ACK!!!!! Tell me about Boma!!!!

[CathieArms]

Uh oh...I just read something that might've finally decided me AGAINST Boma, which is the ONLY place I've really wanted to go to at WDW.

I read that "all" of the food was "sweet."

Can someone clarify that for me? Am I going to end up hating the only restaurant I've been looking forward to?

I don't do "sweet" food. I have this thing that "sweet" is only for fruit and desserts, but virtually never as part of an actual meal. I don't eat sweet potatoes or beats; I don't like sweet and sour chicken or apricot chicken entrees, or even pork seasoned with apples. For that matter, I don't even really like applesauce served as part of a meal...I just don't like "sweet" foods as part of my meal.

Is this going to be a problem for me? The only sweet food I can think of that I actually *do* like is Orange Chicken.

Should I just start looking for a different meal somewhere???

 

[MickeyNicki]

If you do not like sweet foods for your meals (not desserts) you will not like Boma.

We went with an open mind but both DH and I were miserable...the food was just too sweet with vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg etc.

I hear Sanaa is very good and not sweet at all

 

[arjones31]

Don't give up on it! Most North African/Middle Eastern foods are spiced with cinnamon. cardamon, etc. - not really sweet, but not on the salty side either. I personally LOVE them, and I live in Alabama (heart attack from fat & sodium capitol of the world!). Also, there are still other choices available, such as chicken fingers and mac & cheese. You will still be able to fill up even if you don't like the themed selections. The desserts alone would be worth the trip.

 

[toomanycars]

Boma is a must eat at for all of our trips. We have two teenagers that hate almost all food that is different than the norm but they love Boma too! The desserts and soups are some of the best I have had.

 

[stashbin]

They do have some sweet dishes...But they have meats and other stuff too. It's a great atmosphere. I liked it when we went, and we are going again in May.
I am sure you could find something you would like as there are LOTS of options. But if you end up not caring for it, at least you got to experience it for yourself!

 

[PewamoGirl]

I also hate sweet food for main meals, but I LOVE boma. Of course the deserts are sweet but lots of the other food is so tasty, i love the meat and all the different salads and soups. I really think that you will have a fun time there.

 

[CathieArms]

I'm all about trying new things, but I absolutely cannot stomach "sweet" foods as a meal. Truly, it all but completely makes me gag. Now I feel terribly indecisive!

 

[Lynne M]

The whole 'it was all sweet' thing always baffles me. When I was there, there were different seasonings all over that buffet. Some sweet, some savory, some spicy.

You'll find seasonings at Boma that aren't traditionally used in American cooking. Some of them you might not care for. But there's so much variety there that you'll find plenty to eat. The whole point of a buffet is to try a lot of different dishes, so if you're not sure you'd like something, just get a very small portion - a spoonful. You can always go up for more if you do like it, and if you don't, it's just one taste and you move on to something else.

 

[CathieArms]

The whole 'it was all sweet' thing always baffles me. When I was there, there were different seasonings all over that buffet. Some sweet, some savory, some spicy.

You'll find seasonings at Boma that aren't traditionally used in American cooking. Some of them you might not care for. But there's so much variety there that you'll find plenty to eat. The whole point of a buffet is to try a lot of different dishes, so if you're not sure you'd like something, just get a very small portion - a spoonful. You can always go up for more if you do like it, and if you don't, it's just one taste and you move on to something else.

So...it's not *all* sweet? Is that correct? Kinda like, say, a Chinese buffet where you have the sweet and the hot and the differently spiced? I don't mind trying a few things I don't like that end up being sweet, so long as there's a good variety of sweet and not sweet. I like different flavors, just not sweet. I just don't want to end up having to eat mac and cheese off of the kids buffet.

 

[Pakey]

I've eaten at Boma at least a half a dozen times and there are certain dishes that are sweet but certainly not everything on the buffet. I'm not fond of sweet either and I can always find plenty of food to eat that isn't sweet. Everything on the meat station, about half of the soups, many of the salads.

 

[Nadjalu]

So...it's not *all* sweet? Is that correct? Kinda like, say, a Chinese buffet where you have the sweet and the hot and the differently spiced? I don't mind trying a few things I don't like that end up being sweet, so long as there's a good variety of sweet and not sweet. I like different flavors, just not sweet. I just don't want to end up having to eat mac and cheese off of the kids buffet.

I was in your shoes in 2009, so looking forward to Boma and researched it. All I could find out was that it was "spicey". Now I love spicey, hot spicey that is. Spicey like mexican, peppers...etc.

