'Ohana: A Review

One of my favorite non-park Table Service restaurants in Disney World is 'Ohana. It is located in The Polynesian resort. The Polynesian resort is located outside the Magic Kingdom and is conveniently one of the resorts right on the monorail loop. Here is my review of 'Ohana and why I consider it to be in my top picks for any Disney vacation.

1) Location

'Ohana's great location makes it an even more desirable restaurant to visit. There are a few reasons that the location of the restaurant adds to its popularity.

First, 'Ohana is not in a park, but instead is based in the Polynesian resort. This means that anyone can visit 'Ohana at any time and guests will not need a park ticket to access it. This makes it a great spot to visit on a non-park day. Alternatively, 'Ohana could be a good park break if you do happen to have park tickets for that day. Sometimes it is nice to leave the park for a bit and what better reason for a break than enjoying a delicious meal at one of the cult favorite restaurants in Walt Disney World.

Second, the Polynesian is located right on the monorail loop. That means it is extremely accessible. You can board the monorail right outside Magic Kingdom to reach the restaurant. Alternatively, you can also catch the monorail near Epcot to take you over to the Polynesian. Then, simply board the monorail after your meal to return you from where you came from. It is prime real estate to be located right on the monorail line like that.

2) The Food

While 'Ohana does offer both breakfast and dinner, I highly recommend visiting this Table Service restaurant for dinner. The breakfast at 'Ohana is a family style character meal, featuring Lilo and Stitch. The breakfast will cost you $49 per adult and the food offered is the basic Disney breakfast fare (waffles, sausage, eggs, etc.) that you can get almost anywhere on property. It is not up to the same standards that will find at the 'Ohana dinner.

Dinner at 'Ohana is also family style, and the food offerings are Hawaiian themed. Family style means that big plates of food are brought to your table with enough food for everyone at the table to share. Everything is absolutely delicious, and you should plan on leaving this meal stuffed. The amount of food given to you is honestly enough to last you the whole day. Not only are the original portions large, but it is also all you can eat. This means that you can ask for more of any of the items that you would like. The dinner is extremely filling so I would not advise having a large lunch on your 'Ohana day. Due to the amount of food that you get, I think that the price tag of $62 per adult is reasonable and should not turn you away.

You start your meal off with a mixed salad with a citrus dressing and the signature 'Ohana bread with honey butter. The salad is surprisingly good but try not to eat a lot because there is so much food still coming. The bread is also very good and on the sweeter side.

Next, you get your appetizers, which are honey coriander chicken wings, pork dumplings, and 'Ohana noodles. YUM! The pork dumplings and the 'Ohana noodles were my favorite items of the entire meal and that's saying something since this was before the actual "entree" showed up. The pork dumplings had great flavor and the 'Ohana noodles were very similar to a lo mein that you would get at a Chinese restaurant. 'Ohana noodles got a bit of fame when 'Ohana reopened after the Covid pandemic. When the restaurant originally reopened after being close for over a year, the noodles were not on the menu for some reason. 'Ohana fans signed petitions and complained non-stop during something called "noodle gate." It worked because Disney quickly returned the noodles to the 'Ohana menu.

One complaint that I did have about the appetizers was that I wished that the noodles were served with the entree. The noodles would have paired nicely with the proteins rather than eating them alone beforehand. We ended up asking for seconds of the dumplings and 'Ohana noodles because they were so delicious.

A quick note on asking for seconds- at least in our experience, it seemed like they didn't really want to bring extra helpings. It was difficult to get a cast member's attention to even ask for the extra portion. Then it took a while to actually receive it, like they were purposely taking a long time to limit the amount of food you could get. When we finally received it, it was much smaller than the original portion- I think we got two dumplings for our 2nd helping.

Not long after receiving the appetizers, your "entree" is brought out. This is a large skillet featuring several different kinds of protein. The skillet offers wood-fired teriyaki beef, peel-n-eat shrimp, grilled chicken with chimichurri sauce, and roasted vegetables. The chicken was my favorite meat served. It was very tender and flavorful. The shrimp was also good, but messy and time consuming to have to peel each individual shrimp. We ordered seconds of both the chicken and the beef.

As if you haven't eaten enough food at this point, your meal is capped off with pineapple coconut bread pudding with homemade caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. Once you take one bite of this dessert, trust me, you will make room you didn't know you had to eat this. It is SO good and was my fiancé's favorite part of the meal. If we didn't have plans to go back to Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day, I wouldn't have put it past him to order a second helping of the desert. It really was fantastic.

3) Ambiance

'Ohana does a great job of continuing the fantastic theming of the Polynesian right into the restaurant. Everything from the decorations to the music playing, to the food served makes you feel like you are in Hawaii. The restaurant itself is tucked into a back corner on the 2nd floor of the resort. It is not obvious and if you don't know where it is, you may have trouble finding it for the first time. Make sure you check out the cool theming of the Polynesian resort too, either before or after your meal at 'Ohana.

When you walk into the dining room, the first thing you will see is the giant firepit in the center of the restaurant. This is where all of the proteins are cooked, and their delicious scents waft through the restaurant. It adds to the luau vibe to have the food cooked out in the open like this.

The dining room is also decorated with tikis and lush greenery. Disney does so well with its theming, and it makes eating in the restaurants on Disney property even more enjoyable. You feel fully immersed at 'Ohana, making it a completely different than dining at your average restaurant at home.

Dining at 'Ohana is an experience in itself. You could make this your main attraction on a rest day from the parks, or the restaurant can easily be reached on the monorail for a mid-day park break. The food is delicious, and the ambiance is very well thought out by the Imagineers. Definitely check out 'Ohana on your next trip, trust me you won't regret it!