‘Ohana – Disney Dining Review

First, I’ve been to ‘Ohana before on two other Disney trips – the first time I ever went, many years ago, and then later when I went with a friend for a few days to the Mouse. Every time, its been delicious. This time was no exception. The worst part of our meal was that we couldn’t eat as much as we wanted!

I think the one thing we all decided was that it was so hot and we’d been going since early morning, and we wanted to stuff our faces even more than we did, but we were headed back into the parks and we knew that would probably be a poor life choice!

‘Ohana is inside the Polynesian Resort, and its got awesome decor. Hawaiian prints, tiki gods, an open grill – and an awesome view over Bay Lake to Magic Kingdom. We were super excited to be seated next to a window with a view of the resort and the castle in the distance.

Our server, Roy, was great. They call you “cousin” here, because you’re family. And they do all they can to make sure you feel at home. The meal is served family style, and the first thing they bring out is salad. I’m not a salad person (Lettuce just tastes like the color green, and its not pleasant, okay? lol) but according to everyone else, it was quite fantastic. It comes with a dressing that the salad eaters at our table just couldn’t get enough of.

They also bring you pineapple bread, and a plate with stir fry veggies, honey coriander wings, potstickers, and noodles. All of these are AMAZING.

But I had to restrain myself, because I knew what was coming next… The meat! They serve the beef, chicken, and shrimp here on long skewers from the grill. The servers bring it around and they will give you as much or as little as you like, until you’re so full you can’t possibly eat more. The shrimp is fantastic (coming from a non-seafood lover, that’s saying something), though messy, and the chicken and beef are equally awesome. If you’re interested in trying either at home, the Ohana Shrimp Marinade is my go to recipe for home, and the Ohana Chicken Marinade is also a family favorite. I will say, the chicken marinade in particular tastes MUCH better when its grilled. It just doesn’t taste the same if you try to cook it in the oven.

I wanted a better photo, but to be honest, by this time, we were too busy stuffing our faces, and I’d forgotten to set up my plate to look pretty before taking a photo. Still, looking at this one makes my mouth water! The food really is amazing.

While we were there they also gave out leis to the people with birthdays, which we forced by Mom and husband up to go and receive, and then the kids did a coconut race with brooms down the aisle of the restaurant. It was really cute, and a great way to get the kids involved.

For dessert, they brought cupcakes to the table for our two birthdays, but they also brought out bread pudding with a bananas foster sauce. This stuff…. its just so, so good. I wish we hadn’t been planning to go back into Magic Kingdom to ride Haunted Mansion, because I’d have continued to eat my way through this meal. But we were there in August, and it was too hot to over eat and head back into the parks. But this is worth every bite.

I’ll be making a version of this and posting the recipe soon, because I can never say no to a good bread pudding. And really, the sauce is what makes this so awesome. I’m pretty sure I could put that sauce on just about anything and devour it.

If you get the chance, ‘Ohana is worth every penny, and is a reservation you should definitely try to make!

Have you been there? What did you think?