Boma review

[tinksmom02]

I really hesitate posting this, I know I'm going to be in the minority here. Believe me, I don't want to be in the minority. I was really, REALLY looking forward to dining here and truly wanted it to be a wonderful experience!

But, it wasn't to be...

Monday, September 24
Me, 31,
DH, 37
DD 5 kind of a picky eater

We leave ourselves plenty of time to head over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I am so excited for this reservation! We walk into the lobby and off to the left there is a check-in stand for Boma. It’s 4:45; our reservation is for 5. I explain that we’re early, the CM tells me no problem and sets me up with a pager. We head off to explore the gift shop (got myself an AKL pin) and the lobby, and stumble upon a children’s activity just getting underway in the sunset lounge. It’s called Music of the Savannah, and Jenna is anxious to try it, so Mark parks himself in a chair (and takes a little snooze), and I peek out the balcony to watch a giraffe for a few minutes. The music thing was pretty cute--all the kids were given an instrument; each instrument represented a sound from the circle of life, rain, plants, animals. The activity had a not-too-subtle conservation/preservation theme, but most of the kids were too young to grasp it. The cast members were really enjoying themselves, though, and the kids really got into it. At the end of the activity, each child was given a bead on a twine necklace.

By now it’s 5:30 and I’m getting a little aggravated. Fortunately, unlike dinner at Ohana’s the night before, Jenna was kept busy and didn’t mind the wait. Mark and I were starving, however. We decide to head downstairs to the restaurant to find out what’s up. Head to the check-in area, and guess what? My reservation is gone! They have no record of my making an ADR, they have no record of my pager number, nothing. Not only that, but they have no reasoning for why this happened, and no apologies, either. I understand that it’s not this front desk’s fault, but someone should have simply said, “I’m so sorry for the confusion. We’ll get you seated promptly.” That’s all I was looking for. Instead I got a shrug, and we were seated with indifference. We were not explained how the buffet worked at all, we were told that our server would go over everything with us.

Guess what? He didn’t. He barely breezed by to take a drink order, and told us to help ourselves. ??? So I head up with Jenna to try and muddle through all the pods by myself. Luckily, everything is labeled pretty well, so I just start at one end and take a little of everything. Finding something for Jenna, however, is not so easy. The kids section is very bland. She picks out some cornbread, and mac and cheese. Yuck, it’s yellow macaroni, it has no flavor at all!

I fare a little better. I bravely tried a little of almost everything on the buffet, but not much impressed me. The pork was good, but it tasted like pork, nothing special. I didn’t really care for any of the items on the buffet. I filled up, but I didn’t really enjoy anything, until I hit the soups. Mark enjoyed two bowls of the seafood gumbo, and I had 2 bowls of the Mulligatawny soup. I decided to hit the dessert pod, and here is where we found heaven! The zebra domes were everything we expected, and then some! I enjoyed some type of pudding-like dessert, it had coconut in it, and there was a warning that it contained alcohol. Was that the cocomisu? Not sure. It was yummy, though.

Oh, we had drinks during dinner, as well. I had a Pretoria Punch, which was very good, and Mark had an African Rum Runner, which was not so good. LOL He kept adding fruit from the buffet to his drink, trying to make it better. Didn’t work, though.

Drinks cost us $18.68, 18% gratuity included. Dinner would have cost us $79.65 if not for the DDP. Our server did not get a penny more than the automatic 18%, and if it wasn’t included, he wouldn’t have gotten that. I’m sad to say that we really didn’t enjoy our meal at all, and will probably never return here. BUT, that just leaves more seats for those who love it!

OK, please be gentle on me. I tried to love this place, I really did!

[Jared]

I'll take the table you're relinquishing!

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience at Boma. It's one of my absolute favorite restaurants, so I hope you just hit a bad night.

[Tink#64]

Ok, now I'm a little concerned. Actually I already was. DS's are kind of finicky eaters, (I'm not even sure how much there is that I will eat) but I know DH would love the buffet & I'd really like to check out the AKL. Each trip we plan a meal at a different resort, and we really enjoy checking everything out & all the new experiences! I'm sure we'll still plan for Boma, and maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised!

I'm sorry that your experience wasn't all that you'd hoped it would be.

