A disappointing Boma experience.

[Missy Mouse]

I posted this in my trip report but felt it deserved a post of its own. It was the only major downfall of our trip, and I was wondering if anyone else had a less than mediocre dining experience there, or even if this is typical of Boma. We tried Boma for dinner after hearing so many good things about it. We had 9:10 ADRs and waited an extra hour on top of our reservation meanwhile everyone ahead of us already got seated and it was us and two other couples who had 9:00 reservations and 9:20....we went up there twice and the second time she told us that they were waiting for a table for two, that they were filled up. This didn't sit well with Joe and he went up there. In two seconds we had a table. I was disgusted when I went in there...half the place was empty. Literally. We were really displeased but continued. After eating half a plate of the food, we walked out and asked for the manager. I told her about our terrible seating service, and that we left the food on the table and would rather walk out because it was terrible. NOTHING had any taste to it. The food was cold and the meat was dry. I told her she could see for herself that we hardly touched anything and we were leaving. She apologized and I could tell she was having trouble with her staff. Earlier in the night she raised her voice to them because they weren't listenin and you could feel the tension in the air. It was quite obvious there was a lot of disharmony. We got to keep our table service credit but it was just really disappointing since the restaurant had such rave reviews. Our situation reminded me a lot of the Mama Melrose complaints I saw on here. We'll definitely never go back there again.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It's too bad you didn't like Boma. We were kind of the opposite - not sure we would like the food, but we really enjoyed both the atmosphere and the food, even the kids. I wonder if you might have had a better experience if you didn't have to wait so long?

 

[i<3Disney]

Wow, it sounds like it was just one of those days That's sad to hear you didn't like your experience there. I was going to eat there soon and I hope my experience is better.

 

[CPer'sMom]

Gosh, that's too bad you had such a disappointing experience at Boma. We've had dinner there at least 7-8 times and never been displeased with either the food or the service. I think it's one of the best buffets I've ever experienced in terms of the foods being kept at the proper temps and also making sure that the selections are refilled when they need to be.

Only a couple of 'disappointments' in regards to the food ~~ We prefer the nut-encrusted salmon and somehow usually end up there on a night when it's the bbq salmon instead! Good, but just not *quite* as good
Also I was so disappointed last week when I found they'd changed the way they prepare the banana bread pudding ~~ the new version wasn't anywhere near as good as the one they used to serve.

 

[notnothin]

Sorry that you didn't enjoy your experience at Boma. We eat that at least once each time for both breakfast and dinner. It is a must-do for us, but then again we like trying different types of food. To each his own, eh?

 

[disgal1]

I wish you would give it another shot.
That is always the first adr I make. We eat there every trip and have never had a bad experience. Of course, we always eat before 6pm.

We absolutely love the food, we go on sat or wed, that is when they typically have our favorite soups.

 

[Disney owl]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience at Boma.

WE love it there.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

WOW we have eaten there many times and never had a problem. Maybe try earlier in the evening so the food is fresher if that makes any sense. We love this place and eat hear at least 2 times per trip.

 

[stina]

i'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience at Boma. that does sound awful, a real let down. i must say, that your posting was very fair. you seem very conscientous of the fact that there were obvious staffing and management issues. that's always unfortunate when that impacts the guests and i am sure that the manager was bedside herself trying to solve the problems. as for the cold food.... i can't explain it, that sounds dreadful. i'm glad you got your TS credit back.

i am dining at boma a week from today. and i have dined there in the past with very good experiences. i hope everything is sorted out. knowing disney, if there's a major problem like that they jump right on it and "contain the fire" so to speak.

thanks for your post!
stina

 

[spaceacewannabe]

