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

[rg35]

We tried it last year. It was our least favorite meal in our last 5 annual trips to WDW.

You can get similar apps from the frozen section in Costco or your local Chinese takeout restaurant. The beef was impossibly tough. Wasn't close to being worth it compared to comparably priced meals in the world.

 

[goofyintoronto]

We had dinner there many years ago. The dessert was the best thing abut it.

Same here. Dessert was the highlight. Everything else was bleh. I love wings, and noodles, and potstickers, but theirs wasn't very good. Slimy wings, dry potstickers, dry noodles, dried out meat. And our ADR was before 6pm! Never again to be honest. Not for a while anyway.

Thankfully I didnt pay OOP, as I was on the DP. Had I paid cash, i'd be ticked.

 

[North of Mouse]

We have a 9:45 reservation for dinner. Is that a bad idea?

Only you know!! For us, a very bad idea, in fact we have never/would never, dine that late. We would have to wait until 2-3 AM for bedtime!!

The wings have sauce but the meat skewers don't, you just get those delicious dipping sauces.

True! Not sure where the pp got the idea it's all covered in sweet sauces!

OP, 'Ohana is one of our favorite places to dine - at least once - sometimes twice - each trip. Have ressies there in 3 weeks!
The restaurant is always packed, hard to get ressies, so that alone should tell you something!

You just have to try it for yourself - as you can see from the replies - people like/dislike different food and experiences.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Remember that food reviews are totally subjective.

IMO, unless a restaurant has a slew of reviews calling out the cleanliness, claiming to have gotten food poisoning, or if its a majority saying "horrible, bland, etc.", then I'll normally give it a try. There's only one or two restaurants that are BAD at Disney, and even those places have fans.

We love Ohana. The breakfast is totally overrated and not worth it (unless you have little ones) but dinner is fantastic. The next poster will tell you it went down hill. Try it for yourself.

 

[Jennasis]

We went in 2015, and while things may have changed since then, it would take a miracle to make us go back. It definitely was not for us, on any level.

1. We waited a good 45 minutes past our reservation to be seated. It was an absolute zoo in the waiting area. Kids running and screaming, angry adults, crowds like you could barely breathe. This part doesn't seem to have changed as we stayed at the Poly a year later and noticed the same zoo outside Ohana everytime we walked through the lobby.

2. We were seated on the "racetrack", so had a constant barrage of waiters and guests banging into us. And of course there were the coconut races and parades that had screaming kids and their parents banging past us and into us constantly. Parents jockeying to shove their kids in the line. not fun.

3. I believe this part no longer happens but at the time there was a ukele player who "sang" in the restaurant. It was such a shrill, shrieky, unpleasant sound...but I understand many people enjoyed this performer. It just was not for me.

4. The food. Others have pointed out my main issue with the food (though some have said they didn't experience it)...all of the meat was SWEET. It had to have been marinated in some sugary terriyaki or something. It was SO offputting. The steak was tough...DH and I joked that maybe it wasn't beef. The pork was rubbery. The shrimp had no flavor at all. The potstickers were hard as though they had either been over cooked or sat for a while. The noodles were gummy and cold. The broccoli was...a bowl of broccoli. The bread pudding was quite good (but Raglan Road's is better). The dipping sauces were all pretty good so that helped with some of the food.

5. The service was actually spot-on. Our server was friendly, warm, helpful. All the things a CM should be. We did send a few things back and the replacements were not any better so we gave up trying.

The flavors of the food just were not my thing, so I don't think there is any point in trying again until there is a big change to the menu.

 

[rentayenta]

Same here. Dessert was the highlight. Everything else was bleh. I love wings, and noodles, and potstickers, but theirs wasn't very good. Slimy wings, dry potstickers, dry noodles, dried out meat. And our ADR was before 6pm! Never again to be honest. Not for a while anyway.

Thankfully I didnt pay OOP, as I was on the DP. Had I paid cash, i'd be ticked.

I was underwhelmed. The show so to speak was fun, kids had a blast but I agree the food was dry, especially the meats.

 

[Rich M]

Good = Food, location, watching the MK fireworks while eating dinner.
Bad = The wait, Not much to keep you entertained while you wait.
Ugly = Having to go into the bathroom before you have to leave, Watching me roll out of there.

 

[Mazz519]

The Charcters
The Food and
The Food !!!!...... not one of our favorites

 

[goofyintoronto]

I was underwhelmed. The show so to speak was fun, kids had a blast but I agree the food was dry, especially the meats.

Thanks for the reminder....I totally forgot to talk about the entertainment (the lady who sings with her little guitar thing, whatever its called). It was horrible to listen to!

 

[Lisa F]

I always read bad reviews of 'Ohana here but we go every few visits and it's always been excellent. We went in December 2016 and the meat was cooked perfectly (yes it is teriyaki, no it is no more sweet than typical terikyaki, if you like terikyaki you'll like the marinade... it's not overpowering. If you are expecting it to be plain, it won't be)... steak was not rubbery or anything and was perfectly medium rare for me and medium for the kid, as requested, chicken was chicken thigh... if you don't like chicken thigh (and my son does not, says it reminds him of snot) you won't like it. I prefer chicken thigh and I loved it. The shrimp were excellent, they were smaller than they used to be but so sweet and flavorful (naturally sweet seafood flavor, you peeled the shells so I'm not talking about sauce) and the texture was great (I found the larger ones to be tough). The noodles were great, the veggies are stir fried... I always see people complaining they are undercooked, but stir fried veggies are crispy. If you want southern style veggies, stir fry is not for you. The potstickers were great too, crispy outside with a savory filling. The only thing I was not crazy on this last time were the wings, which were not crispy. But there was so much other stuff to eat it didn't matter.

