Sanasana Restaurant — Restaurant in Western

We had a pleasant dinner here and it's a good spot for something while in the Natadola area. We were staying at the neighbouring Yatule Resort, staff at the Intercontinental front desk were helpful in organising our reservation (although seemed a little confused by the request so I'm not sure how often guests from other resorts dine here).

If you are staying at Yatule, simply walk through the beach car par next to the hotel and head down the old tram tracks towards the gate to the Intercontinental (see photos) staff advised us we could simply open this so long as we closed it behind us. I understand there is sometimes security here, there wasn't on the occasion of our visit but I understand they will simply direct you to the restaurant if you tell them you have a reservation.

The restaurant itself is in a nice setting and we had a lovely table with a view across the common grounds of the resort. We opted to dine al a carte. The spring rolls and Korean fried chicken were both tasty starters, and the main course of pork was enjoyed by my partner. I enjoyed the fish and prawn curry, although the rice was a bit stodgy.

Desserts were good (sticky date pudding and cheesecake), and drink selection was reasonable.

I must say the highlight though was the extremely friendly and welcoming service. Our waiter Luisa was exemplary, going out of her way to thank us as guests of another resort for choosing to spend our evening at the Intercontinental. This is a marked difference from many other resorts which treat non-guest customers as 2nd rate. By contrast, it was like the staff at Sanasana wanted to go out of their way to thank us for choosing them, this made us feel very welcome and valued. Edward (who I think was the restaurant manager) was also friendly and stopped by every table to check on the meals and proactively sought feedback on the quality of the food.

All in all, a good experience and if staying in the area again we would gladly return for a...

ORDERED: 🍽 Daily breakfast & themed buffets (Fijian Flair, Bella Italiana & Spices of India)

REVIEW: 🤩 I was at Sanasana everyday during my 6 day stay at the Intercontinental. It's the most approachable restaurant out of the 3 with delicious food.

☀ For breakfast, the team are friendly and drinks are offered. Pineapple juice was my favourite 🍍, along with apple juice. Incredible variety, along with some surprising specials each day (had okonomiyaki once, as well as eggplant fritters on another day). ❤ My favourites from breakfast were the potato gems, the crispy juicy bacon, fried eggs with soy sauce and the little chillies that packed a punch! 🌶🌶

🌙 For dinner, we were treated with an incredible spread following different themes. Fijian flair allowed us to try Fiji's national ceviche dish - kokoda - which was a delicious coconut cream dream. Italian gave the opportunity to make our own pasta dish from a selection of pasta and sauces. Spices of India was incredibly decorated, halal friendly, and thought through. It was disappointing to see the restaurant half full since there was an incredible array of food on the night. Spices on point and papadams aplenty. Definitely would recommend going on Spices of India night! 🌸🌻🌼

Service was friendly, kind and efficient. There's lots of natural light, spacious and kid friendly. Sanasana is one of the best buffets I've...

Dined here this evening while staying at resort due to limited family friendly restaurant options. We opted for the "Asian Odyssey" dinner buffet and although there was a vast selection, the food quality was very poor with everything being rather bland, overcooked or just not visually appetizing. To make matters worse, there were bugs flying all over the table which then landed into our food & drinks as they seated us right under the lights. We then moved tables to a more dim lit section, but by that time our family of 5 pretty much lost all our appetite and desire to eat. It was by far the worst meal we've eaten while on holiday and we travel a lot. To top things off, It came with a hefty price tag of FJD 88/adult and FJD 44/child which did not include beverages costing another FJD 7.50/soda. Extremely pricey considering we barely ate anything and left quickly in disgust.

When I mentioned our disappointment in the meal and dining experience to the server, he could have cared less and just wanted us to pay our bill. Will definitely not eat here again and the experience will make me reconsider ever returning to tbis supposedly "5...