Yak & Yeti Restaurant Review
Yak and Yeti Restaurant is a table service dining spot in Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World serving Pan-Asian cuisine. This review covers the lunch and dinner menu, food photos, a tour of the highly-themed interior, and our thoughts on whether you should eat here during your vacation.
Here’s some standard background info about Yak & Yeti: it participates in the Disney Dining Plan as a one credit table service meal, but does not accept the Tables in Wonderland card for a 20% discount. Yak & Yeti does, however, offer a 10% Annual Passholder discount. If you’re on the Disney Dining Plan, it is a moderate pick in terms of value if you’re looking to maximize your bang for buck on the Dining Plan. It also participates in Landry’s Select Club. If you don’t know what that is, good for you.
When is “I didn’t hate it” praise rather than a thinly-veiled insult? Well, here it is praise. I fully expected to dislike Yak & Yeti, or at least expect it to not live up to my low expectations for it. This is because Yak & Yeti is part of the dreaded Landry’s restaurant group. Not that every restaurant in the Landry’s portfolio is awful (far from it), but it seems Landry’s has a habit of buying out successful independent restaurants, and…to keep this succinct…let’s just describe it as reducing their quality. Suffice to say, I’m not a fan of Landry’s…
“That restaurant got a lot better after Landry’s took over” is one of those ‘said no one ever’ type of quotes. Some Landry’s restaurants, like Rainforest Cafe, succeed with their interesting premise, but often fail when it comes to cuisine. Other Landry’s restaurants are former fine dining locales that still offer good food, but have dumbed down their menus to offer something less sophisticated or of lower quality than it was previously.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with Yak & Yeti, but I wasn’t expecting much. My expectations were exceeded as soon as a I walked inside to find an incredibly detailed restaurant…
The restaurant is a bit eclectic in terms of design, and is filled with gorgeous artifacts and ornate fixtures. It’s one of the most stunning and visually engaging restaurants in all of Walt Disney World.
In keeping true to Animal Kingdom, there’s an unnecessarily elaborate backstory to explain all of this.
The exact backstory is found on the back of the menu, but essentially it can be boiled down to the restaurant actually being a boutique hotel that the once-wealthy proprietor opened as a stop for the rich on their way up the Himalayans.
Finds from his travels are displayed throughout the hotel, which is also his residence, which is also a restaurant.
The restaurant is stunning, and this is the type of hodgepodge restaurant you might actually stumble into in a quaint area of Asia (albeit without quite this nice of stuff), so the backstory isn’t really necessary.
In fairness, it’s not like this backstory is ridiculous like the ones over in Dinorama, it’s just slightly excessive. Nevertheless, it’s beautiful and works really well.
There are two levels to the restaurant with multiple areas on each story, each of which has its own richness and unique character. I was really impressed with the quality of everything.
From the craftsmanship of the figures to the texture of just about everything, this restaurant is a treasure trove of detail. Just look at the right side of the photo above!
We were seated on the second level of the restaurant, which featured a number of little rooms to explore, each with their own styles and bric-a-brac.
I’d recommend wandering around a bit after you order, or perhaps before leaving. As with the rest of Animal Kingdom, Yak & Yeti is just begging to be explored.
Despite so many of the details being ornate and lavish, they whole thing comes together in a way that feels quaint and intimate. It doesn’t feel over the top or self-indulgent, it feels like a nice little mom and pop establishment.
Make no mistake about it, Yak & Yeti is one of the best themed restaurants at Walt Disney World. The details are great and the ambiance is perfect. Even before we get to the food, this is a restaurant I would recommend based solely on the atmosphere.
In terms of cuisine, Yak & Yeti really impressed.
I found it to have taken more cues from the higher end Landry’s restaurants than it does from a “restaurant” like Rainforest Cafe.
We started out with the Pork Pot Stickers. This wasn’t my choice, and I’d honestly never order pot stickers at a table service restaurant.
I like pot stickers, but I think there’s very little deviation in their quality no matter where you go. (Perhaps I’ve been having them at the wrong places?) In any case, these pot stickers were a good, safe choice–exactly what I expected of pot stickers–but nothing that I’d go out of my way to order.
