Tonga Toast at Kona Cafe

This review reflects our experience in November of 2014.

Many people often forget abut eating in a resort restaurant while in Disney World. Kona Cafe is an often overlooked restaurant in Disney’s Polynesian resort. When most people think breakfast at the Poly they immediately think of the character breakfast at ‘Ohana. But Kona Cafe is not one to be skipped. It is located on the second floor of the Polynesian resort, just inside from the monorail ramp. Kona Cafe is an open wall restaurant so it’s very easy to see when you come inside.

We had heard of a Kona Cafe staple called the Tonga Toast which is why we went. Tonga Toast is french toast coated in cinnamon sugar and stuffed with bananas. Since this is such a popular item in Disney World we had heard of people getting it made vegan, so we were determined to do the same.

When we arrived we told our server of our vegan diet and requested to speak to a chef. When the chef came out she told us of our options which generically includes the Gluten Free Vegan Mickey Waffles and a fruit plate with a substituted item for banana bread. We mentioned something about a tofu stir-fry we had seen others get but she didn’t recommend it for breakfast, the stir-fry consists of potatoes, tofu, veggies and a gluten free teriyaki sauce (doesn’t sound too appealing for breakfast to me personally). Since she didn’t mention it, we politely asked about the Tonga Toast. She said she didn’t know if they could do it since it typically has an egg wash before being fried. She asked us to wait while she checked in the back to see if she could make it vegan.

When she returned she said she could try and make it by soaking the bread in soy milk before frying. We were so happy to hear she was going to at least try to make us Tonga Toast. Since Tonga Toast typically comes with a strawberry compote that contains sour cream, we substituted it for maple syrup. The meal also comes with a meat side so we requested potatoes. The chef left then quickly came back to ask us if we are okay with shared fryers as she was going to put ours in the same fryer as the normal Tonga Toast. If this is something you don’t do, then I don’t think you would be able to get Tonga Toast.

Kona Cafe is known for their 100% Kona Coffee that is supplied by Joffrey’s coffee. We ordered some Kona Coffee with a French Press. Our server came back with it and brought us soy milk for our coffee without us even asking for it, yay!

Our plates came out and I did not expect the Tonga Toast to be so big!

The bread used for the Tonga Toast is sourdough and it is sliced open to be stuffed with bananas.

We covered our Tonga Toast’s in syrup and dug right in. The outside was so crispy from being fried and the inside was soft and absolutely delicious. The bananas were thinly sliced and added a bit of a extra sweetness to the inside of the toast. I don’t think I would have liked it as much with a strawberry compote, the syrup added some needed moisture to the dish. The cinnamon sugar on the outside added an extra crunch as well as sweet flavor to the bread.

The Tonga Toast was a bit hard to eat due to it’s size, but we were both willing to accept the challenge. Since the bread was so tall you had to keep cutting it down to be able to actually eat it. I was a little skeptical at first with the bread being sourdough since it typically has such a strong flavor, but you couldn’t even tell. The sweetness of the cinnamon sugar and the bananas over powered any sort of flavor the sourdough may have had.

We were given bowls of breakfast potatoes as our side and these were probably the best breakfast potatoes I’ve ever had. They had a strong flavor of rosemary and were perfectly crispy. We could have gotten fruit as our side but I wanted something savory to go with what I assumed would be a sweet dish. This was the most filling breakfast I have ever had in Walt Disney World.

Tonga Toast was everything we had ever hoped it to be and I am so thankful we were able to get it. I don’t think we would have been able to enjoy it had we not asked the chef. I have noticed that many of the items people are able to get made vegan in Disney only happen because they simply asked the chef and didn’t just eat what the chef had suggested. I can’t guarantee that you will be able to get Tonga Toast because it depends on the chef. We were lucky to have a chef willing to work with us so if you go to Kona Cafe in hopes of getting Tonga Toast just ask your chef if they can make it by soaking in soy milk instead of the egg wash. We hope you can enjoy Tonga Toast on your next trip!

Would we go back?
Yes! This was the best breakfast we have ever had in Disney World.

Price?
$$

Cheers,
Melissa & Corey

What’s your favorite breakfast from Disney World? Tell us in the comments!