Our dinner ADR was at Boma at 8pm. We arrived a bit early and explored AKL before checking in. Of course, Boma was busy as usual so we got our pager and went in search of an uncrowded area with somewhere to sit. We went outside toward the pool area and grabbed a rock near the entrance to the hotel. After a few minutes the pager began giving off some very faint beeping noisesmuch fainter than any other pager Ive hadbut wasnt buzzing. I assumed that meant they were ready for us and we went back in. upon turning in the pager the person looked for our name and then looked up and said, Im sorry but were running about 15 minutes behind so were not ready for you just yet as if we were just impatient. I replied that the pager had been making noises and I assumed that was the page. Another person behind the podium explained that if you go out of range of the page the pager will talk to you and let you know. Well back outside we went. This time we spotted an area with tables and chairs down toward the Mara so we walked that way. Except 2/3s of the way there, the pager said out of range or something like that. So GF sat at the tables, while I walked back into the waiting area inside the hotel. Within a few minutes the pager began buzzingI was sure this was the real thing this time! I went and got GF and we were seated.
We had a seat that was kind of in the middle of things and very close to the table next to us. This, along with the crowdedness and noise didnt make for the best atmosphere, especially for GF. Our server came over and asked if we were staying at a Disney resort and then if we had the
DDP. She alerted us that we could each have 1 regular drink (soda, iced tea) and 1 specialty drink (smoothie). We both thought it was really nice that Boma let you get two drinks! I opted for a Mango Smoothie while GF asked if she could have one of the press pots of coffee in place of the smoothieshe could. We both opted just to have water in addition to the smoothie and coffee since it was a buffet, and wed need all the room in our stomachs we could save for the food. We both tried to start out with only a few small things on our plate for good picture taking. Luckily, I think this also helped us not stuff ourselves too badly too early on.
I tried the butternut squash soup, 3 kinds of hummus, watermelon rind salad, watermelon and feta (I think) salad, lentils, pasta salad, and cous cous on the first plate. And potatoes with afritude, fufu, falafel, mac n cheese, bread, rice, and tufu and green beans on the second.
GF had rice, ribs, prime rib, potatoes with afritude and bread on her first plate and some type of lentil and sausage soup. On her second plate she tried the fufu, coconut rice, and coconut crusted salmon and an unidentifiable item. I didnt get pictures of the last plate, but it was mostly just her favorites from these two plates.
For dessert I got there first and tried one of everything while GF was still working on her last plate of non-dessert food. GF then got to taste all of mine and decide which she liked and didnt like, and ended up getting only a few things for herself (no picture of her plate). My plate includes chai rice pudding, a zebra dome, peach cobbler, a milk tart, banana bread pudding, and unidentifiable object, cheesecake, and some type of tart with fruit cream in it.
My favorites were the butternut squash soup, hummus, the potatoes, the fufu, and the coconut rice I ate off of GFs plate. And I didnt care for the tofu and green beans (had a sauce that wasnt really pleasant to me) or the watermelon rind salad (too hot, I think). We both thought the falafel tasted strangenot badas if it was made with potato and the pasta salad had some strong spices, maybe cumin, which I didnt love and GF disliked. We had read some reviews of Boma which indicated that it tasted like everything on the buffet had been doused in cinnamon or ginger. While we didnt agree with that, we did think that there were numerous itemslike pasta salad and potato saladof which one has a very specific idea how they will taste. And at Boma, they taste nothing like that idea, and that is a little disturbing. Even though we liked a lot of the other items, these werent that pleasing to us. Moral of the story: dont stick to what you already know you like at Boma (youll be disappointed) try new and different things. GFs favorites were the prime rib (which she said was good, but not better than anywhere else one can get prime rib) and the coconut rice which had bits of coconut right in with the rice. She thought the coconut rice had a great texture b/c of the almost crispy coconut, and a mild, slightly sweet taste. She also liked the olive hummus best of the 3. As far as dessert, the cheesecake was very goodmuch sharper than the one we had at Tusker Houseand I liked the zebra dome a lot (much too sweet for GF), and we both really liked the milk tart. The milk tart had a texture somewhat like cheesecake, but wasnt made of cheese. It seemed somewhat denser and stickier than cheesecake as if maybe it was made with sweetened condensed milk -- It was rich and moderately sweet like cheesecake, though.
The coffee was a lot better than the Nescafe stuffit was excellent, in fact, says GF. Very dark and strong with a hint of some other flavor, either chicory or spice of some kind. The smoothie was also very good, though it tasted more like orange than mango. It was nice that we could have these options for our drink and nice that our server told us about them right away (though she probably benefited from our getting them as it increased the bill and hence her tip).
2 TS Credits
2 Buffets51.98
Mango Smoothie3.99
Press Pot5.99
Tip11.15
Tax4.03
Total77.14
Food 2.5/3 out of 5Though I definitely enjoyed myself and loved having all of those vegetarian options (probably the most veggie options in Disney), I wasnt as thrilled with Boma as I remember being. Perhaps its because we were on the DDP and had great places to eat every night. I did enjoy dessert much more than dinner.
Atmosphere: 1 out of 5It was very crowded, noisy, full of children (GF thought these particular children were more bratty and badly behaved than the kids weve seen in other restaurants maybe because its a buffet?), tables were close together, and every time Ive gone Ive had to wait in a crowded areanot for the anxious. It is a buffet though and it is very good, so its to be expected. I think it also didnt help that we had gone to two signature restaurants the night before, as GF wasnt prepared for the 1 credit restaurants which tend to have a lot more children, noise, and crowds.
Both of us agreed we enjoyed it enough to come back, but were not dying to do its not necessarily a must do. Plus all you care to eat places just increase the likelihood of us overeating and causing ourselves pain (which GF did but I managed to mostly avoid).