Disappointed in Sanaa and Tusker House

[Kitten<3Duck]

I made reservations for both Tusker House and Sanaa (both for lunch) and came away from both very disappointed.

I love love love all regions of Indian food, and the African food that I've had (Ethiopian in particular) has been wonderful. I was very excited to see Disney's take on these cuisines. I anticipated some adaptation to American palates, but not nearly to the extent that I encountered.

At Tusker House I knew I would find a large amount of 'normal' food mixed into the buffet, but didn't think it would be half of what was offered. What they did have was pretty unexciting, too. Couscous, hummus, samosas... I wasn't too impressed.

Sanaa was the biggest disappointment. My boyfriend and I shared the bread service and each got the vegetarian meal. We chose sambal, garlic pickles and hummus as our bread accompaniments; he decided on the stewed lentils and spinach/paneer for his entree, and I the stewed lentils and cauliflower/onions/tomato for my entree.

My first indication that this wasn't going to be anything approaching flavorful was that the sambal could have easily been eaten with a spoon (it's made of ground chili peppers... I usually only use a tiny amount).

As for the entree, the cauliflower and onion were basically in a plain tomato puree and the stewed lentils were just that - stewed lentils. I tried my boyfriend's spinach and paneer dish. Again, same problem - completely bland.

I'm really not upset that I ate there or spent the amounts I did for what amounted to mediocre meals (especially when my local Indian restaurant does an outstanding lunch buffet for $9.99), I'm just sad that I had to find out the hard way that Disney is not going to offer too much in the way of authentic or adventurous dining.

Honestly, I realize Disney has to make food accessible to everyone. I'm just a little sad. Is there anywhere to find food with a bit more authenticity to it?

 

[princessallegra]

Wow, sorry to hear this! We love Indian food, and eat authentic Indian all the time. I can't imagine ordering what you ordered and having it taste bland. Yuck! Were the main dishes even flavored like the curry/garam/ginger/turmeric flavor?? I've eaten Indian food at places that wasn't very spicy heat wise, but was still flavored well. I would be disappointed too. I love the saag paneer and there's nothing worse than bland spinach puree I'll tell you that much. We are eating at Tusker House for lunch this trip, but we're not expecting much. We ate at Yak and Yeti last trip and it was good but nothing to make us come running back, so we decided to try Tusker House. We're not big buffet people, but we will give it a shot. Thanks for the honest review, sorry you were disappointed!

 

[Vegcentric]

Sorry to hear that your Tusker House and Sanaa meals weren't good. I personally always loved Tusker House and was never disappointed in them, but I have heard on these boards quite a bit that people wish the restaurants were more authentic. This has been a pretty common complaint. I remember years ago when the food WAS more authentic but...not anymore.

 

[kollerbear]

(My first post on DIS! Which I'm excited about, but not because of the content of your post-- so disappointing!)

It sounds like we would probably have really similar taste in food-- I'm a vegetarian and, since I live in an Indian neighborhood in NYC, I get really great, flavorful veg food. (I'm so glad we skipped Sanaa last August-- I was really excited about seeing the animals while eating but I think my BF would have cried-- he orders "Indian spicy" whenever he can convince someone to serve it to him )

I was wondering if you tried out any other restaurants while you were there that weren't so disappointing? I wonder if Jiko is more delicious, if not more authentic?

 

[Kitten<3Duck]

Were the main dishes even flavored like the curry/garam/ginger/turmeric flavor?? I've eaten Indian food at places that wasn't very spicy heat wise, but was still flavored well. I would be disappointed too. I love the saag paneer and there's nothing worse than bland spinach puree I'll tell you that much. We are eating at Tusker House for lunch this trip, but we're not expecting much.

The dishes weren't flavored properly. The best way I can describe the cauliflower dish was boiled cauliflower and onions in a stewed tomato puree... and a couple wilted mint leaves. The menu actually calls it spicy!
I LOVE saag paneer (sorry, I had forgotten the name and the Sanaa menu called it just 'spinach and paneer'). It was just bland wilted spinach. Also the red pepper hummus we chose for the bread service had cheese in it... Parmesan, I think. I haven't had any other experience encountering cheese in hummus, so maybe it's something I'm unaware of... but to me it seemed a bit odd.

It sounds like we would probably have really similar taste in food-- I'm a vegetarian and, since I live in an Indian neighborhood in NYC, I get really great, flavorful veg food. (I'm so glad we skipped Sanaa last August-- I was really excited about seeing the animals while eating but I think my BF would have cried-- he orders "Indian spicy" whenever he can convince someone to serve it to him )

I was wondering if you tried out any other restaurants while you were there that weren't so disappointing? I wonder if Jiko is more delicious, if not more authentic?

I am a vegetarian and I love all the Indian/Middle Eastern/African food I've ever tried.

I'd like to try Jiko next time, but they're kind of limited on their vegetarian options.

As for my recommendations, I just couldn't find fault with the counter service meals I had. The veggie burger Disney uses is really great. It's rice and vegetable based (no weird TVP pseudo-meat chewiness) and they cook it very nicely so it's crisp and brown. Sunshine Seasons in Epcot had great choices. The veggie sandwich was very good and filling. And we ate at Tangerine Cafe in Morocco three times during the week we were there... I love the vegetarian platter. And it comes with three falafel patties now, too! Also check out the vegetable flatbread from the Golden Oak Outpost in Adventureland. The bread was a little thick, but the filling was fantastic.

