Sanaa Restaurant at Kidani Village

[marvali]

We ate at Sanaa on Monday night. We are vegetarians and they had a few things on the menu that looked interesting. We ordered several different things and shared them.

The two appetizers we tried were really good: the samosas and the roasted cauliflower with tomato sauce. The salads were OK (we liked the one with the chickpeas and the carrot and orange, did not like the one with roasted potato).

We ordered the bread and chose naan, roti and paneer paratha. The naan was good, however I wish they offered whole wheat naan as an option. We ordered the hummus, onion raita and mango chutney with the bread and all three were good (the hummus was the best of the three).

The main dish we ordered (Dum Biryani wrapped in bread dough) was terrible. It was boring, not particularly flavorful and what little flavor there was was odd. It was unlike any vegetable biryani I've ever had and not in a good way. The only vegetable in it was eggplant which I don't particularly care for and why they decided to wrap white rice in white bread dough is hard to fathom unless you are carb loading.

We intended to order the lentil side dish but forgot so we'll try that next time.

We would eat there again, but next time we will order just the samosas, the cauliflower (which was the best dish of the meal), try the lentils and some naan with hummus, hummus and onion raita. That would be plenty of food for the two of us.

It's a shame about the biryani -- that is one of my favorite dishes to order in an Indian restaurant and I had high hopes their version of it would be good too.

Thanks for the review. We have an ADR at Sanaa when we go for our summer trip in June. Will heed some of your advice when ordering.

For our week long visit in June we were planning on only eating one meal on the Disney property(lunch at Cinderellas Castle). But I saw some things written about Sanaa, especially how it has views that look out over the Savannah at Animal Kingdom, and decided to book a dinner there. The food looks interesting, especially the curry's(I just hope they make it spicy), as well as the fish wrapped in banana leaves. the scallops appetizer, the duck appetizer, and the bread offerings

Ill report back with pics after our dinner.

Just to make sure it was just a typo and you won't be disappointed when you get there, Sanaa will look out over the sunset savanna between Kidani and Jambo House at Animal Kingdom Lodge, not Animal Kingdom.

 

[kingcrab]

Just to make sure it was just a typo and you won't be disappointed when you get there, Sanaa will look out over the sunset savanna between Kidani and Jambo House at Animal Kingdom Lodge, not Animal Kingdom.

good catch, it was a typo. As long as my daughter can hopefully see some animals out the windows all will be good.

thanks.

 

[Hazzard101]

I haven't read the entire thread but the podcast this week has Kevin's review on the Sanaa. You could give that a listen.

 

[MaryD73]

We ate there on the 2nd and loved it. The staff are really excited about working there. You can tell by the service you receive and their eagerness to share with you what they have learnt.

Atmosphere was great. It has a cozy feel and the animals are really close. And the food was excellent. We had:
Appetizer - Potato and Pea Samosas and the Bread sampler. The tamarind and mango chutneys were my favorite.
Entrees - Tandoori Shrimp and Dum Biryani.
Dessert - Some kind of carrot dish that was odd but tasty.

Oh, and please ask them about the wine. Their list is fabulous. They have a pinotage that is only served there I highly recommend. Wish I could remember the name. But it outshines anything I have had at Jiko.

 

[ShuisFan584]

The main dish we ordered (Dum Biryani wrapped in bread dough) was terrible. It was boring, not particularly flavorful and what little flavor there was was odd. It was unlike any vegetable biryani I've ever had and not in a good way. The only vegetable in it was eggplant which I don't particularly care for and why they decided to wrap white rice in white bread dough is hard to fathom unless you are carb loading.

This is very disappointing. We were planning on possibly eating here during our trip in 3 weeks. Since I'm a vegetarian, that's what I would order. That's disappointing that it wasn't very good. I actually thought it looked really good based on pictures.

 

[LisaS]

This is very disappointing. We were planning on possibly eating here during our trip in 3 weeks. Since I'm a vegetarian, that's what I would order. That's disappointing that it wasn't very good. I actually thought it looked really good based on pictures.

I was very disappointed as well and I hope they fix it! I think you could make a meal by selecting a couple of things from: the samosas (they were the large ones and you get two of them), the cauliflower appetizer (which was yummy!), naan and hummus, and the lentil dish (which we forgot to order so I can only hope it's good).

Last night we had dinner at The Wave at the Contemporary. The Vegetable Stew was really good. Lots of different veggies (green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, sweet potato, onion, two or three different kinds of mushrooms and only two little pieces of eggplant) with wild rice. It was as colorful as it was tasty. I hope that some day the chef at Sanaa gives this dish a try to see that it is possible to make a veggie and rice dish that looks good and tastes even better.

 

[jdvm]

We had a very enjoyable dinner there last night and I've got to say that the entire experience was perfect. The restaurant is beautiful, the service was excellent and we really enjoyed the food. The place has personality. With so many Disney restaurants racing toward uniform blandness (cost cutting and dining plan in my view) it was great to go to a place with a little adventure. I'll be back.
j

 

[lmb]

We ate here for dinner and lunch. The shrimp with green curry is incredible. The kids meals are also very good and the atmosphere is amazing. Can't wait to go back!

 

[dzorn]

Does anyone know if they will be taking the Tables in Wonderland Card?

Denise in MI

 

[MaryD73]

Yes - they do take the Table in Wonderland card.

 

[jblrn2b]

Thanks to all who have posted their experiences.