Cyndal BenulloWhile buffets at Disney World aren’t necessarily ever bad, there’s one restaurant that is famous for having some of the best buffets on property. But, if you’re not looking in the right places, you’ll never even know about it! Yes, we’re talking about Boma restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge!
We recently dined here for dinner and are here to give you our full review of everything we ate and drank!
About Boma – Flavors of Africa Restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Boma restaurant is located inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge — Jambo House. Boma means ‘enclosure’ in Swahili, typically referring to something like fencing and livestock and the decor here pays homage to just that offering a delicious meal in a setting that feels like an indoor shelter.
Located on the ground level of Jambo House, you’ll turn the corner into thatched roofs and fencing resembling the setting of an African marketplace. Throughout your dining experience, you may even get a drum show from the wonderful cast members!
Both breakfast and dinner buffets at this restaurant offer a diverse range of unique offerings and flavors from across Africa, as well as some classic American favorites.
Overview & Pricing
- Meals Offered: Breakfast, Dinner
- Price: Breakfast: $39 per adult, $23 per child (3-9) Dinner: $58 per adult, $34 per child (3-9)
- Type of Meal: Buffet
- Cuisine: African, American
- Dress Code: Casual
- Disney Dining Plan: 1 Credit
- Passholder Discounts: 10% off food and non-alcoholic beverages
Getting to Boma – Flavors of Africa
Getting to Boma restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge is perhaps the most challenging part of dining here. If you’re utilizing Disney transportation, you’ll need to catch a bus to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge from any of the four Disney World theme parks or Disney Springs.
Driving your own car makes getting here a bit easier, as you can park at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge for free up to two hours before your dining reservation.
Rideshare options (like Disney’s Minnie Vans, Uber, and Lyft) are also available.
Boma – Flavors of Africa Menu
Boma’s menu offers a variety of selections for everyone, but leans more towards the exploratory eater side. The buffet includes rare African specialities and delights, such as lamb and beef bobotie, chickpea and couscous salads, black-eyed peas and chakalaka, tabbouleh, butternut squash soup, and spiced beef. However, you’ll also find classics like mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, or pasta and meatballs at the kids’ buffet station.
Desserts include a wide variety, including the popular zebra domes, bread pudding, cookies, cupcakes, puddings, fruit dishes, and more!
Eats at Boma Restaurant Animal Kingdom Lodge
It’s best to come to Boma hungry because there’s A LOT to eat on the buffet and you’ll definitely want to try a little bit of everything. At least, we sure did!
The buffet begins with a few side dish options, including Disney’s take on mashed potatoes and corn pudding. You’ll then approach a carving station featuring African-spiced beef striploin that I recommend trying — it was one of my favorite things, and there were three sauces to choose from to pair with it! A standard horseradish was available, as well as a spicy sambal and a “Boma Mustard”. The Boma mustard was one of my favorites of the night. It was tangy and paired perfectly with the meat.
The lamb and beef bobotie was a unique experience that I wasn’t sure I would enjoy, but I ended up liking. Bobotie is a layer of meat at the bottom topped with a milk and egg custard. If you’re at Boma, give this a try!
Once you’ve gotten past the meats, which included ribs, rotisserie chicken, and salmon, you find the standard American foods (a.k.a. the kids’ section). We tried the mac and cheese and chicken bites from our son’s plate, and they were fine. Nothing to write home about, though.
Next on the buffet line, there were four options of soups to choose from, and the sambal chicken corn chowder was my favorite. The Malay lamb stew was my husband’s soup of choice.
Moving on down the buffet was cold salads, including pasta salad, couscous salad, and a chickpea salad, along with a standard American salad bar. There was also a bread service area with rolls, pita, and hummus options, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
By the end of the meal we were stuffed, but we still managed to make room for dessert, of course! The zebra domes were a personal favorite, as well as the vanilla bean cheesecake and the coffee toffee brownie. Unfortunately, the bread pudding was always empty when we went up to the buffet, so we never got a chance to try it.
Drinks at Restaurant Animal Kingdom Lodge
Since soft drinks are included in the price of the buffet, so I stuck with standard soda offerings. This trip was during our babymoon and the mocktail offerings were limited to one that didn’t sound too appealing.
My husband ordered the Honey Bee, an alcoholic drink featuring Four Roses Small Batch bourbon, lemon juice, and honey, garnished with a dehydrated orange and honeycomb for $17. He enjoyed the drink, although he said it was much heavier on the lemon than the honey which made it taste slightly sour.
Overall Boma Restaurant Animal Kingdom Lodge Review
So, is Boma really one of the best buffets on Disney World property? Of course, that is subjective, but if you are open to all foods and flavors, it certainly ranks up at the top! Boma restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge offers guests the opportunity to explore new things while also including some familiar bites, and we thoroughly enjoyed everything we tried. Not only was the main buffet abundant, but the dessert options were also plentiful.
However, if you are a picky eater or are traveling with some, this may not be the best fit. There are many other places in Disney World that you can indulge in mac and cheese and chicken nuggets for far less than $60 a person, or at least restaurants that include character dining at that price.
Eat at Boma – Flavors of Africa if…
- You are an adventurous eater
- You are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge and want to eat somewhere close to your room
- You want a unique experience in Walt Disney World
Skip Boma – Flavors of Africa if…
- You have picky eaters in your group
- You don’t like buffet style dining
- You don’t want to have to travel far for a dining reservation
Comments
Have you dined at Boma Restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge before? Let us know in the comments if you prefer eating here for breakfast or dinner!