Also I should note I typically will not eat cheese unless I can see if it was made with vegetable or animal based rennet. The only cheese I encountered in what I ordered what feta and I know the majority of that is curdled with non-animal rennet (unlike something like Parmesan) so I just sort of pushed it to the back of my mind. But this also limited me because there are quite a few cheese-dominant vegetarian offerings at other restaurants that I wouldn't risk eating at all. A little feta I can deal with, a plate of French or Italian cheeses, not so much. (I order a lot of cheese-less pizzas. Let me tell you, Dominoes makes a MEAN cheese-less pizza!)

EDIT: Oh, and just remembered... Earl of Sandwich... their veggie sandwich is just ok. I actually would only recommend it for the quality of the bread it's on. And DEFINITELY try the veggie burgers at Fresh A-Peel in Downtown Disney. I can't say that enough. They're made in house, and they taste just like the ones my boyfriend's mom makes for me. They're black bean based and the spicy sauce they put on them gives it real kick.

 

[kollerbear]

DEFINITELY try the veggie burgers at Fresh A-Peel in Downtown Disney. I can't say that enough. They're made in house, and they taste just like the ones my boyfriend's mom makes for me. They're black bean based and the spicy sauce they put on them gives it real kick.

That sounds delicious! (And I kind of want the recipe for the one your boyfriend's mom makes if it tastes like that!) I've never seen this recommended before, so thanks for the tip!

Also check out the vegetable flatbread from the Golden Oak Outpost in Adventureland. The bread was a little thick, but the filling was fantastic.

That's also great to hear! I've always missed this spot.

I understand what you mean about cheese--at this point it's not something I pay very much attention to, but especially since I cook with a lot of seitan, I'm often amazed at what passes for a vegetarian meal! Disney has definitely gotten better, though. When I visited with my vegetarian family as a kid, you were really hard-pressed to find tofu, and I think they only served veggie burgers at a couple of places. Although, huh, in retrospect, it was at the American pavilion of all places, in the mid 90s, that we discovered the deliciousness of hummus mixed with tabouli (we always had only one or the other at home), so that was eye-opening--these were before the days when basic Middle Eastern food was readily available. So go figure.

Also the red pepper hummus we chose for the bread service had cheese in it... Parmesan, I think. I haven't had any other experience encountering cheese in hummus, so maybe it's something I'm unaware of... but to me it seemed a bit odd.

And yeah. No. Just, no. That's really weird.

And sorry, weird question--could anyone tell me how to quote another person in the forum so that it shows the "original post by..." part?

 

[ToddyLu]

DH and I also ate Sanaa's food this trip and had it delivered to the room. We ordered the Tangorri Chicken and Shrimp. Sorry I know you guys are vegetarians. He got the scallops as an appetizer. We also ordered the bread with red roasted bell peper hummus, mango chutney and garlic pickle sauces. After the chicken I could not eat much more becasue all of the different spicy flavors were too much. We live on the Gulf Coast and eat a lot of fried foods, not ethnic foods. We enjoyed the dessert sampling. DH is usually pickier than I am and he could not finish what he wanted because the flavors were overwhelming to both of us.

The sauce on his scallops was very bland though--even for us


I guess we were the Rednecks gone to the Big City.

 

[kollerbear]

Hey--one thing about spicy food is that every night the kitchen might get it a little different. Your food might have tasted totally different! I'm sorry you didn't like the flavors-- of course to each his own!

I have heard the desserts at Sanaa are really nice-- was the chai cream as good as people say? Which one was your favorite?

 

[Kitten<3Duck]

Now see this is why there needs to be an India pavilion in Epcot!

Can anyone vouch for Boma's level of authenticity? I've heard good things, but I'm not sure if they're the same good things I hear about Sanaa.

 

[Vegcentric]

Now see this is why there needs to be an India pavilion in Epcot!

Can anyone vouch for Boma's level of authenticity? I've heard good things, but I'm not sure if they're the same good things I hear about Sanaa.

I have always considered Boma to be pretty authentic. Many of the recipes are from different countries in Africa. I love Boma and I always make an attempt to go every time I'm at Disney.

 

[Euphoria027]

Awwww, that's unfortunate. They probably do it this way because so many people would complain about things tasting too exotic. Not that that makes your situation any better, since you're an adventurous eater (as am I), but that's my guess.

 

[mackenziec123]

Personally, I love Boma! I've had dinner there twice and each time it was fantastic. If you ever visit Boma, try the zebra domes. It's not exactly what you would call 'ethnic' cuisine, but it sure is delicious! I also love the variety of options for you to choose from. I haven't tried Sanaa yet, but I've heard wonderful things (sorry for your bad experience )! I'm actually planning a surprise lunch for my parents there so I'm hoping they'll enjoy it!

 

[ocalla]

Sorry to hear that.

We ate at Sanaa last Thursday for lunch, and it was fantastic!! All 4 of us loved it, and can't wait to go back.

DH had the Arctic Char (fish of the day), DD19 had the Lamb dish, DD13 had the Tandori Shrimp and I had the Tomato Soup. We started with the bread service which was great.

I wish we would have had room for dessert, but we were stuffed.

 

[noahandallison]

We've done Boma's breakfast twice and just tried the Tusker House Breakfast this last trip. Boma is SO much better - more authentic, better quality, prettier setting, etc. I'd go back there in a heartbeat and will skip Tusker House.