Kimonos — Restaurant in Bay Lake

Located at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort, Kimonos is an award-winning sushi restaurant that offers an authentic experience for a wallet-savvy price. And because it’s only open from 5:30-11:00PM (times may vary from my visit), it’s a dinner-exclusive deal that comes with complementary karaoke; thematically, its late hours make it the perfect hangout pad after a night stroll around the Boardwalk area.

Kimonos offers a professional atmosphere in a fun, entertaining package. One might call it a shogun’s dining experience, but at a samurai’s price.

My first impression of the decorum exceeded expectations. Kimonos features rich, dark colors intermingled with golds, whites, and autumn reds. Amidst lanterns, antique photographs, and flower arrangements are the namesake kimonos which hang from the ceiling in full, bloom-and-weave-patterned splendor.

For a more authentic dining experience, Kimonos offers low tables and near-to-the-ground seating; when I went for the first time with a group of friends, however, we were seated at a more traditional dinner table in order to accommodate our size. If there’s one thing you must take with you to Kimonos, it’s friends, especially friends who enjoy sushi. That way, you can order many different kinds of sushi and have it delivered on a single, shared plate. There’s much less savoring to go around if you eat alone.

Once seated, I picked up the warm, moist, scented handtowl (oshibori) in front of me and proceeded to heat up my hands.

My party selected a variety of appetizers and sushi rolls to sample. I prepped myself with a warm bowl of Miso Soup—savory, light, and peppered with the slightest dazzle of scallions. While waiting on my sushi roll, I also tasted some of the Egg Drop Soup, finding it thicker and with a more pronounced flavor, permeated with a spike of cilantro. Both soups were satisfactory and without the cloudy, over-bearing flavor of lower quality soups I’ve tasted alongside other restaurants’ sushi.

Fortunately, my group was seated alongside the itamae’s (sushi chef’s) counter and I was able to watch him slice, dice, and roll together the fresh ingredients of our pending dinners. One thing I love about Kimonos is its active presence. Guests can see the sushi cabinet from almost any seat, and the waiters and waitresses went out of their way to ensure my friends and I had a pleasant and fun dining experience. The good old Disney magic definitely presented itself in the genuine smiles and playful banter between our table and the restaurant staff.

After a modest wait time—which passed quickly over soups and other appetizers—our sushi arrived, all served on one platter. This allowed us to share each other’s selections and sample a bit of everything. I quickly helped myself to a bit of Rainbow Roll, Banzai Roll, and Bagel Roll and poured some soy sauce into my tray for dipping.

Kimono’s Bagel Rolls are much larger and thinner than the standard-size sushi roll; this, however, allows it to contain more of the individual ingredients—smoked salmon, cream cheese, and cucumber. It’s a wide roll that, at first glance, seemed difficult to fit into my mouth, but the endeavor was more than worth it. This Bagel Roll is juicy, crispy, fresh, and creamy, and I only regret I didn’t take more of them from my friend’s plate.

Made up of spicy tuna, sweet eel, and velvety avocado, the Banzai Roll surprised me with its savor. This roll is zinging with life and among the best eel rolls I’ve yet allowed past my teeth. Pleasantly, Kimonos’ eel is neither chewy nor crunchy, and holds a perfect balance between sweet succulence and moist meatiness.

Kimonos is one sushi restaurant I’d gladly return to again… and again… If you’re in the Boardwalk area, or staying at the Swan and Dolphin, then it’s the only obvious answer to your dinnertime...

We are Faithful Customers of the Swan & Dolphin resort , we visit here in every celebration. We always come with the kids but this time we decide to come ourselves only to celebrate my Birthday. I decide for first time to choose Kimono to celebrate and try sushi for first time in my life. The place is very nice and the food is delicious. But our server name Polly was very unpolite , her actitud and manners with us was very not nice. She was unwilling to explain the menu. Also i ask for a cocktail and she ask for our ID my husband give her his ID because my one was on the room , and I look enough old to get a cocktail . They ask for ID for people under 40 and my husband is 49. After she bring the cocktail for husband, I try a sip from the cocktail that really was delicious. The server Polly came with actitud and told me I cannot drink (big attitude). My husband trying to make my night lovely decide to get up to go to the room for my ID . When he get up to look for my ID , the server Polly came to my table with an actitud again, and her face was so bad and took the drink from the table and didnt give an explanation or say excuse me or please.... she only took the drink away. My husband get to see this ,and ask :Did she really did that? I said yes she did! . He came back and we told her we dont want not drink and we want our bill. For me was very bad experience because I look old enough to get my drink and been my special day that make uncomfortable. I know it is a policy, i understand. But her actitud and manners can be much better. We are customers with good manners willing to have a good time , at list an smile in her face would be nice. Food is recommended,was delicious. Server Polly not recomend it. Hope if she read this never treat another customer like this. Thanks to Covent Buffet for make my night special with their dessert after having a disappointed...

Kimonos? It's a no no!

Had the worst takeout experience. First, I was told to go order at the back of the restaurant. Ok, no problem. So I go to the back and let the lady at the cash register know I want to order takeout. She says to order with the bartender. Weird, considering that the order sheets were right there next to her, but ok.

The bartender was mixing drinks for the people sitting at the bar and so I was awkwardly standing there waiting for him to notice me. When he finally looked in my direction, I raised my arm to get his attention. He seemed to see me, but continued talking to the bar customers. So I ask one of the waitresses to get his attention for me. She says he'll get to you. Uhh... thanks for the help there lady!

So I stand there waiting like a fool while no one seems to want to take my order. One of the ladies can see I was getting frustrated so she finally gives me an order slip. I check off the three items that I wanted and hand it to one of the waitresses.

I come back 15 minutes later and get my food and give the bartender my credit card to process. The machine says to enter a PIN, and instead of giving the machine to me to enter my PIN, he enters a random one and my card gets declined. 🤦🏻‍♂️ After that, he finally says to go over to the machine to enter my PIN.

Oh, and a final kick in the nuts, once I got back to room, I realized they missed one of the items I ordered. They didn't charge me for it, but I was so hungry and so disappointed.

Worst takeout...