Before discovering the Yak & Yeti table service restaurant last year, my family had always eaten at the Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafe (which is quick service). Both of these are located in the Asia section of the park (near the Flights of Wonder pavilion), and are beside one another. Once I experienced Yak & Yeti, it became my “must-eat” restaurant at Animal Kingdom. Three words: cream cheese wontons. But more on those later.
On our most recent trip, we ended up dining here twice. Once was a planned visit with an ADR, and the other was an evening when everyone except my husband and toddler decided to stay back at the resort. There is seating both upstairs and down, and some of the upstairs tables have a great window view. The restaurant really is beautiful, and I realized that I failed miserably in not getting pictures of the interior (looks like I found a reason to go back – I need a do-over!).
On the first visit, I had the Seared Miso Salmon, which comes with coconut-ginger rice, baby bok choy & shitake mushroom stir-fry. This is deeeee-licious! The glaze on the salmon had such a good flavor, and the salmon had a nice consistency, as well.
My more adventurous husband tried the Malaysian Seafood Curry, which includes Mahi Mahi, scallops, little neck clams, mussels, shrimp, as well as some veggies and rice. This was a new dish for him, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He said it had a medium spice, and he would definitely eat it again.
The other members of our party had the Crispy Honey Chicken (more on this later, since I ordered it on the second trip) and the Lo Mein with Shrimp. Both were hits – everyone raved about this meal.
The service was also great – our server was extremely friendly and helpful. He was taking a trip to our home state the following weekend, so we were able to chat about the area a bit. Now, on to my favorite part of the meal: dessert! I had been dreaming about the Fried Wontons for months, so my choice was easy. What is this magical creation, you ask? It consists of skewers of cream cheese wontons and fresh pineaple, drizzled with a delicious honey vanilla sauce, and a side of ice cream. It is as amazing as it sounds.
Other desserts were ordered, as well – Pineapple Upside Down cake (served warm and covered in ice cream and caramel sauce), and the Chocolate Pudding Cake. The Pineapple Upside Down cake was very good, but the Chocolate Pudding cake was too much, even for our biggest chocolate lover (ahem, that’s me). Neither one stood a chance against my wontons, though!
Our second dining experience here was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I made an ADR about 2 hours in advance, as we were on the bus to the park. We sat downstairs this time, and had a long, relaxing dinner. I started with a Kiwi Kimono, which was light and delicious.
This time I opted for the Crispy Honey Chicken, and it was great. Crispy on the outside with a sweet-but-not-TOO sweet flavor, it was perfect.
My husband opted for the Kalbi Steak & Coconut Shrimp, and he loved it. It came with a pineapple-mango salsa, chili plum sauce, wasabi mashed potatoes, and stir-fried veggies. I sampled the mashed potatoes and they were wonderful! We were both extremely happy with our meals, and the service was again great, as well.
For dessert, we both got…you guessed it, the cream cheese wontons! Have I mentioned how delicious these are? So, so good.
If you’re looking for a table service restaurant in Animal Kingdom, I would definitely recommend Yak & Yeti. And bonus tip: right across the street is a little kiosk called Drinkwallah. Inside, you will find my favorite drink in this park: Coconut Lychee Lemonade! It’s perfect for a hot day, and goes down way too easily.
