Reviews of Kona Cafe at the Poly?

[CJK]

A lot of you have recommended the Kona Cafe to us. I'd like to hear more about it. Your thoughts on food, price, ambiance? I actually didn't realize it was a restaurant! I thought it was basically just a bar! Thanks for any input!

 

[CamColt]

We love the Kona Cafe!
While Ive heard mixed reviews about the atmosphere, I feel the atmosphere is wonderful. I love the whole feeling to the Polynesian and sitting right up along the railing, with a view of the atrium was great.
The service has been top notch all 4 times we have eaten there.
The food is incredible too. The Beef Terryaki for dinner and Tonga Toast for breakfast are my favorites.
As for price, it seems to be on par with most restaurants around here and also in WDW(maybe a little cheaper?)
If you couldnt tell we enjoy it there very much!

 

[Kim&Chris]

We LOVE the Kona Cafe, and plan on dining there a few more times in December.

The food is delicious! The portions were huge (my husband was actually filled-up after breakfast!). I had regular french toast and it was great........hubby had the Tonga toast and thought it was one of the best breakfasts he'd ever had.

I highly recommend this place

 

[Dana_Buckley]

We were there for lunch & dinner and both were wonderful! For lunch I had the BBQ sandwich, DH had a noodle bowl that he liked, uncle had a great burger & aunt had chicken sandwich was v. good. The smoothies are great too. The service is great. The atmosphere is very open. I highly recommend it, now I want to go back!

 

[Krissalee]

I've had lunch at Kona, and just booked dinner for December beofre MVMCP!

Our lunch was really good. We shared a variety of appetizers: sticky wings, pot stickers, and crab cakes. All were absolutely fantastic! We split the chicken sandwich, which was standard. We really loved the desserts, too: Kilauea Torte, and KoKo Puffs.

I am looking forward to dinner - I've checked out the menus, and the Macadamia Crusted Mahi looks incredible!
I'll start with some scrumptious apps of course!

Krissy

 

[A1A1]

I will be the dissenter, sorry. Family ate breakfast at Kona, and were disappointed. The food was average. The server was very rude. I spoke to the manager about something that she said to our family as she walked away from our table. I can say that I would not go out of my way to eat there again. I would probably eat there if I was staying at Poly, but I would ask not to be seated with this particular server. We were very rushed, as it was Sunday after the church services let out. The server did not like the fact that we weren't ready to order and needed another minute. She made that perfectly clear with one of her comments. I was shocked. I was feeling very "Godly" after church, and was caught completely off guard by this server. Anyway, we wouldn't go back. I think there are better places to eat breakfast.

 

[cord]

I didn't really care for Kona either. Our food wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. Our service was just average. I wouldn't eat there again. There are so many good places to eat at Disney, I just wouldn't want to waste a meal on something so average.

 

[FunkyLamb]

Tonga Toast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all you need to know.

 

[cord]

Ok, I do like the Tonga Toast and I did have it for room service a morning or two...maybe the Kona isn't all bad.

 

[dbail2]

The deserts are wonderful.......

 

[chrissyk]

DH and I ate there for breakfast twice and lunch once on our trip to WDW in May. We loved it! I agree that the Tonga Toast is delicious, but it's a bit greasy so is probably best saved for once-in-a-while treat

 

[TigerBear]

Have you seen the menu?

http://wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm

 

[Beanie]

We ate at Kona Cafe for Lunch while there in April this year and we loved it...I had the Kona Wrap, which is Turkey, lettuce, cheese and tomatoes wrapped in a great pita! DH had the Island Chicken Sandwich, he said it was excellent!! Kids had Chicken Fingers and French Fries...for dessert we all shared the Koko Puffs, which were incredible!!! We would definitely go back there again!

On a side note, I did have the Tonga Toast off room service at the AKL while staying there and I don't know if it is the same as they make at the Poly, but I did not like this...It was wayyyyyy to sweet for me!! LOL

 

[Talky_Tina]

I didn't like the Kona Cafe. The ginger soup didn't taste good at all. I had two spoonfulls and couldn't eat any more, but maybe that was just me. Our server was rude. She acted as if we were interupting her social hour with her co-worker and I couldn't wait to get out of there. There were only two tables occupied in the entire restaurant that afternoon, so it was not a case of work overload.
At Captain Cooks (the food court at the Poly) we were treated like royalty by the sweetest person working behind the cash register. She always had a smile on her face and something nice to say. It was a pleasure going there.
Our Kona experience was a few years ago and since we will be staying at the Poly in Dec, I am going to give the Kona another whirl or two just to try the TONGA TOAST!
Hopefully when I return, I will be able to give the Kona a glowing report (after I work off the TONGA TOAST!).

PS, thank you for posting the menus!

 

[CJK]

Decisions, decisions!! Wow - thanks for all the great information! I'm very curious about the tonga toast. Is it similar to french toast - only with banana? Now comes the hard part of making up my mind!!! Thanks again everyone!

 

[PiperG]

Not only was the food wonderful but the service was impecible. DS 5 is allergic to nuts. The CM serving us took the bread away because it was made off site and he could not guarantee it was nut free. He apparently made some inquiries and found out the bread was made without any nut products.

A wonderful experience.

 

[Wilma Flintstone]

I loved the Kona Cafe when my family ate there last July. The open ambience and delicious offerings for lunch satisfied the picky 17 year-old son as well as the health-conscious 40+ year-olds. A CM in a foul mood certainly can change your opinion about a restaurant or hotel, but I always try to fill out those opinion slips they put in your room asking about a particular cast member who was wonderful/sweet/organized--whatever. If a cast member was not promoting the "Disney Spirit" I usually chalk it up to a bad day. But I do try to let "them" know when a CM went out of his/her way for me. Have fun on your trip CJK--be adventurous-- resort-hop and try different restaurants. This is one of my favorite things to do at WDW, since I've been there 11 times already.
All the best, Wilma

 

[LKS]

My husband and I ate there in June after I read all of the recommendations here. We probably wouldn't go back. It wasn't awful, but we both had the macadamia crusted Mahi and it was only average. Somehow when I think crusted, I expect a crust. There was just a smear of something macadamia colored on the fish. The veggies were better than the fish. The desserts, which were the main reason we came, were too sweet for us. I had the Torte - Way, way too chocolate, but maybe just not for me. My husband had the coco puffs. We both left unfinished dessert on our plates. Definitely not our usual style.

Just as a reference, we loved Artist Pointe, Coral Reef, Teppanyaki, and V&A (who wouldn't).