Is Boma's really that good?

[MAMA GRAVE]

I made the last of our adr's at Boma's last night and I'm having a hard time finding anything bad to say about Boma's. All Ears dining reviews seem to have all 9's and 10's all the way down.

Our last day will be at Animal Kingdom so this will give us a chance of eating at Boma's and checking out the AKL lodge. We will be going with our three daughters 8, 8 and 6. We are on DDP

Our dinner reservation for our trip in May:

Sun- Kona
Mon- Cape May
Tues- Crystal Palace
Wed- Tutto? (might change)
Thur- 'Ohona
Fri- 1900 Park Fare
Sat- Boma

I am thinking this might be too many buffet's but I'm having a hard time getting rid of one. (Crystal Palace is a possibility)

 

[MelissathePooh]

I like Boma. Somethings are better than others. The desserts are wonderful. If you're concerned about too many buffets, consider Sanaa at Kidani. I really don't have negatives about Boma exactly, but at a point it is a buffet and some of the selections have a mass produced taste. Just in terms of it being a buffet by nature.

I think we've been to Sanaa 4 times now and keep going back with excelling quality in food and service every time. There is a wall of windows overlooking the animals - the interior is beautiful. Service is outstanding and the food is among the best at any WDW table service - IMHO. Everything is subjective of course!

If you're looking outside the box for a non-buffet - Sanaa is right next door and outstanding.

 

[Threxix]

I just visited Boma again this past Friday with my wife and we yet again had a great experience with great food. There is such a diverse selection that it is really hard to go wrong. There is literally something for everyone. The deserts are excellent as well. I would highly recommend keeping this one on your to do list. I think you will enjoy it.

 

[Quin]

Is Boma that good? Yes.

Do you have "too many" buffets? No. On the DDP your kids are limited to the kids' menu at all restaurants, and many people find the kids' menu.....limited. At a buffet, while there is always a section with traditional "kids choices", children of all ages are welcome to sample everything the buffet offers (and picky adults are free to dine on plain chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese to their hearts' content ).

I think your choices look just fine.

 

[jimmysmom74]

Absolutely!!!!!!!

 

[mainegal]

Boma has a nice diversity of interesting and delicious food.


p.s. - it is Boma, not Boma's.

 

[MAMA GRAVE]

Is Boma that good? Yes.

Do you have "too many" buffets? No. On the DDP your kids are limited to the kids' menu at all restaurants, and many people find the kids' menu.....limited. At a buffet, while there is always a section with traditional "kids choices", children of all ages are welcome to sample everything the buffet offers (and picky adults are free to dine on plain chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese to their hearts' content ).

I think your choices look just fine.

Thanks. You bring up a good point of eating at a buffet with children. The kids menu for sit down restaurants isn't the greatest IMO.

 

[MAMA GRAVE]

Boma has a nice diversity of interesting and delicious food.


p.s. - it is Boma, not Boma's.

Thanks for the clarification. I'm still a rookie when it comes to this.

 

[Lassie Lynne]

Boma is the only table service my DH would consider happily eating at twice in the same trip.......everytime I plan a WDW trip, he always asks when we are going to Boma .

 

[mainegal]

Tues- Crystal Palace

Sat- Boma

These two, plus Tusker House, are my favorites.
Yes, I like buffets. I like to be able to sample many dishes. Not good for my diet, even though I do try to take only very small portions of each food.


You are wise to take time to explore Animal Kingdom Lodge. If it is dark, you can view the animals through night vision goggles.

Do you have your own car? If not, be sure you know Disney bus will not take you directly back to your resort after dinner. You will need to go to Downtown Disney or a park that is still open.

 

[Shagley]

I'm one of the very few people who didn't care for Boma. I am not a picky eater at all, but I didn't care for the spices that were used in most of the foods. I thought about everything I ate had a sweet, cinnamony taste to it that I just didn't like. The service was good, and the food was fresh and hot, I just personally didn't care for it. However, I think everyone should try it for themselves because I seem to be in the minority. I was so disappointed that I didn't like it, because with all the hype, I was expecting to love it.

 

[MelissathePooh]

I'm one of the very few people who didn't care for Boma. I am not a picky eater at all, but I didn't care for the spices that were used in most of the foods. I thought about everything I ate had a sweet, cinnamony taste to it that I just didn't like. The service was good, and the food was fresh and hot, I just personally didn't care for it. However, I think everyone should try it for themselves because I seem to be in the minority. I was so disappointed that I didn't like it, because with all the hype, I was expecting to love it.

I can totally understand that. Its not my favorite, but I do like it. The biggest downside of Boma for me is that its ALWAYS so stinkin busy! Its so full and loud that I tend to feel rushed - our servers have never made that implicit, but they convey the crowded nature well. Our last table was fairly close to the check in podeum and you could see the dozens of folks just waiting trying to get in.

I will say one funny thing we saw. There was a man - probably in his 40's. We kept seeing him around the buffet, just standing. Eventually he grabbed a plate and filled it. Never sat down, just sort of wandered around the restaurant. We just watched in disbelief as he never sat down - I don't think he had a table or was with anyone. He had his backpack on the entire time. No one else, no servers, seemed to notice - I'm not sure what made us pick up on it. When he finished he'd put his plate at a table that had just cleared or was empty. After about 3 plates he grabbed some dessert and just disappeared!!! Now he may have paid at somepoint early on, but I'm pretty sure he just snuck in and camoflauged in all the chaos of the restaurant. It was one of the strangest things I've ever seen. No Boma CM's ever seemed to notice. No - we didn't say anything as I'm not one to "tattle" and kind of figured Boma should have been paying better attention frankly.

