Bad review of 'Ohana--what do you think?

[S.Poppins]

We ate dinner at Ohana in January. It was not the best meal of the week, but I would return for the dessert alone!! I enjoyed everything but the smoked skewers of meat. I don't like smoked stuff. But the salad, wontons, sticky wings, potatoes, and shrimp were meal enough for me! The service seemed a little rushed but everyone was nice and accomodating. I would eat there again.

 

[richard_andmel]

It used to be one of our favorites before the menu change. We really disliked it in September. We thought all of the changes were for the worse. I personally think it's getting by somewhat on it's old reputation. We won't even think about going back till it changes again...

 

[jimmalru80]

I think 'Ohana is basically a gorge fest with decent food. We pretty much ignored the entertainment. If you like to eat A LOT of food, then you should enjoy 'Ohana because you get a TON of food, however, none of the food was spectacular IMO. The dessert and the salad was the best part IMO. We're going to stick with Kona from now on.

Well said. I agree 100%. It's all about quantity here in my opinion. We felt very, very rushed at 'Ohana.

 

[BabyPiglet]

Sure it's loud but WDW is targetted towards children. It didn't bother me at all.

And the food is absolutely wonderful. But we were so full when they brought the meat out we didn't eat much of it.

 

[LoraJ]

We went a couple of trips ago before the changes and thought it was okay. Not sure if we would ever go back. While we weren't bothered too much by the entertainment, the problem with it is they put all of the tables for two by where the action was. So we'd end up with kids chasing coconuts under our table. The service was pretty slow the night we were there.

 

[rontu78]

We ate at 'Ohana on our trip last May and really enjoyed both the food and the fun family atmosphere. It was the first reservation we made when planning our trip for 5/29-6/2. The portions are huge, and we enjoyed the variety of grilled meat choices in particular. Nothing tasted "dry" as I had feared, and it all arrived steaming hot. We also had very good service from our waiter and did not feel rushed at all. Seeing "Wishes" from here was especially nice.

 

[TravelinGal]

Here's my OPINION...

• Fried Wontons served with peanut sauce, chimichurri sauce and harissa - ehhh...take 'em or leave 'em (I'll leave 'em)
• Mixed greens with a honey-lime dressing - DELISH!!! (and I'm usually a blue cheese only kind of person)
• Spicy-sweet and sour shrimp - to Die for it is so good! (messy, but soooo good!)
• Honey-coriander chicken wings - ditto! YUMMMMY (also messy, but...)
• Marinated Sirloin Steak - OK - I like my steak rare, this was overcooked for me
• Asian Barbecue Pork Loin - dry
• Mesquite Grilled Turkey - dry
• Hawaiian Pork-sausage with pineapple terriyaki glaze - don't eat sausage much - DH like this one though - had seconds...no wait...thirds!
• Maui Scalloped Potatoes - DELISH!!!
• Stir-fried Vegetables - Nicely done - I'm not a big stir fried veggie person but I was willing to eat some.
• 'Ohana bread pudding a la mode with Bananas Foster Sauce - not impressed the first time (must have been out of bread pudding, brought us a cinnamon roll!). Second time got the real deal and LOVED it!

I was SO happy with the shrimp and chicken wings that I didn't need the other meats, so I didn't care that they were only average, at best.

They did not have continuous activities/entertainment - and when they did have something going on, I didn't mind it. It was fun to look over and watch the kids. (and when it was just 2 adults we had a table right next to the 'track' and it didn't bother us) Noise level was better than our local Red Robin restaurant. (I won't go to RR unless it's an off time - it's SO loud in there)

Kids meals were served on plates - don't know how you'd serve a mac n cheese meal in a pail... pretty messy, ya know? (we didn't order a kids meal, but we did notice them at other tables)

We will go back. This, along with Le Cellier, is a must do for us on every trip.

BTW - don't know where someone got "over $30" for the meal. It's $25.99. Granted 26 bucks isn't cheap, but it's still not "over $30". But, since we do DDP, we don't look at the cost. We just relax and enjoy ourselves.

RE the review linked in the OP - I'm appalled that a review THAT biased is posted as a general review that appears to be endorsed by DIS. Any person posting a published review (not just 'you and me' discussing what we like/don't like here in the forum format) on a site like this should be able to take into account all the pros and cons of a restaurant and not make blanket statements like "does not deserve the reputation it has".

As others have said - if it appeals to you on some level, then go once and decide for yourself! Don't let others make the decision for you. If you go and don't care for it, you never have to go again. But if you love it, you know it's there and you can plan it in for every future trip if you want.

 

[penguinkimberly]

I like the food at O'hana's, have never had a bad experience there. 9 yo niece is able to eat the whole plate of peel'n'eat shrimp (with me doing the peeling,of course) so we usually start with asking for extra of them and the 13 yo nephew eats tons of the wings ( he doesn't eat all day when we are going there so he can be really hungry) But be warned when you make your ADR's ,this is a restaurant that has been slow to seat ,in our experience, but the bar just outside makes great drinks (its usually the only drink I have one the trip.)

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

BTW - don't know where someone got "over $30" for the meal. It's $25.99. Granted 26 bucks isn't cheap, but it's still not "over $30". But, since we do DDP, we don't look at the cost. We just relax and enjoy ourselves.

RE the review linked in the OP - I'm appalled that a review THAT biased is posted as a general review that appears to be endorsed by DIS. Any person posting a published review (not just 'you and me' discussing what we like/don't like here in the forum format) on a site like this should be able to take into account all the pros and cons of a restaurant and not make blanket statements like "does not deserve the reputation it has".

That would be me making the price statement and it appears I misread the recent increase. My apologies, though at 26 bucks it doesn't change anything I said. Just a few short years ago it was less than 20 bucks with superior offerings. Now it's more expensive with inferior offerings and far too many service complaints to warrant the accolades put on it.

Re: The review. This (the DIS) shouldn't be a fan club site. It's a place to get accurate information on WDW (dining in this case). Further, I totally agree with the review that 'Ohana is not deserving of the reputation and following it has. Even in its heydey it didn't deserve the massive following, IMO. It's a glorified buffet BUT (and this is huge "but") if you like it fine. If you think it's worth 26 bucks, fine. But not everybody has to agree.

Now if you want to talk about O'hann'a, well that's a different story!