For all you Boma fans.......

[cinmell]

Would you recommend Boma to picky eaters with plain taste? I never seem to read any negative reviews about this restaurant but I'm not sure if this is the place to go with a group of picky eaters.

 

[MELSMICE]

I was just going to ask the same question.

 

[JenniBarra]

My husband is extremely picky - possibly one of the pickiest eaters you could ever meet! - and we've done so well at Boma that we've been there twice and will be going back later this month. While it's true that there's a lot of exotic, African inspired dishes, there's also tamer options. (For example, my hubby adores the flank steak, as well as the nut crusted fish.) And, as you may have heard already, the desserts are incredible!

 

[tar heel]

When I think of plain food eaters, I think of my father -- I would not take him to Boma. He would think the flank steak was too rare, wouldn't eat the nut crusted fish b/c it's not fried flounder, wouldn't eat the salads b/c of the dressings -- he would even find most of the desserts too weird. He would eat ribs or baked chicken (but they don't always have them) and the stuff at the kids' bar. He's a Cracker Barrel kind of guy and would feel uncomfortable at Boma. On the other hand, my oldest son is a fairly picky (for our family any way) eater in a family of adventurous eaters, and he likes Boma.

 

[TreeOfLife]

I met a whole group of picky feeders that did not like Boma.
There is always a section with the traditional mac & cheese stuff, but I would not pay so much to eat that!

I'd say that maybe the pickies won't like Boma

 

[MELSMICE]

BTW - what is the price of the Boma buffet? Anyone know the cost of O'hana's?

 

[cinmell]

Thank you for your opinions everyone, maybe we'll pass on Boma, at least on this upcoming trip.

 

[Rneighh]

I am so glad I did not raise (or allow) any picky eaters in my family. If I had, they would starve. I believe picky eaters are made - not born.

Go and eat where ever you want. They won't starve.

Renee

 

[TreeOfLife]

I believe picky eaters are made - not born.

Whoa, Renee, AMEN to that!

Go and eat where ever you want. They won't starve.

Having lived in Spain years ago right after Franco's dictatorship vanished, I saw people eating chicken feet (OK, with the nails trimmed), roasting the insides of animals' heads and feeding on what Americans would label dog or zoo quality food. I agree: When you are starving, you eat anything!

I really got a kick out of this post. It is so true! Why miss out on what Boma has to offer because of picky people? Let them thrive on desserts and soda one night if they have to!

I do believe that people are picky because mommas and poppas made them picky. My kids eat what is on the table or go to bed hungry. I am so happy to say that wherever we go, they eat and have developed a taste for all sorts of cuisines that do not always include hot dogs and Spaghettios.

It is baffling to meet adults that only eat a few selective things. Comical to realize that it only happens among humans. In the wild, those are the ones natural selection and evolution weed out in one generation!

 

[Bumbles]

Comical to realize that it only happens among humans.

Um, you may want to do some more research on this comment...

Think koala bears (primary diet...eucalyptus), panda bears (primary diet... bamboo).....

I say if you have truly picky eaters, Boma may not be the best place...no sense in spending $20+ for mac and cheese....there are far too other good restaurants to waste the $$ at Boma where only a few people will be happy.

 

[TreeOfLife]

Bumbles, you're talking about primary diets, not unique!
In captivity, their diets are supplemented and the animals can thrive on a larger variety of meals. So, they can and do indeed feed on other sources of food as available... Now, picky humans just make momma and poppa race to the store or kitchen to fix them the sole thing they'll eat!

I think you see what I meant.

And like I said before, I would not recommend anyone to pay to eat at Boma's to feed on the traditional American junkie section of mac & cheese, fries and what have you...

 

[daannzzz]

My Mom is very picky and sister is somewhat picky. They borh didn't like the food at Marrakesh except for the beef brewat roll.
They both did well at Boma. There are allot of odd sounding and looking things and some of the combinations are quite different but there are items that, while they have a different name, are still fairly plain. If you like meat the carving station has that and there is always the kids buffet that has fairly simple spaghetti. Then they can fill up at the dessert bar, which easy to do.

 

[Dreamfinder2]

There are some occasional postings from folks who didn't like Boma, but you'd have to consider me as a goodwill ambassador for Boma.

Last year, when in Orlando on business, I made a solo trip to Boma as a recon mission. Knowing my family's tastes, I was pleased to find that there was something for most everyone. When I put my findings to the test in December, our party of 6, 4 of 'em really picky, ate heartily. The nice thing about a buffet is that you can get a tiny sample of something questionable, and keep looking if it doesn't suit you.

There's plenty of basic meat & taters fare. But I agree that about $23 for mac and cheese is a little excessive. I've never had mac and cheese that good!

'Ohana's the same price, BTW. For REALLY picky eaters, I'd wager they'd fare better at 'Ohana. That was the ringer on our last trip.

 

[JenniBarra]

I thought of something else in regard to picky eater and deciding whether to visit Boma. I don't know how true this is for other people, but my father made an observation recently. He talked about how he took my grandparents to a restaurant recently and how none of them liked it (as well as my MIL, who is the same age range as my grandparents - 70s/80s), while my parents (50s) like this same place as well as myself and my spouse (30s). My dad commented that my grandparents were raised as "meat and potato eaters" while my husband and I were raised in a world that now includes a great variety of ethnic and other cuisines. So, while still picky, my husband is a wee bit adverturesome. Sooo...if my father's theory is correct about different generations being raised on different kinds of food, maybe that will be a factor in the decision making process as well.

