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| Entrance and menus |
Sanaa has become one of my most favorite restaurants on WDW property. I love the variety of food, the ability eat flavorful, exotic dishes, and that it is extremely affordable. To me, it's a hidden gem at WDW. Located at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village, Sanaa is a blend of Indian & African inspired flavors.In my most recent visits (May 2012), I noticed several new changes that have occurred on the menu and at the restaurant itself. To begin with, they now have special diets menus for gluten and dairy allergies/intolerances. In both instances that I went, I received a gluten free menu, and then the chef either went over the dairy free variations or the server brought me the dairy free menu, and we mixed and matched the options.
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| New Gluten Free Menu at Sanaa |
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I like that they are now adding special menus to the restaurant. Restaurants like Jiko already do this, and it's nice to have a menu already mostly catered to your needs.There are also some menu changes--Butter chicken (a no no for dairy) is now on the menu and the chicken with cherries/fruit that my friend ordered once does not appear to be on the menu any longer either. Overall, the menu remains mostly the same (slight price increases also were noted).For both of my visits in May, I split the bread service/dip sampler with my non-GF dinner guests. They bring poppadoms for me (on a separate plate) and the remainder of the bread service to the other guest. On our first visit, Chef Trish really was amazing. The bread service typically comes with three sauces. She was kind enough to allow us to try most of the dips available. A few (like cucumber raita and tamarind) were off limits for me, but they were brought out for the other guest. That was ok by me because I still had most of the other dips to try. My favorite still by far is the roasted red bell pepper hummus. It's spicy and addicting! Both visits, I devoured that dip. I also like the coriander chutney. Yum! The mango chutney is also very nice--fruity and spicy at the same time. I didn't try the garlic chutney but my brother raved about it.
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| Dip sampler--two of the six were not dairy free/gluten free |
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| Dip sampler on another visit, this is the amount you typically get. Notice there are 2 of the red pepper hummus! |
On both visits, I also got the sustainable fish. It's one of my favorites; however, they have been tweaking the recipe. The changes to me, are not as favorable, but that's a personal preference. I personally loved the curry broth with the onions, zucchini, and squash. Now, the sauce is composed of fennel, tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, and onions (among others). I find the broth to still be lovely, but the curry flavor seems slightly more subdued likely due to the strong flavor of the fennel (which I don't really like). I love the asparagus addition though. Yum! The first time, I believe the fish was tile-fish and the second time, I believe, it was flounder. Both were very nice pieces of fish. I also asked for the dinner portion, which was the addition of shrimp and scallops. I love that version. So good. The only slight issue I had is that it seemed that they weren't as generous with the shrimp and scallops as they used to be. Still, it's a great deal for the price and very fresh.
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| Version #1 |
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| Version #2 |
On one occasion, I did get dessert (boy was I stuffed by the end). The same as in the past, the trio of sorbets. This included a coconut sorbet, mango sorbet, and my ultimate favorite raspberry mint sorbet. OMG so amazing. Note that the picture has chocolate sauce on the raspberry mint sorbet. Unfortunately, they had to bring me a second one, as this one had dairy filled chocolate sauce on it.
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| Sorbet sampler |
Overall, I always have high praise for Sanaa. It's a shame that it's not as well-known, especially considering how amazing the food is. The ambiance (animals right outside the window! Giraffes, zebras! Oh my!), the coziness, and the overall experience is top notch. I always give this a solid 9 out of 10, although it nearly edges into a 10 for me at the end of the day.Make this a stop on your next visit!
**These dining experiences took place in April and May 2012.
