REVIEW: Why This Disney World Restaurant Is Everyone’s Favorite

When it comes to favorite restaurants in Disney World, buffets don’t always make our list, but one is usually the exception.

That restaurant is Boma at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, and if you’ve ever dined there, you’ll know that it’s an exceptional buffet that delivers unique tasty African-inspired dishes. However, has that changed over the years? We decided to revisit Boma to find out.

Background

Boma — Flavors of Africa offers an all-you-eat buffet dining experience for breakfast and dinner. The restaurant gives you a chance to sample a variety of African dishes, while also offering some American favorites.

Atmosphere

The term “boma” refers to a fence made of sticks and you’ll see that motif carried throughout the restaurant.

You’ll also find colorful African prints across the ceiling, making it almost seem like you’re dining in an African market. The dining room is HUGE with plenty of seating, including both tables and booths.

Like much of Animal Kingdom Lodge, you’ll find subtle lightning in Boma, as well as a lot of wooden accents and African-inspired decor.

Enough about that — let’s eat!

Food & Drinks

As we mentioned, Boma is a buffet with a variety of African-inspired dishes and American favorites. We visited for dinner, which is $58 per adult and $34 per child. As far as the food goes, we grabbed the Peanut Rice, which is both sweet and savory with loads of peanut butter flavor. Combined with the spices, that makes for a delicious side. We enjoyed this so much, we got seconds.

Our server recommended the Nut-Crusted Salmon and we were not steered wrong. The salmon was tender and the nut crust on top was very flavorful. There were also some warming spices on top that tasted like cinnamon.

The Carved African Spiced Strip Loin is super tender, but a little fattier than what we usually like. If you love fattier meat, though, this is a great choice. It wasn’t TOO full of flavor, but there were a couple of options for dipping sauces.

We also really liked the Ancient Grains Salad. It’s a combination of sunflower seeds, quinoa, dried fruit, cheese, spinach, and strawberries. It also had a nice dressing that was light but added a nice acidity to the overall flavor.

We couldn’t get enough of the Pasta Salad — and it was one of our favorite things we ate. It’s tangy and just a little spicy with a creamy dressing. All pasta salad should be like this.

However, we’re not sure how we felt about the Chickpeas. They had a very liquidy sauce on them that adds a bit of acidity and tanginess to the overall flavor. It sort of reminded us of the liquid in a salsa verde.

The Spiced Green Beans and Golden Raisins surprised us with the bit of kick they had to them. The seasoning adds an almost smoky flavor to the green beans, but the raisins add a nice sweetness to compliment the spices.

The Moroccan Harira is a hearty tomato-based soup made with lentils. herbs, and warm spices. The flavor of this reminded us of chili, but with an African flare. The veggies were tender and the lentils were very soft.

The Durban Rotisserie Chicken was a little on the dry side, but if you use one of the sauces with it, it makes up for it. The chicken itself doesn’t have a lot of flavor, so if you are trying it, we recommend grabbing a sauce to go with it.

We also tried some bread. The Roll is just a regular dinner roll, like the kind you can get and heat up from the grocery store. The Mealie Bread, though, is moist with loads of corn flavor — in fact, we’d say it tastes similar to cornbread.  The Coriander Hummus was our favorite dip. It’s herby and creamy with loads of cilantro flavor.

You also have a HUGE selection of sweets. Now, don’t get us wrong, we’re never going to turn down a Zebra Dome, but we also tried a few other sweet treats out, like the Coffee Toffee Brownie. The coffee flavor with the chocolate flavor is SO good and the coffee doesn’t overpower it.

We also loved the Apple-Cranberry Tart. It has the perfect amount of sweetness and the fruit tastes very fresh. The apples were still slightly crispy, too. The pie tart was soft. Plus there was a hint of sweet syrup. The tartness of the cranberry really cut into the sweetness, too, for a nice balanced dessert.

The Passion Fruit Mousse is also not SUPER sweet but has a lovely passion fruit flavor. It’s a firmer mousse, but it’s still fluffy. The cookie on the bottom, though, seemed out of place and its texture didn’t work well with the top part of the dessert. The cookie was also a little dry.

Our favorite dessert was the Butterscotch Bread Pudding. It has the perfect consistency for bread pudding, too: moist, fluffy, and soft. The butterscotch flavor was nice and sweet — this is a must if you love butterscotch.

The creme anglaise sauce we poured on top just seeped into the bread pudding wonderfully for additional flavor.

Magic or Tragic?

This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…

• You want to try unique food. There is a variety of African-inspired dishes here that you can sample, so this is a great buffet for more adventurous eaters.
• You don’t mind the cost. So this is almost $60 per person, but it is all-you-can-eat, so there’s that. The food is high quality, though, and you’re sure to find dishes you love.
• You’re staying at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. Boma is a no-brainer if you’re staying at the hotel. It’s RIGHT THERE, after all.

You should skip this Disney World spot if…

• You have picky eaters. You will find some standard American food here and things to please picky eaters, but it’s honestly not worth the cost to feed everyone macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets.
• You’re on a budget. This is a $60 per meal plus tip, so if you’re on a budget, this could be too pricey for you.
• You’re not staying at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. This hotel is a bit of a trek from most of Disney World, and unless you’re staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge or visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom, it could be a bit far to travel for food.

 

We like how this buffet offers some unique, authentic African flavors that are still completely approachable. However, this restaurant can get a little crowded and you might find yourself waiting to get to each station.

In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disney World and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news and more!

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Have you eaten at this Disney World restaurant before? Tell us in the comments.

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