Jambo everyone, did you know it’s the 25th anniversary of a popular restaurant at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge?!

Jiko’s 25th Anniversary

Jiko at the Jambo House in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is celebrating 25 years, and we got the awesome opportunity to check out the restaurant’s new menu offerings for the anniversary early. Of course, we had to tell you about our experience and the things we ate!

The event was a great experience! Chef Eddie Mendoza and Sommelier Bryon Kelly had planned a special evening to celebrate the big anniversary year of Jiko.

We’re at Jiko!

When we got there, there was a ton of the new dishes on display for us to check out. Everything looked so delicious, so we couldn’t wait to dive into some of the food.

Tasty things to eat!

We were first served a small bite of perfectly cooked potato topped with hen of the woods mushroom, tomato and herb oil. It was a perfect little bite of goodness, and it did its job awakening the taste buds as we waited for our appetizers. After that, we tried the Giraffe rolls with butter, which were classic white rolls covered with a rice topping. They were crunchy, and the house-made butter was dusted with cocoa. The butter had a sweet finish, making this a really great upgrade to the classic roll!

Giraffe roll!

The Duo of Diver Scallop with Pork Belly and West African Koki Corn were the next things we tried. The corn was almost a tamale, and it was so smooth and creamy, full of corn flavor. The spicy avocado tomatillo purée was a perfect spicy addition underneath. As for the Diver Scallops with Pork Belly, it came with sweet, perfectly seared scallops and perfectly cooked pork belly. It was also served over mustard caviar and corn cream. The Western Cape was a light, fruity wine with a very crisp, pleasant finish. It pairs so well with salty pork belly and fresh, sweet scallop.

Duo of Diver Scallop with Pork Belly

The Seared Venison was another dish that we had, and it was well seasoned and perfectly cooked. Venison can be hard to chew, but this was sous vide to rare and then cooked à la plancha. It was so tender and delicious, and although it appears to be on the rare side, the texture says otherwise and reads more medium-rare. The cauliflower purée was so smooth and creamy and not heavy at all. We do feel like the celery root is an acquired taste, and it takes the place of a potato. Its wine pairing is the Chocolate Block, which is a Shiraz blend that is a deep, fruity glass of wine. It has a cherry-tart finish full of berry flavor. This pairs so well with the venison!

Seared Venison

Oh, let us tell you about the dessert trio of Malta Pudding. It was Amarula-infused Malva Cake, with caramel-sea salt gelato, Kataifi, chocolate garnish, and sweet Shiraz Gelée. The flavors are so well balanced, and we loved the crunch of the Kataifi. We wish there was more ice cream, as it added moisture to the treat.

We love the desserts!

The Melktert was a super creamy, gelatin-stabilized Anna cotta-style custard with cinnamon cream, berry compote, and corn flake crunch. This was very good and creamy, with very subtle flavors. While the Potije Pot, with chocolate custard, lemon-olive oil cake, whipped caramel, cocoa nib crunch, and cherries, was also delicious. It was actually our favorite dessert of the night, with so many delicious layers. The chocolate was so well balanced with the cherry and crunchy flavors.

Melktert

We were honestly delighted by the array of different flavors and tastes that are from Africa that you can experience at Jiko. Jiko celebrates the flavors and makes them approachable for so many in such a very special place. From dishes that have been on the menu since day one, like the classic steak with macaroni and cheese, to the incredible venison. This is a very special place, and we would recommend it to anyone who is looking to be a little bit more adventurous with their taste buds and to experience something truly amazing!

Come to Jiko!

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Have you eaten at Jiko before? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney World to attend the 25th anniversary of Jiko event. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