Thoughts on new (for us) restaurants - next stay

Dano13

Long Island, NY
Joined
Dec 26, 2012
We usually wind up eating at the same places every year, but this year we are trying to work in a few new ones. We are not overly adventurous eaters but, again, would like some new table serves because they are all done so well.

The standards we are retruning to will be: Crystal Palace and Be OurGuest for breakfast. Dinners will be; Via Napoli, Biergarten, Sci Fi, T-Rex.

We have 3 available spots remaining and we're thinking Sanaa, La Hacienda de San Angel, Coral Reef.

We'd be open to other suggestions or opinions on those 3. We also thought about Bongos, Ohana, Tokyo Dining, and skipper canteen.
 
I ate at Sanaa a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. We're going for lunch this year. I've seen several positive reviews, lately, so a YES for that one.

Are you looking for park centric dining? Is it going to be a pain to travel for a meal? Are you staying on property with a TS? I ask because it is much more relaxing and convenient when you don't have to take transportation just to eat. I'm a big advocate of taking advantage of your location at meal time.
 
I ate at Sanaa a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. We're going for lunch this year. I've seen several positive reviews, lately, so a YES for that one.

Are you looking for park centric dining? Is it going to be a pain to travel for a meal? Are you staying on property with a TS? I ask because it is much more relaxing and convenient when you don't have to take transportation just to eat. I'm a big advocate of taking advantage of your location at meal time.

I am pretty flexible, I am staying at BWI, and will have a rental car which opens up Disney Springs and other resorts. When we dine at parks I will usually tie our evening to it, sometimes utilising fastpass as well. Obviously staying at BWI makes the World Showcase a very easy place to go but with the car and dining plan we are open to the entire bubble.

We are also taking my wife's sister, her hubby, and 2 kids and they haven't been to WDW in 6 years and they have never gone with a di if plan so we are trying to bring them places where it will be fun for all.
 


I'm assuming that you're on the regular DDP and not Deluxe.

In DS I'd recommend Raglan Rd because they have a lot of food options and it's good, but the show is really loud and you can't count on being seated where you can watch. Also Homecoming and Frontera Cocina. Wolfgang Puck Express is very well liked and a QS for a TS experience. A great value on the plan.

Skipper is on our list. If your party is up for more unusual preparations I'd say definitely try it.

'Ohana will give you all plenty of food and is a good value on the DDP. It's manic in there and the food comes at you really fast. Quality is hit and miss. I wouldn't go a second time but I think it's a safe bet for those who haven't been or have BIG appetites. Booking that is a pain, so plan early. It's incredibly popular.

Are the kids girls? Akershus is a good princess meal. We had great interaction, even with my boys :)

We have a lot of dining spots in common! I would choose something other than T-rex, but that is family specific. If you know it will be well received, then ignore me. The only Landry's place I like in WDW Yak & Yeti.
 
We did not enjoy Sanaa, which makes us maybe the only people on the boards that didn't. In our case, part of the issue was the service, it took about 3 hours for our meal, at least 15 min. between each course after we were finished before our server would return and take out plates, had to wait for her to bring the check and then again for her to bring the slip back to sign. We actually watched one table turn over 3 times while we were there. My meal was just o.k. nothing to write home about, my son and DIL actually only ate about a third of theirs, they were living in the Chicago area at the time and had a favorite Indian/African fusion type restaurant they loved to eat at there and were very excited about trying Sanaa. The bread service was good but that was the highlight of the meal. We loved Tiffins at AK, the meal was excellent and the service was excellent. La Hacienda isn't bad, the views are great if you can get a table on the lake. We like Spice Roads at Epcot, again on the lake the the small plates are good.
 
