Now, for the moment you have all been waiting for, pics and reviews of Ohana! DH and I have never been and when we watched the WDW planning DVD he spied the fire pit and said where is that?? Lets eat there! Now the dude has selective memory because when we stayed at the Poly in Oct and I was planning dinners I asked him if he wanted to eat there and he said no, he did not care for the menu. Now all of a sudden it is MY FAULT that he has never dined there. SOOOO I booked a table for 6:30 and promised myself we would not cancel it. Then the menu change took place and I was even more excited to eat there.
We left Epcot and arrived at the Poly at 5:15 and we checked in quickly. The CM said that we would probably have to wait because there were sold out and we said fine, get some pina coladas from the Tambu Lounge and chill in a nice soft sofa. Now I forgot to take pics but here is a pic from yesterday, they look and taste the same, wonderful!
The upstairs lobby was pretty quiet when we arrived but as the time went by it got crazier and crazier, but all is ok because we have a ressie and will be seated soon right? Wrong...we were seated 30 minutes past our ADR time, but so wasnt everyone else. But that is ok because we are going to eat at OHANA!
We are seated at a 4 top table by the windows, what a fantastic setting and atmosphere. Beautiful place. We were lead past the fire pit and the hostess picked up our bread and lead us to our table. Our server was Rosa, she was incredible, checked in on us often, brought us ice tea refills without asking, made sure we had seconds if we wanted it. We were not rushed at all, in fact she told us to relax and pace ourselves!
The bread was like a ciabatta bread consistancy with coconut and pineapple in it. You could smell the coconut but not taste it at all. We each had a small piece, didnt want to fill up on bread!
Rosa asked if we wanted anything from the bar to go along with our dinner (since our pina coladas were long gone we said HECK YA!) We each ordered a Sunken Treasure. It has midori, coconut rum, fruit juices and Sprite. The best drink ever because it is the most dangerous....you cannot taste the alcohol and they go down smooth!
The salad was brought out right away. It was great, nice fresh, crisp greens with a sweet lime dressing, very good and we killed off the bowl in no time.
The dipping sauces were peanut (the best out of the 3 and we had to get a refill on it), sweet and sour (tasted like a sweet ketchup) and chimichurri (basil and cumin flavor).
We were waiting and waiting for the wings (DH is a wing lover) and the potstickers and the tables on either side of us got theirs (and they were seated after us) and when Rosa noticed that (her assistant gave the other tables the food) she made sure we had our items asap, apologized to us and said she would personally serve us for the rest of the night, not her assistant.
The wings were huge and very good but DH prefers the wings from Kona...they are sweeter and have a zip from the mustard. I loved the wings and the nutty taste the white and black sesame seeds gave them.
The potstickers rock, let me tell ya they were cooked perfectly, not too crispy and were great dipped into the peanut sauce even though they had a sweet and sour glaze drizzled on the top.
I had asked Rosa if I could get the Lo Mein noodles without the pineapple, she went to check with the chef and the answer was no, I can get plain noodles but not ones without just pineapple. Ok no prob bring on the regular noodles. They were very good and did not taste sweet at all. More like a soy sauce flavor with green and red peppers and very little pineapple and peanut sauce. They were very good and even DH liked them...he is not a huge noodle fan.
The best for me was the veggies...I know I am a weirdo but the broccoli and pea pods with alot of garlic are right up my alley. They were cooked perfect and had a killer flavor.
The turkey and the pork was next and both were very tender but to DH they tasted the same, to me I prefer the pork, it was melt in your mouth tender and dipped into the peanut sauce was to die for. (Turkey on the left and pork on the right).
The steak was phenomenal....super tender and coated with a garlic butter that was so great with the steak....I was able to get a medium piece while DH had a few well done ones.
And next was the peel and eat shrimp and to be honest I was afraid of this one as I have never peeled my own shrimp before. They were huge, and spicy and I LOVE THEM! Easy to peel by pulling off the tale and use the knife to peel...great stuff and we ate lots and lots of them.
Saving the best for last, the dessert. Rosa brought us coffee and this HUMONGOUS bowl filles with bread pudding and the biggest scoop of vanilla ice cream. She then takes this little pot and turns it upside down over the bowl...this golden creamy nectar of the Gods comes out and semi melts the ice cream and drenches the bread pudding. So I look to Rosa and said "Arent you going to bring some out for DH?"
She looks at me like this
NO WAY can you eat that by yourself! She was right although I did my best to hog it all. Wow this thing is better than any desserty thing I have ever had at WDW. I notice that DH is not saying anything....I look over at him and his face is just close enough to lick the bowl. I ask him what he thinks, he looks up at me and I swear I see a tear in his eye and I said "ARE YOU CRYING??" He said no, his allergies are acting up again, YA RIGHT you are getting emotional over dessert!
But seriously his allergies are kicking his butt up here in WDW...but I thought it was so cute.
So bottom line is we love this place and no matter what the wait it is totally worth it and we are going to go back in August when we stay at the Poly for the weekend. When we left at 8:15 there was still a huge line for Ohana and Kona. DH keeps saying how fortunate we are for knowing the DIS and planning way in advance...I say "WHAT WE KEMOSABE?!" Dont let him fool ya, it is all me. Total cost with DDE $64.22
For those of you nervous about the dinner menu, I dont know what to tell you because I never ate the old menu but goodness this place was superb!