We also got the Seared Ahi Tuna. This appetizer was excellent, with the tuna being perfectly seared, fresh, and flavorful.
It was served chilled, and sesame-crusted with wasabi aioli and sweet chili slaw. The garnishing and accompaniments went with the tuna really well, so it wasn’t just an ordinary plate of seared tuna.
For her main course, Sarah ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala. It may be difficult to tell from the photo, but the portion on this was huge. It was served with rice and naan, and it was quite possibly enough for two people to eat. The tikka masala sauce was rich and creamy, with a slight kick to it.
The naan was also really good and perfect for dipping in the tikka masala. I don’t know if there’s such a thing as Asian comfort food, but if so, this is pretty much it. Sarah could only finish half of this dish (it was a bit too creamy for her), so I generously offered to eat the rest. It was my favorite part of the meal.
I ordered the Malayasian Seafood Curry. Again, another large dish, and it was basically the ‘kitchen sink’ of seafood. It contained Mahi Mahi, scallops, little neck clams, mussels, shrimp, zucchini, roma tomatoes, red curry coconut broth, and jasmine rice, almost all of which was delicious. Normally, I think restaurants use dishes like this to dispose of their ‘lesser’ seafood, and while no individual piece of seafood was a particular standout, collectively, the dish was great.
Again, it was a dish with a slight kick, but nothing all that intense. The broth brought the dish together and gave it an interesting (good interesting) flavor. This curry was a close second to the Chicken Tikka Masala. I could see 3 people ordering these 2 dishes and and appetizer or 2, splitting it all, and having a great meal.
A friend who joined us ordered the Kobe Beef Burger. I about cringed when he ordered a burger at an Asian restaurant, but after tasting this, I really couldn’t blame him.
If you’ve got a really picky eater in your group, this is basically the safety net option. A sizable burger that was a great cut of meat, topped with some shiitake mushrooms. At nearly $20, this was a pricey burger, but considering that it was Kobe beef, it wasn’t too excessive. Easily one of the best (if not the best) burgers at Walt Disney World.
We were all stuffed by the time dessert rolled around, but our waitress highly recommended the Fried Wontons, so we got an order to split.
This is one of those desserts that looks interesting on paper, but often amounts to too much of a good thing. With pineapple, cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, and honey vanilla drizzle this seemed like it could just end up being a mess. It absolutely was…one delicious, delicious decadent mess!
Overall, I was very surprised by Yak & Yeti. The presentation on every dish is great, but this isn’t exactly a fine dining restaurant about nuance or subtle flavors. It’s a go in hungry, go home happy type of place with large portions and rich flavors. That is absolutely in no way a knock at Yak & Yeti. I loved just about everything about the meal, and I was fully expecting disappointment.
I would call Yak & Yeti Restaurant a hidden gem, if it’s possible for at restaurant to hide in plain sight in one of the world’s most popular theme parks. At the very least, it’s underrated and under-hyped. As noted above, we’d recommend dining at Yak & Yeti on the basis of the themed design and decor alone. Yak & Yeti is truly a gem in more than one sense of the term!
Planning other aspects of a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Have you dined at Yak and Yeti Restaurant? Did you find it bad, meh, or great? What did you order? What about the ambiance? Do you agree or disagree with our review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We hit Yak and Yeti when we went to AK two weeks ago (after seeing your review) and LOVED it. I will say, it was the only place in WDW that we felt like a Cast Member was trying to upsell us…probably due to the Landry’s affiliation.
We wound up at Yak & Yeti by accident this past summer and LOVED it. I did a ton of research before we went to WDW, spending hours reading this blog in particular. Yet, it was not on my radar at all. We dined there right at lunchtime, on a super-busy day in hot-hot-HOT late June. We are a family of 5, with kids, and we were seated right away with no reservations. Amazing service and top-notch food. For our family, it was right up there with Sanaa and Raglan Road as a place we would choose again. Our two youngest are extremely picky, and there were no complaints!
As far as desserts go, we say try the mango pie. I would fly there right now if I could, and that would be one of the first treats I sought out. It sounds weird, but it is incredible!
Love your blog, and I will use and recommend it for years to come.
