Anyone else have a bad meal at the Coral Reef

[poohbear13]

Was it just my family or has anyone else had a bad meal at the Coral Reef?

the management was great there and they made it right but all 3 adult meals had issues. It was the only dissapointing meal out of 18 on our last WDW visit.

 

[abbadabbadoo]

We had a horrible experience there in 08 and have never been back. My daughter ordered the kids mahi mahi and told me her broccoli tasted funny. I tasted it, and it was bad - it tasted rancid. My little girl wouldn't even eat her fish after that. We hadn't seen the server in a while, so when she walked by I flagged her down and told her about it. All she said was "ok" - she never offered to get her another side item, take it off the bill, or anything. She then offered us dessert, and turned to DD and said "I don't know if you get dessert since you didn't eat any of your dinner." DD had tears in her eyes, and I said yes, she can have some ice cream. At this point I was pretty angry and just wanted to leave. She plopped the desserts down, handed me the bill and walked off. She had written in big letters "GRATUITY NOT INCLUDED" on the top of the check. I asked another server for a manager, but no one ever came by. Another 15 minutes went by when she came back to pick up the check. She said "did you want me to charge gratuity to your room?" I promptly responded that no, I would just leave cash. I was so offended and so angry at that point that I left - I left a tip but it was not the standard 15-20% I would usually leave. Needless to say, we have never been back.

 

[Pakey]

We used to eat at Coral Reef every trip. After probably a dozen visits, our last 2 meals there have been terribly disappointing. Not only the food (they have removed so many of the unique fish dishes), but the snail pace service and the noise level make for a very unpleasant meal experience. We have not been in a year now.

 

[KatieRach]

We go every time we are at WDW, but have noticed that the menu no longer has our favorite items and service is usually a bit slower. Our little one loves to watch the fish, so we will probably continue to go, but it is not one of my favorite restaurants like it used to be.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Loved Coral Reef when it was a signature. Hate it now, it's consistently been one of the worst restaurants in terms of food. Fortunately for them, many people are so distracted by the tank that food quality isn't everyone's priority. I'd rather just walk around the pavilion and see the fish for free.

 

[canopynut66]

We had a horrible experience there in 08 and have never been back. My daughter ordered the kids mahi mahi and told me her broccoli tasted funny. I tasted it, and it was bad - it tasted rancid. My little girl wouldn't even eat her fish after that. We hadn't seen the server in a while, so when she walked by I flagged her down and told her about it. All she said was "ok" - she never offered to get her another side item, take it off the bill, or anything. She then offered us dessert, and turned to DD and said "I don't know if you get dessert since you didn't eat any of your dinner." DD had tears in her eyes, and I said yes, she can have some ice cream. At this point I was pretty angry and just wanted to leave. She plopped the desserts down, handed me the bill and walked off. She had written in big letters "GRATUITY NOT INCLUDED" on the top of the check. I asked another server for a manager, but no one ever came by. Another 15 minutes went by when she came back to pick up the check. She said "did you want me to charge gratuity to your room?" I promptly responded that no, I would just leave cash. I was so offended and so angry at that point that I left - I left a tip but it was not the standard 15-20% I would usually leave. Needless to say, we have never been back.

We had this happen at Chef Mickeys two years ago server never did come so i got the juice and cups and once server seen that she did come with coffee pot which she sat on the table and left again ..we ate and all dirty dishes we staked on table next to us..when we ready to leave ----surprise here came the bill with the tip circled>>>I am like WHAT and she said--you "have" to tip and I said I do for service ---we never had any..she said well i will get the manager and I told her to go get him or her and I sat down and waited over 15 minutes and no one ever did come so we paid the bill and left and have not been back food was dried out for one and that type of non service uncalled for.

 

[nicole0992]

I have eaten at Coral Reef 4 times in the past year. Honestly, all meals were wonderful including the service. In fact, my husband rated his meal (steak) the best of all the restaurants we dined at in February. I am planning our next trip and Coral Reef was the top of his list. One thing to note is I always make our ADR here at 11:30 a.m. when they open for lunch. Maybe that has something to do with our good experiences?

 

[MusiqChic99]

I have eaten at Coral Reef 4 times in the past year. Honestly, all meals were wonderful including the service. In fact, my husband rated his meal (steak) the best of all the restaurants we dined at in February. I am planning our next trip and Coral Reef was the top of his list. One thing to note is I always make our ADR here at 11:30 a.m. when they open for lunch. Maybe that has something to do with our good experiences?

I do agree with you on meal time and not just at Coral Reef. It seemed like the meals we booked at opening time went so much smoother.

We like the food at Coral Reef and are eating there again in November. The service is a bit slow though!

