First Look and Photos: Dinner at a Reopened Sanaa at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Lodge

Now that Disney World restaurants have started to reopen, a number of changes have been made to dining experiences.

Sanaa, located in Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Kidani Village is among the Disney World restaurants that’s officially reopened.

With gorgeous views of Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Sunset Savannah, and a menu featuring a fusion of African and Indian cuisine, how will the dining changes impact this hidden gem? Let’s take a look!

Check-In

First off, let’s take a look at how the check-in area looked! Mobile Dine Check-In is an option at Sanaa — we used the Mobile Dine Check-In feature, so we didn’t have to head up to the check-in counter. Still, we wanted to take a look at the various health measures we spotted here.

You can see that there are physical distancing stickers on the ground to keep guests distanced while waiting to check-in with Cast Members. You can also see one of those oh-so-familiar hand-sanitizer stations.

Click here to learn more about the Mobile Dine Check-In! 

Seating

Before heading to our table, we took a peek in Sanaa Lounge to see what sort of health measures they had going on. We noticed traffic flow stickers on the ground, and tables and bar stools marked as unavailable for physical distancing.

Inside the actual dining room, Sanaa has tables spaced out and marked as well, and no two groups of guests were seated close to one another.

As always, many of Sanaa’s tables look out onto the Savannah where you can try to spot the African wildlife while you dine.

This is definitely one of the aspects that makes this restaurant a real hidden gem! There’s nothing like waving at a group of zebras while you sip and snack!

Click here to check out another recent review of this spot!

Menu

As we’ve seen a bunch around the reopened Disney World restaurants, Sanaa has leaflets on the table for access to a QR code menu. This code will take you right to the online listing for the menu on the Disney website.

If you like, you can ask for a physical menu here, and they’ll get you a disposable one.

The Sanaa menu has a wide variety of African dishes with Indian flavors mixed in. There are options for adventurous eaters and picky eaters alike.

Food and Drinks

We started off with some drinks since Sanaa has some really fabulous international wines and interesting cocktails. We snagged the South African Wine Flight for $15 to savor the flavors before we dig into some delicious food.

We also tried one of the cocktails on the menu that we’ve never had before. The African Starr Mojito is a combo of Starr African Rum, Van der Hum Tangerine Liqueur from South Africa, Fresh Lime Juice, and Mint for $14. Um… yum! This was a really awesome twist on a classic mojito — not too sweet and the fresh mint was delicious.

You didn’t think we were going to go to Sanaa without grabbing that DELICIOUS Sanaa Indian-style Bread Service, did you? This appetizer is super customizable with a choice of five breads between Traditional Naan, Garlic-Ginger Naan, Spiced Naan, Onion Kulcha, or Paneer Paratha. Our favorite was the Garlic-Ginger Naan!

Then you get ALL NINE of the accompaniments! There’s Cucumber Raita, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mango Chutney, Tomato-Date Jam, Tamarind Chutney, Coriander Chutney, Garlic Pickle, Red Chile Sambal, and Spicy Jalapeño-Lime Pickle. Whew, that’s quite the app for $18! We seriously love the bread service and can’t recommend it enough. Careful, though, that Jalapeno-Lime Pickle has a kick (in a good way)!

For one of our entrees, we got the African-inspired Biryani with Chicken. This was SOOOO good. It has great flavor and you can forgo on the meat for a plant-based option. The herbs were super fresh and we were obsessed with the sauce. With Chicken or Shrimp, the Biryani is $26; with no meat, it’s $19!

Our server told us that the most popular meal at Sanaa is the Potjie Inspired because of how customizable it is (hmm, we’re sensing a theme). We opted to snag the Braised Beef Potjie with a side of Cilantro-Coconut Vegetables. And all that comes with some scented Basmati Rice! The meat was so tender we could cut it with a spoon and everything was way flavorful too.

This meal will run you $28 and it’s a pretty sizable portion! Don’t worry, if the African and Indian options on the menu are a little out of your comfort zone, you can always opt for something familiar like the Grilled New York Strip for $34.

Payment

To pay, we were brought one of those new disposable check folds we’ve been seeing around.

So, yes! Sanaa is incorporating a lot of the new health measures that we’re starting to get used to while still serving the same great food. If you happen to be looking for a surprisingly delicious meal in a reopened Disney World, Sanaa is a great bet.

Click here to read about the changes coming to Disney World dining this summer!

Have you eaten at Sanaa? How to these changes compare to your experience? Let us know in the comments!

From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Animal Kingdom Lodge, disney resorts, Featured, Table-Service, Walt Disney World, African Starr Mojito, African-inspired Biryani with Chicken, animal kingdom lodge kidani village, Disney World Changes, disney world dining, disney world dining changes, Disney World restaurant, disney world restaurants, Indian Style Bread Service, Kidani Village, Potjie Inspired, Sanaa, Sanaa Bread Service, South African Wine Flight