My dinner at Ohana was hands down one of the best meals I have ever had. It was quite a challenge getting into this restaurant; all reservations were booked atleast a month out, if not longer (I called a month before my vacation and got nothing). My motivation behind wanting to dine at Ohana was the rave reviews that Chef TJ, resident Ohana chef, had received from the vegan community. I knew that this would be the highlight of my vacation………..if I could only get into the restaurant! Hanford and I trekked over there on a Thursday evening, crossing our fingers that they might have an opening and Chef TJ would be working. We checked in with the hostess and she told us that Chef TJ was working (yeah!) and that they had an opening……in two hours. Hanford, being the wonderful boyfriend that he is, stuck it out with me the entire two hours in the lobby with a bunch of rambunctious children and crabby/slightly drunk adults.

The wait was worth it though. The whole experience was pretty great although make sure to ask to not be seated anywhere close to the open grill (they cook meat on the grills). Luckily they have seating that is away from the grills and you won’t have to see what they are grilling. Ohana serves a set family style meal that is pretty meat/seafood heavy. I made sure to let our waiter know that I was vegan and would like to speak with Chef TJ. After waiting a short bit Chef TJ came out and chatted about the vegan options. Chef TJ served a 6 course vegan meal (I didn’t take a picture of the noodles or salad served because that comes with the standard set dinner). Each course was personally served by Chef TJ too; which was a great personal touch. I highly suggest trying to make it to this restaurant! Below are 5 of the 6 courses served.

Soy ginger slaw with hummus and baked pita bread. This appetizer course started out the evening. The slaw was slightly sweet and the hummus was delicious.

Miso soup with an accent of tomato. It took me awhile to realize that there was a hint of tomato in the miso soup (I should have just looked at the garish, duh), which was wonderful.

Avocado and pineapple hand rolls with sweet and spicy sauce. It was a nice variation from the tradition hand rolls that usually come wrapped in nori sheets. The combination of avocado/pineapple/sauce wrapped in soy paper was great.

Tempura broccoli/asparagus, crunchy noodles rice, fried tofu with a sweet and spicy soy glaze. By the time this course came out I was getting pretty stuffed but I had to have make room for this yummy main course. The tempura veggies mixed with the crunchy noodles and tofu was awesome and the portion was huge! I could only eat about 1/3 of it.

Banana split kabob with ice cream cookie sandwiches covered with chocolate syrup. This picture doesn’t do justice for how incredible this dessert was. Like many of the nicer Disney restaurants, Ohana had the standard Divvies vegan cookies and Tofutti vegan ice cream for the vegan dessert option. Chef TJ got really creative with this one and came up with something truly unforgettable!

When the meal was over I felt like I had to be rolled out of the restaurant! It was one of the highlights of my vacation and I will definitely eat here again. One of the other bonuses of Ohana is that you can take a short walk to the lake it is located near and watch the evening fireworks across the lake at the Magic Kingdom. Hanford and I finished up dinner just in time to roll our way down to the lake and watch the firework show. Win!