Were a fun group to dine with. Three of the four of us has lists of allergies plus DD16 is autistic so dining is always a challenge. Ill try to explain my thoughts from both an autism perspective (DD16 is very high functioning) as well as an allergy perspective. Our allergies are as follows.
Me: gluten, milk, sesame, hazelnut, pork, peanuts (minor - cross contamination not a concern)
DD16: gluten, milk, eggs, citrus (citric acid is ok), yeast, msg, peanuts (minor - cross contamination not a concern), star anise
DD13: gluten, milk, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, sesame, hops, peanuts (minor - cross contamination not a concern), blueberry, cranberry, raw carrots, raw peaches, raw fruit skins besides grapes, citrus (citric acid is ok), lima beans, soy products other than Tofutti and Follow Your Heart (soys not the problem but we havent identified what ingredient in Silk and other soy products cause Oral Allergy Syndrome)
We ate at Boma on our arrival night. We were originally supposed to eat at Sanaa for a late lunch but thanks to flight delays we missed our Sanaa ADR. We were staying at AKL so the CM at check-in called to see if they could get us in for supper since it was around 5:00 but they were booked solid because of the Princess Half Marathon. Boma was able to take us immediately. They didnt know we were coming but I had spoken to somebody by phone about an ADR we had later that week plus with their great reputation I figured wed be ok.
Check-in went really quickly. They have a small waiting area which I would imagine would be uncomfortable if they were to get even a little backed up but there was only one other family in the area when we were there so it felt more cozy than small even with the 3 story ceiling. Our buzzer went off only a couple minutes after we checked in. We were escorted to our seats on the far side of the restaurant.
The restaurant seems to be broken up into sections. Theres a large open area that runs the length of the restaurant taking up about half the restaurant by the buffet. The other half seems to be broken up somewhat into 3 smaller sections. Theyre still very open but it just feels a little cozier and calmer in the smaller sections and youre far less likely to get bumped accidentally or to have to worry about people passing by all the time in the smaller sections. The ceilings also lower in the smaller sections than in the big open half which Im sure adds to the feeling of it being cozier. We seated DD16 on the booth side of the table for extra measure.
While I would have expected it to be really loud, it didnt seem all that loud. There were drummers who came out a couple times during the meal but even that just seemed to kind of blend in and didnt become overwhelming at all. I suppose if DD16 was on the edge then that would have pushed her all the way but she wasnt there yet and therefore seemed to enjoy watching them walk through the open half of the restaurant with their drums.
Our server came out to get our drink orders. They had chocolate Silk. YAY!!! DD16 used to drink a lot of this before the switch to Kikkoman so this was a treat. The server had no problem bringing it in single serve cartons instead of pouring it into a glass like they typically do. Its a trust thing for DD16 because were pretty sure she got the wrong chocolate milk at a restaurant several years ago and let me tell you, that wasnt a pleasant night so she now always wants the carton. The Jungle Juice was safe for me but not the girls (orange juice) so I got that and DD13 got apple juice. They did also have pineapple juice that she could drink but she wasnt in the mood.
It wasnt long before the chef came out to talk with us. We decided to just walk through the line together to see what kinds of ingredients they have to work with and go from there. There were quite a few options for us, some not even needing any modifications and other needing to be custom made to be safe. Ill just show you what we ended up getting and let the pictures with descriptions speak for themselves.
The chef brought out individual bowls of foods at first, even for foods we were sharing.
Clockwise from top left: cabbage salad, some kind of curried rice with raisins, jasmine rice with some kind of seasoning that I cant recall
Left to right: jasmine rice with some kind of seasoning that I cant recall, African stew, some kind of curried rice with raisins
Im not a huge cooked cabbage fan (I usually hate it) but I thought this was tasty. I was the only one who tried it though I think it was safe for all of us (I may be wrong because nobody else wanted to try it). No modifications needed to be made to the regular dish as far as I know but due to cross contamination risk the chef brought it out from the kitchen.
I quite enjoyed the curried rice as did DD16 but DD13 only ate a bit and ended up taking my bowl of jasmine rice while I ate her curried rice. I believe what was brought was the exact same stuff found on the buffet but because of cross contamination risk the chef brought it out to us.
The jasmine rice was perfectly cooked and the added seasoning was a nice touch. The rices were both safe for all of us. There isnt actually any rice like this on the buffet but the chef mentioned that he always has some in the kitchen in response to the girl expressing their love of rice.
The stew was unfortunately something I couldnt eat because it has pork. DD13 wasnt a fan but she doesnt eat much stew at home either. DD16 ate most of her own bowl. I gather it was quite tasty. They were brought the normal stew found on the buffet but from the kitchen to avoid cross contamination.
A chef had told me by phone that they have this crispy flat bread thats actually safe for all of us. Its very rare to find breads that DD16 can eat because of her particular list of allergies so this was a huge deal. The chef brought us out a large tray of the papadums for all of us to share. I quite enjoyed it but the kids found there was a bit too much of a kick to it. DD16 tried eating a few pieces but it just became too much for her. I didnt find it spicy at all but I do recognize that there was some spice (I like really spicy and they dont). Papadum is something they always have so if its not offered, just ask.
I saw when going through the buffet that they had a variety of vinaigrette based dressings so I decided to give one a try. I asked for a small salad but got this large one. I sure wish I could recall what kind it was because it was delicious. You could see big dollops of dressing getting mixed together on the buffet to the chef gladly brought it from the kitchen.
All of the dressings had citrus in them so they werent safe for the girls. DD16 doesnt like salad anyway so no big deal. DD13 really likes plain salad with bacon so thats what the chef brought her. She also wanted drumsticks. Check out the huge platter he brought just for her.
DD16 really loves root vegetables and I tend to enjoy them myself so the chef whipped this up for us to share. It was cooked just right and seasoned nicely though IMO sparingly.
The salmon on the buffet had lemon so the kids couldnt eat it but I could. I remember that I couldnt eat it as-is off the buffet but I dont recall why. The chef served me a perfectly cooked piece with some yummy tapenade/pepper/tomato topping. I was expecting bolder flavours but it was still good.
Its occurring to me that there are other foods that we ate that I dont seem to have pictures of. There was a carving station with beef and pork. The kids really enjoyed the pork which I just got for them off the buffet as the CM doing the carving was clearly the only one touching it and was being very obviously careful to use different cutting implements for the two meats. I quite enjoyed the beef. I was nervous about possibly having star anise in the seasoning but the chef assured me that there wasnt any. I know I also went and got some fruit off the buffet for us. There was nothing at all on the fruit station that we couldnt eat so it seemed easier and faster to me to just grab it from the buffet. These things we were able to start eating without having to wait on the chef. Since it was past our normal meal start time by the time we had finished talking to the chef, this was important as DD16 does NOT cope well when shes hungry.
By this time DD16 was getting really burned out. It had been a really long day and we hadnt eaten properly earlier because of traveling so she was done. She was visibly bloated but I dont think it was from anything from this meal. She was already feeling a bit bloated and not all that hungry before we were seated so I really dont believe it had anything to do with the meal as the rest of us were fine if not tired. She went up to the room before dessert.
Dessert really wasnt anything special but it was plated nicely. The chocolate chip cookies are the Enjoy Life crunchy ones and the darker cookies are the Enjoy Life double chocolate brownie. They always go over well and in fact we eat them at home so this was perfectly fine.
Overall, this was a really good meal and I wouldnt hesitate to go back. If busy Id probably be willing to wait for a table in the half with the smaller sections because of DD16 or at least make sure weve got a table thats half booth.
