SANAA lunch.
i wanted to pick a place to eat purely for myself as most of my meals on the DxDDP were character meals or meals geared towards my daughter. after reading reviews & looking at the menu,
SANAA seemed right up my alley. i absolutely love indian food & the menu seems heavily influenced by indian flavors. it was also going to be a nice change from buffets.
my daughter fell asleep during the drive from AK to AKL. she remained asleep during the transfer from car seat to stroller. we will be eating this meal in absolute peace!
we arrived at
SANAA & i had asked if we could have a window seat. unfortunately, none were available during our 230pm ADR but we were seated one row over. i could see out the window but there was a concrete slab obstructing my view to the right.
the restaurant itself was very airy and well lit because of the windows. the cm who sat us was very nice. our cm presents us with a menu & i order the "habanero lime tequila margarita". it sounded delicious.
very refreshing & pretty. i wish there was more tequila! i also didn't taste any heat from the pepper.
as we continued to review the menu, i saw a giraffe outside the window. i saw quite a bit of animals during our lunch. it was really awesome to see.
hello giraffe.
i started the meal with the bread sampler.
Breads - Naan, Onion Kulcha, Paneer Paratha
the breads were very good & very authentic. i liked the extra drizzle of butter that they brushed on top of the naan. mmmmm, hot bread & butter.
with the bread, i choice my three accompaniments.
cucumber raita, tamarind chutney, mint chutney.
the mint chutney had a little bit of heat & was very yummy. the cucumber raita was much thicker than i am accustomed and the tamarind chutney was nothing spectacular. just regular tamarind chutney. i like tamarind chutney best on papadam but i did not order that as part of my bread service.
for my entrees, i really wanted something "spicy". i eat spicy every day & for the most part at disney, my meals were not spicy. i almost wished that i had taken a bottle of sriracha sauce (which i find more sweet than spicy) with me and slathered it all over my food at times.
the cm suggested i try the "spicy durban chicken" as he said it was a level "7" on heat and had sriracha cooked into the sauce. he won me over with sriracha.
i settled on the spicy durban chicken and the saag paneer. i love me some saag paneer! i also chose the basmati rice.
Spicy Durban Chicken
the chicken had some heat but i wouldn't call it a 7. it was more of a 4-5 to my standards. the chicken was very moist and the dish itself was super flavorful. i was dipping my naan into the "gravy". i'm not very good with eating with my hands (i'm more of a chopsticks kind of girl) so using my naan to scoop up my chicken was pretty futile. my technique sucks! i enjoyed the spicy durban chicken very much.
Saag Paneer
this saag paneer was very different from all the saag paneers i have had in my life. instead of being creamy and lush, it was watery and very loose. maybe they didn't squeeze all the water out of the spinach or perhaps this was their intent but it was not very good. it had great flavor, the paneer (cheese) was heavenly, but the runny/loose saag completely turned me off. i had two bites of it and that was it. i did eat 4 pieces of paneer. i was pretty disappointed as i wanted to smother my rice with the saag.
the cm noticed that i did not eat much of my saag paneer and asked if he could bring me something else. i felt awful sending the saag back but i was grateful he offered to bring me something else. so i ordered the "spicy durban shrimp."
here is a terrible shot of the spicy durban shrimp.
the shrimp was very large and succulent. it was also cooked perfectly. the sauce was about as spicy as the chicken but it wasn't as thick. i was much happier with the shrimp.
my friend wanted something light and this is what he picked:
Grilled Lamb Kefta served open-faced on Naan Bread with Minted Greens, Tomato, Onion, and Cucumber Raita
there was nothing really light about his sandwich. it was the biggest piece of ground lamb i have ever seen put onto a piece of bread. it was ginormous but very very tasty. he used a knife & fork to cut the sandwich. the lady sitting across from us picked up the entire sandwich and ate it like an actual sandwich. either way, it was very good.
with the DxDDP, dessert is included. i ordered the dessert trio.
Chocolate Cake: this tasted like regular chocolate cake. it was very pretty.
Chai Cream: this was my favorite of the trio. not too sweet & very delicious. it was the perfect dessert to end the meal with.
Tropical Fruit Kulfi: this was very refreshing & not what i expected.
and here is picture of the entire plate:
gorgeous plate!
it is so much easier to eat & take pictures when my daughter is sleeping & no characters around!
sanaa was so relaxing & the service was great.
i really enjoyed my meal at
SANAA. i've had my fair share of indian food and this was a good meal minus the saag paneer disaster. i loved that the flavors were bold and there was some heat to the meal! there were so many different flavors and the flavors are what i like. this is another reason why i love tusker house lunch so much (off topic). the flavors are not your average buffet flavors....more ethnic, more variety...it left me very satisfied. now i'm very curious to try boma.
the service at
SANAA was good but at times slow. it matched the relaxing atmosphere. my friend said it almost reminded him of the excruciatingly slow service he had while he was in africa. ha ha. ironically, he also said the best meals he had in africa were indian inspired foods.
the food was delicious and i was really happy with my choice. i don't know if i would return as i can get better indian food back home but
SANAA was definitely worth the trip out to AKL and i think the perfect way to end my birthday celebration. it was a wonderful & welcome change from all the other food that i had eaten.
to top it all off, my daughter was asleep during the entire meal which allowed for adult conversations.
up next, my thoughts on the DxDDP & price comparisons.
