Sanaa

[tinkandpan]

Has anyone dined here and be willing to share their experience. DH and I are planning on going on our night alone while the grandparents have the kids. WE love ethnic foods and are hoping this isn't too Disneyfied. Also- anyone know if they have a wine flight? I see a brief mention of it on all ears, but no listings of it that i can find. Thank you so much

 

[DisneyMamato4]

We just ate there last week. We were staying at AKL and didn't feel like traveling anywhere else and thought it would be a good option.

Our group consisted of 3 adults, 1 preteen and 3 kids under 9.

To start with we had the bread service which was very good, I wish we had gotten more.

Both my mom, myself and my DH had the slow cooked options where you get to choose 2.

I had the slow cooked beef and green curry shrimp with basmati rice
DH has the coconut curry lamb and slow cooked beef with 5 grain pilaf
Mom had the red curry chicken and slow cooked beef with 5 grain pilaf

All of us agreed that the slow cooked beef was a little sweet for our taste but we all loved the green curry shrimp, curry lamb and curry chicken. The basmati rice was good but the 5 grain pilaf was fabulous!

The hit of the night though was my 12 yr olds choice in meals. She's not an adventurous eater by any means but she's willing to try anything, I was worried about her getting this dish because I was afraid she wouldn't like it. She ordered the Tandoori Lamb with apple chutney and 5 grain pilaf.
It was amazing! Even she thought so and licked her plate clean! She literally had to fight us off with her fork because we all kept trying to get another piece of it.

The little ones all had mac and cheese which was very good for mac and cheese and came with fresh steamed green beans.

For dessert we had the sampler and it was very good also.

All in all we felt for the whole week we were there that Sanaa was the best meal of our trip. I cannot wait to go back and eat there again. Plus, sitting next to the windows and seeing the animals while we ate was really neat.

 

[Pakey]

We have eaten here.

I don't know that I would consider this ethnic food. If you are used to authentic Indian food, you are going to be disappointed. It's Indian inspired and even the spicier dishes were mild IMO. The food is good and the service was really good but I'm sure the menu was created to appeal to the majority of visitors.

No wine flights that I recall. We are an all adult group with several wine drinkers and I don't remember anyone getting flights. There is a bar adjacent to the restaurant and we did have a drink there before our ADR (maybe that's why I don't remember any wine flights).

 

[minnie mum]

We really enjoyed our dinner at Sanaa and have recommended it frequently. However, as much as we thought the food very well prepared, it is somewhat "toned down" compared to the Indian food that we are used to eating at restaurants at home. Still delicious, but with the heat turned down. If you like your food spicier, you could inquire with your server when you order. I do not remember seeing a wine flight, but then I usually prefer beer with this type of food. And they have some nice Indian beers.

Cheers and I hope you have a very enjoyable evening.

 

[mama03]

We also ate here recently. Yes, they offer a wine flight. We had Giovanni as our waiter very good. Just to let you know, you can alter the spice of any dish. If you like it spicy let your waiter know and dont be timid. The chef made us a special spicy sauce on the side because we like it very spicy. MMM. We have friends from India and its not exactly authentic but still very good. We tried allot of the items and enjoyed them all. My son also asked for extra Naan, of course. Enjoyed it and will return.

 

[everythingALICE]

The food here was very, very good and the decor was absolutely beautiful!

I do agree that if you like your Indian food spicy, than speak up. The samosas I ordered were awesome, but I made the mistake of assuming the curry would be a little spicier. That's my bad for not inquiring - but now I know for next time!

 

[deej696]

Had dinner here a few weeks ago and I'd agree with some of the above. This is Disney ethnic food...not the real deal. That said it was better than what I'd expected it to be, and a nice departure from the cookie cutter menus of many of the other restaurants...

 

[kleigh1969]

I loved Sanaa. But I didn't have wine.

We went there for lunch. We got the bread, which was excellent, but three huge pieces, plus my husband's tandori chicken came on another piece of bread, so really four huge pieces of bread was a lot for two people. So I would skip the bread next time just because everything else I got tasted so good and I got too full.

I highly recommend the tomato soup with paneer cheese. Heaven! So fresh tasting and a little sweet.

