Sanaa Restaurant. The Hidden Disney Restaurant You Don’t Want To Miss

If you’ve read a few of my posts here at Chasing Walt you’ll have come to the realization that I love dining at Disney World. And more recently I’ve loved discovering places we’ve never dined at before. By doing this we’ve found some incredible restaurants at resorts and tucked away at the parks. Moving some of our favourite restaurants further down our list of favourites. The restaurant we’re looking at is one of those restaurants. Sanaa is a restaurant found at Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Kidani Village. We dined here on our babymoon last August after having waited years to eat here. We’ve waited because we knew that our kids, being the picky eaters they are, wouldn’t appreciate the delicious African cuisine offered at this restaurant. So when we decided to head down for an adult only vacation, this was our chance to finally discover the beauty and allure of Sanaa. Friends, I can honestly say it was everything I had hoped it would be. Design, food, and service were all top notch.

Sanaa is found on the ground floor of Kidani Village, which borders the savanna that is found between Kidani Village and Jambo House. There are large windows to give guests a view of the animals found outside. During the course of our meal we watched zebras, giraffes and ostriches grazing the land. We even had cranes come right up to the window we were seated at. It was an incredible sight to just watch all the animals interact for such a long period of time over the course of our meal. The restaurant is made up of booths and tables, and has a lounge area. The wood is very dark and the cushions and complimentary colours are deep reds and yellows. The design further enforces the African theme that makes up this resort. You can dine in a small group or with a large group they can accommodate both.

Sanaa serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s one of the unique restaurants that is a quick-service and table service restaurant depending on the meal. For breakfast, Sanaa is a quick-service restaurant giving guests staying at Kidani Village a great spot to grab a quick bite before heading to the parks. For lunch and dinner Sanaa becomes a table service restaurant. You’ll wait to be seated and be served by high quality and knowledgeable cast members. During our meal here our server was so helpful in not only guiding us to our best choices on the menu but also teaching us how to mix the dishes we ordered to get the best flavours. When we dined here we were on the Deluxe Dining Plan, so we dined on the Indian-Style Bread Service with all of the accompaniments and the Salad sampler for our appetizers.

The Bread Service is a MUST!!! It is delicious, there’s a variety of naan breads that go with it, giving each and every bite you try something different. Potjie Inspired was what we both chose for our entree. For this dish you choose between a variety of sides, to be combined with the rice that comes with the dish. So we opted to each get this and choose different sides.

By the time dessert came around we were so full. Next time we dine here I hope we’re not on the dining plan and can just have appetizers and dessert. What I had for dessert no longer appears to be on the menu but I can tell you I had to force myself to even attempt to eat it. Deluxe dining plan problems, am I right? Doesn’t it look delicious.

The food is as you’d expect, African inspired. The Potje is the feature dish but there’s also Tandori Chicken and Shrimp on the menu. The lunch and dinner menu do differ. The lunch menu is more casual with sandwich options. The dinner menu has your steaks, biryani and Mozambique Chicken. Each of these menus is saturated in African style cuisine, which means if there’s someone in your party that likes American food, they won’t be finding anything at this restaurant. Head over to Boma-Flavours of Africa or Tusker House at the Animal Kingdom if one of your fellow dinners isn’t interested in this style of food.

Sanaa is very responsibly priced, making it a great choice for those dining on a budget or out of pocket. The atmosphere, food and service make the effort to get here worth it. Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village is a far trek from the majority of Disney World resorts. And you’ll need to grab a bus transportation from one of the parks or Disney Springs to get here. Unless of course you take the Minnie Van, your own vehicle or rental car. There’s a lot to do at this resort and at Jambo House, so dining here on a non-park day can be your excuse for spending time at this Deluxe Resort. Bring your swim things and head to either the Kidani Village – Samawati Springs Pool or Jambo House’s Uzima Springs Pool or head to the Animal Viewing stations where Cast Members are stationed to educate you on the animals you’re seeing.

Sanaa is a fairly easy reservation to get. You don’t need to make reservations several months ahead of time but I would be sure to get a reservation before you leave on your vacation, a few weeks ahead at least to make sure you get a table on the day you plan on visiting. We’ll definitely be back some day. Maybe by then our kids will be ready to try some of the African cuisine that fills the menu.

Happy Planning, Friends.

Sanaa Hours:

Breakfast 7am-10am

Lunch 11:30am-3:00pm

Dinner 5:00pm-9:30pm

Dining Plan Credits: 1 Table Service Meal Credit Lunch or Dinner. 1 Quick-service Meal Credit Breakfast.