Kona Cafe - " Real Deal or No Real Deal"..

[zinkie]

Can you give me some advise on whether this is a good spot to start the ole Disney Trip out on... I do not think
the 'fam' would like Boma (we are staying at AKL), so I
am looking at other dinner spots..

We have DDEs for HHDR, Ohana, H&V, LeCellier (need one
more for opening night) ...

I am looking for a nice sit-down dinner with quality food that is not too extravagent for my DD14 and DD16 ...


--> Currently I have Boma reserved, but probably will be
changing this...


Thanks in advance..


Steve

 

[__disneygirl]

Hmm maybe try Jiko? I have heard wonderful things about it. For your first night I suggest a late dinner @ California Grill at the Contemporary so you can watch Wishes! It's such a great kick-off for a trip.

 

[Minnie824]

DH & I LOVED Kona Cafe. We went this past Nov. Originally, we had tried for Ohana, but since we skipped our ADR, we weren't able to get in. We were able to get into Kona, so we figured we'd try it. It was one of our favorite meals of the trip! And, they had normal stuff our DDs aged 4 and 1.5 ate as well. Definitely worth going to.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We had dinner at Kona Cafe in October and we loved it! It is kind of plain - not much in the way of theming or whatever, but the food and service were excellent. We are going there for my birthday dinner in August, and since I am the Designated Planner I could have chosen any restaurant at all!

On the other hand, we all really enjoyed Boma, too. DH said they had the best prime rib of anywhere we ate, and we ate at Yachtsman Steakhouse, Concourse Steakhouse, and a bunch of other buffets. We'll be at AKL next trip so we're having dinner there once and breakfast at least once depending on how the rest of the schedule shakes out.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[threeboysmom]

Honestly, as much as I LOVE Kona Cafe, if you are arriving at AKL late in the day, it probably would be best to eat right there at AKL. Boma has great food even for picky eaters, of which my DH is the worst, but he still found lots of food there to eat. It depends on what time of day you are arriving. But if you're not arriving until late, it would be hassle to have to take a bus over to MK, then monorail over to Poly. I'd rather stay right at the hotel and get a fresh start in the morning.

 

[erikthewise]

Kona has excellent food at reasonable prices -- we've never been disappointed there. The worst thing about Kona is that you sometimes have to fight your way through the people waiting for 'Ohana to get to it.

But I would not suggest cancelling Boma to go to Kona. Give Boma a chance!

 

[TexasErin]

Okay, I guess I'll be the dissenting voice. We did not care for Boma at all. It was one of the more expensive meals we had a few trips ago (we don't go to any signature restaurants) and we ended up eating some spicy potatoes (potatoes with afritude) and some prime rib and that was about it. We thought, for us, that it was a huge waste of money.
I know a lot of people LOVE it, but we didn't care for the spices used. (We do tend to be picky eaters...)
We are going to Kona in May and I can't wait....

 

[crisi]

Not a Boma fan. Kona was OK. It wasn't great, but it is a good value for the money.

If you slice WDW restaurants you have the signature spots - and most of them are darn good....Jiko, California Grill, Flying Fish

Then you have the other table service spots...and most of them are pretty good

Both Le Cellier and Kona sort of occupy the space between these two - Le Cellier does a better job, but Kona isn't too bad. The food and atmosphere could both be a little better, but given the prices, its a pretty good deal.

Someone mentioned Jiko. Another option would be to arrive, enjoy the pool, and grab food at the AKL snack bar - Mara. The food there isn't bad at all - and the AKL is a great place to just spend time.

 

[ccw]

LOVED Kona in November...but were very disappointed this past Tuesday night. Clueless and very unengaging server...in stark contrast to our fabulous server Holly who made sure my group had a great meal experience last fall. Food was still very good and I would try it again but would balk if assigned the server we had this trip. Even the teenage boys with us noticed how slack she was. Hope your luck is better! (We did like Boma, too, and thought it was fun to try different foods. And, of course, with teenage boys, we thought it was a BARGAIN!!!!)