I had wanted to eat here for a while, but couldn’t convince others with me to try it. My recent trip in early October I finally ate here. I think it was the best meal I had on my trip and I ate at a lot of good places. I had the steak and tempura shrimp which were fantastic. The rice and vegetables that came with them were very good too. My only complaint was the frigid air conditioning. My daughter and I had to take our desserts to go because we were too cold to stay in the restaurant any longer.
My wife and I only get to go to WDW every 4 years or so. When we went in 2009, we ate at Tusker House. We weren’t impressed, so when we went last year, we tried Yak and Yeti (a 4:45PM reservation gets you the park all to yourself to explore when you finish your dinner, although, it’s not buried particularly deep in the park).
We were very pleasantly surprised and it has become one of our favorite restaurants. We were seated at the table in your 7th picture, 2nd one in along side the wall. The reason I bring this up is because not all the tables are the same, but what we found at ours was a wooden top with inlaid tile mosaic. Even our table was incredibly well themed as some of the tiles were chipped to give you the impression that this restaurant has been around forever!
My wife and I split lettuce cups for two for an appetizer, she ordered the sweet and sour chicken and I ordered the crispy honey chicken for our entrees (yes, I know, we’re not very adventurous eaters 🙁 ), and she got the tropical daiquiri for a drink. The highlight of the meal for me, however, was the safari amber ale! I know, I know…a drink? Well, I love beer and this was a very good beer! The waitress told us that the safari amber ale is a special beer made only for the Yak and Yeti. I doubt this is true, but I still really enjoyed it.
Anyway, great post, and spot on. The Yak and Yeti is an extremely well-themed restaurant and has great food despite being owned by a company that owns chains restaurants.
I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Safari Amber, but it is exclusive to Walt Disney World: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/3165/
I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s another beer with a slight modification or different label, but it’s supposedly exclusive!
What didn’t you like about the beer?
We went on our Disneymoon four years ago and literally the only thing I remember eating were those pineapple cream cheese wontons and I stalk one of our local food trucks that had something similar once with the hope they will one day have them again. I dream of those wontons…
Well, Yak & Yeti WAS a hidden gem, until it was highly touted on your blog; thanks, Tom! 😉 In all seriousness, we love this place almost as much as we love Animal Kingdom. In the hot summer months, when it’s too warm for the Dawa Bar, we pull up a (padded! backed!) bar stool and enjoy a cocktail and lettuce wraps at the air-conditioned bar.
I’m glad it’s finally getting the recognition it deserves, but hope a seat will still be available the next time I drop in.
Haha, if this blog has *ANY* influence to affect change at Walt Disney World, I would like to use that influence to convince Disney to build a lavish ALF land in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Actually, I’d be fine with an ALF trackless dark ride. Actually, I’d settle for an ALF puppet in Finding Nemo: The Musical. Actually, I’d settle for a random Cast Member entertaining guests before parades with one of those ALF puppets from Burger King in the early 1990s.
This just in: Disney announces giant ALF to replace Sorcerer’s Hat at DHS; new park icon.
…and a nation rejoices! 😉
We were pleasantly surprised with Y&Y during our visit in September. My husband enjoyed the Tikka Masala and I LOVED my Mahi-Mahi dish recommended by the server. I wanted to go back but due to time we hit the counter service which was also VERY GOOD. The kids were happy too. A definite repeat in my book.
Yay! So glad you like this restaurant. It’s not my favorite, but my mom always insists we stop here (plus, since we’re DVC and AAA we get a 10% discount). We never have a problem getting a reservation, and usually go the morning-of to get a reservation for the afternoon. Crazy when you think some Disney restaurants need reservations the full 6 months in advance!
Yeah, I don’t think Yak & Yeti is all that popular. I have never seen it unavailable in my ADR searches. (I usually search the entire property, so that’s saying something.)
Yak and Yeti has been one of our “must do’s” for the last 5 years of doing the dining plan. It has never failed to impress. Got it booked again for next eek. Also, check out the counter service menu to the right outside the main restaurant. We’ll be doing that again next week too!
My wife is a big fan of that counter service spot!
