Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Boma - Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

This post includes my most recent breakfast and dinner reviews of Boma

On Monday, I had breakfast at Boma - Flavors of Africa at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Boma, which features all-you-care-to-enjoy buffets at both breakfast and dinner, has long been one of our favorite table service restaurants at Disney World.


Albert, who has an amazing sense of humor and is probably the best server I have ever had at Boma, started us off with Jungle Juice, which is a combination of passion fruit, guava, and orange juices.


Chef Ben gave us a tour of the buffet, and was quite willing to bring us any dishes we wanted from the back when we asked.


Two dishes I felt comfortable taking from the buffet were the avocado, grapefruit and papaya salad, and the watermelon rind salad.  I love both of these salads, which are available most days for breakfast and dinner.  The watermelon rind salad has a lovely gingery kick.


From the kitchen, Chef Ben brought us plates of gluten free Mickey waffles, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, and turkey bobotie.  Bobotie is a traditional African dish with ground meat, seasonings, and an egg custard baked on top.  The bobotie that Chef Ben brought us looked like the individual portions served next door at The Mara.  I love that it is slightly sweet from the addition of peppers and golden raisins.


Boma offers pecan praline or bananas foster on a rotating basis, and they are both amazing toppings for Mickey waffles, which is the main reason I like to dine at Boma for breakfast.  Chef Ben told me that they make their waffles with Bob's Red Mill, which is not my favorite mix for waffles at Disney World, because they can be very heavy and doughy in the middle, but my Mickey waffles were very good.


Chef Ben offered us two varieties of gluten free donuts and muffins, but because they are brands I can buy at my local grocery store, I passed.  I did ask for gluten free zebra domes, which are a dessert offering at Boma for dinner.  Zebra domes have a creamy mousse center that is covered in white chocolate ganache with a drizzle of dark chocolate, and the gluten free ones have chocolate bits on the bottom instead of a layer of cake.  If you like the taste of chocolate and coffee, you have got to try the zebra domes, which are one of my daughters' favorite desserts at Disney.


There were many other gluten free dishes on the buffet, like the turkey and ham at the carving station, omelets made to order, scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs with goat cheese, quinoa, fresh fruit, pap, chakalaka, assorted meats and cheeses, and everything was safe at the yogurt station except the granola.  I have tried several of these dishes, which you can read about in my previous breakfast review here.  Chef Ben told us that he did not consider the tater tots to be safe anymore because of how they are draining the oil from their new fryer, so he made us breakfast potatoes.


My daughters love Boma's bananas foster so much, I asked for the recipe.


Bananas Foster (yields 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

1/2 C butter
1/2 C brown sugar
Pinch of salt
2 oz heavy cream
1 banana - cut into 1/4 inch slices

Procedure

Melt butter with brown sugar and salt.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add heavy cream.  Fold in the banana slices and serve.

I made this recipe with some modifications at home to serve with mini Mickey waffles.  You can read about the changes I made in my review of Williams-Sonoma Gluten-Free Bellegem Waffle Mix here.  

May 14, 2016 Breakfast Update



Yesterday, I had breakfast at Boma with my friend Ron, who cannot eat gluten or dairy.  After Chef Ben gave us a tour of the buffet, he brought us several plates of food from the kitchen.  Ron and I agreed that the Mickey waffles were some of the best we have ever had, and I am pretty sure that they were made with Namaste Waffle & Pancake Mix this time around.  Chef Ben also brought me sausage, plantains, bobotie, tater tots, pecan praline sauce for my waffles, and a plate of zebra domes.  From the buffet, I picked up some avocado, grapefruit and papaya salad, and the watermelon rind salad I love so much.  Chef Ben said that there were no cross contamination issues with the fryer, so we were able to have tater tots, which were one of the best parts of our breakfast yesterday, because they were perfectly crispy, and well seasoned.  Boma is definitely my favorite all-you-care-to-enjoy dining experience for breakfast at Walt Disney World.

Thanksgiving Break 2018 Breakfast Update




On Thanksgiving Day, we had breakfast at Boma. I had all my usual favorites, including their amazing Mickey waffles with pecan praline sauce, bobotie, and gluten free zebra domes. 


The last time we had dinner at Boma was Halloween weekend, a little over four months ago.  I always make advance dining reservations for when the restaurant opens, so I can get a tour of the buffet, then quickly grab a couple of plates of food.  On my first plate is bobotie, Durban chicken, strip loin from the carving station, broccolini, nut crusted salmon, slow-roasted pork ribs, fufu (sweet and white potato mash), and mashed potatoes.  The bobotie at dinner is made with beef, lamb, mushrooms, and egg.  I liked everything on my plate except the strip loin, which was very tough.


Usually the bobotie and the ribs are my favorite entrees at Boma, but the nut crusted salmon was absolutely amazing, so I went back for a second helping.  It was slightly sweet, and the fish tasted so fresh.  I also had some pap and chakalaka, which you will enjoy if you like grits and cooked tomatoes.


Boma always has a nice selection of gluten free soups.  My favorites are the butternut squash and the carrot ginger.


A visit to Boma for dinner is never complete without a bowl of avocado, grapefruit, and papaya salad.


The chef who gave me a tour of the buffet brought me a beautiful plate of desserts from the kitchen.  I loved the zebra domes, the Ghanaian chocolate decadence with pistachio ganache, and the Kenyan coffee tart, but I did not enjoy the guava panna cotta, probably because I don't like the taste of guava.

You can read my previous dinner reviews of Boma here.  My friend Sarah also has several reviews of Boma on her blog Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free at WDW.  If you feel uncomfortable eating food from the buffet, let the chef know that you are worried about cross contamination, and ask for food from the kitchen.

You can read more about Boma - Flavors of Africa, view their menus and hours, and make advance dining reservations on Disney's website here.

What are your favorite gluten free dishes at Boma?

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