We did not enjoy Sanaa, which makes us maybe the only people on the boards that didn't. In our case, part of the issue was the service, it took about 3 hours for our meal, at least 15 min. between each course after we were finished before our server would return and take out plates, had to wait for her to bring the check and then again for her to bring the slip back to sign. We actually watched one table turn over 3 times while we were there. My meal was just o.k. nothing to write home about, my son and DIL actually only ate about a third of theirs, they were living in the Chicago area at the time and had a favorite Indian/African fusion type restaurant they loved to eat at there and were very excited about trying Sanaa. The bread service was good but that was the highlight of the meal. We loved Tiffins at AK, the meal was excellent and the service was excellent. La Hacienda isn't bad, the views are great if you can get a table on the lake. We like Spice Roads at Epcot, again on the lake the the small plates are good.

You aren't the only people :) We have been twice. We do like the bread service but everything else...we really cannot understand the hype. Service has been meh and we have local places that serves much better tasting and more authentic Indian/African food.
 


We usually wind up eating at the same places every year, but this year we are trying to work in a few new ones. We are not overly adventurous eaters but, again, would like some new table serves because they are all done so well.

The standards we are retruning to will be: Crystal Palace and Be OurGuest for breakfast. Dinners will be; Via Napoli, Biergarten, Sci Fi, T-Rex.

We have 3 available spots remaining and we're thinking Sanaa, La Hacienda de San Angel, Coral Reef.

We'd be open to other suggestions or opinions on those 3. We also thought about Bongos, Ohana, Tokyo Dining, and skipper canteen.
Sanaa was a new to us restaurant on my early december trip and it was stellar. Coral Reef is an old favorite of mine and was also stellar. Not sure why that one gets so many mixed reviews, I have always had a good meal there. The creamy lobster soup was delicious and the shrimp and grits were amazing. If you want a better chance at getting a tank side table consider an early ADR when they first open and showing up a bit early to request it - it is easiest to fulfill the request when the restaurant is empty. I have seen people report kids crawling all over the tank but we did not have that issue at all. La Hacienda got cut for Biergarten on our last trip but since you already have that one in there, I agree with La Hacinenda. 'Ohana was also a standout meal for us, again I recommend going early when they open as there is no wait for tables, staff and food are fresh and good... none of the issues that people have with 'Ohana appear yet. Just go STARVING and skip the bread.
 
Thanks everyone all of these comments are great, the more the better. I know the drawback of TRex but it is a family tradition more than anything so it holds sentimental appeal. I also should mention I have Celiac so I have to eat gluten free and my son is a very fussy 13 year old. He is the youngest in the party.
 
We are in the Sanaa fan club as well--that and Via Napoli are our "must do" restaurants on every trip. I would recommend going for lunch or an early dinner so you can appreciate the views of the savanna (though the restaurant itself is beautifully themed). We had a nice dinner at La Hacienda on our last trip as well, but we had probably the best table in the restaurant with a perfect view of the fireworks so that definitely influenced our impression of the restaurant. We also tried and loved Skipper Canteen on our last visit, but I'd take a look at the menu to make sure your less adventurous party members can find something that appeals to them! My boys are fairly picky but my younger two did fine with the kids' crispy chicken and rice/fries and my 14 year old loved the marinated char sui pork. I have write ups of all three of these restaurants in my current dining report if you want to see what we ordered! :)
 
Sanaa was great! Also, I'm adding a vote for Homecoming in Disney Springs, because it was in the top two of our favorites meals in December (first was Yachtsman!).

We did Skipper's Canteen on our December trip as well, and we enjoyed it overall. It's beautiful inside, and the atmosphere is nice. DH and my oldest had the Niles and Niles of Rice Noodles, which is like a weak Pho, and they enjoyed it. My youngest had Skip's beefy noodle whatever, and it was just ok. I wouldn't recommend it. I had the cachapas and falafel, and I would 100% recommend the cachapas! So good!

Good luck making your decisions! I know it's hard to narrow things down!
 
For the Sanaa fans, judging by the menu, I think I was going to get the Naan Bread for an appetizer and then do the butter chicken and braised short rib combo. My wife wants the same. Good call?
 
