We went out to eat twice this week, and just wanted to share some reviews from a vegetarian perspective. We're actually pescatarians, so will eat fish in addition to vegetarian dishes.
At Jiko, I'd heard great things about how accommodating they were, but I was a bit disappointed. This was for a special dinner they were doing, and we'd called in advance and had been told they could accommodate us. They did, for the most part, with 2 glaring exceptions. 1. They brought out a fish filet that had bacon served with it! Because this was a special meal, we were dining as a group, so to send it back would have meant holding up the meal for everyone else at our large table. We picked around the bacon but were disappointed.
2. They brought out a carrot soup and then proceeded to announce that it was made with chicken stock. Um, chicken stock still counts as non-vegetarian, last time I checked.
So we were surprised, to say the least, at these glaring omissions to our dietary preferences. If you are a vegetarian dining at this place, I would check every single dish. It was a 10 course dinner, and 8 of the 10 courses were fine, but 2 just weren't.
We also dined at Boma, which was FANTASTIC! Call me plebian, but I enjoyed the buffet more than the signature restaurant.
The tropical fruit salad is out of this world. Apple, mango, papaya, grapes, banana, pineapple, coconut slices, all swimming in a broth that tasted like Coco Loco. Yum, yum, yum... It was very sweet, and I went back for thirds - I actually had this for dessert.
The couscous was underwhelming, and we felt that it lacked flavor. The same was true of the mixed grilled veggies and the pap, which was like lumpy, under-seasoned grits.
If you eat fish, the salmon was out of this world. The fruity coconut sauce paired so well with the fish; it was definitely my second favorite, after the fruit salad.
The mashed potatoes were fabulous. I tend to like sweet dishes, and these were sweet & cinnamony. Yum, yum, yum. The macaroni and cheese was very creamy, and I enjoyed it very much.
There were 5 soups, 2 of which had meat (sausage & chicken), 2 of which had seafood (a crab soup & a seafood stew), and 1 of which was vegetarian (the butternut squash soup). The crab soup was delicious, very creamy and flavorful. My only complaint, and it's an extremely minor one, was that it was slightly over-peppered, with large chunks of black pepper that interfered with my enjoyment of the creamy consistency. I didn't care for the seafood stew, as I'm not a huge fan of curry. The butternut squash soup was, again, sweet, and I like it very much. It was creamy and delicous; my husband remarked that it tasted more like a dessert, since it was so sweet.
The falafel was very tiny, and I enjoyed it very much, especially with the dip.
I didn't have the various hummuses, but my husband did. He said that nothing really stood out for him. The olive hummus lacked flavor, he felt, and the dark-red hummus (not sure what flavor that was) had lots of cumin in it. It tasted like fajita seasoning, and he felt it was way over-seasoned.
For desserts, we tried several. The peach crisp was doused with nutmeg (I think it was nutmeg), so much so that I couldn't stand to eat more than 2 bites. Someone got very happy with the shaker back there. The banana cream cannolis were good; the pastry shell was crispy and faintly sweet, while the banana cream paired well with the chocolate shavings. The zebra domes were good, as always, very smooth, creamy, and sweet.
I wish that we had taken pictures, but it was so crowded that I didn't want to stand at the buffet, snapping photos, and by the time I put things on my plate, the presentation was somewhat lacking in artistic merit.
I was disappointed that Boma no longer had a drink that I'd really looked forward to. I can't remember what it was called, but I had it a few years ago when we went to Boma for the first time. It was a pale blue pina colada, and it was YUM! The drink suggested by my server as an alternative was nothing like it, and wasn't nearly as sweet as a pina colada.
Our servers at Jiko were great; they cleared promptly and were very unobtrusive. Our server at Boma was somewhat lacking. He was slow to clear our plates, which presented problems at our small table-for-two, and he never refilled my husband's drink.
I hope this helps other diners a bit. Now that we are in the area, I will be able to post more WDW restaurant reviews.
Cheers!
Heather W
At Jiko, I'd heard great things about how accommodating they were, but I was a bit disappointed. This was for a special dinner they were doing, and we'd called in advance and had been told they could accommodate us. They did, for the most part, with 2 glaring exceptions. 1. They brought out a fish filet that had bacon served with it! Because this was a special meal, we were dining as a group, so to send it back would have meant holding up the meal for everyone else at our large table. We picked around the bacon but were disappointed.
2. They brought out a carrot soup and then proceeded to announce that it was made with chicken stock. Um, chicken stock still counts as non-vegetarian, last time I checked.
So we were surprised, to say the least, at these glaring omissions to our dietary preferences. If you are a vegetarian dining at this place, I would check every single dish. It was a 10 course dinner, and 8 of the 10 courses were fine, but 2 just weren't.
We also dined at Boma, which was FANTASTIC! Call me plebian, but I enjoyed the buffet more than the signature restaurant.
The tropical fruit salad is out of this world. Apple, mango, papaya, grapes, banana, pineapple, coconut slices, all swimming in a broth that tasted like Coco Loco. Yum, yum, yum... It was very sweet, and I went back for thirds - I actually had this for dessert.
The couscous was underwhelming, and we felt that it lacked flavor. The same was true of the mixed grilled veggies and the pap, which was like lumpy, under-seasoned grits.
If you eat fish, the salmon was out of this world. The fruity coconut sauce paired so well with the fish; it was definitely my second favorite, after the fruit salad.
The mashed potatoes were fabulous. I tend to like sweet dishes, and these were sweet & cinnamony. Yum, yum, yum. The macaroni and cheese was very creamy, and I enjoyed it very much.
There were 5 soups, 2 of which had meat (sausage & chicken), 2 of which had seafood (a crab soup & a seafood stew), and 1 of which was vegetarian (the butternut squash soup). The crab soup was delicious, very creamy and flavorful. My only complaint, and it's an extremely minor one, was that it was slightly over-peppered, with large chunks of black pepper that interfered with my enjoyment of the creamy consistency. I didn't care for the seafood stew, as I'm not a huge fan of curry. The butternut squash soup was, again, sweet, and I like it very much. It was creamy and delicous; my husband remarked that it tasted more like a dessert, since it was so sweet.
The falafel was very tiny, and I enjoyed it very much, especially with the dip.
I didn't have the various hummuses, but my husband did. He said that nothing really stood out for him. The olive hummus lacked flavor, he felt, and the dark-red hummus (not sure what flavor that was) had lots of cumin in it. It tasted like fajita seasoning, and he felt it was way over-seasoned.
For desserts, we tried several. The peach crisp was doused with nutmeg (I think it was nutmeg), so much so that I couldn't stand to eat more than 2 bites. Someone got very happy with the shaker back there. The banana cream cannolis were good; the pastry shell was crispy and faintly sweet, while the banana cream paired well with the chocolate shavings. The zebra domes were good, as always, very smooth, creamy, and sweet.
I wish that we had taken pictures, but it was so crowded that I didn't want to stand at the buffet, snapping photos, and by the time I put things on my plate, the presentation was somewhat lacking in artistic merit.
I was disappointed that Boma no longer had a drink that I'd really looked forward to. I can't remember what it was called, but I had it a few years ago when we went to Boma for the first time. It was a pale blue pina colada, and it was YUM! The drink suggested by my server as an alternative was nothing like it, and wasn't nearly as sweet as a pina colada.
Our servers at Jiko were great; they cleared promptly and were very unobtrusive. Our server at Boma was somewhat lacking. He was slow to clear our plates, which presented problems at our small table-for-two, and he never refilled my husband's drink.
I hope this helps other diners a bit. Now that we are in the area, I will be able to post more WDW restaurant reviews.
Cheers!
Heather W
