Carb it up! 8 days of pre- and post race food! Feb. 2014 *Complete*

[librarygeek]

Hi Becky! As usual, I was behind. But I really enjoyed getting caught up on all the yummy food tonight. Love your reviews as always!

Thank you! Don't worry, I'm behind on everyone's reviews and TR's too!

 

[librarygeek]

Pizzafari

I'm going to apologize in advance because this restaurant review isn't much of a "review." If you followed along with my TR, you know that on my Animal Kingdom day I was feeling rather sick, experiencing some strange pains. We thought perhaps that eating might help so we went to the closest food place, which just happened to be pizzafari. Not our normal choice, but one of necessity!



DH and I decided to split an order of pepperoni pizza, which came with a caesar salad, and also got an order of breadsticks. I didn't eat much of the pizza, but it was your typical Disney counter service pizza. It does the job to fill your stomach but not much more than that.



DH let me have the salad. It's just a small side salad but they had a nice balance of cheese and croutons. I always hate it when you get a Caesar Salad and there's only like 2 croutons in there!



The breadsticks were pretty tasty too. They have some herbs and cheese on them. I think they would make a really good snack if you're not looking for a full meal but want something savory instead of sweet in the middle of the afternoon!



Overall i won't give pizzafari a rating because I wasn't in a good place to really judge the food. Sadly, eating didn't help me much so we went back to the room to rest after this meal. But don't feel too bad for me - I was better by the late afternoon and still got to end the day on a high note! Plus we ended up having an amazing dinner that is still to come

 

[elphie101]

I feel like DH and I are the only people in the world who enjoy the pizza served at Pizzafari and Pizza Planet and the like - don't get me wrong, it's not exactly my first choice (well, maybe at DHS) but it's not the end of the world! I've had those breadsticks too and they were fairly decent.

 

[librarygeek]

I feel like DH and I are the only people in the world who enjoy the pizza served at Pizzafari and Pizza Planet and the like - don't get me wrong, it's not exactly my first choice (well, maybe at DHS) but it's not the end of the world! I've had those breadsticks too and they were fairly decent.

Yeah, I don't have any major issues with the pizza... there are just usually things out there I like more! But if I'm in the mood for pizza it does the trick. But I'm with you for DHS. They need more options!

 

[librarygeek]

Sanaa

Luckily, I was feeling better by the evening for our dinner reservations at Sanaa! I had been looking forward to this meal an awful lot. It was high on my list of must-do's, and AKL is my favorite resort



We checked in a little bit early, so we headed upstairs to visit the animals! There were lots of them out and about at this time. We had made a pretty early dinner reservation (I want to say it was around 5?) so we could still see the animals inside Sanaa!



Once inside we were seated toward the middle of the restaurant. It wasn't the best view of the animals (I would have rather been right next to a window!) but you could still see them. Plus the inside of the restaurant is beautiful!



To start with, DH and I ordered the infamous bread service. We had heard so much about it that we certainly couldn't turn it down!



Since I've been slacking and this dining review is now from almost a year ago (oops!) I'm trying to remember which three sauces we picked for the bread. I think it was the Red Chile Sambal, Mango Chutney, Coconut Chutney. I know the breads we picked the traditional naan, spiced naan, and pappadum. Whatever it was, it was absolutely delicious! The bread service is really not overrated. I love naan, and the chutneys were fantastic - I think the red chile one was a little too spicy for me. Overall I'd give it a 9 out of 10, DH gave it a 9.5 out of 10.

For his meal, DH had the Tandoori Lamb - served with Seasonal Slaw and Coriander Khichdi:



He gave it a 9 out of 10 and his one comment was "delicious." When I asked for more, he just said that it was really cool to eat good food and watch the animals outside.

And for my main course I had the "slow cooked, pick 2" meal - I went with the spicy durban shrimp and butter chicken with basmati rice:



I went into this super eager to try to spicy durban shrimp, and then basically just picked the butter chicken randomly for a second option. I like a decent amount of spicy but nothing over the top, but this was super spicy for me! Too much so. The flavor was great and if you can tolerate spicy better than I can I bet you would love it. The butter chicken, on the other hand, was absolutely incredible. One of the best things I've ever eaten at Disney. I give the dish a 9 out of 10, but just the butter chicken is a 10 out of 10.

We thought about dessert but nothing was really calling out to us so we decided to pass. All in all we give Sanaa a 9.5 out of 10 for both the food and the atmosphere! It was so good and quickly became one of our absolute favorite Disney restaurants. We will be back for sure!

Coke Zero - $2.99
Bread Service - $9.99
Slow Cooked - $22.99
Tandoori Lamb - $19.99

Total including tax: $59.60

 

[elphie101]

The more pictures I see from Sanaa the better it looks - especially that butter chicken, it looks divine! (Your good review doesn't really hurt either).

Have you tried Jiko? I can't remember. If you have, which one would you pick between the two, if you could only chose one. They're both on the top of my to-try list.

 

[librarygeek]

The more pictures I see from Sanaa the better it looks - especially that butter chicken, it looks divine! (Your good review doesn't really hurt either).

Have you tried Jiko? I can't remember. If you have, which one would you pick between the two, if you could only chose one. They're both on the top of my to-try list.

We have been to Jiko and absolutely loved it! It's really hard to pick one as they are rather different - Jiko is signature and so it's more expensive, but as more gourmet food. Sanaa has the added bonus of the animals. If it wasn't a special occasion or anything like that I would probably go with Sanaa. I adore Boma too - honestly, you can't go wrong at AKL! Those three with Be Our Guest are probably my top favorite restaurants in all of Disney (at least that I've tried!)

 

[librarygeek]

Cookes of Dublin

This is my last dining review from this trip! Just about time too, as we almost came full circle - I leave for my next trip in less than a month!

We spent the morning of our departure day at Downtown Disney riding the Characters in Flight balloon, then decided to grab lunch. We thought about Wolfgang Puck Express but Cookes of Dublin was closer - neither of us had tried it, so we decided to give it a go!

DH got the Battered Burger & Chips – (Hand Battered Burger topped with Garlic Mayonnaise, Tomato Chutney and Mixed Greens )




He enjoyed it, said it was good. He gave it a 6.5 out of 10. It’s basically just your standard burger, though at least the buns are better than the typical Disney buns!

I went with the classic fish and chips:



This was good too. I liked the fries, I think they were thick and crispy and better than your standard fries. The fish was good too. I liked the crunchy breading, though there was a lot of breading compared to fish. I’d give it a 7 out of 10.

We also couldn’t resist the "Doh Bar" Donut Battered Snickers – ("Doh Bar" Donut Battered Snickers )!



Holy smokes, this was good, but intense! Very rich – I mean, it is a Snickers bar fried in dough with powdered sugar. I could only eat a few bites so I’m glad we shared it, but those bites were delicious! I’d give it an 8 out of 10.

Overall Cookes of Dublin was a nice option. We also got to eat outside on a beautiful day. It took a little while for them to make our food, but it was all hot and good when we got it. Nothing super amazing but a good meal! 7 out of 10

 

[Dismamx2]

I enjoyed reading your report, thanks for sharing

 

[elphie101]

Cookes looks good! I haven't tried it yet either but it seems like reliably good food. Those fries look outstanding!

I can't believe this DR is over and I can't believe you're about to go back! Take me with you

 

[librarygeek]

I enjoyed reading your report, thanks for sharing

Thank you for reading along!

Cookes looks good! I haven't tried it yet either but it seems like reliably good food. Those fries look outstanding!

I can't believe this DR is over and I can't believe you're about to go back! Take me with you

I know, right?? We have some good places planned to eat for this next trip (Trattoria al Forno, Yachtsman, Be Our Guest...) so I'm sure I will get another dining review going once we return!

 

[samefay]

Love the pictures and reviews. Thanks for sharing.

 

[RGirl]

Great reviews. Becky! Sanaa sounds so great - I hope we manage to try it one day! Thanks for taking the time to review everything!!!!