I also got the slow cooked combo with basmati rice. I got the chicken with red curry sauce, which had a wonderful tomato sort of flavor, but was not "hot." Very pleasant.

My second choice was the spicey durban chicken which I thought had quite a kick to it! (in a good way) Even my husband who can take more spice than me tasted it and thought it had a nice kick. I had to mix my rice in with it to eat it, but it was a good thing! Sort of the the pleasure and pain thing! I guess the previous posters who thought the food was bland must really like hot spice to think the chicken durban was bland! It was new on the menu when I tried it - maybe they have toned it down since then. (Also, I did tell the server I like spicy food - so maybe they made it spicier for me?)

Bottom line, wonderful meal. And sitting by the window watching the animals put it over the top for me. We will go back for sure!

 

[ocalla]

We decided to visit AKL on our AK day since we had never seen it (the resort is beautiful by the way!!!). While on the bus there was another couple who were going to Sanaa, so we thought ...why not.

Boy was I glad we did. One of our best meals during the week. Had a great window seat looking out to animals. Great waitstaff, food was wonderful.

will be going back on our next trip.

 

[madalex]

I have been to Sanaa three times. All the experiences have been wonderful - food and service have been great and I also like the view of the savannah from the restaurant. It's not true Indian food, but well worth a visit nonetheless.

 

[DEA]

I love Sanaa. I think it is the best 1TS restaurant on WDW property. I also think it competes favorably with some of the signatures.

I ate there last in May, for dinner with the entire family. We had eaten there a year before, and I was pleased to see that they had added some spicier options to the menu. Not crazy spicy, but a nice addition of flavor. I had the durbin chicken and the lamb curry, and both were very good, although I thought the chicken was better. The bread service is very good; at lunch things are served with naan, but at dinner they come with rice.

The kitchen here seems to do a little more innovating at present than a lot of other restaurants. Our first trip there, we ended up talking to the chef about why my 3yo ate their pizza, while complaining about the pizza at every other Disney restaurant. As it turns out, instead of taking the pizza out of a freezer and putting it in a microwave, they make the kids' pizza with the naan bread dough and fresh mozzarella. It's a little thing, but very welcome to see that kind of attention paid to something that could be done with a freezer and microwave if they wanted to cut corners.

I cannot recall the wine selection or the existence of wine flights, though, sorry.

 

[Burnt Toast]

The Durban-spiced items were added just recently (less then two months?) because there was concerns that there was not enough really spicy items on the menu.

Ironically, one of the fears of Guests when advertising this restaurant is that they think it's too spicy... so it's ironic that the #1 concern they get is that there are not enough spicy items on their menu. Ha.

Definitely try Sanaa... it's literally like my #2 favorite restaurant in all of WDW.

 

[jamie@dvcstore]

Hi tinkandpan,
I have been to Sanaa and loved it. As others have mentioned you can ask to have your food made spicer. I expressed to the server that I love REALLY hot food and I was not dissapointed. The service and atmosphere were fantastic. One of my favorite restaurants at WDW. Enjoy!

 

[iloveeeyore]

Follow the link in my signature to my full dining report, which has a review of Sanaa from last August (right now it's on the last page, but I'm still working on the report). In short, we really enjoyed it. I WISH I had selected the wine flight. Instead, I got an Afican Star Mojito, which I didn't really care for. The setting and ambience are outstanding, one of the best in WDW, IMO, and worth it for that alone, especially if you're looking for a quieter, more exotic place for date night .

 

[DisneySarah80]

I'm kinda bummed I only have this place booked once for our trip!

 

[mamaprincess]

Sanaa is exquisitely beautiful. It is one of the most unique settings you will ever dine in. Our party of 8 all enjoyed our selections. The service was great as well. The menu isn't extensive but ithe food is good. If you want heat, please tell your server as they cook to the american palate. Those expecting authentic spicy Indian food will find Sanaa's versions bland.

 

[clutter]

We ate there for lunch. I had the pork chop in the pickled lime sauce. At the time, the server said they did that on sustainable fish at dinner. I'd definately ask for it. The pork chop was ordinary, but the sauce......

 

[kaybird]

We were very happy with the bread service, and also enjoyed the Chicken!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We love Sanna. We dined here last Oct. and love it.

 

[GAN]

Looks great -will definitely add it to the to do list on the next visit.