Kona Cafe or Ohana?

[boucheresq]

My dh and I want to do one of these restaurants at the Poly - which would you recommend and why? and what should we get?

[boucheresq]

pls move to restaurants - I made a mistake - thanks!

[Clare]

My DH and I have eaten at both & really enjoyed ourselves at both. O'Hana is great because you get to try a lot of different kinds of foods so that would probably be my pick. But, the food at the Kona Cafe is also delicious if you prefer a more traditional sit down meal. We have done lunch at Kona & dinner at O'Hana in the same trip.......maybe an option if you just can't choose!

I would check out the menus at www.wdwig.com to help you make you decision.

[BigOnDis]

I would go for breakfast at the Kona, but that's because I love the Tonga Toast. We had dinner at O'Hana and it was nice too, so really you can't go wrong with either.

[old lost boy]

I would say Kona for breakfast. While O'hana is nice for about the same $ you can do Boma which I like much better.

[Tikiman]

Both are great but Kona is more of a sit down, relax and not take too long with much more of a variety of food. ‘Ohana is not a dinner show but things are always going on so it is much more active inside the restaurant and the dinner can take longer if time is an issue. Kona can be less expensive but very good quality of food and some of the best deserts in WDW. I would suggest something from Kona but the menu changes. We have enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner at Kona and we love dinner at ‘Ohana but were not impressed with breakfast at ‘Ohana.

The menus can be found on links on this page but I still have to update the Kona menus from our last trip but it will give you an idea of what they have. Some of the items are the same.

http://www.tikiman2001.homestead.com/poly5.html


Hope this helps.

Aloha

Steve

[MikeWazowski]

I just had a fantastic dinner at Kona 2 weeks ago. I had the Char Crusted Filet Mignon (which was perfect) and my mother had the Slow Roasted Asian Marinated Prime Rib. I made a PS an hour earlier from Epcot, got on the monorail, and was seated right away at 8PM. It was a Saturday night so it was a pretty busy. It was a very good dinner.

[eeyore0062]

We like both. If we aren't in a hurry, we like to go to 'Ohana and eat ourselves silly. If we have other plans after dinner, we go to Kona Cafe. The Steak Teriyaki is to DIE FOR! The menus are very different, so you could actually eat at both and not duplicate anything.

[blanq]

I would recommend 'Ohana for atmosphere, fun and decent food, and Kona for fabulous food and great service. If I had to pick one, I think I would lean toward Kona. I honestly believe that Kona is one of WDW's best kept dining secrets! I am not interested in dining there for breakfast, but dinner is divine! Their sticky wings are lick-the-plate clean! Also, the Macadamia Mahi Mahi is wonderful, as is their (very tender) Teriyaki Beef. Their desserts and drinks are very good as well.

[aesalsa]

I'm glad someone posted this question. I made a PS at 'Ohana for our upcoming trip. The main reason I want to eat there is for history. . .the Poly is one of Walt's original resorts. Is 'Ohana the older of the two restaurants? I would like to eat at a restaurant (or restaurant location/cuisine) that was there when the Poly first opened.

I did read the menus on Deb Willis' site, and I think I may like Kona's menu better. . .

:wave2:

[Stitch's Greatest Fa]

KONA every time, its great, we ate breakfast there nearly every day on our honeymoon this year

[oogieboogie]

Both are our favorites. We always make sure to do both on each trip. We enjoy Kona for lunch actually, since they have my fav - Asian Noodle Bowl and DH's fav - Big Kahuna Burger. Plus lunch is nice since you get out of the park for a little bit.

Ohana we always do for dinner, cause both of us are in love ;) with the green beans! Yummy.

[GDUL]

The main reason I want to eat there is for history. . .the Poly is one of Walt's original resorts. Is 'Ohana the older of the two restaurants? I would like to eat at a restaurant (or restaurant location/cuisine) that was there when the Poly first opened.

I did read the menus on Deb Willis' site, and I think I may like Kona's menu better. . .

:wave2:

I believe that restaurants have been in these areas since at least the 80s - the names, styles and menus were different, of course. 'Ohana was once known as Papeete Bay Verandah. It was a more upscale type of restaurant that had nightly entertainment ( Hawaiian combo with hula dancer). I remember eating there for an "adult night out" when my daughter was 2 so that would have been around 1984.

The Kona Cafe was once called The Coral Isle Cafe. It was a moderate type of restaurant and was great for families. Both of my daughters grew up eating there - LOL. I think that 1982 or so was the first time going there.

Since we're talking 20+ years ago, my memory may be a little fuzzy about the details - maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong - LOL. I'm not sure what was there previous to about 1982. Now, if they'd only bring back the Tangaroa Terrace!

As to the original question, we like both 'Ohana and The Kona Cafe but prefer The Kona Cafe. We make of point of eating there once every trip - and sometimes twice!

Gary

[Tikiman]

There are no original restaurants left at the Polynesian. The Spirit of Aloha show dinner is the closest to the original Luau.

‘Ohana opened in 1995 and was completely different than Papeet Bay Varandah. Kona opened in 1999 after Coral Isle Café closed in 1997 and was gutted and the menu was completely changed other than the Tonga Toast remaining.

Even Tangaroa Terrace was not an original restaurant.

Kona and ‘Ohana have remained in the top 10 most popular places to eat in WDW.

Aloha

Steve