 

[angierae]

When we went in May 10 our food was really good, but the service was HORRIBLE. Everything came out extremely slow (and the restaurant was mostly empty - by the time we left there was only one other table in there).

It was my husband's birthday dinner and we were so disappointed. Once we were done eating the server took like 20 minutes to come take our KTTW cards, and then acted like it was a horrible complicated thing to take two meals off of each of 3 cards (there were six of us, two to a room). And then it was a HALF HOUR and he hadn't brought back our KTTW cards so we could leave. We finally had to have a manager come out and my MIL was panicking that we wouldn't be able to get a bus to our resort (it was long after park closing by this time, we had an 8:00reservation) and all they ended up doing was saying they'd take off the automatic gratuity for having a party of six.

I told my husband when we go back to Disney we should celebrate his birthday over but he says no, that'll just guarantee another horrible meal.

(I'm sorry, but dinner at Coral Reef should not take well over two hours, especially given that we were done eating almost an HOUR before we actually got to leave. I felt like we were being held hostage!)

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I had a wonderful meal there over Mother's Day weekend 2011. I was solo and had an 11:30am lunch reservation.

Service was a bit slow but the food was good. I wasn't in any hurry so it was ok with me.

I'm sorry you had horrible service and food.

 

[Kae]

First time we had great service but the food was just ok but since the service was great we tried it again. Well the food was way better not quite great but the service was bad-bad. So I think I am done with CR for a few trips.

And I am ready to be flamed but kids were running all over, squeezing between tables to get to tank. Chairs were being knocked over & such. We were on the second tier great views of the tank. Felt very sorry for those sitting by the tank. That was for the 2nd trip.

Kae

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

we ate there in may for the first time.

we fell in love with the crispy fried shrimp appetizer.

it felt like it was about 189 degrees out and the humidity just made me lose my appetite. i ordered rainbow trout and fries, lol--which i mearly picked at--not because it was bad--because i wasn't hungry and i wanted more shrimp

he loved his steak and mashed potatoes, we both enjoyed dessert.... and plan to return this november for lunch

i do have to say that service is awkward there. it's very cramped and they have to go up and down the stairs which can be narrow when more than one person are on them. i think we will ask to be not near the tank next time.

 

[Linda T.]

We ate at Coral Reef this July. The food was very good, we had a great table, but service was slow. We would go back but I would plan a different schedule for that night.

 

[jlk806]

Awwe sorry to hear Coral Reef is one of my all time favs! We eat there every trip and most recently me and 3 friends ate there on our girls trip 2 weeks ago and all 4 of us LOVED it! We had an awesome server, a table right next to the tank, and awesome food and desserts. I always get the mahi mahi. We are eating there again in 2.5 weeks at our family trip. Hope all is good like it usually is.

 

[OhThePain]

As a kid, CR was one of my favorites. Our last 2 trips there were downright awful from start to finish. The food quality has dropped to the quality of a Red Lobster, the service was slow and somewhat rude and sitting by the tank is more of a punishment than a luxury. I don't think it often, but this is one restaurant that I personally believe dining plans totally ruined. The once nice, relaxing, fantastic meal is now a chaotic, subpar and forgetable experience.

 

[bluejasmine]

Been twice and loved the restaurant even tho it was quite loud and service is always slow but the food was just ehh.. My DH loves this restaurant but I really think its sentimental reason, on our honeymoon I had a diver hold up a sign and the whole restaurant applauded when DH got misty eyed..LOL

Id go atleast once..

 

[lilpooh108]

In Sept 2010 we ate there....and were SO disappointed. My fish had a ton of spice and color, but lacked flavor. The risotto underneath was SO salty that it was literally inedible. Our waiter was rude to us, and when my husband had to take our 18 month old outside for a few minutes to calm her down from being fussy, he looked irritated at me that the pacing of the food was off. They brought his food any way, and was no where to be found when we needed the bill. The restaurant was at least 60% empty at this time. Although the ambiance is cool and the tank is cool, I wouldn't go back for the food. Maybe on a hot day, for lunch, if I have nothing else planned. But with some many great restaurants in Epcot, it's really not worth it.

 

[GeorgeG]

We've had quite a few meals at Coral Reef and most were pretty good. There were a few that were just so-so and a few that were memorable. There are really just a handful of Epcot restaurants that we still go to on a regular basis and this is not one of them. We would still eat there if people we're with really wanted to, but would not go out of our way on our own.

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

Coral Reef was one of my favorite meals on my October 09 trip, but I do have to say our waitress was a little less than stellar. I felt like we were a bother to her.

 

[patsal]

Absolutely horrible serivce, food, drinks, the works on 7/24. It is off the list until I hear about major improvements. This has been a must do for 10 years in a row, but it keeps getting worse each passing year. I'd say it hit rock bottom with us this time and I won't be returning.