So delighted that you enjoyed Yak & Yeti. We tried it for the first time last December and it instantly became a repeat option for our trip this past October. We absolutely love the ahi appetizer (pour the soy-type sauce over the slaw next time after you’re finished with the tuna and eat it like a salad – AMAZING). My first visit, I got the tempura shrimp and my husband got a fish special, I believe. This past trip, I got the burger (delicious) and hubby and my mom both got the crispy mahi mahi and raved about it.
Can’t wait to return!
I love tempura shrimp. I think it’s one of those things that is pretty much always a safe bet (although I’ve had some bad tempura shrimp).
Thanks for the great review and photos. I was wondering where I was going to eat when I go to Animal Kingdom in February. You just solved that dilemma for me.
i have to agree that Yak & Yeti is a very good restaurant that definitely gets overlooked. I was there this past June after a couple of my brother recommended it after eating there the day before. The seafood curry was excellent and very flavourful but could have used a larger serving of seafood. The broth with the rice was really tasty though. My mom ordered it and said she was still hungry after. I ordered the duck and it was fantastic. Very large portion as well which I found pleasantly surprising considering most restaurants that (even high end) offer duck tend to give you a tiny portion. Would highly recommend this restaurant as well as those two dishes.
Surprised that your mom thought the seafood curry had a small portion. Mine was pretty large. I wonder if portion sizes are inconsistent here…?
I have had the seafood curry there twice both times my protion size was large and delicious. This is my favorite disney restaurant so far.
This is probably my favorite restaurant in all of WDW in terms of quality and consistency. We always book an ADR for Y&Y and have never had a negative experience with food or service. Everything I have ever gotten there has deserved a “wow” response. Now I really want wontons.
We were there a few weeks ago, put first time, and the 3 of us LOVED Yak & Yeti. We found it was very good value for our dining plan credit and after eating steak and seafood for several days in a row, it was a real treat to have something totally different. We will definitely go to Yak & Yeti on our next visit. If you haven’t tried it, you should.
Totally agree that it’s a nice change of pace. Really, everything in Animal Kingdom besides Rainforest Cafe is a nice change of pace.
We ate there last Wednesday and we had an amazing experience our server Paul was informative and knew the menu well he recommended a few dishes and each dish was great. Having a 7 year with us she stuck with the kids menu but basically ended up eating our selections as they were so yummy.
Thank you for your beautiful photos my ones didn’t capture the beauty that is within.
We have ate at Yak & Yeti twice and enjoyed it very much. My sister and I ordered the potstickers as well, Sweet and Sour Chicken and another chicken dish. I have a shellfish allergy and a chef came over and talked with me in detail about what I was ordering and said he would make sure nothing was cooked near shellfish. This is usually the case with Disney restaurants, but I am always a little worried when going to restaurants that serve a lot of shellfish.
The restaurant did not have any cell service just as a note (in case a family member is trying to reach you and they ask later why you didn’t answer). And we found the air conditioning was strong both times we went. But we really like going here and find that eating early equals no crowds.
I didn’t notice the cell service (I don’t think I checked my phone while there, which could be why). Thanks for pointing it out!
We’ve somehow never eaten at the TS portion of Yak and Yeti. Since you had curry-themed dishes, how would you compare them to Sanaa?
Although similar in cuisine, I’d say Sanaa is more refined. It’s not necessarily fine dining, and there are plenty of options there that appeal to a multitude of people. Like I said in the review, Yak & Yeti is like Pan-Asian comfort food, if that’s a thing.
They are both great, and if you like one, you’re likely to like the other.
100% agree. We bestowed “hidden gem” status on Yak and Yeti back in 2012.
I really wonder how it’s not more popular. It makes sense to me that Sanaa and some other ‘gems’ are not as popular as they deserve to be due to their locations, but Yak & Yeti has some prime real estate…
Thanks for the in-depth write-up – I was considering this restaurant for my next visit.
How would you compare it to the other sit down restaurants in the park in terms of food? This is one park I have never eaten a sit down dinner in before.
By the way, I have to say that your photography is stunning. You have an eye for detail and for framing shots. I particularly like the shots of light fixtures and small decorative details that most people overlook. Great job! 🙂
I made a reservation for Yak and Yeti for dinner when I go next week, and I was really worried about whether this was a good choice. I feel so much better now!