I posted this in my trip report but felt it deserved a post of its own. It was the only major downfall of our trip, and I was wondering if anyone else had a less than mediocre dining experience there, or even if this is typical of Boma. We tried Boma for dinner after hearing so many good things about it. We had 9:10 ADRs and waited an extra hour on top of our reservation meanwhile everyone ahead of us already got seated and it was us and two other couples who had 9:00 reservations and 9:20....we went up there twice and the second time she told us that they were waiting for a table for two, that they were filled up. This didn't sit well with Joe and he went up there. In two seconds we had a table. I was disgusted when I went in there...half the place was empty. Literally. We were really displeased but continued. After eating half a plate of the food, we walked out and asked for the manager. I told her about our terrible seating service, and that we left the food on the table and would rather walk out because it was terrible. NOTHING had any taste to it. The food was cold and the meat was dry. I told her she could see for herself that we hardly touched anything and we were leaving. She apologized and I could tell she was having trouble with her staff. Earlier in the night she raised her voice to them because they weren't listenin and you could feel the tension in the air. It was quite obvious there was a lot of disharmony. We got to keep our table service credit but it was just really disappointing since the restaurant had such rave reviews. Our situation reminded me a lot of the Mama Melrose complaints I saw on here. We'll definitely never go back there again.

Where to start on Boma...this sounds a LOT like our first experience there. We waited forever (sorry, I don't remember time frames, this was 3 years ago)...when we went back up to ask what the deal was, they accused us of stealing the pager. Eventually they grudgingly seated us (there really wasn't a crowd), and our waitress was equally rude and basically told us we should just be glad to be there at all (we hadn't said a THING to her). Don't remember the food.

This year we tried again. The hostess stand was WORLDS better and we were seated fairly promptly. The actual service was "eh" but not objectionable. The food was okay, but even at 4:30 (earliest ADR), there were foods that were not the correct temperature or were not cooked correctly in the first place (the vegetables---if you're going to cook them, cook them!). Also, we are all vegetarians. The first time, we couldn't get the attention of a chef to save our lives, so we didn't eat a lot of things because the chefs at the pods were ACTIVELY avoiding us. This time the waitress sent a chef over (Fernando---TJ didn't seem to be there or I'd have thought about asking for him), and while he was helpful, he was NOT enthusiastic and didn't mention the gelatin in the desserts until I said, "doesn't that have gelatin in it?" (even though we had specially mentioned gelatin and stock at the beginning of this tour).

One thing I noticed is that you got better service when your husband went to ask. I think this is interesting as we are ALL women and I wonder if this is part of the issue.

To those who love Boma, great for you, but I really think you're there on the "off" nights---I've read plenty of others who don't like it and have had MISERABLE service who just gave up on speaking up since it's such a favorite around here.

As for the food, I don't mean to offend, but this whole "adventurous" and "like to try new things" thing with Boma drives me NUTS! None of it is all that inventive or creative or different, and it certainly isn't spicy! (I know, to each his own, but this is no where near Indian or Thai on the spice-o-meter) Also, while I'm certainly no expert, I think that trying to do a "Pan-African" cuisine is NOT working...first of all, Africa is huge. Second of all, most of Boma's recipes aren't much like anything from a traditional African culture. PLUS...the seasonings they do use (hence the "spicy" thing) are so poorly thought out. The flavors just aren't...yeah. I didn't think anything was as bad as you thought it was, and I would actually consider going back, but it's not a must-do for us, and I really don't think it's anything special in the grand (and not-so-grand) scheme of culinary experiences...it's not even the best buffet at Disney World! I realize food is somewhat subjective, but there were things at Boma that flat-out were not properly cooked.

WHEW. Okay, I'm done.

 

[notnothin]

As for the food, I don't mean to offend, but this whole "adventurous" and "like to try new things" thing with Boma drives me NUTS! None of it is all that inventive or creative or different, and it certainly isn't spicy! (I know, to each his own, but this is no where near Indian or Thai on the spice-o-meter) Also, while I'm certainly no expert, I think that trying to do a "Pan-African" cuisine is NOT working...first of all, Africa is huge. Second of all, most of Boma's recipes aren't much like anything from a traditional African culture. PLUS...the seasonings they do use (hence the "spicy" thing) are so poorly thought out. The flavors just aren't...yeah. I didn't think anything was as bad as you thought it was, and I would actually consider going back, but it's not a must-do for us, and I really don't think it's anything special in the grand (and not-so-grand) scheme of culinary experiences...it's not even the best buffet at Disney World! I realize food is somewhat subjective, but there were things at Boma that flat-out were not properly cooked.

