Sanaa

Kidani Village, Animal Kingdom Lodge

January 2015
Overall Rating:  8.1 
Ambiance:  9 
Food:  8 
Service: 8 

Sanaa is an African/Indian fusion restaurant located at the DVC arm of the Animal Kingdom Lodge known as Kidani Village.  


Ambiance/Theming:  9 

Sanaa is located on the ground floor of the Kidani Village main lobby.   You enter on the 2nd floor and need to make your way to the elevators just behind the gift shop to the right.   Once you wind your way around a long curved hallway, it opens up to the picturesque restaurant.  

The decor in Sanaa is almost breathtaking. Done in all natural wood tones, your eyes are taken on a journey around the space with effective use of shapes, lines, and patterns.   Just when you think you are focused on one element, something on the ceiling grabs your attention and the visual story continues.  

We came for dinner, so the windows that look out on to the savanah were dark, but I think it helped us to see and appreciate more what was around us inside.   From the ceiling to the floor, lighting to the seating, you are treated to a very warm, welcoming, yet adventurous atmosphere.   Needless to say, the food would have had to have been  pretty bad in order to distract from the overall experience.




Food:  8 

And... the food did not disappoint.   This was a true fusion restaurant with elements in each dish representative of the Indian/African cuisines.

Appetizer: I had the Channa Tikki, which were chickpea cakes with a tomato chutney.   It had the texture of a dense corn bread or polenta cake, but was masterfully seasoned with spices.   The tomato chutney offered the right balance of acidity and sweetness that made these a delight.   There is an episode of "Friends" where George Clooney's character was eating hummus, and exclaimed, "Thank goodness for the chickpea!"   That is all I could think as I ate these mini cakes.

Now, generally, I don't exactly remember what the others in my party eat.  That is, unless, what they had was better than mine.   Such was the case with my sister's appetizer.  She ordered the Naan bread service.   This came with a large board with 3 different flavors of Naan bread (flatbread), with 9...yes, 9, ramekins of different sauces to dip in.   Ranging from the sweet, to the super spicy, it was a trip around this mythical place I want to call Indica.   This one experience is worth the trip alone.   I couldn't stop saying that it was fun.   Different, and fun.

Entree: To be honest, I dont' really remember what I ordered for the entree.  I know it was two different meats in curry-style sauces and some rice.   I had been so captivated by the appetizers, that I think the memory of the entree faded in the 3 weeks since my visit and my writing this review.   What I will say is that I was very satisfied with entree.  The fun that started with the appetizer just blended into the meal as it carried on.




Dessert: I had the dessert trio that they offered, which were mini versions of the larger desserts.   Best of both worlds, right?   There was chocolate mouse, a mango fuli (some sort of ice cream), and a banana cheesecake. They were a typical pretentious dessert, so I was satisfied, but not wowed.


Service:  8 

We had a very friendly and helpful waiter.   Drink refill factor: poor.   When the waiter came to the table, he enhanced the experience, but he wasn't there often enough as he had a very large section of the restaurant to tend to.  However, ALL of the servers there were not just happy, but you could tell they were proud of the restaurant and the experience.   We all left singing the fun "Happy Birthday" song that they would sing and play drums to for those celebrating.   In this very rare instance, the OVERALL service compensated for my drink being empty most of the meal.

Summary:

The food at Sanaa is wonderful, boarding on great.   I would eat here in the future, and would recommend it to adults, but not necessarily to families with really young kids.   Although I wasn't necessarily floored by the the flavor and textures of the food, the presentation and overall experience was one of the best in Walt Disney World.  I can only imagine what it must be like to eat lunch there overlooking the animals on the savanah!   If you are thinking about going to Boma (the ever popular African inspired buffet at AKL), do yourself a favor, drive past Jambo house to the next parking lot and eat at Sanaa!