We chose Boma for our special Christmas Day meal! Having never been there, I was super excited to check it out. Tim was so excited because we’ve eaten at The Mara and he loved their African Stew “Potjie”. To have the opportunity to eat a lot of new and more exotic food? This was his Christmas gift you guys. This was one of the days we skipped lunch, because we ate at Akershus for Christmas Day breakfast.
We arrived a bit early to enjoy the decorations of Animal Kingdom Lodge- this place is on my bucket list as far as places to stay. Someday, you beautiful resort you.
So the first thing to know is that Boma is NOT a character meal. Located in Jambo House of Animal Kingdom Lodge, you descend the stairs (or take the elevator) from the lobby to this beautiful African Marketplace themed restaurant. We headed down to check in at 4:20 (our reservation time) and had about a ten minute wait. Not too bad.
If you’re lucky, like we were, you might even score a table with a view! This restaurant was a little hectic, but we were also there on Christmas Day, seated in the far back corner as far away from the start of the buffet as possible. Still- we had a cool window, so I’m not mad at it.
The waitress was a bit slow coming to take our drink order- and I had Miss Bongo’s plate done, Tim had his food and I was about to leave to get mine when the drinks finally arrived. Our server was nice, but plates did pile up pretty high and she often seemed a bit overwhelmed. Hey- I get it. It’s not like the place was empty. Still, this wasn’t a place we received standout service.
Tim ordered a Blue Glowtini (with Glow Cube souvenir!), while I had a Bahama Mama and Miss Bongo had a (non-alcholic) Lava Smoothie, which she absolutely loved. All the drinks were delicious and well balanced
The line backed up over near the carving stations- it was odd, instead of having two lines of the same food like you might find at most buffets, Boma was one long line, starting near the carving stations and then winding the length of the restaurant to end at desserts. There is a lot of food here guys- and while some of it is indeed exotic fare, like bobotie or curried coconut seafood stew, there was plenty for more picky eaters- at Christmas we had turkey, ham, as well as steak on the carving station! There was also rotisserie chicken, salmon- oh my gosh I could have gotten a plate just of meat and I would have been happy. Instead, I acted like a grown-up and even tried a few new things, like the Tunisian Couscous salad and plantain chips.
This is a fantastic restaurant if you’re interested in trying new things, but want the “comfort zone” of food you know you like already- like steak, mashed potatoes and salad. This is one of the things that appealed to me when booking- because this isn’t a split buffet like some of the others, you get one long line of a ton of new foods to try. Most of the people in front of me didn’t even make it halfway down the line before declaring their plates too full to continue. So there are a ton of options here! My husband lived his best life, shunning most of the more American options in favor of trying new foods. He enjoyed the food, but wished the buffet had been easier to navigate, since going back for seconds meant rejoining the backed up line.
The food all tasted fresh. The meat was all high quality- and I don’t think I can call a single thing that I tried “bland”
My daughter ate well here, enjoying the kid’s station, which had pasta and meatballs- her absolute favorite thing.
DESSERTS! You know we gotta talk about desserts. Boma has my absolutely favorite thing in the world- Zebra Domes! Yes, I totally splurged on two and I’m not even sorry about it. They are lucky I didn’t go back and get another plate full of nothing but these delicious treats. The desserts were all fresh and delicious, though the mini brownie bite and mini cupcake were pretty standard. There is nothing that stands out to me as the most amazing dessert I wasn’t expecting to find but I can tell you they were all solid, fresh choices and those zebra domes. Yuuuum.
Would we go back here? Certainly! Tim lived his best life eating exotic and interesting fare, while Miss Bongo and I weren’t left out in the cold. While it’s still not quite 1900 Park Fare for me, I would rate it above Hollywood & Vine. Tim rates it below Hollywood & Vine, because he’s trying to make it complicated for us. He says the characters and the food made Hollywood & Vine a better experience for the price. I’m saying from a pickier standpoint, I was happier with the food at Boma (surprisingly), because I felt like I had more options. Clear as mud?