BlovesC
home is where the Yeti is
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2008
- Messages
- 2,613
I am downright ashamed that it took us so long to try Sanaa. It makes zero sense. AK is our favorite park, and AKL is our favorite resort. We stay at AKL every January...but somehow we'd never, ever bothered to visit Kidani Village. I'd made an ADR at Sanaa in January to rectify this oversight, but we couldn't wait! And so I present...
One of (if not THE) BEST dining experiences we've had at WDW: Dinner at Sanaa!
(and also...definitely the most food we've ever ordered!)
Walking into AKL always makes me have that "I'm HOME!" feeling, and naturally it was pretty similar at Kidani! We had a 6:30 ADR but arrived after a day in AK park at about 5:40. We checked in, received a beeper, turned away...and the beeper went off! When we turned back around, the host said "So sorry about that long wait...would you like to speak to my manager?"
He walked us to our table, a lovely fourtop not too far from the windows and proceeded to explain to us the meaning of Sanaa and the history behind the fusion of African and Indian cuisines. It was a charming way to start the meal. Equally as charming as the decor in the restaurant, which was stunning. I loved the tree motif!
Beautiful! Now, DH and I had decided this was going to be an "all out" type meal. We very rarely order appetizers and drinks, but there was so much I wanted to try here!
We started with drinks. I ordered the Malawi Mango Margarita:
"A frozen blend of Tequila, Van der Hum Tangerine Liqueur from South Africa, Mango Purée, and Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice"
When I ordered this, our wonderful server, Ivelisse, told me it was her favorite. And when I finished it in, oh, twenty seconds flat, she commented on how thirsty I must have been.
This was sheer heaven. Sunshine in a glass! I'm not a fan of slurpees or slushees and usually frozen margaritas have that same icky gritty sticky consistency. This was SO smooth, with so much delicious fresh mango, I literally couldn't put it down. My DH panned it because you couldn't taste the alcohol, but to me, that's ideal!
DH chose the African Starr Mojito:
"Starr African Rum, Van der Hum Tangerine Liqueur from South Africa, fresh Mint, and Lime"
He wasn't a fan of the rum in this, and said the mint flavor was kind of weak, but he still enjoyed it. I took one sip of it and thought it was WAY too strong. Clearly we have different taste in alcoholic beverages!
For appetizers, we really wanted to sample as many flavors as we could, so we decided on the bread service and the salad sampler. Which each could easily serve two-three...so we had our work cut out for us!
Our chosen sauces:
The top left (white) is Cucumber Raita, top right (yellow) is Coconut Chutney, and the bottom (red) is Spicy Jalapeno-Lime Pickle.
Our chosen breads:
I'm sorry I didn't stage this photo very well! But we went with Paneer Paratha, Naan, and Pappadam. The pappadam is on top hiding the other choices.
These were all delicious! It was very hard to choose a favorite between the Pappadam and Naan. I loved the crispy nutty flavor of the Pappadam, but the Naan was so soft and buttery! DH's favorite was the paratha, which has a sort of pancakey-texture to it.
As for the sauces...for me the clear winner was the Coconut Chutney! I did like the liquid from the Jalapeno (DH got the actual peppers and this was his favorite!), which was great on the crispy pappadam, and not TOO spicy. But the Cucumber Raita tasted like a milder tzatziki to us, so we both put it into last place.
On to the salad trio...
It was very hard to choose, so we went with two familiar tastes and one completely new! From left to right we have Watermelon, Cucumber, and Fennel, then Chickpeas with Cucumber and Tomato, and finally Bhel Puri.
These were so flavorful and refreshing, absolutely perfect on a warm summer night. The watermelon and chickpea salads were nice and light but zesty, but sort of similar in nature and I kind of wish we'd chosen the beets instead of the melon. The Bhel Puri was by far and away the favorite for both of us! We'd never had it before, it's a salad with puffed rice, crispy noodles, vegetables, and tamarind. It has so many flavors going on at once my first bite totally confused me, but the more I ate the more I fell in love!
Service was really well timed here, and after our appetizers were cleared we were given a short break for the next onslaught of deliciousness began! Oh, and I only took photos of our entrees as they were presented, not after we dumped the bowls onto our plates and mixed everything together.
For his entree, DH chose the beloved "Slow-cooked in gravy, simple and well-seasoned" combo, with Butter Chicken, Spicy Durban Shrimp, and Basmati Rice!
That butter chicken is ridiculously sinful. Melts in your mouth! DH actually preferred the shrimp, because the chicken was almost TOO rich for him. The shrimp wasn't too spicy but had a great bit of heat. The basmati rice was fluffy, nutty, perfectly cooked. Next time we come here I am SO getting that chicken!
For my entree, I chose the Tandoori Chicken!
