Coral Reef in Epcot?

[tallvine]

I'm traveling w/ my family - 7 of us ages 13 to 81 in June. I'd love to do one nice family meal with all of us together one night and after going through many restaurant listings The Coral reef in Epcot seems like it would be fun. Unfortunately many of the reviews are less than stellar - poor service, expensive, lousy food but the atmosphere looks like it would be great! anyone been there recently? your reviews?

 

[Bev J]

We had never tried the Coral Reef because we don't eat seafood, but we looked at the menu and there were plenty of other choices so we earmarked it for a future trip.
After a less than pleasant lunch at Le Cellier we called dining to see what was available and CR was so we went for it. We were glad we did we had wonderful service and very good food. We have been 2X now and plan on going again next trip.
We have come to relize that, as with any resturant at home- servers have bad nights, food comes out cold or something else is not to our likeing, even at Disney! If something is not right then talk to the server or the Manager.
Expect a positive experience and you will probably have it.

Bev

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

We have been once as a family. My dd and dh went for a daddy daughter trip last year and they each picked a place and CR was hers. She loves it there, but she is a child, eating a childs meal. We were OK with it, love the restaurant, but the food was just OK, not our favorite at all. Service was fine when we went. It is LOUD in there though, so that might be something to think about.

My pick for Family restaurants is Ohana! That is the one we pick each time when we are there with a group.

 

[Poohbug]

We were very happy with our last trip to Coral Reef. The steak was better than LeCellier and the atmosphere is great with the aquarium. The only problem was we had nine in our party and we had to sit a two tables.

 

[luckytobeme88]

We ate at Coral Reef last year and will return again this July. This time we have 11pp, so we know we have to sit at 2 seperate tables. NO PROBLEM. As far as service, we were very cheerfull to the waiter the moment he greeted us, so there's no way he can be nasty to us. lol

 

[teresajoy]

I'm traveling w/ my family - 7 of us ages 13 to 81 in June. I'd love to do one nice family meal with all of us together one night and after going through many restaurant listings The Coral reef in Epcot seems like it would be fun. Unfortunately many of the reviews are less than stellar - poor service, expensive, lousy food but the atmosphere looks like it would be great! anyone been there recently? your reviews?

We ate there in May of 2006. We were less than impressed. I thought that the food was overpriced for what we got, the service was poor, and we didn't have a good view of the aquarium at all. I don't think I wouold eat at this one again.

 

[luvdisney00]

My family of 5 loved CR on our last trip 7/07. The food was really good and we enjoyed the atmosphere. I am making ADRs this week for Sept. and I am trying really hard to fit it in. I may bump Le Cellier for Coral Reef.

 

[suzimar57]

we ate at Coral Reef this past October and had a good experience - sat up against the fish tank (just the 2 of us), DH had shrimp/beef skewer, strip steak and chocolate wave - i had lobster soup, pasta with shrimp and jack daniels chocolate 3 layer dessert thingie...

delish! - very surprised, because 2 years ago we weren't very happy there

going back again in december - looking forward to it

 

[debilovesmickey]

Hi,
We ate at Coral Reef for the first time in 11/01.
We are headed back to WDW a month from today! I made reservations for the Coral Reef again. We loved it-- good food, and great atmosphere. We had lunch and will do lunch again. I hope it is still as good as I remember!

Debi

 

[mrstomrice]

We have an ADR for CR for our Aug. visit. When I made my ADR, I asked if we could request a table next to the aquarium. The CM told me I had to ask at the podium when I checked in. Was anyone else able to request this prior to your visit? My DSs 4 and 2 would love it!

 

[Pumbaa_]

My family was there with a group of 9 in Sept. I thought the food was very good, but some of the different entrees were on the small side. I can't remember what my brothers ordered, but it was not enough for them and they were still hungry.

How about a resort restaurant? Cape May at the BC was a clam bake type set up and was pretty good. All 9 of us were happy with the choices. Wide variety of preferences too, some that don't care for seafood and some that love it. We all enjoyed the meal.

If you are looking for more atmosphere, how about WCC? Could be alot of fun with a group that size there.

I am going to move to main dining board for more reviews.

Let us know where you end up

 

[crystalcml]

I was there in Sept 2007 and all I can say is that it was perfect! We had a wonderful server, great food and I couldn't ask for a better atmosphere! We had the steak dinner and chicken dinner and both were wonderful. We liked it so much that we are going back this year.

One thing about the cost is... Yes it is expensive but I think it is well worth the price!

 

[tink20]

My family of 4 went last June we really had a great time DS loved watching the fish. Service very friendly. Food- okay.

 

[gregrmike1]

Our family loves the food and the atmosphere at CR. We will be eating dinner at CR 2 times in April!

 

[Pakey]

We've eaten at Coral Reef approx 10 times in the past 5 years including our recent trip in Jan and we'll be eating there again in 2 months. My opinions on Coral Reef:

It's better for lunch than dinner. Why? First of all, they run behind on ADR's and everytime we have went for dinner, we've waited a long time for our table. The wait area is congested with little seating and it's not relaxing to be standing there for 30-45 minutes past the ADR time. Second, the service seems better earlier in the day. We have experienced, on more than one occasion, poor service for dinner here. Third, the place can be very noisy when it's full.

Also, the portions are small. DH and I are not large eaters but I did notice that the portions here were smaller than most other places.

The non-seafood selections are limited. Yes, they do offer some but not a lot. If you have non-seafood eaters in your group, you will want to check the menu to make sure that they will have something that they will enjoy. The non-seafood eaters in our various groups have not been overly impressed with their food.

With all of that, we still enjoy taking first timers here. However, we do pick the earliest ADR time for lunch before it gets super packed and noisy. The restaurant is pretty, unique and the wall of fish is fun to look at. We've sat from front to back and I prefer midway for the best view.

The largest group we've taken is 6 so I don't know how the seating would be for 7.

 

[Heathr6913]

We ate at Coral Reef last September...It was our favorite meal of the trip. We had an awesome waiter and the food was great! I was surprised after reading all the bad reviews...We're definitely returning this September!

 

[TruBlu]

It is by far our favorite Disney restaurant. We have had fantastic food and service on every visit. AND, the atmosphere can't be beat.

 

[karen l]

We love the Coral Reef & will be going there again this April. Food & service have always been great. The Chocolate Wave is delicious!