"I DO...want dessert" Our 10-Day DxDP Honeymoon-FINAL POST

[TheNewMrsB]

I am so happy that Narcoossee's is as good as it was last year - we'll be there tomorrow night! DH looooooves that soup!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Love the Narcoossee's review, makes me even more excited to eat there in Nov...have not tried it before but it looks amazing!

 

[Disney_Cutie]

Mmmm seafood..... *drool*

 

[heatherandnick]

3 Desserts is more than okay on your honeymoon (at least im telling myself that)

Thanks. I appreciate that!

I am so happy that Narcoossee's is as good as it was last year - we'll be there tomorrow night! DH looooooves that soup!

Okay, I'm jealous. I hope you have a great time, though. Enjoy every bite!

Love the Narcoossee's review, makes me even more excited to eat there in Nov...have not tried it before but it looks amazing!

I hopeyou love it as much as we did. It really was amazing!

Mmmm seafood..... *drool*

I know. As I write these reviews, it makes my tummy growl and my mouth water.

 

[Kathy Z]

It looks and sounds like you made excellent choices at Narcoosee's. Those pictures and descriptions have me second guessing not including that ADR in our Dec. plans. Oh well, there's always the next time.

 

[heatherandnick]

It looks and sounds like you made excellent choices at Narcoosee's. Those pictures and descriptions have me second guessing not including that ADR in our Dec. plans. Oh well, there's always the next time.

That's what I've said about so many different restaurants. It's so hard to choose...even if you have a lot of meals to enjoy. On my list for next time are: Biergarten, Yachtsman, Tokyo, ... Now I just have to figure out when "next time" will be.

 

[heatherandnick]

I guess doing these reviews has allowed me to almost "re-live" our fantastic trip. I almost don't want it to end, so I find myself totally slacking on the reviews. So sorry.

Does this happen to anyone else?

More to come soon. I promise.

 

[heatherandnick]

We decided to take a cab to breakfast, since transportation seemed to be slowing us down a bit on certain mornings. Also, we thought 20 more minutes of sleep sounded phenominal. Just FYI, a cab ride from AKL to Beach Club was about 15 dollars. It was well worth it.

Beach Club is a beautiful resort and this was such a great breakfast. We were one of the first tables to be seated for the day. Immediately, I noticed a calm, laid back atmosphere. The place was beautifully decorated in a beach theme, and our server was very attentive. We were seated against the far right wall in a booth for two. (It was lovely and private.)

The food was great. I cannot remember much, but I tend to stick to the traditional favorites.

The characters were fabulous. They even came to our table twice. A nice touch was that our server offered to take a picture of us with the characters. That scored him major bonus points!

I would do this breakfast again if I was staying at the Yacht and Beach Club, or if I wanted a quiet, relaxing breakfast to start my day. It was a great experience.

Next up: lunch at Sanaa

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Thanks for great updates, we love Narcoosee's and so glad you guys loved it.

 

[heatherandnick]

Thanks for great updates, we love Narcoosee's and so glad you guys loved it.

Thanks for reading. So glad you're enjoying the reviews. Narcoosee's is now one of our new favorites!

 

[heatherandnick]

This was sort of a last-minute addition to our itinerary. Once we did the swapping around to fit in Flame-Tree, we must've done something to give us 1-credit unaccounted for. So, after much research, we decided on Sanaa. Actually, DH decided on Sanaa. I was totally shocked because he has never had Indian or African food before. I thought it was a great idea. Worst case scenerio would be that we (or he) hate(s) it and we don't eat much. Not a problem on a 3-meal day, right? Right. So, we went for it.

Sanaa is located in the Kidani Village part of AKL. We decided to walk over instead of waiting for the DTD bus from Jambo house. It was about a 10-minute walk. As soon as we walked into Kidani, we fell in love. What a beautiful part of the resort! It was very similar to AKL Jambo House, except MUCH smaller and much more intimate. It had a cozy, Afican feel, without being overwhelmingly large. Also, the savannah at this part of the resort was much greener and brighter.

We walked down to the Sanaa hostess stand, and were greated by very pleasant cast members. We had a very short wait (about 5 minutes) in which I used the restroom located down by the restaurant. HOLY COW! I have never, ever, EVER been in such a fabulous bathroom before. Seriously, if you go to Sanaa or are staying in Kidani, go down there and use the bathroom. I even made DH go in the men's room and he said it was just as awesome.

We were seated at a table by the window. We didn't have a great view of the savannah because a big plant was in our way, but many of the tables had incredicle views of the lush savannah.

For my appetizer, I got the Indian Bread Service (and, yes, this counts as one appetizer).

I wish I could tell you which types of bread and which accompaniments I got, but I have no idea. We just told our server to pick, and she was happy to do so. We told her we like spicy things and we do not like mango. I think this is where we messed up...We THOUGHT we didn't like mango. I think we had just never really tried. I tend to really enjoy a mixture of spicy and sweet, so I am a little disappointed that we didn't try one of the mango dips. Next time!

For his appetizer, DH got the sampler for two (and, yes, this too counted as one appetizer).

This dish had three different things: potato and pea samosas, lamb kefta, and roasted cauliflower. The potato and pea samosas we interesting. I am not the biggesst fan of peas, but the sauce made up for them. The sauce was similar to a Chinese duck sauce, but even better and with mangos (there are those darn mangos again!) instead of apricots. I ended up dipping some of the leftover bread into this sauce it was so good. The lamb kefta was different but good. After trying this appetizer, DH was able to pick his entree a little easier (you'll see why soon). The roasted cauliflower left a lot to be desired. I like cauliflower in general, but we just didn't like this at all. Oh well...two outta three ain't bad!

