Also known as “Yak & Yeti Counter Service,” Anandapur Local Food Cafes offers Asian fusion, quick service meals in the Asia area of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park.
And the “Savory, Heavenly” is a self-description!
Anandapur Local Cafes Menu -- Savory and Heavenly (click for larger image)
Atmosphere
Located directly underneath Yak & Yeti Restaurant, Anandapur Local Food Cafes approximates an outdoor market eatery in the Asian subcontinent. Full of fun themeing — just like the rest of the incredible Animal Kingdom Asia section — you’ll truly feel as though you’ve stepped into a different culture.
Ordering Area
Once you have your food, travel around the corner to a long seating “alley,” which opens into a huge courtyard full of tables. A beautiful water feature dominates the center of the space making this a very relaxing place to dine — assuming you’ve avoided the crowds. Make no mistake: when the crowds are en force, this place is as congested as everywhere else!
Seating Alley
Seating Area With Water Feature
And remember, all seating is outside and uncovered, here. If it’s raining, head for Restaurantosaurus or Flame Tree Barbecue.
Eats
This is another spot that offers a menu that varies from the “stereotypical” idea of theme park food.
Full Menu -- click for larger image
Dining Plan Choices -- click for larger image
The Asian fusion menu includes savory-sweet favorites like Sweet-and-Sour Chicken and Orange Beef. A Mandarin chicken salad and Asian chicken sandwich are included in the entrees, and a fun list of sides (pork egg rolls!!) and desserts rounds out the menu. Entrees here run around $9-$10 (pricey for counter service), but you can make a great meal out of the side dishes — many of which you can get for a Disney Dining Plan snack credit.
Not to worry, though; the burgers and fries are still available via the kids menu and a side dish or two!
We had a great experience here; even though it was extremely busy, the ordering process was quick and efficient, and we were out searching for a seat in no time! We dug into our honey chicken with rice and veggies, fried rice, and pork egg roll with a fervor.
Honey Chicken Take Out Container
Honey Chicken With Rice and Vegetables
Pork Egg Roll
Fried Rice
We’d been to the Local Food Cafes before, and things haven’t changed much — the food quality is still good, but the price is a bit high. The honey chicken was a definite favorite for me. The fried rice and egg roll could have had a bit more flavor, but there are condiments to mix and match to add flavors.
Another great addition to the Cafes is the specialty drinks window, conveniently located on your way to the seating area.
Quality Beverages
Quality Beverages Menu -- click for larger image
Stop by the “Quality Beverages” area for some Safai Amber, an Emperor Margarita, or the very popular Yak Attack — a drink found in the Yak & Yeti Restaurant that includes Bacardi Light Rum, Mango Daiquiri, and Wildberry. You can also find a couple of entrees and potato chips here if the front of the house is too busy.
Yak Attack Drink
Overall
This spot gets high marks in our book. It’s different, decent food that’s not going to break the bank. Consider visiting at an “off time,” so that you’re not managing crazy crowd levels and it can actually be quite a relaxing and enjoyable meal!
It’s also a great spot to wait if you’ve got a Kali River Rapids fastpass — the ride is right across the “path” from the cafes!
Thanks to Shayne Newell for the use of the Yak Attack photo! You can see her full review of Yak and Yeti here!
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What a great review! I’m loving reading these reviews of CS areas as we are on the quick service dining plan for our december trip so this is one of the places we’ll be eating. Thanks for all the great pictures too!! 🙂
There’s a LOT of food for what you’re paying. This is definitely a spot that it’s easy to split the food.
While the prices are relatively high for a Counter Service location, the value is there for the price. You get a large portion here of good food.
I agree with the others—you do get tons of food here. We can really make our CS credits stretch by ordering one meal and a side or two and splitting it. The quality is always right on as well—never eaten a bad meal here! It gives Flame Tree a run for its money! Why do all the good counter services have to be in one park?
Like most of the Disney CS places this is a lovely spot to grab a bite. Also, like most CS spots the food is a bit generic. They are serving Americanized Chinese food in this case, to appeal to as many people as possible. But, if they served genuine central Asian food, they probably would not be serving too many customers. If you take the totality of all the CS restaurants on the property, there is something for everyone and they are servicing their patrons. As far as prices, you are paying the Disney premium on everything you eat or buy and to stay at any of the resorts. But look around at the beauty, how safe you feel , how happy you are; it’s better then sitting in a hot dirty parking lot somewhere, scarfing down burgers or fried chicken or burritos. All in all, even if the food is not gourmet, I’d love to be there right now with some orange beef and a Yak Attack.
We really enjoyed eating her in September of 2009. Did they take the shrimp lo mein off the menu? I was so looking forward to having it in January.
Sarah — Glad to help! We really enjoy eating here, but there are other great CS places in AK, too! Stay tuned!
Kelly and Evan — Good point. We ordered the fried rice, honey chicken (one order), and one egg roll and couldn’t finish everything (by a long shot) between the two of us!
Dana — I agree — I really like all of the counter service spots in AK (well, Pizzafari could use a little help, but…). Although you’ve got great stuff in Epcot, too; and who can ignore Columbia Harbour House in MK? Now that I think about it, Starring Rolls IS in DHS… 😉
Alan — 100% agree with you! Once you take everything into account, we’d rather be there than anywhere!
Amanda — I didn’t see the lo mein on the menu on this recent visit. Possible that they’re just messing with the menus a bit. It might be back when you’re there. Fingers crossed!
Thanks for the review. It’s funny to me that the 3 main entrees are all on the sweet side. I suppose there’s always Chicken Fried Rice for those without that sugar-tooth!
I’ve always wanted to try Yak & Yeti, but I can’t tear myself away from the Flame Tree BBQ when I’m at Animal Kingdom!
This was a great review on one of my family’s favorite counter service eateries in Walt Disney World. I loved the Orange Beef last time I was there. I guess I like the Americanized Asian food.
We have tried this place twice and have not been overly impressed. The food isn’t awful, just boring and sometimes greasy. I eat primarily vegetarian meals (some fish), and there is absolutely nothing on the menu that suits my dietary preferences–and as observed, even the shrimp seems to be gone. We did split some egg rolls and honey chicken last year, and I thought the couple of bites I tasted were okay, especially if you have been living on pizza and burgers all week. We did enjoy a Yak Attack, perfect to drink next to that waterfall. If the menu is the same when we get there in four weeks, we might get YA (and frozen lemonade for our son) plus some chips, but look for a meal elsewhere. I do highly recommend the tea stand across the way, however!
As I mentioned in my review of the TS restaurant, that Mandarin Chicken Salad is good! And it would be a perfect lunch on a hot day.
Oh, and ditto Sandra on the tea stand. When we were there in January it was so unbelievably cold outside and that nice warm cup of tea was just the thing we needed. They have so many options, it was hard to choose!
Haven’t been to the site for a while, but I’ve been reading the reviews in the emails!
Thanks for the great review of this place, with the high prices do you think that it would have a place on the top quick service DDP values?
Excellent review, that mango drink looks nummy. AJ, do you know if they offer vegetarian options at all?
I really like how they put the DP menu up – do a lot of restaurants have that? It makes it easy to see what you can/can’t order.
Love the Chinese take-out containers.
Great review!
If you ask me though, I really think that in terms of variety this place lacks it. There’s mainly just chicken with a little pork on the menu. What happens if a vegetarian ends up here and tries to find something?
Also, the Chocolate cake just seems a bit off. Like it doesn’t belong.