I'm generally a very strict chicken breast/white meat only (I know, how boring!) kind of person, and these were chicken thighs with a bit of dark meat on them. But between the tangy yogurt sauce and the super crispy outside layer and juicy inside from the heat of the oven, they were fantastic! The apricot-raisin chutney was such a nice pop of sweetness mixed in with the super tangy sauce and earthy rice! DH thought the chicken was great but thought the sauce was too bitter. To me it was perfect!
We were so ready to admit defeat by this point, but in my world, skipping dessert is never an option. Our server agreed! And of course, I chose...
The Dessert Trio! (after all, why have one dessert when you can have THREE?)
From left to right...chocolate cake, chai cream, and tropical fruit kulfi!
I'll start with the chocolate cake. It was so incredibly inferior I felt like throwing it off the plate. Seriously, it was kinda tasteless and stale, like a CS cake that had been stored inside a fridge for days. The tropical fruit kulfi (frozen sweetened condensed milk) was awesome! Smooth, creamy, cold, and tart, a great contrast with the sweet strawberry sauce. But the CHAI CREAM! I'm not a huge fan of chai tea, so I didn't expect much. But this had such a warm, wonderful fall spice flavor, it was the clear winner of the trio! I actually had a conversation with the manager about this when she came to ask us about our meal. She told me after they took the chai cream off the menu as a standalone dessert, SO many people had inquired about it that they brought it back as part of the trio and were now considering returning it to a standalone dessert. I hope they do! 
DH went with the Banana Kulfi Sundae, which was our server Ivelisse's top pick!:
"Banana Kulfi Sundae - warm chocolate sauce, strawberries, and spiced cashews"
He loved this as much as I loved the chai cream! Just as decadent and delightful as a banana split. The size of the kulfi was HUGE and he ate it all up. I'm a big fan of bananas and frozen bananas but not a fan of banana-flavored things so I didn't care for it, but I did love the cashews!
We were completely surprised at how much time had passed when we left, we were there about an hour and a half, which for US is a pretty long meal at Disney. We had excellently timed service and how can you BEAT getting to watch a giraffe eat his dinner while you're eating yours? Everyone from the host to our server to the manager was exceptionally friendly and welcoming, and the atmosphere and ambiance were awesome. Our total for the meal, including tip, was $94.36. We saved $18.28 with our TIW card. For the amount we ordered, and the quality of everything, that's ridiculously cheap. I'm still kicking myself for not having gotten here sooner (even my brother has eaten here, and he lives in NJ!) but we'll be making up for lost time with LOTS of reservations here in the future, I'm sure! 
One of (if not THE) BEST dining experiences we've had at WDW: Dinner at Sanaa!
(and also...definitely the most food we've ever ordered!)
Walking into AKL always makes me have that "I'm HOME!" feeling, and naturally it was pretty similar at Kidani! We had a 6:30 ADR but arrived after a day in AK park at about 5:40. We checked in, received a beeper, turned away...and the beeper went off! When we turned back around, the host said "So sorry about that long wait...would you like to speak to my manager?"
He walked us to our table, a lovely fourtop not too far from the windows and proceeded to explain to us the meaning of Sanaa and the history behind the fusion of African and Indian cuisines. It was a charming way to start the meal. Equally as charming as the decor in the restaurant, which was stunning. I loved the tree motif!
Beautiful! Now, DH and I had decided this was going to be an "all out" type meal. We very rarely order appetizers and drinks, but there was so much I wanted to try here!
We started with drinks. I ordered the Malawi Mango Margarita:
"A frozen blend of Tequila, Van der Hum Tangerine Liqueur from South Africa, Mango Purée, and Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice"
When I ordered this, our wonderful server, Ivelisse, told me it was her favorite. And when I finished it in, oh, twenty seconds flat, she commented on how thirsty I must have been.
This was sheer heaven. Sunshine in a glass! I'm not a fan of slurpees or slushees and usually frozen margaritas have that same icky gritty sticky consistency. This was SO smooth, with so much delicious fresh mango, I literally couldn't put it down. My DH panned it because you couldn't taste the alcohol, but to me, that's ideal! DH chose the African Starr Mojito:
"Starr African Rum, Van der Hum Tangerine Liqueur from South Africa, fresh Mint, and Lime"
He wasn't a fan of the rum in this, and said the mint flavor was kind of weak, but he still enjoyed it. I took one sip of it and thought it was WAY too strong. Clearly we have different taste in alcoholic beverages!
For appetizers, we really wanted to sample as many flavors as we could, so we decided on the bread service and the salad sampler. Which each could easily serve two-three...so we had our work cut out for us!
Our chosen sauces:
The top left (white) is Cucumber Raita, top right (yellow) is Coconut Chutney, and the bottom (red) is Spicy Jalapeno-Lime Pickle.
Our chosen breads:
I'm sorry I didn't stage this photo very well! But we went with Paneer Paratha, Naan, and Pappadam. The pappadam is on top hiding the other choices.