For my entree, I got the slow cooked specialties with basmati rice: the shrimp and the beef short ribs (I think!).

They were both good and I appreciated that I could get to try a small serving of two different selections. It was nice to have this option since I had no idea what I was oerdering.

For his entree, DH got the lamb kefta (again!).

He said it was different and good. (A man of few words, he is.)

For dessert, we got the dessert sampler of chocolate cake, fruit kulfi, and chai cream.

The chai cream was so yummy. I dipped each bite of the cake in the chai cream, and it was a delicious duo. DH ate all of the fruit stuff. I'm thinking it might've been some sort of a mango frozen dessert?
For our second dessert, we got the vanilla-coconut rice pudding.

Big mistake. The sampler was SOOOO much better. We should've just gotten 2 of those. I like rice pudding, but this was just too weird.

All in all, Sanaa was fabulous. It is a hidden gem and we recommend for anyone to go there. DH is not at all an adventurous eater, and he says this was one of his favorite lunches of the trip. This is a beautiful restaurant at a beautiful part of the resort. It is very quiet, private, and delicious. Give it a try if you have extra time, are staying at AKL, or need a good meal on a day you are visiting AK.

Next up: Ohana dinner

 

[Kathy Z]

We don't have any meals planned for Sanaa but we may just go over to take a look (bathrooms and all) after reading your description. Someone reported on the Resorts forum that there is now a golf cart shuttle that runs between Jambo House & Kidani Village.

 

[athenna]

Great reviews Glad you loved Sanaa, it's my 2nd fav on property, just behind Jiko..67 more days until my birthday dinner there

 

[heatherandnick]

We don't have any meals planned for Sanaa but we may just go over to take a look (bathrooms and all) after reading your description. Someone reported on the Resorts forum that there is now a golf cart shuttle that runs between Jambo House & Kidani Village.

You should definitey go check it out. It's truly beautiful. I wonder if you have to be a DVC member to stay there?

Great reviews Glad you loved Sanaa, it's my 2nd fav on property, just behind Jiko..67 more days until my birthday dinner there

Girl, I'm with you on Jiko. LOVED it. That's the one signature restaurant that truly "wowed" me. Have a great trip!

 

[emmabemmainc]

Wonderful reviews!

Ok, let me know the next time you are going to WDW, so I can tag along with you!
The Polynesian is my favorite resort, the lobster eggs benedict were horrible to me, and I love Narcoossee's!

I have really enjoyed reading your reviews--thank you!

 

[plutosgirl]

Loving your reviews!! Congrats!

 

[heatherandnick]

Wonderful reviews!

Ok, let me know the next time you are going to WDW, so I can tag along with you!
The Polynesian is my favorite resort, the lobster eggs benedict were horrible to me, and I love Narcoossee's!

I have really enjoyed reading your reviews--thank you!

Is Jiko up there in your favs? If so, then you've gotta deal!

Loving your reviews!! Congrats!

Thank you and thanks for reading. I'm almost done, but there are a few good ones left.

 

[emmabemmainc]

Is Jiko up there in your favs? If so, then you've gotta deal!

YES!! I got the filet when we went last year and loved, loved, loved it!

 

[heatherandnick]

YES!! I got the filet when we went last year and loved, loved, loved it!

Mmmmmm. That mac and cheese was so good! You gotta get the mussels app if you go back.

 

[heatherandnick]

I was super-duper excited about this ADR. I love the Poly, everyone RAVES about Ohanas for dinner, and this was my night to indulge in some Lapu Lapus.

We were seated almost immediately at a table for two, by the window, with a perfect view of the castle. I was so stoked.

Then, the food began to come out...

The pineapple bread was so freakin good! Seriously. I kept eating little pieces because I didn't want to fill up. I could've definitely eaten the whole loaf.

The salad was good. Not much to it, but I enjoyed the dressing.

The wings and pot stickers were both good. The sauces were the perfect accompaniment.

I loved the noodles. They were pretty plain, but reminded me of lo mein (which I love).

The broccoli was a disappointment. It lacked flavor and one small piece was enough for me.

The the meat began to come out. I believe we had steak, pork, and shrimp. My DH LOVES meat, but he was really diappointed in the quality of meat here. The steak was tough and the peel and eat shrimp were impossible to peel. We love steamed shrimp, so this was a disappointment. They were cooked WAY TOO LONG.

The dessert was yummy, just as everyone says. Is it the best dessert on property? Not to me. But, it was good and I'm glad a saved a little bit of room for it.

I enjoyed Ohana, but DH was not impressed. He had been saving up for the meat to arrive, and was so disappointed by the meats. By that time, all the other stuff on our table was too cold to eat.

I also think we HATED the wastefulness of this dinner. I mean, seriously. We are 2 people. The amount of food they brought us was easily enough for 6. It was very disheartening for us to see all that food go to waste. We are very frugal at home, and to take part in this experience was a little hard for us. I wish this should be changed. I do not know how Ohanas makes enough profit during breakfast or dinner if they waste that miuch.

Another disappointment was our server. I cannot remember her name, but we hardly ever saw her. Cousin Cliff was her helper, I guess? Well, HE was awesome. So sweet, funny, and attentive. We should've given him the entire gratuity.

I did not get my coveted Lapu Lapus...got Malibu Bay Breezes instead. I'm...well...not the best drinker ever, so DH and I decided the Lapus were probably a bit strong for me.

I would go back to Ohanas, but DH would not. Too bad. I was really looking forward to this one, but I was disappointed. I wonder why it is so hard to get an ADR for? It seems there are MUCH better dinners on property.

Next up: Columbia Harbor House during KTTK Tour