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mywdw · 7 years

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Satu'li Canteen - Restaurant Review

One of the things that you will find in abundance in Pandora: World of Avatar is a sense of the natural and native overtaking the destructive forces of the RDA - the mining company whose poor practices in regards to the native Na'vi were the center of the conflict of the original film. One place that this is very evident is in the Satu'li Canteen, a former RDA mess hall now converted into a Na'vi cultural center. I like story as much as the next person, but what about the food? Read on to find out more!

As I noted before, the atmosphere at the Satu'li Canteen is a blend of cold and industrial and warm and organic. You can see the original structure very clearly - all very practical, clean lines and harsh, white light. There are large windows that do provide natural light, but these seem to hit the woven baskets and other cultural items suspended from the ceiling and wrapped around the newer, organic lamp posts just right to accentuate them well.

Looking around, you get a sense of the history of the place very well... this affect is added to by a series of photographs along the walls.

Including my favorite: this groundbreaking ceremony photo op featuring several Disney elite with giant shovels - including Joe Rohde at the far right. Joe is the lead Imagineer on the Pandora project, as well as the rest of Animal Kingdom, and is kind of my personal Disney hero. One of these days, I may have to do a write up on him and all he's done with the Disney company, but for now I suggest you follow him on Instagram - it's quite enlightening!

Let's face it, though, you came here for a write up on the food, so let's take a look at the menu board.

Starting with entrees - Create-Your-Own Satu'li Bowls, which allow you to put together your own custom creation, with quite a few choices to select from! Also featured are the "pods" - vegetable curry or cheeseburger.

The Kids' Meals are largely the same as the adult choices, with the addition of a dough-wrapped hot dog and cheese quesadilla as choices (though only the bowls are Mickey check meals, which meet certain nutrition guidelines as long as you don't make substitutions).

And lastly... the drinks and desserts. There are a few beer and wine options (is Bud Light technically an import on Pandora?), the wines chosen based on their name, and a couple of beers brewed specifically for the World of Avatar by the Terrapin Brewing Company..

Did I mention the cool floating mountain tap for Mo'ara High Country Ale? Let me do so now: Mo'ara High Country Ale has cool floating mountain taps.

We'll start with the most unusual menu item: the Cheeseburger Pods. The soft steamed bao bun goes very nicely with what you'll find inside: ground beef, mustard, ketchup, pickles, and cheese. As Tabby put it, it "tastes like a fast food burger from when you're a kid, but in a good way." In other words, it's a bit of a flash back to childhood, but with higher quality ingredients and far less grease. The root vegetable chips are crisp and tasty with just the slightest hint of spicy heat and the slaw adds a nice bit of freshness to the dish, as well as the unique "pop" from the yogurt balls, providing a kind of second "dressing." Definitely a recommended dish for those feeling like trying something a little on the different side (despite the fact that it is, in fact, a deconstructed, then reconstructed, cheeseburger.)

Next up: a Satu'li Bowl with Slow Roasted Roast Beef, Quinoa and Vegetable Salad, and Charred Onion Chimichurri. The beef in this is perfectly cooked: tender and juicy. While I loved my little burger pods, I was admittedly a little jealous of that beef and stole a bite or two. The quinoa and vegetable salad was good, though nothing terribly exciting, but it blended nicely with the same slaw from the burger plate. The chimichurri added the right amount of herbal spice to really bring the dish together nicely.

Here we have the Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse. I rather liked the presentation on this one - very well themed while not being too "out there." It was topped with a shaving of white chocolate, a dolloped meringue, and a very nice passionfruit curd to add a bit of flavor and texture. The cream cheese mousse itself had a strange (but not bad) texture of "not quite cheesecake, not quite bagel spread," but definitely satisfied the sweet tooth without being too heavy or sugary.

Speaking of sweet, on the right you'll find the Dreamwalker Sangria - a white sangria with a hint of Blue Curaçao. It's quite sweet, but not overbearingly so, and has a nice little alcoholic bite to it. On the left is Hawkes' Grog Ale, which was mildly hoppy with just a hint of fruit that I could not identify, though I'm fairly certain that green color isn't entirely natural. It was a decent beer and a bit of food coloring I was okay with ingesting for a bit of themed fun.

The experience we had at Satu'li Canteen was positive enough that we returned the next day to try the fish (top) and tofu (bottom) in bowls with the black bean vinaigrette - both also quite excellent, having similar slightly crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside textures, very lightly spiced. The black bean vinaigrette added a soy sauce-like character to the flavor profile and worked well with the somewhat nutty mixed whole grains and rice. With the tofu, Tabby got the red & sweet potato hash, which in my opinion probably would have complimented the beef a bit better, but overall was quite good.

All in all, I definitely give Satu'li Canteen a resounding thumbs up. The cuisine blends the familiar and the different very nicely, while also keeping with the story of Pandora by not exactly adhering to any one particular culture, blending things to portray both the diversity of Earth ex-pats who moved to the distant world and the world that they now call their home. If you're looking to try something exciting and adventurous on your trip to Pandora, be sure to make your way over to Satu'li Canteen! Until next time, everyone, stay magical!

#food #restaurant review #animal kingdom #wdw #disney #disney world #walt disney world #disney's animal kingdom #pandora #avatar #na'vi #mywdw

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