WHEW. Okay, I'm done.

No offense taken here. I'll be the first to admit that their food isn't what I'd consider to be 'spicy'. I like things HOT (I sometimes eat spoonfuls of Sambel Oelek Ground Chili Paste, etc), and they certainly aren't even close. But I do like the selection that they offer. At the same time, however, you can't possibly make the claim that it is typical American fare that you find at 90% of the rest of the Disney owned restaurants.

 

[TikiGoddess]

There is definitely a segment that loves Boma unconditionally on these boards. We went and I too was excited to try it. I'm a very adventurous eater and found the food to be mediocre at best. We too had to wait about 45 minutes past our ADR and when we finally got seated our waitress was horrible and rude. She found out we were on the dining plan and did not return to our table for an hour and a half until I finally went and tracked her down. My dh did not enjoy much of the food although he is not as interested in trying new things. I am glad we went, however, because now I know what the food is like and I am especially glad because we got to see AKL in our 45 min. wait. We are unlikely to ever stay there b/c we stay in a values and that was worth it alone. It's a beautiful resort and we saw lots of animals which the kids enjoyed!

 

[AnninIowa]

I know a lot of people around her are die-hard Boma fans, but I just didn't "get it". Our wait to get seated wasn't too bad (6 pm in October), but we had to wait forever for our drink order and forever for the drinks to arrive. We were on the dining plan, and this was the one place we didn't give the server an extra tip. We never saw him after the first drinks - no refills. I also did not like the food - it's not that it wasn't prepared well, it just wasn't to my liking. I did find the whole place crowded and very noisy. However, the desserts made up for it all - so good!!

I think so many people read these boards and get so pumped about Boma (I know I did) that the reality just can't match the hype. I was expecting it to be so much more...had I gone there without reading about how much everyone LOVED it, I maybe wouldn't have been so disappointed.

I'm still glad I went and at least tried it, though!

 

[Missy Mouse]

I know a lot of people around her are die-hard Boma fans, but I just didn't "get it". Our wait to get seated wasn't too bad (6 pm in October), but we had to wait forever for our drink order and forever for the drinks to arrive. We were on the dining plan, and this was the one place we didn't give the server an extra tip. We never saw him after the first drinks - no refills. I also did not like the food - it's not that it wasn't prepared well, it just wasn't to my liking. I did find the whole place crowded and very noisy. However, the desserts made up for it all - so good!!

I think so many people read these boards and get so pumped about Boma (I know I did) that the reality just can't match the hype. I was expecting it to be so much more...had I gone there without reading about how much everyone LOVED it, I maybe wouldn't have been so disappointed.

I'm still glad I went and at least tried it, though!

I agree. It looked like a typical restaurant to me, nothing special at all. The food seemed pretty Americanized to me, and it had no flavor whatsoever. The staff disgusted me. They were so rude and apathetic.

 

[purpliequeen]

Sorry to hear you had such a bad time here. We've eaten here twice on two different trips, this past August when free dining started- totally crazy and jam packed and at December the week of Christmas in 2005. I must say that maybe my family is biased, we love the lodge and find everything about it wonderful. We also are adventurous eaters, love trying new things and enjoy spices and curry. The soups are our favorite. Anyway, I'm really sorry to hear that you didn't like the food and that it was bland.

In 2005, we did notice that it took them a while to clear tables. The restaurant is huge and sometimes it looked as if they were very confused over which table should be bussed and which table is occupied with the guests up in the buffet line. We have never had any problems with the service though. The host/hostesses seemed to read the reservations prior to the night as we came up and they guessed our last name right off the bat.