 

[SnwflkCts]

We stayed at the Polynesian and LOVED KONA. I even cancelled another ADR so we could eat there a second time. There are sooo many great places to eat ... but KONA is one of the quieter places to have an meal and not feel like you were sitting on the next table occupant's lap!!! The food was wonderful!

Wow - the desserts are FABULOUS!

I can't say enough good things but I hope you get the great service we got -- let's hope the waitress that was slow (see posting above) was having an off day!

 

[zinkie]

In reading some posts, it seems the Kona Cafe has
good food, but the restaurant lacks a lot of ambience
and is dull. Not ever having been there, I can not
relate to this.

I do not have a problem myself as far as having to
have the restaurant fancy looking, don't get me wrong..

If it has good grub, I am in....



What is the restaurant like as for as seating, interior, etc.



Thanks,

Steve

 

[4theloveofdisney]

We loved Kona. Our dinner was excellent and we highly recommend it! Dh had the Macadamia Mahi Mahi and I had the Beef Teriyaki. Both were excellent. Our kids also loved their entrees as well and we all loved the bread basket as well. It was one of our better dinners in the World, hands down.

 

[4theloveofdisney]

In reading some posts, it seems the Kona Cafe has
good food, but the restaurant lacks a lot of ambience
and is dull. Not ever having been there, I can not
relate to this.

I do not have a problem myself as far as having to
have the restaurant fancy looking, don't get me wrong..

If it has good grub, I am in....



What is the restaurant like as for as seating, interior, etc.



Thanks,

Steve

The tables are spaced well apart, it's open to the lobby and the interior is simple but upscale.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We ate at Kona for dinner last year and I did not really care for my dinner. There are many more places I would pick before Kona. If your staying at AKL you should give Jiko a try, it is our favorite place to dine. Why do you think that you would not enjoy Boma ?. We have eaten there twice and enjoyed it both times.

 

[zinkie]

After showing the Wife and DDs the Boma menu, they were reluctant to even want to go to Boma.. I would give it a try, but they wanted me to look elsewhere..

I am on the DDP, so I would like to have a dinner for 1 TS for this first night..

If we do opt to go to Kona, I would have to figure out how to actually get to Kona Cafe from AKL....


Any others have experiences with Kona??

 

[SnowWitch]

We love Kona!! Good appetizers and entrees. Fabulous desserts. My DH proclaims they have the best coffee on property.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I wouldn't hike over there from AKL on your first day. If you haven't been to AKL yet - you will soon realize that you don't want to leave that first day! It's a beautiful resort with lots of things to explore.

We hiked from WL to Poly for breakfast at Kona and *we* thought that was too much trouble for it - and WL is nothing like the hike from AKL!

Consider Mara and some pooltime or exploring time instead of hiking. AKL is a bit out of the way from other things and really does take sometime to travel other places. Consider doing Kona on a MK day instead.

 

[Jaxs27]

The food was wonderful. This was our favorite place the whole trip.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

From AKL take the bus to MK then ride the monorail to the Poly. Allow plenty of time for this.
Depending on what time you finish dinner you might be able to catch the fireworks at MK or the Electrical Water Pageant before you call it a night.

Since you are on the Dining Plan I will tell you that Kona was one of the very best values for 1 credit. We ate at Yachtsman earlier in the trip and our bill was $130 but it cost us 2 credits each since it is signature. Our bill at Kona was $95 and cost 1 credit each. We were allowed to add the side of shrimp to both adult entrees - very tasty. DH has told me repeatedly that he refuses to go to any signature places next trip because we can do just fine at regular TS places.

 

[Leota]

Kona is one of my favorite WDW dining spots. Sure, it's no signature restaurant, but the food has always been consistenly good on our trips there. We usually go at least once a trip for lunch & had dinner there several times as well. The Kona Chowder is delish.

I highly recommend it. But, as others have said, it'll be quite a trek on your first day from AKL. Boma isn't my favorite dinner on property, but it's really pretty decent for a buffet. It's not as weird as you might think. If you do decide to go to Kona, plan on about 1 & a quarter hours to get there by Disney Transportation or about $20 each way cab fare.