We usually have Christmas breakfast at Disney World, and dinner at home, but this year, we changed things up a bit and had breakfast at home, and dinner at Disney. Sanaa was very busy when we arrived at 3:30, and I had to wait 10 minutes just to check in. Walk-ins were not being accepted, so if you want to have dinner at Disney World on Christmas day, make sure you have advance dining reservations.
Sanaa had expanded dinner hours and a special holiday menu on Christmas, so I had to talk to a chef, because there was no allergy-friendly menu available. You can view Sanaa's allergy-friendly dinner menu here, in my dinner review. I did confirm that my favorite dinner entree, the lamb shank, is still gluten free, but sadly, it was not offered on Christmas.
One bit of good news is that the chefs at Sanaa are still working to improve their allergy-friendly naan. When the recipe was created last year, the gluten free naan was made with Cup4Cup original flour blend, which is not dairy free. You can view the recipe here. When Disney restaurants started adopted allergy-friendly menus earlier this year, Sanaa introduced a gluten-friendly vegan naan made with Bob's Red Mill all-purpose baking flour. It was good, but the previous version with Cup4Cup was so much better. The gluten-friendly vegan naan is now being made with Cup4Cup Wholesome Flour Blend, which contains brown rice flour, white rice flour, ground golden flaxseed, rice bran, and xanthan gum. My family ordered the Indian-style bread service with five breads and nine accompaniments. I ordered one piece of the gluten free naan with my favorite accompaniments, coriander chutney and mango chutney, on a separate plate from my family's gluten-filled traditional naan. I really liked the new naan, and regretted not ordering a second piece. Is it still not as good as the gluten free naan made with Cup4Cup original flour blend, but it is way better than the naan made with Bob's Red Mill flour.
For my entree, I chose the Celebrate the Season Dinner - Braai'd prime rib with Tandoor roasted winter vegetables, mashed potatoes, citrus-cranberry relish, horseradish pickle, and a mild garlic cream. I asked that the horseradish pickle and the mild garlic cream, which contained sour cream, be left off my prime rib. I chose the prime rib with mashed potatoes, because that's our traditional Christmas dinner when we cook at home. I didn't realize that the chefs had forgotten my citrus-cranberry relish until I was done with my prime rib, but I used the coriander chutney I had left from my bread service on top of my meat, and it was a delicious combination. I also enjoyed the mashed potatoes and vegetables, so I was happy with my choice, though I did miss Sanaa's amazing lamb shank.
For dessert, we all ordered one of my favorite desserts at Disney, pumpkin kulfi with blood orange and cranberry compote. I can always eat and enjoy kulfi, an Indian-style ice cream, no matter how full I am. The flavor of the kulfi changes seasonally at Sanaa, but the pumpkin is definitely my favorite.
I usually ask for a window table when we dine at Sanaa, but this time I did not, because they were so busy, and I did not want to have to wait, but we lucked out and were seated at one of the best tables in the restaurant, with an incredible view of the Sunset Savanna. Because we dined so early, we were able to watch the animals throughout our meal, including the zebras in the picture, who received their Christmas dinner right before we did.
You can read more about Sanaa, make advance dining reservations, and view their menus and hours on Disney's website here.
What are your favorite gluten free dishes at Sanaa?
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