After my day in Epcot, I headed over to AKV Kidani Village for my ADR at Sanaa. It was my first time visiting Sanaa and Kidani.
I was pretty early, but I took the opportunity to hang out at the observation area outside the lobby.
A few snapshots:
Looking back towards the lobby
The animals were out and active, it was so great. I loved Kidani - the design and feel are wonderful. The lobby was like a smaller, more intimate version of Jambo house.
Ok enough about about animals and architecture, this is a food report!
I went to check in right at my ADR time (5:15pm) and was seated immediately. The interior of the restaurant is really neat. It feels like you're in a spice market under the shade of trees with the clay pot columns and the gourd and basket-shaped lanterns hanging from 'branches'.
There are a few large arched window spaces one side of the restaurant that offer a direct view of the savannah. I got to watch the animals graze as I grazed (ok, more like gorged). There are a few tables right next to the windows that offer fantastic views, but you can see pretty well 2-3 tables back from the windows too.
My server for the evening was Carrie. She was very enthusiastic and attentive. She seemed knowledgeable about the menu and help accomodate special requests with no problem. Even though she had a a few other tables with 4-6 people a piece, I didn't feel neglected as a solo diner.
I just got water to drink, and started off with the
Salad Sampler. You get to chose three different salads from a selection of five. The top bowl is the
Chickpea, Cucumber, and Tomato. On the left is the
Roasted Beets, and the right dish is the
Watermelon, Lime, and Radish.
These were all good, but I can easily rank my favorites. The Chickpea salad was great, but had the least appeal to me. The roasted beets would be my middle choice - sweet and earthy, served cold. They were simple and perfect. But my absolute winner was the Watermelon, Lime, and Radish. This was amazing - cool, sweet, crunchy, sour, bitter, and tart all in one great symphony.
I had such a hard time deciding what to order for my entree, but finally settled on the
Slow Cooked in Gravy, Simple, and Well-Seasoned. This dish has the same concept as the salad sampler. I got to choose two meat dishes out of three, and one of two grain items. I went with the
Chicken in Red Curry Sauce, Beef Short Ribs, and 5 Grain Pilaf.
I knew that the dishes at Sanaa were not going to be very spicy, and I had read here on the DIS you could ask them to 'kick things up a notch'. So for the Chicken Curry, I asked Carrie about making it hotter, and she explained that I could tailor the spice level myself. She brought me out a dish of the spice paste with my entree so I could add and mix to my desired level of hotness. What a great idea! No dealing with a 'medium' that has no kick or a 'mild' that makes me want to go join the animals at a water trough!
The chicken was delicious. The meat was cooked nicely, not too dry or tough in the least. The curry sauce was delicious and unlike any curry I've had before. It was more the consistency of a thick tomato sauce instead of the thin gravy you get on most curry dishes.
The short ribs were very simple, and cooked to perfection. They just fell apart and the meat was so tender and juicy. They were very minimally seasoned, and not at all spicy, so if you don't like spicy food, this would be a great dish to order at Sanaa.
The pilaf was amazing. I love my carbs, and this mix was very interesting. I could pick out wild and red rice, but I'm not sure what the other grains were. Something was very nutty and complex-flavored though. I think there was just a bit of butter, salt, and maybe some broth used to cooked these. It was a great palate cooler after a bit of the chicken curry, and it also worked nicely to sop up the juices from the short rib dish.
I couldn't pick a favorite of my 3 entree dishes. They were all amazing and I would recommend any of them!
I continued the sampler trend with dessert and went with the
Dessert Sampler - Chocolate Cake, Chai Cream, and Passion Fruit Kulfi. (Can you tell I'm indecisive when it comes to ordering food?
)
The cake was no big whoop. It was just a very plain chocolate layered cake, and it was a bit on the dry side. I wouldn't order it.
But the other two dishes......
The Chai Cream was amazing. I love Chai - hot, cold, latte, frozen, in any form, and now I can add as a Cream to the list. This was a cold, heavy cream with the robust tea and spice flavors chai provides. It was very pudding like texture, except it felt like it had more mass to it. I just saw the recipe for this posted on the Disney Food Blog, and now I know that unique feeling and texture is because they put gelatin in the mix. So don't order this if you're a vegetarian! If you are an omnivore, however.....prepare for a taste of ecstasy!
The Passion Fruit Kulfi was excellent as well. Kulfi is sort of the Indian version of ice cream, but in the way that gelato is different than ice cream, kulfi is different, but still a frozen dairy dessert. When I first took a bite, the kulfi felt like sorbet landing on my tongue (icy and fruity), but quickly became smooth and light like a gelato. The passion fruit flavor was sweet but not overwhelmingly so, and the strawberry sauce on top was a great combo.
Next time, I will try seeing if I could get two kulfis and no cake!
As you can tell by now, Sanaa was an amazing feast of delicousness! It is my favorite non-signature/1 TS credit restaurant, and it's not far behind those signatures for me. I highly recommend the place, even if you're not that adventurous. The dishes are somewhat exotic, but they're not too heavily spiced, and there are many options. The staff seem willing to work with people in order to accommodate different preferences and are eager to show off their product. As another added bonus, Sanaa is still incredibly easy to get an ADR for! It's my hidden gem at Disney, but I hope it stays that way so it's easy to get in to and feels like a wonderful secret.
An enthusiastic grade
A !
Guess I should go to Disney more so I can practice, huh? 
Oh my. Love at first sip! This was sooooo good! I love frozen drinks, I love Grand Marnier in anything, and this wasn't too strong for me. I'm a lightweight, so I like a lot of Disney drinks because they're skimpy on the booze. This had just enough that I could taste it...exactly how I like it! I was able to walk around and sip on my slushie and not feel so affected I needed to sit down. 
) Awesome report!
and its members too! 
