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| Dinner at Sanaa at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge-Kidani Village |
*This review is from a dining experience that took place in August 2012.Ah, Sanaa...as many of you know, this is one of my favorite restaurants on property. I happen to love Indian food, and this place offers some amazing versions of Indian dishes. There have been some changes recently, well this past March to be more precise. Also, Chef Trish has recently come on board, having been at Boma before. She assisted me in my visit in May 2012, and we had just an amazing meal. She didn't disappoint this time either, and I'm thrilled that she is on board as a permanent member of the culinary team there. In fact, one of the reasons for the shift has to do with the Landscape of Flavor food court at Art of Animation, which I ate at on the same day. They have an entire tandoor section, including homemade naan, etc. Our server mentioned that because of Sanaa's expertise in this area, one of the chefs headed over there to work and train folks, hence the chef changes. It's great news for the Landscape of Flavors as they will get a great chef experience in Indian cuisine (and by the looks of it, it was pretty fabulous) and we also get to experience Sanaa with Chef Trish!One of the changes that Chef Trish mentioned this visit is the change in the Durban Chicken and addition of some newer dishes on the menu--including Butter Chicken, which is not safe for dairy allergies, but is gluten free. The Durban chicken is good, but I usually don't get it because it is really really spicy, and I like spice, but when my tongue is on fire for a while, I avoid it. However, Chef Trish said they changed/tweaked the recipe and made it more flavorful, still full of heat, but less painful. So, I decided I would try that along with one of my favorites, the green curry shrimp.But first, it was on to the appetizers! I love the bread service here. They give you poppadoms and choice of 3 dips. In this case, we were able to split the appetizer between me and my party, they got the naan breads and 3 dips and then I got my own 3 dip choices + poppadoms. Yum! I chose my favorite 3--the roasted red bell pepper hummus (omg to die for!), coriander chutney, and mango chutney. They have such depth of flavor and varying degrees of spiciness. I would say the coriander chutney is the most spicy out of the three.
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| Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mango Chutney, Coriander Chutney |
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| Poppadoms |
I was still chowing down on our appetizer when the entrees came out. I was greeted by a wonderful aroma, and I was very excited to try out the new version of the Durban chicken. I was definitely not disappointed. Ok, I admit, I did still go through a lot of liquid while eating it, but man that stuff is delicious. I agreed with Chef Trish in that this version had more flavor and definitely less overall lasting burn from the heat of the peppers. So, my mouth wasn't on fire an hour after we left!! The shrimp with green curry is delicious--I'm actually very tempting to just get it alone the next time. If you like green curry, this is a winner.
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| Green curry shrimp, basmati rice, Durban chicken |
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| Green Curry Shrimp--you can see the richness of spices in this |
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| Durban chicken--spicy and delicious! |
I can't believe after this meal I actually decided not to get dessert. I almost always get dessert at Sanaa, but I was a bit full especially after a late lunch at Art of Animation. No worries though...I left satisfied and full!Another solid 9 out of 10--this place is such a hidden gem, I almost don't want to tell everyone how good it is, so it doesn't end up packed! lol But seriously, this is a must do, especially if you like Indian food!
