Boma overrated?

[TheFram4]

Am I the only one who finds Boma at AKL overrated?
I have just finished dinner there and although the food was good I disliked:

- having to sit in a crowded waiting area for half an hour
- having to queue 15 people deep to get my food
- the poor service by my waiter who didn't interact at all and struggled to fetch fresh cutlery and then simply threw it on the table

Perhaps my expectations are too high but I felt treated like cattle.

I am now back in the comfort of the AKL concierge lounge which is an oasis of calm

 

[chmurf]

Boma is crowded and noisy (they ought to say that on the restaurant's description)
I don't know if it's overrated. In the end it depends on what state of mind or on what expectations you enter the restaurant.

We enjoyed Boma. Maybe we went at a slower time than yours.
But, TBH it was crowded. WE really had to queue at some point to get our food. You can't really make a selection, you need to follow the line and grab whatever you can when you walk past a dish. Or you need to make an observation round and then do the line once again to get your food (heck, reminds me of my college days)

Tables are also packed close together.
I can remember those guests who came in when we were halfway through the meal and were sat at the table next to us. The husband was plus sized like me, and we bumped into one another everytime he or I got up to go to the buffet. Fortunately he was rather amused by the situation, and we ended up laughing about that

All in all, Boma is a good restaurant, but it's definitely not the kind of place you want to eat if you're looking for a quiet dining experience.
Might as well go to Sanaa's instead. Not a buffet but somewhat quieter.

 

[wayneg]

Been twice. First time I really enjoyed it but DW & DS were not over impressed, they struggled to find anything to eat but they filled up on desserts.
Decided to try again and took DMIL. Even worse experience than 1st visit, none of us enjoyed it.
Doubt we will give it a 3rd visit.

 

[Stitch's Greatest Fa]

Whilst I do enjoy Boma, yes, I do think it's a little overrated!

 

[Mr Stoat]

I enjoyed it, previous comments all valid, it is very busy. Food was reasonable, bot the best I have had, wife hated it, way too busy and crowded for her.

PS WE stayed in AK/AKV for a total of 3 weeks over two holidays and never saw Boma quiet !

 

[Chilly]

I'm not a fan but DH is.

 

[queendisney]

used to go every holiday but haven't done it for about 5 years now!..

It was always full and because it's a buffet then it does tend tobe noisey as well. Find most buffets the same but Boma's is very large space with tall ceilings so seems worse.

The main reason we stopped was the food was just becoming more and more adapted to american taste, inparticular Southern taste and every thing seemed to have cinnamon in (yuk yuk yuk)..

But hey it is always full so many people must love it..

I go into the food court there to get my fix of the zebra domes!

 

[wen-tom]

we really like Boma. We usually stay at AKL and so we know to expect it to be busy and crowded although i have never had too much of a wait for my food or bad service.

I enjoy the food and I like the atmosphere there.

 

[kathie859]

I'm a fan of Boma---I love soup and they always have a very interesting variety of soups that I'd never get locally. I usually fill up on the soups and salads...................oh, and those little quarter sized tarts.....and a zebra dome or 2.

We have an ADR in October and it's one that I'm really anticipating.

 

[dlhvac]

very poor rest for disney better go to sanaa or one of the others will never eat there again

 

[mrjef]

We have been to Boma once and enjoyed it. I don’t remember waiting in line for the food and our waiter was fantastic. He was very good with our kids. Our DS did not like the selection of food and the waiter offered to put in an order for a personal pizza for him, which made his day. Since our trip to Boma, we have added two children to our family that were born in Africa, so Boma will likely be a restaurant that we will frequent often on our Disney trips.

 

[kwelsh]

Sorry you did not enjoy Boma. I love Boma and try to eat there at least once a year. To avoid the crowds you mentioned try booking a reservation for the earliest seating possible. I had no one in front of me at any station and plenty of attention from the wait staff. After dining had time to view the animals and get back to the parks to catch parade and fireworks. It was a great night and will be doing it again in Dec.

 

[micksn]

We like to go as we like to visit AKL, having stayed there previously (doubt we will be able to afford to again!). We like the food, but think the experience can depend on where you are seated and who your server is.

 

[ben1993]

We ate there because we were staying at AKL, really enjoyed it, no complaints about the food or service and considering how busy it was we were seated fairly quickly, we're won't eat there next trip though, there's too many places to try that we never have and AKL is a trek when you're not staying there.

 

[disney_princess_85]

I ate at Boma back in 2009 and I really didn't like it. I found the food to be far too sweet and the service was average. I would be willing to go back to give it another go but there are too many other places I want to try first.

 

[RDP]

Am I the only one who finds Boma at AKL overrated?
I have just finished dinner there and although the food was good I disliked:

- having to sit in a crowded waiting area for half an hour
- having to queue 15 people deep to get my food
- the poor service by my waiter who didn't interact at all and struggled to fetch fresh cutlery and then simply threw it on the table

Perhaps my expectations are too high but I felt treated like cattle.

I am now back in the comfort of the AKL concierge lounge which is an oasis of calm

Agree, Boma overrated ! Jiko ......yum yum

 

[Littlenemo]

We are trying out Boma and Sanaa on our next trip!

I have researched both so think I know what to expect! Lol.

 

[Cyrano]

We visited both Sanaa and Boma with free DDP. Not sure I would have liked paying this out of pocket. However both these restaurants were in all of our top 5 lists.
This included children aged 10, 12 and 14. We also had a picky eater in our group.

 

[jen_uk]

Boma is one of my favourite onsite restaurents, both dh and I loved the food there. I do think it is very expensive for what it is, you can eat in buffets offsite for a quarter of the price but I still love the food there.

 

[jonkatony]

love AKL, love Boma. I can not say I have ever had a great meal at Disney but never had a really bad one either (always something to eat that's ok).
I love dining at Disney usually for the experience not the food.
the walk into that reception at AKL is worth the visit alone to Boma. Eating at the poly, GF, the castle etc etc all great fun -average food.