Boma Flavors Of Africa

Boma - Flavors of Africa restaurant is located in the lower level of Disney World's Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House. It is next to Jiko - The Cooking Place restaurant. They are both African based cuisine, with the difference being that Boma is a buffet-style restaurant and a 1-Table Service on the Disney Dining Plan, while Jiko is a Signature Restaurant and a 2-Table Services on the Disney Dining Plan.

Cindy and I ate at Jiko once duing our December 2008 visit to Disney World, and while I have to say that we were both impressed enough to give Jiko 4-star ratings, I was just as impressed with Boma, and also gave it a 4-star rating, while although Cindy wasn't quite as pleased, because she played it 'taste-safe' and ate the 'children' dishes, she still gave rated Boma a 4-star.

There was quite a variety there. Salads, fruit, desserts, soups, mac & cheese, meats, salmon, breads, etc. The only complaint I had was that our table was very small. The area where we were seated was cramped overall, and I like to have some room at the table to eat comfortably.

The staff was pleasant, and our server, Gilbert, was attentive yet not too overbearing. He gave us 'breathing room' to eat, but kept an eye on our drinks, and pretty much kept our table clean as we went back and forth to the 'troughs' :-) , which was really appreciated since our table was so small.We were really hungry that evening, not having eaten for several hours, and even though we were sampling, we back to the buffet three times each, and the plates (and bowls) would have piled up, had it not been for Gilbert's watchful eye.

We ate around 7pm after checking in to our studio and checking out the animals from our balcony, so it was dark outside, and the lighting in Boma is very dim, especially where everyone dines, so I didn't take many pictures.

While we ate, some of the staff did some percussion playing and mild dancing, which I thought was kind of cool. They seemed to be having fun with it too. I noticed they did some more percussion playing the next morning in Boma. We didn't eat there, but passed it a couple times during the morning. Actually, we got our breakfast from the Quick Service restaurant, The Mara, and took it to our room to eat and watch the animals from our balcony.

I would definitely eat at Boma again. I thought some of the dishes were really good, and I want to try some of the ones I didn't get a chance to try. Even when sampling, you can only eat so much! Cindy says she would too, although she's not rushing to get there... Hey, she should've taken the plunge, and went for the good stuff. They have a wide variety of exotic dishes as well as normal cuisine, so my thinking is try the exotic stuff, and if you don't like it (which I did like quite a bit of it - not all), you can always leave that plate and get what you're used to... Isn't that what buffet-style dining is all about?

All and all, Cindy and I both rate Boma - Flavors Of Africa as a 4-star restaurant on our Recommended Restaurants listing, and since they have just about something for anyone, I suggest you give it a try.

Julius Covington, Sr.
Julius@AllThingsDisney.com

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