 

[goofy4prez]

Would I say that Boma is really that good? No. But I would say that it is a decent place to go and would recommend you visit it for yourself and decide. My guess is you will enjoy it.

However, I personally am not a big fan of buffet's (except Biergarten) and perhaps this is the reason I may be somewhat opinionated about them. They just seem to lack in the quality as most buffets do, instead quantity seems to be the ruling thought and I personally think this holds true for Boma as well. I've been there once. Would I do it again? probably, but it's not a must do for me. This is only my opinion though.

 

[MAMA GRAVE]

I can totally understand that. Its not my favorite, but I do like it. The biggest downside of Boma for me is that its ALWAYS so stinkin busy! Its so full and loud that I tend to feel rushed - our servers have never made that implicit, but they convey the crowded nature well. Our last table was fairly close to the check in podeum and you could see the dozens of folks just waiting trying to get in.

I will say one funny thing we saw. There was a man - probably in his 40's. We kept seeing him around the buffet, just standing. Eventually he grabbed a plate and filled it. Never sat down, just sort of wandered around the restaurant. We just watched in disbelief as he never sat down - I don't think he had a table or was with anyone. He had his backpack on the entire time. No one else, no servers, seemed to notice - I'm not sure what made us pick up on it. When he finished he'd put his plate at a table that had just cleared or was empty. After about 3 plates he grabbed some dessert and just disappeared!!! Now he may have paid at somepoint early on, but I'm pretty sure he just snuck in and camoflauged in all the chaos of the restaurant. It was one of the strangest things I've ever seen. No Boma CM's ever seemed to notice. No - we didn't say anything as I'm not one to "tattle" and kind of figured Boma should have been paying better attention frankly.

Maybe they could make a movie of this: "Boma Buffet Crasher"

The "BBC" in England could sponsor it.

 

[MelissathePooh]

Maybe they could make a movie of this: "Boma Buffet Crasher"

The "BBC" in England could sponsor it.

It really was one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen at WDW! It kind of made me rethink the whole buffet thing. That and the woman who dropped her cell phone in the ranch dressing at Crystal Palace - just picked it out and kept going. Never said anything to anyone

We did tell a CM at that point since we thought it should be changed asap! It just was a clear reminder how vulnerable we are at buffets - between what people do and what the CM's don't notice

 

[goofy4prez]

: That and the woman who dropped her cell phone in the ranch dressing at Crystal Palace - just picked it out and kept going. Never said anything to anyone

We did tell a CM at that point since we thought it should be changed asap! It just was a clear reminder how vulnerable we are at buffets - between what people do and what the CM's don't notice

Exactly why I am so hesitant with buffets. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone sneeze or cough over a buffet or scratch or pick their pants out of their backside (polite for butt) and then pick something off the table with their bare hands.

 

[BabyFu18]

I'm in the minority I'm sure, but I didn't enjoy Boma, I'm glad I tried it but I won't go back. For me, a lot of the items listed on the online menus I looked at prior to our trip were not on the buffet the night we went (I'm sure it's always changing, but I was disappointed to see several of the things I had heard people raving about to be missing that night).

The food wasn't as flavorful as I had expected from other reviews, things seemed a little generically seasoned to me like every dish had the same set of seasonings used in it and even then it could have been kicked up a notch for my taste. I don't generally find myself to be a completely picky eater, but I do have a food allergy (and the chef was great about that, walked me through the buffet to show me what I couldn't eat), but even still I didn't feel like the food was anything great.

The one thing I was excited to try, the watermelon rind salad I couldn't try as it had an ingredient I was allergic to in it (which I wouldn't have guessed from the name/description), but that was okay I completely understood and was happy the chef took time to point things out to me that I should try that wouldn't affect my allergy.

The desserts weren't my cup of tea either, and I usually love sweets, but I also like texture which I felt like most of the desserts were missing. Everything was soft with a mousse like texture and I didn't get the hype about zebra domes either.

I think Boma is a beautiful restaurant and like I said I'm glad I tried it, but no one in my party of 3 adults was thrilled with the food, though some liked it better than others. My recommendation is that Boma is absolutely worth a try so you can form your own opinion about it, but take reviews with a grain of salt seeing as everyone has such different tastes what one person may love another may not (and vice versa).

 

[The_Aviator]

Boma was great, although Cape May Cafe and 1900 Park Fare were also excellent. It really depends on what you want.

I've got reviews on Boma, CMC and 1900PF in my dining report if you want to have a look, just click on the link in my signature

 

[shburks]

We loved Boma and found the food to be fun and exciting and very flavorful. DS (5) ate chicken nuggets and french fries (sigh...) but he wasn't feeling well that evening.

 

[Belleandtinker]

My DH absolutely loves it. We both do, but I would say it's his favorite WDW restaurant.

The food is completely unique. You won't find these dishes anywhere else in WDW. We live in Kansas City and don't have anything like this.

Unlike the standard buffets in and out of WDW, Boma's is amazing, tastey and different. Don't be scared because its different - you'll still love it.

We are going in May and looking forward to the evening at AKL!