Anything at the Poly is delightful! I could eat just those pot stickers for a week and never get tired of them. The portions at Disney are so large. At most table service restaurants you can share meals or order appetizers and pay about the same as a quick service meal. Mid day breaks at sit down restaurants is a great way for you and your family to cool down and refresh.
I am a major foodie! I love food, when we travel I get more excited about which restaurants we will eat at then anything else. I have a bucket list for Disney locations (this includes Walt Disney World, DisneyLand, and Disney Cruise lines). Kona Cafe has been on my list since I first starting learning about Disney vacations 5 years ago. While I was working towards Couponing to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, I was able to meet my goal 2 weeks early and decided I was going to work towards eating at one of my bucket list restaurants.
I was undecided between Kona Cafe or Sanaa. My grandma was going with me. I asked her which she would prefer and showed her a few videos of each and the menu. She choose Kona Cafe. I had looked at the menu a hundred times before my actual visit. If I don’t, then I sit for an hour in the restaurant staring at the menu. It is so hard for me to choose which new foods to try. Since they all excite me so much! I was undecided between the catch of the day or sushi. I am not a a huge sushi person but I do really enjoy tuna rolls. In case you haven’t heard Kona Cafe is known for the sushi, french press, and Tonga toast. That is what everyone talks about when they mention Kona Cafe.
It was 3 PM on a hot October day in Florida. That mean’t Tonga toast and a french press was out of the question at least for me! I decided I wanted to eat light. That way I could indulge on all the fun Halloween treats during the party, and more importantly not be miserable walking around the Magic Kingdom. If you have never over indulged then went out walking in 90 degree heat trust me don’t do it! I made that mistake on our trip in May of 2017. I told myself never again!
I had Kathy (Kristin’s mother in law), my grandma, and my daughter with me that day. As soon as we were seated the waitress brought out the AMAZING bread with macadamia butter. It sounds weird..but it is delicious! We ordered pot stickers to share. They came with 4, while it was only 4 for $9.00, each was really full of the stuffing. By Disney standards this is a great value for the amount you get for the cost. We each drank water. The water was filtered. I didn’t ask for it to be. Some places will automatically bring you filtered water others will bring you tap water. I wanted to test it and see what I was given. For this level of a restaurant I would expect filtered water. As usual Disney didn’t disappoint me!
On to the fun part…what we ordered! We all ordered what we wanted. I scrimp and save all year long. The last thing I want to do during a special meal like this is worry about the cost. Kathy ordered the grilled chili dusted shrimp it was served on a bed of lettuce. She really enjoyed it and said it did have a light spice taste but not to much heat. Kathy left about half of it on the plate. It was enough for 2 people to share. It was more like a salad. The menu doesn’t say that. It is a little misleading. My grandma ordered the Kona crab cake. The quality of the crab meat was superb. The pineapple relish that came with it was good. When you ate a bit of crab cake with the pineapple relish it really gave it a different taste. While it was pleasant, without the relish it was just a basic crab cake. It did come with 2 nicely sized crab cakes. Chloe ordered the sticky wings. I have heard they are the same ones served next door at Ohana’s. It was a very generous portion size for it to be an appetizer, the plate had 6 large wings. Chloe liked them the taste was good. Not the best wings she or I have ever had but satisfying. The star of this meal for me was my Hamachi tuna-cilantro roll. It was everything I want sushi to be and more! The roll was fresh, it didn’t have the weird taste sushi gets sometimes when it sits to long. I could tell the tuna was fresh as well. It also didn’t have a fishy taste. The portion was large as well, I believe it had 10 pieces. I struggled to finish the whole plate. No one else likes sushi, I was on my own! I just couldn’t leave those delicious little bites on my plate. I ate them.
Overall, I think this is a great hidden gem when it comes to the value you get! The crab cake, dumplings, and sticky wings where all appetizers. That is 3 out of the 6 appetizers offered and they where all large portions. I am sure the other appetizers are large portions as well. You could just order appetizers instead of getting the more expensive entree options or share an entree. The whole restaurant had a laid back relaxed vibe. This would be a great place to go for a late breakfast or lunch. Added bonus you will get an air conditioned break from the hustle and bustle of the parks. From the time we sat down until we got up to leave it was a little over an hour. It would of been faster but we took a little time looking at the menu. It took us 10 minutes to get from the Magic Kingdom to the Polynesian an another 10 minutes to get back. I would budget an hour and half total time to leave the parks, eat, and return. The really interesting thing is, this table service restaurant including tip was almost the same cost as a quick service option for 4 people.
I had budgeted $125.00 for this meal. Below is a breakdown of the cost.
Pot Stickers – $9.00
Hamachi Tuna-Cilantro Roll – $17.00
Sticky Wings – $10.00
Crab Cakes – $13.00
Chili Shrimp Salad – $18.00
4 Waters – $0.00
Tip – $14.00
Annual Passholder Discount 10% (Kathy is an AP holder) – $6.70
Total: $78.22
(Thanks, Brandy)
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