These were all delicious! It was very hard to choose a favorite between the Pappadam and Naan. I loved the crispy nutty flavor of the Pappadam, but the Naan was so soft and buttery! DH's favorite was the paratha, which has a sort of pancakey-texture to it.
As for the sauces...for me the clear winner was the Coconut Chutney! I did like the liquid from the Jalapeno (DH got the actual peppers and this was his favorite!), which was great on the crispy pappadam, and not TOO spicy. But the Cucumber Raita tasted like a milder tzatziki to us, so we both put it into last place.
On to the salad trio...
It was very hard to choose, so we went with two familiar tastes and one completely new! From left to right we have Watermelon, Cucumber, and Fennel, then Chickpeas with Cucumber and Tomato, and finally Bhel Puri.
These were so flavorful and refreshing, absolutely perfect on a warm summer night. The watermelon and chickpea salads were nice and light but zesty, but sort of similar in nature and I kind of wish we'd chosen the beets instead of the melon. The Bhel Puri was by far and away the favorite for both of us! We'd never had it before, it's a salad with puffed rice, crispy noodles, vegetables, and tamarind. It has so many flavors going on at once my first bite totally confused me, but the more I ate the more I fell in love!
Service was really well timed here, and after our appetizers were cleared we were given a short break for the next onslaught of deliciousness began! Oh, and I only took photos of our entrees as they were presented, not after we dumped the bowls onto our plates and mixed everything together.
For his entree, DH chose the beloved "Slow-cooked in gravy, simple and well-seasoned" combo, with Butter Chicken, Spicy Durban Shrimp, and Basmati Rice!
That butter chicken is ridiculously sinful. Melts in your mouth! DH actually preferred the shrimp, because the chicken was almost TOO rich for him. The shrimp wasn't too spicy but had a great bit of heat. The basmati rice was fluffy, nutty, perfectly cooked. Next time we come here I am SO getting that chicken!
For my entree, I chose the Tandoori Chicken!
I'm generally a very strict chicken breast/white meat only (I know, how boring!) kind of person, and these were chicken thighs with a bit of dark meat on them. But between the tangy yogurt sauce and the super crispy outside layer and juicy inside from the heat of the oven, they were fantastic! The apricot-raisin chutney was such a nice pop of sweetness mixed in with the super tangy sauce and earthy rice! DH thought the chicken was great but thought the sauce was too bitter. To me it was perfect!
We were so ready to admit defeat by this point, but in my world, skipping dessert is never an option. Our server agreed!
And of course, I chose...The Dessert Trio! (after all, why have one dessert when you can have THREE?)
From left to right...chocolate cake, chai cream, and tropical fruit kulfi!
I'll start with the chocolate cake. It was so incredibly inferior I felt like throwing it off the plate.
Seriously, it was kinda tasteless and stale, like a CS cake that had been stored inside a fridge for days. The tropical fruit kulfi (frozen sweetened condensed milk) was awesome! Smooth, creamy, cold, and tart, a great contrast with the sweet strawberry sauce. But the CHAI CREAM! I'm not a huge fan of chai tea, so I didn't expect much. But this had such a warm, wonderful fall spice flavor, it was the clear winner of the trio! I actually had a conversation with the manager about this when she came to ask us about our meal. She told me after they took the chai cream off the menu as a standalone dessert, SO many people had inquired about it that they brought it back as part of the trio and were now considering returning it to a standalone dessert. I hope they do! DH went with the Banana Kulfi Sundae, which was our server Ivelisse's top pick!:
"Banana Kulfi Sundae - warm chocolate sauce, strawberries, and spiced cashews"
He loved this as much as I loved the chai cream! Just as decadent and delightful as a banana split. The size of the kulfi was HUGE and he ate it all up. I'm a big fan of bananas and frozen bananas but not a fan of banana-flavored things so I didn't care for it, but I did love the cashews!
We were completely surprised at how much time had passed when we left, we were there about an hour and a half, which for US is a pretty long meal at Disney. We had excellently timed service and how can you BEAT getting to watch a giraffe eat his dinner while you're eating yours?
Everyone from the host to our server to the manager was exceptionally friendly and welcoming, and the atmosphere and ambiance were awesome. Our total for the meal, including tip, was $94.36. We saved $18.28 with our TIW card. For the amount we ordered, and the quality of everything, that's ridiculously cheap. I'm still kicking myself for not having gotten here sooner (even my brother has eaten here, and he lives in NJ!) but we'll be making up for lost time with LOTS of reservations here in the future, I'm sure! 
If GoofySon'sMom also has a good experience there on her upcoming trip, then I might just be convinced to give Sanaa another shot sometime. 
A day trip here and there does NOT compare to a week+ stay at Disney though, which is something we can't often do, so I LOOOOOOVE reading about the trips people like you and DDW take! Breakfast, lunch, AND dinner at Disney=a perfect day!