I do have to agree with others who have said that it would be a pity to miss out, though!

 

[MELSMICE]

I'm not too sure about that theory of picky eaters being raised & not born. Growing up my brother, sisters & myself always had to have a "no thank-you helping" of everything that was put on the table. I tried everything.

I am a mom of 3 and still a fussy eater. I still try things thinking I may like them, but no go. I don't starve, and I also don't let it get in the way of enjoying myself when I go out to restaurants or dinner parties. I just eat what I like & not make a big deal out of it.

I was born with these taste buds & so far they've haven't proven to be too adventurous in my life.

 

[cinmell]

I agree with you Melsmice. Growing up we were introduced to a large variety of foods as my parents are not picky at all. If we didn't like what was on the dinner table we had to sit there until we tried it. If we didn't like it, too bad for us, nothing else was made and that was that. There were no special meals made if you didn't like what was in front of you and no snacks or deserts if you didn't eat dinner.

I have 2 brothers. One will eat anything under the sun, the other will eat just about anything and I just don't like as much. If you don't like the taste of something, you don't like it.

 

[strawberryblonde]

Boma uses alot of different spices (like curry) to flavor things, not just salt. The bland, American, meat and potatoes diet is heavy on fat, sugar and salt but not on different flavors. Even if you ate everything on the table growing up, chances are, your mother wasn't using curry My DH loves things spicy and hot. I used to like everything mild. I have slowly adjusted to where I appreciate all sorts of spices.

My DD2 and DS5 just loved Boma for dinner this past Dec. We are veggies, and found so many choices : tofu, peanut rice, hummus dips, delicious desserts. There was a grandma in line for the kidie food and she mentioned that she didn't like anything else there, she filled up on chicken fingers and pasta. My guess would be picky eaters (the truely picky ones), would be happier elsewhere but could survive if the rest of their group was enjoying themselves. I wouldn't take an entire group of picky eaters to Boma.

Heidi

 

[Bob NC]

Excerpt of Bob NC's trip report....

We arrive at the Boma desk a little before 6, and request a table for 2. We take our little beepy thing and go up the stairs to Victoria Falls, where Jane orders a Baileys on ice and I order their finest African beer, which happens to be Casablanca. I liked the Casablanca, it was a saucy little beer with a hint of a bite. By the way, I’m drinking a coffee right now that seems fairly saucy with a hint of a bite....Oh, the potatoes I made to go along with last nites pork chops were a tad saucy with a hint of a bite too. Anyway, the total was $14.66 with tip.

After maybe 5-7 minutes, (15-20 minutes for you folks that stay at CSR), our beeper goes off and downstairs we go. We get a great table for 2 right next to the window. Our waiter, who Jane insists looks just like Mango from Saturday Night Live, tells us how the buffet works. I wonder if people ever look at him in wonderment and say..”Ohhhh, we walk up there and put food on our plates?....Interesting”

The first thing I try is a chicken/corn soup that is excellent. Jane tries a few salads, but I notice that she’s not doing much more than trying them. There’s a lot of leftovers on that plate. Then I notice plates being removed from peoples tables with lots of food left on them.

I go up and bypass the carving station as I want to try some of the more unusual food, (Of which there is a lot), that folks rave about. I fill my plate with some brown stuff, some green and yellowish stuff, some crumbly stuff, and some other things and such. As I sit down I notice that more and more plates are walking by on the way to the kitchen half loaded with food. Then I notice the line getting longer and longer at the carving station. I try the brown stuff. The first couple bites taste ok, but I quickly tire of it. Then I try the greenish yellow dish....not crazy about it. The other things and such are the same. Mango comes by and removes my plate. I head for the prime rib line, then search for something recognizable to go with it. Bread. I make a couple trips to the prime rib line till I get my moneys worth, with Mango removing my empty plate each time. One thing I have to say is the desserts are great. The fresh, ‘pressed at your table’ coffee is great. I load up on zebra domes, cheesecakes and various and sundry other sweets.

I honestly don’t know what folks are raving about with this place. I guess walking up to the desk at 6:00 pm at one of the busiest times of year without a PS and only waiting 5 minutes for a table should tell me something. In the real world, restaurants open to the public, offer their food, make adjustments to what they offer, make adjustments to their recipes as required. At Boma, they offer food that nobody has ever had before, so there’s their excuse. Even if something is awful, they just say, “Well, it’s exotic and different and you just don’t know what you’re talking about”. Nobody ever says, “Gosh chef, I think you need just a touch more ostrich saliva in that Foo Foo”, or, “If you sprinkled just a touch more hummingbird eyes over this crumbly stuff, well, ummmmm”.

If it were just me, I could live with that. But I think more food was going into the busboys bucket than was going into peoples mouths. And the line at the prime rib stop just got longer and longer. Oh well, we just won’t go back there. ($62.97)

 

[mrsapalm]

We ate at Boma on 20 December. We had a PS, and still had to wait around 25 minutes (but we expected that) to be seated. Boma is, to me, one of the best restaurants that WDW has on property. The variety is exceptional, the quality is outstanding, and the flavors... mmmmmm... the flavors are exquisite. No, it's not for everyone, but only you (each individual person) can truly be the judge of whether or not it's suited for you. I personally can't wait until I can eat there again!
-MrsAPalm

 

[Rneighh]

Well, my not picky family (who will and have tried about everything) will enjoy Boma.

Renee