I must say though, buffets, no matter where they are, sometimes have a hard time maintaining good food quality towards the end of the night. I'm not saying that you 9pm reservation was late, I'm just saying that by that time, the chefs have been preparing and serving food for around five hours and they may kind of be toning it down a notch. I don't know how Boma runs, so I'm not trying to speak for them or anything. They could also just be having an off night. Or perhaps it's like this every night and we've never experienced it because we always eat dinner around 6pm?

I agree though that there is a fine line between Boma lovers and dislikers. It's interesting to see what one person likes, another person may detest.

 

[Dorisk3]

I'm sorry about your bad experience. I just mentioned it to my husband (we ate there on Friday night)- and he thinks Boma is just too overwhelmed by all the people eating there. We love Boma, but did notice a markable difference from last year in terms of quality and variety of food. It seemed like last year they had double the amount of salads and definetly many more dessert choices. We still liked the food, it just didn't have all the wild variety that we experienced last time we ate there. It was a zoo when we left (around 8:30, we had a 6:40 ressie that we were a bit late for).

 

[LoriLea]

We just ate there on Friday also. We were seated 5 minutes early for our 6pm ADR. Our server, Bob, was very attentive. Our drinks came quickly. My DH ordered the South African red wine flight and had a lengthy discussion with Bob about favourite wines.
DD9 who had eaten a lot of macaroni & cheese all week was thrilled to have pasta with tomato sauce, meatballs, parmesan cheese, and chicken strips (not nuggets). She also loved the raspberry/strawberry smoothie.
It was quite busy. I don't know what kind of selection there used to be but I found plenty of items to choose from. We definitely did not leave here hungry.
We will definitely return here. (Had we had the same experience as OP though, we wouldn't.)

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I have to agree that Boma is not as good as it was. I certainly remember the food being spicier and stronger in flavour when it first opened - you could really smell the spices when you walked in and I LOVED that smell. And because it was less busy the servers had more time and paid more attention.
We've noticed that the selection is not as good and the flavours are blander, and the staff busier.

Having said that, it's still one of our favourites and we try to go at least once or twice every visit. The wonderful TJ has made special dishes for my vegan daughter many times, and once brought a special vegan dessert for our group of 10 to the table!

And last year we decided to have my birthday celebration at Boma for breakfast. We booked for 25 people but a lot more showed up and we ended up with more than 50 (counting 2 babies). Well, the staff were amazingly accommodating. They re-arranged tables and helped us all sit together, were very attentive, and surprised me by bringing out a cake at the end (we had not ordered one, thinking that we didn't really need cake with breakfast!) and singing happy birthday to me! It felt pretty hectic to me with all the people but they handled everything so graciously and made it a really special celebration. (Also, the food was wonderful!)

We'll be back in December and, yes, I've already made ADRs for Boma.

Teresa

 

[yoopermom]

I talked my large family into going two years ago and, while we all liked the food, our server was *horrible*, and, when I complained to the manager, he dared to act like it was my fault. I calmly asked him for his card, asked him for HIS manager's name and title (wrote it on back of card). I called said manager promptly the next am, and had an excellent conversation with her. Was SHOCKED when she called me back later in the day to tell me that the manager was "surprised" I had followed up, and that she had followed up with him and the server. I didn't expect anything "free" out of it, so wasn't unhappy, and was actually just glad to hear that at least management listens.

In the past, I have noticed that tables who order wine/drinks did seem to get much better service than we did (affecting tip amount?).

Still like it there, and will return with just DS, but probably never again with a larger group, or late at night.

Terri

 

[shyjade]

Very interesting reviews...nice to hear about the "other side" of Boma, although very disappointing to hear!! I tried for over a month (by calling each and every single day) to get a ressie (at any time) for my DD8 and I on our upcoming trip. We will be staying at AKL for the first time and wanted to experience African cuisine.

About a week ago I finally got an early ressie (4:50pm) the day we arrive. I will definately be reporting back here to share how our experience was!