Boma or Ohana?

[youalleverybody]

Help us decide! We plan to eat mostly counter service this trip. Staying offsite, so most suppers will be at hotel or offsite restaurant. But we would like to try one of these. We are all pretty adventurous eaters, and we will have a car.

Pros/cons of either?

I'm leaning toward Boma, most of the rest of the family thinks Ohana sounds better.

[Lisa]

Ooh, I'm interested to see the responses to this. I've not been to O'hana for years, and I haven't been to Boma yet. Going to try to do both next June, though.

[josh]

You're going to get in trouble if you call it O'hana :RpS_crying: (hint: the apostrophe goes at the beginning)

That's a tough choice and I don't think there's any clear winner. I prefer Ohana, but only because I reminisce about visiting as a child. Do you have very young kids? Ohana has always been louder, to the point of being annoying, but it can be fun for the kids to run around the restaurant playing the various games. Boma has a lot going for it, but it isn't as good as it used to be in my opinion.

[Lisa]

Doh! Slip of the fingers! (Yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) :RpS_wink:

[josh]

Yeah, O'hana throws people off like Tangierine Cafe. I've only been to Boma three times so take that review with a grain of salt. These things can be so hit or miss and there are so many restaurants that it's just impossible to revisit them all constantly.

[Janine]

The good news is that you can't go wrong with either choice. I'm biased though, as you listed two of my favorite restaurants in WDW. I think 'Ohana will be more fun for kids - limbo, parade with marrakas (sp) - probably more fun for the adults, for that matter. It's got a great vibe. At 'Ohana, they bring the food to you - grilled pork, steak, chicken, gigantic shrimp - and there are amazing noodles, broccoli and pork dumplings on the table.

Boma is regular food, but it's prepared with different aromatics and sauces, and it's excellent - the soups are amazing. They encourage you to try everything, which you should do.

I will say that I have read bad reviews about Boma (as well as lots and lots of great reviews), but I don't think I've read a bad review about 'Ohana.

I think I'm leaning more towards suggesting 'Ohana.

[lisapennie]

Personally, it's hard for me to get super excited about meat - and that's basically what 'Ohana is. Boma, I think, is a lot more interesting and offers a wider spread which I personally find appealing.

[atlgator]

I much prefer family style over multiple trips to a buffet, and 'Ohana is served family style. I have never eaten at Boma for dinner so I can't compare the food. The food (specifically the meat) at 'Ohana was better the second time we ate there. It was just ok the first time we ate there, but the atmosphere was fun and we love the Polynesian so we tried it again. We'll definitely eat there again in the future.

[ellie]

I've always loved the variety at Boma... but we ate at 'Ohana last time and it was fantastic! The bread pudding was worth going back for and I have never liked bread pudding. I'm no longer sure which I'd pick if only one.

[Brandie]

We've eaten at Boma once and it was enough for us. We eat at 'Ohana as often as we can!

[stevenmilz]

Just as an aside, we are throwing the second annual "luau" for our 20s/30s/40s group from church in 1½ weeks and the menu is 'Ohana themed -- I'm using recipes found on Allears and the DIS board to do steak, pork and chicken skewers, dinner bread, bread pudding, stir fry veges, and the old maui potatoes (noodles are too much work). Haven't tried to do any of the recipes yet, so hopefully this works out OK! :RpS_blink:

[Janine]

Good luck!

[bnoble]

We are all pretty adventurous eaters,
In that case, Boma. 'Ohana is good, too though, so it is hard to go wrong.

[Keri]

I have enjoyed both several times, but I think that with five kids, I'd opt for 'Ohana. I think it would be a little more relaxing to be served instead of multiple trips to the buffet line, and the atmosphere at 'Ohana is so festive. Hard not to get excited with the castle right out the window!

[Brandie]

Just as an aside, we are throwing the second annual "luau" for our 20s/30s/40s group from church in 1½ weeks and the menu is 'Ohana themed -- I'm using recipes found on Allears and the DIS board to do steak, pork and chicken skewers, dinner bread, bread pudding, stir fry veges, and the old maui potatoes (noodles are too much work). Haven't tried to do any of the recipes yet, so hopefully this works out OK! :RpS_blink:

I love their bread pudding! Let us know how it turns out, please.

[youalleverybody]

Wow, thanks everyone for your responses. Several of you made an excellent point....that family style service is easier than buffet when you have little children. Our youngest two will be 3 and 5 on this trip, so they still need help at a buffet. I think I'm sold on 'Ohana this time. To be honest, I've been wanting to try 'Ohana for years, but I read a few bad reviews (fatty meat, shrimp not deveined, shoddy service) that are making me hesitate. HOpefully we will be there on a night when everything is yummy. The entertainment and games will help as well. That's one of the things our family enjoyed about Biergarten. My husband and I were able to enjoy our meal--without rushing--because the kids were on the dance floor.

[bnoble]

I missed the young kids angle the first time around. Mine are now self-sufficient at the buffet, but back in they day, I also greatly preferred family-style service. Good choice.

[stevenmilz]

Still off the original topic, but I'm just following up on my "aside" I previously posted...

I am happy to report that our 'Ohana-inspired luau party for our church group went quite well on Saturday, despite the monsoon-like conditions we had to deal with. We got about 7 or 8 inches of rain in a 36-hour period Sat and Sun. Yours truly was grilling meat skewers in quite the downpour.

The menu consisted of marinated beef (http://allears.net/din/recipes/rec_bm.htm), chicken (http://www.talkdisney.com/forums/disney-recipes/43946-white-meat-marinade-ohana-polynesian.html#axzz1STufjhqg)and pork tenderloin (plain, non-'Ohana teriyaki), vegetable stir fry using the old green beans (http://allears.net/din/recipes/rec_gb.htm)sauce recipe, and the old maui potatoes (http://allears.net/din/recipes/rec_maui.htm) instead of the current lo mein noodles (would have been way too much work). I have never had the potatoes at 'Ohana, but folks who have said the taste was spot-on, just a little saltier. The beef marinade was excellent as were the veges. I had wanted to make the 'Ohana dinner bread, but unforeseen events during the week left me short on time, so that had to be cut. Dessert was the bread pudding (http://allears.net/din/recipes/rec_obp.htm), which my mother-in-law said was probably the best bread pudding she's ever had. I did opt for an easier bananas foster sauce than the 'Ohana recipe -- too much work and too little time to accomplish making the sauce.

All in all, quite the success in bringing the flavors of 'Ohana a couple hundred miles northwest to the FL panhandle (if I must say so myself...) :RpS_wink:

[3Caballeros]

Boma or Ohana:

I love Boma. I really like Ohana. Love vs. Like. Boma it is!

They're both awesome!:RpS_biggrin: