Just J's 'Ohana review

Why you should not miss eating at ‘Ohana when at WDW

‘Ohana in Hawaiian means family. Every person who has ever written an article about ‘Ohana makes that statement. I did not want to rock the boat.

What ‘Ohana means to me is a homerun, great meal every time I show up. ‘Ohana is a family style meal as Disney calls it. The food is delivered “family style” - it comes to your table in large plates and bowls (and in ‘Ohana’s case, on skewers) delivered by a server. The server will continue to bring said food until you say stop. This is a dangerous proposition for people like myself who just don’t know when to stop.

First course
There are four food courses at ‘Ohana. The first course is the salad course. A mixed field green salad is served tossed with a honey-lime vinaigrette dressing. It is very good and I know a woman who calls this course the best of the meal. Along with the salad, a bowl of slightly seasoned wontons are served. The server also brings three dipping sauces to the table. They are a sweet peanut sauce, chimichurri sauce, and harissa sauce. For you folks who like to avoid fiber or anything green, the wontons are good and will hold you over until the appetizer course is delivered.

Second course
And the appetizer course delivers with a bang. Honey-coriander chicken wings arrive next. These wings are absolutely addicting and I could be happy if I just ate them for the meal. I made this fatal mistake once and regretted my decision once dessert arrived. The wings are messy but well worth the effort. If you ask your server, small hot towels will be brought to you to help clean your sticky fingers. Spicy sweet and sour shrimp is brought along with the chicken wings. If you like shrimp, these are quite good. Not mind-blowing, but good.

Third course
The third and main course arrives next. Maui scalloped potatoes and stir fry vegetables hit the table which is the prelude to skewers of hot, juicy, and tasty meat that will be arriving shortly. The potatoes are standard fare that are very good, but don’t fill up on the starches at this point. Four skewers consisting of Mesquite turkey breast tips, Asian BBQ pork loin, sirloin steak, and Hawaiian sausage with a pineapple teriyaki glaze arrive hot off the grill. Because there are choices here try one piece of each and then decide which one you want seconds on.
Because I am an ‘Ohana veteran, I only take the turkey breast tips. They are tasty and juicy and once dipped in the peanut sauce, they are sheer heaven.

Dessert
The final course is dessert. It is in no way to be an after thought or overlooked. If you have paced yourself properly, there should be enough room to partake of the decadent ‘Ohana bread pudding served with vanilla ice cream and a rich bananas foster sauce. I was never a bread pudding fan until I visited ‘Ohana for the first time. Let’s face it, anything served hot and a la mode is going to be very good.

A little known secret is you have an alternative to the Bread Pudding. If you prefer, ask for the pineapple chunks served with a hot caramel dipping sauce. This used to be the dessert at ‘Ohana a while back. They changed to the bread pudding, which I was quite happy about. My wife on the other hand, always asks for, and gets the pineapple and caramel.

‘Ohana is one of my favorite dining establishments at Walt Disney World. I have talked about the food, which is fantastic, but the atmosphere puts it over the top. The meat is grilled in a huge open fire pit in the middle of the dining room. There is also a lovely Hawaiian woman who walks around playing the ukulele and coaxing children into hula-hoop and coconut rolling contests. ‘Ohana means family and this is a top notch, family dining restaurant. Do not miss dining at ‘Ohana.