Sanaa at AKL

[pigby]

Have been searching for reviews on Sanaa at AKL - we are booked for dinner in just over a couple of weeks time. All the reviews are on the American boards and one reviewer said it was really good especially if 'you haven't tried Indian food before but you may be disappointed if you have'.

As over here we have been weaned on curries (usually after a heavy night out) how does the food at Sanaa compare - I like spicy (Jalfrezi is my limit) or I'm a bit disappointed. What's good there and has anyone tried the vegetarian sampler (for DD not me)?

 

[UKDEB]

I agree with that reviewer. The place itself is lovely - I particularly like the bar area - but the food is nothing more than you'd get from your local curry house and bland, to boot. I have read since that the dishes are cooked from scratch and that you can ask for the spice level to be augmented to your personal taste.

 

[wayneg]

What date you going? we are eating there on Friday 12th, will be posting pics and my thoughts.
We have booked and cancelled twice before but decided to try for ourselves this year rather than listen to others.

 

[UKDEB]

decided to try for ourselves this year rather than listen to others.

I've always advocated that approach. You only have to read the reviews here to know that there's seldom agreement on any given restaurant and I figure that, even if it's bad, there'll be another meal coming along soon!

 

[ford family]

We have eaten there twice. Fantastic location, great service and the food is excellent but it is not "British Indian" more "International Indian".

Would most certainly eat there again.

ford family

 

[jjk]

we enjoyed the atmosphere here, food was nice enough just not at all like a typical Indian Here, a bit Bland but they did try and make my sons curry hotter for him

 

[mackay_j]

We really liked it and are planning to revisit on our next trip, The setting is great esp if you have younger kids as the view of the animals keeps them entertained through the meal (not our reason for going as ours are late teans).
The food is not really indian as we known it (I was not sure it was meant to be - I thought it was an african place)- however, if you talk to any indian living in the uk they will soon tell you that our indian food is not 'really' indian! so may be its actually more authentic than what we get at our locals here

I'm sure the chefs would spice it up for you as its all made fresh to order.

 

[Goofyish]

I have an ADR for Sanaa in Spetember and plan to request that the dishes are made a little hotter

 

[UKDEB]

Reading the other comments, in hindsight my remark about it being "nothing more than you'd get at your local curry house" is misleading. In responding to pigby's specific comments about liking jalfrezi, I was thinking only of the Indian elements of the menu (tandoori dishes, samosas, lamb koftas, some of the curry dishes and the breads - naan, kulcha, paneer and poppadums). We ate there for lunch as part of a group and ordered a selection of dishes to share. It's fair to say that the menu consists of more than just typical British Indian offerings (there are African and Thai influences, too) and, had it been my choice, I wouldn't have gone for most of the dishes we ended up with. I would go back, but I'd order one of the less familiar options and I'd ask for it to be spiced up considerably. Although I'd never have ordered it myself (because it really did sound like something I could get from the takeaway at the end of my road), I did enjoy the dips which came with the bread selection.

 

[starrysky]

We liked it but not enough to go back. Food was ok but for some reason it all came at once as in starter, main and the bread service.
Having been to India its nothing like proper Indian food. (I know people have bashed me for that comment before as its not an indian specific restaurant.) but its not what we were expecting at all.

 

[pigby]

What date you going? we are eating there on Friday 12th, will be posting pics and my thoughts.

We have an ADR at 6.30pm on Tuesday 23rd August after a day at AK. Would be really good to see your review if you manage to post before we leave on the 20th.

I think I will ask the chef to spice my dish up a little and go for something a bit less familiar (as others have suggested)

 

[MrsJobba1]

Hi

We went to Sanaa on our last visit in 2009 and loved the whole expereince and meal.

We had a 6.30 Adr and arrived 30 mins early. We went to the desk to let them know we where here and they gave us a pager and said we could go out and enjoy some ofthe scenery. Well we'd literally just got out when the pager went off. We had a great table right next to the window.

Our server was excellent we told him that being from the UK we liked spice. We also chatted about dh curry withdrawl (it was the end of a 3 week vacation) He said that the dishes were prepared for an 'american' palette but he would tell the chef that we liked spice. He also brought out a dish of the chef's special 'chilli' sauce and said we could add extra heat to our dishes - it was very yummy.

The food was great and the view was amazing. at one part of the meal we had a very friendly bird come right ip to the window (it clevely negotiated its way through the fence) . The server when he brought our main dishes said that this bird did it regularly.

Here's some of my photos from the night. We have booked it again as our last meal in wdw this year.

scallops

samoas with mango salsa

The friendly bird

 

[UKDEB]

The scallops look good. What's the sauce they're sitting in?

 

[Mr Stoat]

Not been there for 18 months, unimpressed with what we had then. Have been to India twice, nothing like we had there, nothing like any of the restaurants we have eaten in in Glasgow that have "Indian home cooking". Sorry to be a wet blanket but I would not go back, we came away still feeling hungry.

 

[MrsJobba1]

The scallops look good. What's the sauce they're sitting in?

They were mustard crusted scallops in a coconut cream sauce

 

[Rohais]

Isn't Sanaa meant to be an Indian/African restaurant? African food is entirely different to Indian and concentrates on the spice mix rather than 'heat'. So it would by different to the typical Indian food you get here, India etc. I love 'hot' food but would rather have a mild one where the spice mix is fabulous

 

[UKDEB]

Yes, I think you're right, but my observation remains that the Indian element is very much along the lines of what you'd get here, just dumbed-down spice-wise.

MrsJ - that sounds scrummy. And something which could be attempted at home if only we could get scallops that size.

 

[Jon G]

We have eaten there twice and both times were disappointing. I love AKL and the decor but the food is average at Sanaa. The setting is great and if you are near the window when it is day light the views of the animals are lovely.

Friends we ate with had a tandoori chicken dish which came with a curry sauce that was stone cold(SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THAT) not nice.

It is quieter than Boma but if you dont mind the noise and buffet style I would prefer to eat at Boma than Sanaa.

If you are on free dining try it and make your own mind up you may like it.

we have eaten at most of the highly rated restaurants in WDW and we wouldnt rush back to Sanaa unless the menu/chef changes.

 

[fairytale]

We ate at Sanna shortly after it had opened and was sooo disappointed

Service was fantastic, but the food was very poor.

We had a mixed Main Course which included a choice of 3 dishes. One tasted like my homemade Stew, one was hot chicken with a cold sauce (not nice), and I cant even remember the third as I completely left that one.

I hoped that it was due to it only just opening however I have heard many mixed reviews since, we may return to give it a second go next August, I'll wait for Waynes review first though

 

[pigby]

I'll wait for Waynes review first though

Yes we might do just that - we are on free Dining and have been to many WDW resturants already so this would be a new one - will try anything once - especially if it's free

Even thought of taking a bottle of hot Nando's sauce with us to spice it up a bit - DD puts it on evrything anyway at home