For the Sanaa fans, judging by the menu, I think I was going to get the Naan Bread for an appetizer and then do the butter chicken and braised short rib combo. My wife wants the same. Good call?

The bread service is huge, so be aware of that! It's amazing, though. The potjie style meals now require you to pick one meat and one vegetable. You can pick two meats for an upcharge. That change was fairly recent from what I've heard. My husband had the butter chicken and it was very good! My oldest son had the braised beef, and it was ok, but we weren't super fans. The sauce it is cooked in is pretty sweet, but if you like that kind of thing, go for it!

I had the Tandoori chicken sandwich at lunch, and it was incredible. I don't know how they made such a simple dish taste so good.
 
For us, as a group of 7 with kids, our favorites were 'Ohana and Teppan Edo. We found, because 'Ohana was family style, the kids would try things they would not have ordered. I found Teppan Edo had a fairly basic menu. Steak, shrimp, chicken, scallops. They're very conscious of any type of food allergies or picky children. Both had really fun family atmospheres.
 
For the Sanaa fans, judging by the menu, I think I was going to get the Naan Bread for an appetizer and then do the butter chicken and braised short rib combo. My wife wants the same. Good call?

The bread is fantastic!!! The combo is good but I recommend the Tandoori chicken. So good!!!
 
We had Coral Reef in April. With reservations, we still waited over an hour to get a table. Maybe it was just the frustration of the long wait but we were not impressed with the food.
 
We had Coral Reef in April. With reservations, we still waited over an hour to get a table. Maybe it was just the frustration of the long wait but we were not impressed with the food.
Thanks that was the one restaurant that was on our watch list that we were the most apt to replace. I have read some other blogs saying that place can be very hit or miss. Time to start looking at other menus and options that would interest us.
 
My husband and I loved the naan bread service at Sanaa. The rest of the meal not so much! Viewing the animals was kind of cool, but there is a viewing deck right outside anyone can go out on. You don't need to be dining there. We went for an early lunch so we didn't have any issues with waiting.
We also ate at Ohana our last visit for the 1st time. Usually I give my husband a choice for his must have pick and it has always been Crystal palace. This coming up trip it was Ohana. He absolutely loved it and stuffed himself. He was too full by the time the bread pudding came out so I got that one all to myself!!!! The only thing we didn't really care for was the bread there. I have heard so many people rave about how good the bread is. Ours was cold, stale, and slightly sweet. One bite was enough and it was pushed to the side.
 
We tried several new places in December and enjoyed them all. We had breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, very good food and amazing character interactions. The Boathouse at DS for lunch and dinner, we all tried different items and raved about every dish, a definite favourite of ours now (for location, food, ambience, staff, view). Lastly Kona Cafe, again very enjoyable food, good service and who doesn't like being at the Poly?
 
From your maybe list, I'd take off Skipper Canteen. I was waffling on it because I thought the prices were a bit much, but after reading so many positive reviews here (particularly for the Tastes Like Chicken dish), I added it to our schedule last minute. We ordered the chicken and the whole fried fish, and thought everything was just okay. I ordered the fish because I thought it would be similar to a Chinese dish I love (and I wanted to try Disney's take on it), but it didn't have much flavor, and there were too many bones to make it enjoyable. The service was really slow too! Of all of our non-fixed price/buffet meals, this one was the priciest (on a per dish basis), and we were disappointed, to say the least.

It doesn't look like it's on your radar, but I'd highly suggest Homecoming at Disney Springs! It's "just" Southern comfort food, but they do it so well! We ordered the chicken biscuit appetizer, the fried chicken sandwich, pulled pork dish, and hummingbird cake, and everything was SO GOOD. We would have loved Homecoming even if our service had been forgettable, but our waiter, Anthony, was amazing! We loved him so much that we went to guest services right after to leave a cast compliment. This one was definitely our best meal of our 8-day trip, and we used it as our point of comparison for every meal (before and after).
 
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