Sanaa receives some of the best reviews of any WDW restaurant. People rave about how unique and exciting the food is, and many people claim that it's better than some of the signature restaurants. I still haven't fallen in love with Sanaa (which mystifies me, since I love Indian food), but the glowing reviews have kept me curious as to what I'm missing out on.
Including this meal, I've now had four meals at Sanaa - all lunch. This has allowed me to try a variety of dishes there. Some of these dishes stand out in a positive way, such as the spicy Durban curries (chicken and shrimp) and the chai cream. Others didn't excite me as much as I would've liked, such as the short ribs, shrimp in green curry sauce, and the tandoori shrimp sandwich. How would this lunch stack up?
It might sound odd, but the dish I had been looking forward to ordering (for a few months now) is the mango-glazed tandoori chicken breast with arugula, cucumber, radish, mango, and masala-spiced pistachios. From the description, it seemed pretty obvious to me that this dish would be a salad. And you might be wondering - why order a salad at a restaurant with so many exciting choices?
Well, if you look back at my recent lunch at
The Wave (in July), you'll see that I've definitely been wowed by non-signature salads in the past. My lunch at The Wave included two fun and creative salads, with the standout dish being The Wave's summer salad. Shown below, this dish featured watermelon, avocado, arugula, pecans, olives, feta, and white balsamic - it was a fantastic and unique combination of flavors.
For some reason, I was I expecting similar sparks from the dish at Sanaa. The peppery arugula, sweet mango, and sharp radish would be fine enough together, but the masala-spiced pistachios were really going to make this dish. The pistachios were going to add that unique flavor and texture that made this dish stand out in my mind. Mango and masala-spiced pistachios, mmmm - they just sound so perfect together (and between those two ingredients, there won't be any doubt in your mind that you're enjoying an Indian-inspired salad)!
Soon enough, the salad arrived (I asked for the dressing on the side), and I quickly began analyzing the ingredients. I noticed chicken, arugula, cucumber, mango, radish, tomato, onion, and mango glaze dressing.
The pistachios were nowhere to be found.
Since I never like to make a fuss about anything (unless a dish is improperly prepared to the point of being inedible), I ate the salad as it was. And I can't say I loved it. The chicken was fine and had a sweet mango flavor. The dressing was very thick and had a sweet mango flavor. The salad was full of sweet mango. While I love mango, I wanted the flavor profiles to be less monotonous and mango-centric, and this dish really needed those pistachios to reach the next level. As it was, I was extremely bored by this dish, and I could've gotten a more interesting salad at the Mara for about half the price.
I don't know what was going on. Perhaps they ran out of masala-spiced pistachios that day. Perhaps they had been cut from the dish (and replaced by the tomato and onion). But the bottom line is that this salad wasn't as good as it should've been. And it makes me sad, because Sanaa is a restaurant I want to like.
With that said, there's one area where Sanaa can't be beat. If you're a fan of rooibos tea, you have to come here. The menu features six different rooibos flavors, including organic, earl grey, mango, piña colada, vanilla, and hazelnut. Since my entree was super sweet, I decided to skip dessert, but I still ordered a pot of hazelnut rooibos to enjoy. With its vibrant red color and earthy flavor, the rooibos allowed the meal to end on a positive note.
I love looking at the beautiful, needle-like leaves.
Sanaa has proven to be hit-or-miss for me (and by hit-or-miss, I mean one hit and three misses). I know I could go there and have a great meal if I stuck to the bread service, Durban curries, and chai cream. But I feel like their other dishes could also be great. This salad, for example, was a very good concept. The execution was just too sweet (and the inclusion of one ingredient could've helped address that). I'd be willing to go back to Sanaa, but it still hasn't earned a spot in my "rotation". Maybe one day, that'll change.
Well, no, while it DOES kind of sound like something I'd like, it definitely seems a bit underwhelming without any layered flavors, especially with missing ingredients. I completely understand why your lunch was a disappointment. Glad you enjoyed the tea though! 