But that was NOT what I found at Boma. All of the foods had either cinnamon, vanilla or a fruit flavor about it. The strip loin was rubbed with cinnamon, the chicken had a blackened cinnamon, curry sort of rub, (didn't have the salmon) I couldn't believe I didn't like the sirloin, I will eat any kind of beef. But to have it taste sweet too....I couldn't handle it.

The sides, potatoes, veggies everything including the soups all had a sweet tone to them. Some were very noticable, some were an undertone that just didn't sit right with us. And DH and I are very adventerous eaters.

We ended up eating a bite of this and a bite of that, tried every dish on the buffet that night and ended up at the kids station with bland chicken nuggets and mac and cheese! UGH, we were hungry an hour after leaving the restaurant.
Neither one of us could enjoy the desserts we looked so forward to because by the time we got to them we were done with sweet stuff. (and we both are sweet tooths).
It was just too much for us, we felt as if we were eating a holiday dessert for dinner.

I can say that the foods weren't bad....just not our tastes. I like savory, salty, hot, spicey, just about anything, but I like my sweets for dessert not my meal.

That was our experience.

 

[kmk1180]

"All sweet"? Really?
I don't know where you read that but after have eaten there several times I certainly wouldn't have though to describe it that way.
The desserts maybe. But heck, most desserts anywhere are sweet.

 

[KJay]

I'm continually baffled when I hear people describe everything at Boma as "sweet". Differently spiced and seasoned? Sure. But it's NOT all sweet. I think people are often using sweet as a general term for "not what I'm used to"....

 

[vicki_c]

I always tend to think it's people equating those spices like cinnamon and vanilla with sweet/dessert. It's not that food is sugary, it's that it contains those spices, which in the US are traditionally used in desserts.

 

[CathieArms]

The more I think on it, the more concerned I am that our group might not like it. FIL doesn't do spicy, ever. I don't do sweet, ever. DH might like it...I don't know. My girls...I don't know. Ugghhhh! I'd like to try it, but I don't want an irritable bunch afterward.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[ReallyRosie]

Boma was our favorite restaurant on our last trip and I'm racking my brain to remember what dishes I would have described as "sweet". I do remember lots of spices in general- nothing bland.

 

[Nadjalu]

I'm continually baffled when I hear people describe everything at Boma as "sweet". Differently spiced and seasoned? Sure. But it's NOT all sweet. I think people are often using sweet as a general term for "not what I'm used to"....

I can safely say to those who don't understand and think "we" don't know what we are referring too, but I do know what sweet is and I do understand how to describe it.

Not that I will debate this, but I feel compelled to say this.
I know what I know, it isn't that "it is foods I am not familar with" or that I don't understand that these spices are used in sweet foods, therefore I equate that to desserts.

My taste buds tell me they are sweet. Not that they are savory, not that it isn't what I don't like.......again I am a sweet tooth. I know how to describe what I am eating. I don't need others to "explain" what I "may" be trying to say.

I wish that others would just say "my experience was different" and leave it at that. There is no right or wrong answer, only experiences.

I try to be very explicit on my descriptions with WDW and all there of, so that others may get a better account of what they may or may not like by my experiences. If yours experience is different then just say that.

 

[DaisyMaisie]

Would it correct to say that we aren't talking table sugar sweet, but cinnamon, coconut milk,raisin kind of sweet?

 

[been2marceline]

Certain spices and flavors give the impression of sweetness - even when no sugar is present.

As one of the other posters mentioned, a lot of spices that we Americans are used to being in dessert foods are a normal part of the spice blends used in Middle Eastern, Northern African and Indian Subcontinent cuisines,

Raisins are also frequently used, so they may be part of the sweetness perceived in the dishes.

If you left the hot pepper out of a Jamaican jerk blend - it would taste sweet too... at least sweeter than it does when half of it is Scotch Bonnet pepper...

I thought the foods there were really good - although I do prefer Jiko... ( maybe its the wine list...)

 

[jlewisinsyr]

The more I think on it, the more concerned I am that our group might not like it. FIL doesn't do spicy, ever. I don't do sweet, ever. DH might like it...I don't know. My girls...I don't know. Ugghhhh! I'd like to try it, but I don't want an irritable bunch afterward.

Decisions, decisions...

If you don't try new things, how will you ever know if you like something different?

I can say I have not yet had Sea Urchin that I like, but I would try it again prepared at a different restauarnt/location because I won't know if I don't try it.

When my partner and I go out to eat, we avoid chains like the plague and look forward to going to places new or with chef's menus that change frequently because we love to try new things and we never say don't include something. Sure we still have certain foods we like more then others, but life, in my opinion is all about stepping outside of my comfort zone and pattern to try something different.