegetarian Sampler: Spicy Cauliflower, Onions, Tomatoes and Mint and Vindaloo-Style Vegetables. They came with basmati rice. The "spicy" part in the first refers to the flavors and not the heat - it was very mild, but really tasty and flavorful. The Vindaloo was a little hotter, but still on the mild side, and it was also good. It had potatoes, squash, and a little bit of cauliflower in it. (I was very happy that none of the dishes contained red or green peppers!)

Lee had two of the Slow Cooked in Gravy, Simple and Well Seasoned dishes - Spicy Durban Chicken and Lamb Vindaloo, served with five-grain pilaf. They were both very tasty, but I thought they were skimpy on the meat, especially when compared with the chock-full-of-vegetables dishes that I had. (We did share!)

We also ordered two of the wine flights - we'd enjoyed those very much in December. They were quite different than what was available in December - different names, different wines. I had the Sustainable flight, which included a nouveau blanc, a chenin blanc, and a merlot-cabernet franc blend. The two whites were very nice - light and refreshing. The red was fine, but not remarkable in any way.

Lee tried the Durban, which was three red wines: Chakalaka, a red blend called "The First Lady", and a Malbec from Argentina. He enjoyed the first and the third, but the second didn't have a lot of flavor (I tried it and I thought the same).

For a change we actually had room for dessert - though we split one. I still have to say that dessert is the weakest part of the Sanaa menu - there's nothing I look at and say: "Oh, that looks great!" We ordered the Warm Rice Pudding - with Mango, Pistachio Tuile and Cinnamon Cream. Our server was hesitant on this one - it's not traditional rice pudding, and apparently only about 50% of the people who order it like it. It's not pudding consistency - it's grains of rice with a sweet sauce and chunks of mango. But that's what we were expecting, since we thought it would be like the sticky rice with mango dessert that we always order from our favorite Thai place back home. It was similar, so we were not disappointed (though I have to say the one we get at home was a LOT better than this one - this one wasn't sweet enough and the mango wasn't really ripe).

Overall it was a wonderful meal! Lee said it was just a warm-up training meal to get us ready for the cruise. :-)

Sanaa is open for lunch and dinner. The lunch menu is similar to the dinner menu, though they also offer a selection of sandwiches at lunch.

http://land.allears.net/blogs/lauragilbreath/2012/05/dining_at_sanaa_1.html

[The Castle Guy 36]

Hey Monique. I ALWAYS enjoy your reviews. We really enjoy wine tastings, so that sounds right up our alley. We plan on making a dinner reservation at Sanaa this December.Thanks for the review and thanks for sharing your palate.

Dave

[Lou... 3,118]

I suggest lunch as it's never that busy, so getting a table by a window in order to watch the animals is very possible.

Been there a number of times, always interesting.

The service and food are always excellent.