My picky kid was brought a bowl of mac and cheese that he ate with about 30 pounds of steak. He was also brought a brownie with marshmallow topping and m&m's, which he devoured along with the bread pudding and ice cream. They will also bring other kid food for picky eaters. He had plenty to eat.

I didn't mind the coconut races or the ukulele player, but I was not expecting a quiet meal in that kind of a festive atmosphere.

The waits can be long but I always go right when they open, so I've never had a problem with wait, seating location, or service. Some people report being rushed when all of the food hits at once but I prefer to eat the meats with the rest of the meal rather than fill up on noodles and potstickers while wiating for meat to arrive. I don't see it as courses but rather one big family style meal where the meats are delivered differently than the rest.

It might be on our list for next time though it hurts that my disney kid will be a disney adult.

 

[justafigment27]

The wings have sauce but the meat skewers don't, you just get those delicious dipping sauces.

True! Not sure where the pp got the idea it's all covered in sweet sauces!

I promise you I am not crazy. My Dad was a grill master, so I am very familiar with grilled meats, marinades, etc. The chicken and the steak absolutely had some sort of sweet saucy coating when we ate there in April 2017. I was very surprised and disappointed because it was not like that the first time we ate there ...

The WDW website menu now calls the chicken “Sweet & Sour chicken” and the beef “Szechuan Steak” ... I read one review that described the Szechuan sauce as a sweet chile sauce and that’s a fairly accurate description of what we were served.

Maybe they have backed off the saucy stuff since we ate there??? Or maybe I am ultra sensitive to sweet stuff?? I have no clue, but the sweet stuff on the chicken and steak was in addition to the sauces they gave for dipping and not as prominent as the honey sauce on the wings, but it was definitely there ...

 

[Summer2018]

Thanks! One of our 7 is actually a 2 year old, I’ve been trying 7 and 6. Not sure what happens when we show up with her and have only booked 6, but she needs a high chair, not a chair anyways. At least that was my logic!

I wouldn’t eat that late with a 2 year old. My daughter was always well-behaved in restaurants, but we always kept to her schedule with nap time and bedtime. If we brought her to a restaurant two hours past her bedtime, she would be cranky and miserable.

I hope you are able to find a more reasonable time to eat. Good luck.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

We went in August as a party of 6 and everyone loved the experience. Our ADR was somewhere around 7pm ish. The waiting area seating was packed, but we easily found seats at the bar and were even told it was okay for the 7 yo and toddler to sit there with us while we waited. We barely had time to get drinks before our buzzer went off, which led me to believe that a lot of people sitting in the waiting area either got there ling before their ADR or didn't have an ADR as there were far too many people for us to have gotten in so quickly otherwise.

There wasn't any entertainment. No coconut races, hula hoops, ukulele, etc, although a CM did serenade my mom with a song in the bathroom!

The servers (we had 2) immediately offered to bring kid food for the little ones but we declined. I told them I was vegetarian and they brought me my own apps of 2 kinds of hummus and 2 delicious chips. They also offered to bring me a separate played of the appetizer noodles and veggies so they werent touching the wings and potstickers, but I didn't mind just getting some from the family style platter. The noodles had a slight sweet taste but we're absolutely delicious and the veggies we're perfectly done. Everyone thought the bread was really dry. I don't recall if they brought butter or not as I don't ever use butter. The salad was okay but I'm not a fan of dressings in general. The meat eaters loved the potstickers but said the wings had an odd almost peppery peppery flavor.

I was then brought a huge bowl of tofu and veggies which was in a delicious teriyaki sauce. The rest of the table was served the meats. They loved the shrimp, though commented that it was a pain to have to peel them. They thought the chicken was good, but the standout was the beef. The skewers had well done on one side and medium on the other and they were told it could be prepared other ways upon request. They went with medium and said it was fork tender and delicious. The kids tore up the chicken and noodles. I asked for vegan ice cream for dessert and they happily brought some over. The rest of the table really loved the bread pudding.

We were out within about an hour but didn't feel rushed.

Good: Food, service, options for carnivores and vegetarians
Bad: They bring lots of food so inevitably some will go to waste. Also the waiting area is a bit like a maze trying to walk through.
Ugly: Watching other people tearing into ridiculous amounts of meat. Seeing adults breaking open shrimp and picking up chunks of meat with their hands is a little unappetizing, but obviously that's something that can vary a bit depending on the people in the restaurant each night.

 

[Herbord3]

Thank you ALL for your responses. I am going to keep my reservation(s)! Appreciate all of your input!!

 

[Pumbaa_]

See? Lots of love, lots of hate

Hope e you have a great time

 

[samsonjs]

Can you request the beef to be medium rare?

Also, from what I'm understanding, if my little kids will definitely eat the chicken and meat but not the potstickers or noodles, they could request mac and cheese?

 

[acarsme123]

Our waiter offered kid friendly choices for our 9 year old son from the start. He got Mac & Cheese. And they’ll even bring seconds of it.
Not sure on being able to request medium rare beef. I doubt it.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Yes you can request how you want your beef cooked

 

[DeniseJH]

Our experience was not great. Even with a reservation we weren't seated for over an hour. When we did get into the dining room the place looked like a hurricane had been through. The salad and dessert were very good, the beef was fatty and gross, and everything else was unremarkable. We haven't been back.

 

[Lilsia]

The wings have sauce but the meat skewers don't, you just get those delicious dipping sauces.

That has not been our experience. We even said something to the server and she said that they brush a glaze over the meat. We even asked if we could get some meat without it and she said no. Maybe we get them on a bad night where they drown the stuff. And that is the problem, it seems to be so inconsistent.