Ohana .. give me the good, the bad, and the ugly

Herbord3

Herbord3

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 23, 2013
Many mixed reviews on Ohana. Can you tell me your experiences? Is dinner worth it?
I have 2 picky eaters, but I really want to try it. I have already made reservations in June, but just wondering if it is worth it. Also, would you do this on a magic kingdom day or enjoy the park and make it a different day?
 
We've had dinner at 'Ohana twice now. In 2015, we had dinner at around 6:30 in the evening and it became my favorite meal on Disney property. The food was hot and delicious, the skewers weren't overly seasoned, everything came out at a timely pace, and we loved our server.

In 2017, we had dinner around 9:00 in the evening and had a vastly different experience. Everything was kind of thrown at us around the same time, the skewers were charred, but again, we loved our server. It wasn't the worst dining experience we've had on property, but far from the best. Since we stay at the Poly often, we will most likely give it another go on our upcoming trip.

I'd give it a try if you haven't done so already. I'm not a big fan of any of the Magic Kingdom park TS options, I'd prefer 'Ohana on its worst night over Liberty Tree Tavern on it's best night. If you have the time in your plans to leave Magic Kingdom for about an hour and a half, I'd say go for it.
 
My husband and I loved it. We timed it for the fireworks and the setting and experience were lovely, but it was a little hard to justify spending so much money for my picky eater to eat nuggets and fries. (Of course, I did appreciate the fact that food he would eat was available at all!)

Edited to add:

Although we're giving dinner a miss this year, my love for the location means that we're doing a repeat of the 'Ohana breakfeat--one of my favorites!
 
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We’ve eaten there twice around 5/6:00 time. Both on free dining. I loved it both times. My husband did not like it as much the second time. I enjoy going to the Poly. The lobby and property grounds are beautiful. I enjoy walking around before and after. I love the salad, pot sockets, noodles and wings. By that point I’m full and just sample the meets. My husbands complaint the second time was that the meats weren’t as good as he had remembered. Since I don’t care about that as much anyway, I loved it. The bread pudding is awesome! I got seconds last time. My kids had chicken tenders and fries. We were in free dining, so I didn’t care. It would be expensive for just that out of pocket though.
 
I know we are in the minority, but my family did not care for it at all. It was a one and done for us. It felt a little chaotic and the food was just not that great at all (at least for our palates). It was neat to see the Poly and the view was pretty. We did O'hana on our arrival day, which worked well for us. We did have a bit of a wait when we checked in for our 5:00 pm reservation, so you should consider that when you think about leaving the park, as I do not know if you plan to return.

I am always reluctant to dog any restaurant because everyone has vastly different tastes. O'hana just was not for us and did not live up to the hype, but I always encourage people to try a restaurant if they have never been because your experience could be so very different! For comparison, we loved The Wave at the Contemporary. Have a wonderful trip!
 


We eat there twice every trip is how much we love the place. We eat there around Magic Kingdom days and I always get a later ADR so we can watch the fireworks from there (this is as close to fireworks as my teen will go) and they pipe in the music.
 
'Ohana is one of our must do restaurants. We love the pot stickers and dessert especially (our son's will not be with us on our next trip and oldest DS has requested we bring him back some welcome bread!!!!) The food has always been good quality and fresh. I always find I am nearly full from the "appetizers" before the meats come around :-) We have eaten at 'Ohana 6x in the past 9 years and never have had a bad experience.
 
4 meals in the past 2 years (latest being this past January) and we've never had a bad experience. Never had a reservation after 6:30pm.

Every time we leave, I do look back at the meal and realize that I enjoy the sides/appetizers (wings, pot stickers, noodles and veggies) more than the meat.
 
We are not picky at all and we used to go every trip and loved it. More recently we have been very disappointed in it. Our server was way over worked and that resulted in long waits for our food(not the servers fault). And every piece of meat was covered in this sweet sauce that was not good so it made it so everything tasted the same. I agree with others that the most of the food is good, if it wasn't for that sweet sauce they put on the meat, it would have been a much better experience. Even with the slow service.
 
The Good: the shrimp and Lapu Lapu.
The Bad: the rest of the food, the price and the service
The Ugly:Sitting on the "racetrack" and getting your shins hit with coconuts and/or broom sticks.
 
We love 'Ohana dinner! Not so much for breakfast. At dinner, know that there is a standard order in which the server will bring your food unless you ask otherwise, and the meat skewers are the last thing before dessert - leaving you pretty full from everything else by the time you get to the skewers. On our second trip there, our server told us that they can actually bring the food in any order the customer requests. So now we start with the meats and then let everything else be served in the "standard" order.
 
We had a good time at dinner. We had a couple cocktails before hand, our reservations was for 8:45.

Our server also got us glasses of wine from Tambu I assume, - I mention this because people have had issues getting an alcoholic drink here, but we did not.
We also didn't really ask for seconds on anything, to which our server jokingly commented on, but then I did ask for a couple more pot stickers - he brought a gigantic plate of them and put them in front of me! :rotfl: The tables around us were all laughing, he was really fun.

I don't think we'd go again, but we certainly don't regret going. :)
 
To OP: what do you like to eat? what do your kids like to eat?

If you have never been, definitely give it a try. Dinner is better than breakfast. The only thing that I don't like about food at O'hana is the amount of sauce. I hope the kitchen would be easy on the sauce. Other than that, my family had a good meal there in 2016.
 
Ohana is my family’s favorite restaurant. We go almost every trip and have an ADR for our trip in May. So yeah, we think the dinner is worth it.

For us, it’s the whole package—atmosphere, entertainment, food and drinks. All of these areas have been great for us over the years.

It’s not just about the food, but we’ve always been happy with it. They are generally accommodating there and responsive to our tastes. Like, if you tell them that the steak is too well done or the shrimp looks raw, they will bring you a replacement ASAP.

It usually takes 2 to 2.5 hours to eat there, but we’ve been there longer. I’m always a little skeptical of people posting that they felt rushed because we haven’t ever experienced that at Ohana. If you can, I recommend going on a pool day or after an early closing park. It is convenient to the MK though if you don’t mind losing time there or closes early one night during your trip. It’s also convenient to Epcot.

Our picky eaters all enjoyed the noodles, steak and chicken there.

A weird thing that happened to us a couple of times was the server refusing to bring butter for the bread. They serve a macadamia nut butter that is super delicious and really makes the bread a treat. If they give you a little cup of whipped butter, you’re golden.

Lastly, I highly recommend the Lapu Lapu to the people in your group 21 and over. :)
 
Lilsia said:
And every piece of meat was covered in this sweet sauce that was not good so it made it so everything tasted the same. I agree with others that the most of the food is good, if it wasn't for that sweet sauce they put on the meat, it would have been a much better experience. Even with the slow service.
Click to expand...

YES! That sweet sauce ruined it for me. I thought the grilled meats were wonderful the first time we ate there, but I was really disappointed last year and won’t be back. Practically everything served had some sugary component already, so I am not quite sure why they had to douse the meat in syrup as well.
 
We ate there last August and I don’t remember any sweet sauces on the meats? The chicken had been marinated but the beef and shrimp were simply grilled.
Anyway, it was our first time and we all enjoyed it very much-my 7 year old grandson ate the meats, vegetables, bread and wings-it isn’t spicy at all-maybe your picky eater would like it.
It’s one of those restaurants that gets mixed reviews but I think you should try it for yourself. We had a lovely evening-we weren’t rushed, service was very good. I would definitely go back.
 
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