[SpecJoe Magic]

Both my wife and I enjoyed Boma very much. I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. Our waitress did explain to us everything about the buffet, but it sounds like you just happened to get not such a good waiter. I think it's difficult for a picky eater to enjoy Boma because everything there is so different from what we eat most of the time, and I wouldn't want to take kids there now that I know how little there is for young children to choose from, especially if they are picky eaters. I'm certainly not suggesting that you and your spouse are picky eaters. I'm just making an observation based on what I now know about Boma. It's just one of those places that one has to try to know for sure whether or not he or she likes it. At least now you'll know to steer clear of it in the future. As for my wife and myself, we might eat there again in the future.

[Mnchknbrat1982]

sorry you guys had such a bad experience here. Makes me glad I decided against making an ADR here since Alan & I are both kinda picky.

[Sinewiz]

Sorry you didn't enjoy yourself. I've eaten there no less than eight times and it's never been anything but a pleasant experience.

[dolphinmickey9170]

I'll be trying it for the first time in December....I can't wait!

[azdisneymom]

I am so sorry you had a bad experience. I can certainly understand why you were not happy. My family has eaten there several times and always had good service. One CM was probably the best server we have had anywhere, including overseas and I made sure the manager knew it. I know during thundershowers the wait got a little long because of all the 'walk ins' but even then we never waited longer than 30 minutes without ADR's. Please give Boma another chance. You might be surprised.

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Some of our party are ready to give up Boma and try something new and some of us (me) still enjoy it. I really like the soups, hummus, salad (calamari salad is awesome), desserts, etc.

My DH and sis weren't really thrilled during our July trip. I guess an Adr there every vacation is making it a little boring

[LibertyTreeGal]

Oh, I am so sorry, what a yucky experience!!

["SULLEY "RULES!!]

My husband and I will be trying it for the first time on November 14th for dinner right after enjoying ourselves at Animal Kingdom that day. I've heard many excellent reviews for Bomas and one of moms where I teach, says it's wonderful!!!!!!! I'm looking forward in trying and experiencing it for ourselves.

[tinksmom02]

Oh, please don't take my review as a plea not to try it! That was not my intention at all, I just wanted to let you all know that my experience was less than stellar.

Mark and I are not picky, by any means. Jenna can be, but I figured as long as they had mac and cheese, she'd be fine. Actually, she ate lots of cornbread and fruit, so she got some nutrition that night LOL

I don't consider myself that adventurous of an eater, but I will try new things. It just seemed that nothing really jumped out at me, except the desserts LOL

Like i said, I really tried to love it, and I can appreciate that many of you do love it. In the end, it just wasn't for us. But I'm glad we were able to experience it, and know that for ourselves!

[EmmMOM2]

I've never enjoyed boma's food. Though i am a pretty picky eater. Sorry you had a bad experience. It's not one of my favs.

[Marilyn Michetti]

Ohhhhhhhh,,,so sorry you didn't have a good experience. Boma's is the one place that I would fly to Fl from Az just to have dinner if we could afford it.

[illini]

I always get a little feeling of "whew" when someone else doesn't like Boma. I'm SO not a picky eater, but I just didn't like it. Soups were great, prime rib was fab (though I suspect I just got lucky on that), and that was it. I thought everything else was bland. I also was so excited to try it and just sure I'd love it.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it, but at least I feel a little less alone over in my non-Boma corner!

[KarenP]

Thanks for your review. I am sorry you did not like Boma but you are not alone. I tried it twice and did not care for the food. I think there is a spice that is on a lot of the food that I do not like. It may be curry. I am not sure.

I do agree the desserts were wonderful though. I also enjoyed the breads and hummus.

[The Bookseller]

Tinksmom02, I am saddened by the fact that you had a bad experience at Boma. Even if this restaurant is one of my favorite, I can understand your reaction. Things like poor service and a doubtful choice of food can really mess with any experience.

Nevertheless, you have the right to NOT love a restaurant. Even if I believe that you have hit Boma on a bad day, you have the right to your own experience.

I hope the rest of the trip went well.

[MickeyandTink]

We had a similar experience at Boma. We had reservations at 6:15, but it was nearly 7:00 before we were seated. Our waitress was practically non-existent and I was on my second plate before she showed up to take my drink order. On the plus side, they had a juice blend drink (Pineapple, passion fruit and mango, I think), that was very tasty. DW and I kept trying to get it at all the other dinners, but no such luck.

As for the food, the soups were absolutely fabulous and many of the side dishes were excellent as well. However, the meat dishes were dry and nothing special. The desserts were mixed. The bread pudding was great, but we were all very dissappointed in the zebra domes. One bite each was all we had (or wanted). Also, the atmosphere at the AKL is really nice.

I would certainly like to go back next time, but it is not a "must do".