Coral Reef Was Awesome!!!!

[ppiew]

We just ate there last week. I admit I was VERY hesitant, as we have eaten there several times over the years and it was horrible! Bad food, service, dirty restaurant. But after a lull of about 4 years, we decided to give it another try. WOW! It has REALLY jumped several notches! Every single BAD thing we had experienced in the past was GONE! The food was really very very good, as was the service. The restaurant is definitely cleaned up. We had Lobster Salad which was just excellent! Also the Ahi Tuna and of course the Chocolate Wave! It is one of the few restaurants we experienced at WDW that seasons their food properly - not over done but certainly not bland as so many of the restaurants have become.

I am looking forward to going back next month. This is definitely a 'keeper' after years of bad and so so food.

 

[n2mm]

Referring to the link. Is it customary to allow customers to order off a dinner menu at lunch??

I tried and was told NO. I wanted the shrimp pasta from the dinner menu for lunch and the server said it could not be ordered. So I ordered the prime rib, which was OK.

We have had great meals here recently. We ate at CR twice last week, once for dinner and once for lunch. I do find eating here for lunch a much more relaxing meal. Dinner is very chaotic. We had a great server for lunch last weekend. His name was Riley and he was the best server we have had in many, many trips. We were on the DDP, but tipped him alot extra and he came over and personally thanked us. It was well deserved!

As someone else noted, I had the strawberry stinger smoothie and it was the best smoothie I've ever had.

 

[MommaTinkerbell]

Thank you!! We have ADRs here for DD9 birthday! I having been holding my breathe since I have read bad reviews. I probably would have changed our ADRs since it's such a special occasion but this was the Birthday Girls only request for her special day and so we booked it. Can't wait to post my good reviews when we return.

 

[dawgfan]

Thanks for the review.

 

[jenr812]

Thanks for the positive review! I recently changed our Cape May Cafe to Coral Reef I have really wanted to try CR but all the bad reviews made me leary. It seems like things are turning around!

 

[DisneyDarlings]

Would the OP please address the issue I've read about in other reviews concerning the noise level at CR. Was it really noisy while you dined? I've read reviews that said you couldn't hear others at your table unless they were speaking very loudly. I'm just curious what your thoughts are on this issue. Thanks!

 

[ppiew]

We were there for lunch last week and the noise level was in no way intrusive. I suppose you could have some wild people that would be excessively noisy, but that was not the case in our visit. The dining room was almost filled - probably about 5 or 6 empty tables. I have been in many Disney restaurants a lot louder than CR - CG for example - now THAT IS noisy!!

 

[dawgfan]

In reference to the noise....I have eaten here twice and never had any problem with the noise at all.

 

[tink's girls]

So happy to hear the excellent reviews for Coral Reef. We plan to celebrate my DD's 10th B-day there next year! Thanks for the posts!!

 

[caribear]

And is it possible to order kids meals for adults?? Or to just order dessert? I would love to go back just for the Chocolate Wave!!

I went during the lunch hour for dessert only with my daughter. I had to have the chocolate wave DD had the make your own sundae. We had the latest lunch seating and I mentioned to the CM when we arrived that we were doing dessert only. The restaurant was pretty empty at the time and they had no problem with this.

 

[atisikitabasket]

I think maybe timing could be a issue we had ADR's at 5:10 it opens at 5 we got there at 10 till and was seated at 5. As far as noise I would say it is about the same level as most of the places at Disney. We did hear a baby crying a couple times but it wasn't piercing or anything. We were too busy watching the tank and eating. We were able to carry on a conversation so I would say it wasn't that bad. My DS$ has PDD and loud places scare him and he didn't mind this place at all.

Thanks for the positive feedback maybe I should do a review of all the places we ate.

Le Cellier
Liberty Tree - Lunch and Dinner
Wolfgang Puck
Coral Reef
Chef Mickey's
Playhouse Disney Hollywood and Vine
Kona

Thanks again guys. Also my son is picky on pizza and he loved it it was a thin crust not paper thin but not pan pizza either I didn't get to try it because he scarffed it down and said "no mommy leave pizza alone!!!!" So I let him be.

 

[jenr812]

Thanks for the positive feedback maybe I should do a review of all the places we ate.

Le Cellier
Liberty Tree - Lunch and Dinner
Wolfgang Puck
Coral Reef
Chef Mickey's
Playhouse Disney Hollywood and Vine
Kona

Please do! From your list, we're going to Le Cellier, LTT (for dinner), Coral Reef, and Kona in May and I love reading reviews.

 

[aes74]

I ate at CR today, and it was horrific. I REALLY wanted it to be good. My thinking, is eat dinner instead of lunch. And I wish I would have asked for advice on what to order. I am really bummed about our experience. It was a really expensive disappointment.

 

[crazymomof4]

I ate at CR today, and it was horrific. I REALLY wanted it to be good. My thinking, is eat dinner instead of lunch. And I wish I would have asked for advice on what to order. I am really bummed about our experience. It was a really expensive disappointment.

Going to CR for lunch on March 6th............What did you order, so that I can avoid it?

 

[swankybeth]

Thanks for sharing your review. We ate here last month and unfortunately didn't really enjoy our meal. I'm glad that you had a good experience, though!

 

[crazymomof4]

Thanks for sharing your review. We ate here last month and unfortunately didn't really enjoy our meal. I'm glad that you had a good experience, though!

Hi!
Same question as in my last post. Could you please share what you had and why you didn't like it? That would really help those of us who are going there to decide what to order.
Thanks!

 

[aes74]

Going to CR for lunch on March 6th............What did you order, so that I can avoid it?

I actually posted somewhere about it in more detail...but I had the Mahi (YUCK) and DH had the bbq salmon sandwich. His was better than mine, but still not good. We did like the lobster bisque we had as an appetizer.

 

[jmpellet]

We ate at Coral Reef back in October and it was terrible from the service to the food. Our waiter ignored us (dining plan??) and my t-bone was terrible. Dessert was very good though and the atmosphere was nice. I will never go back there again and my family is not fussy about eating. During this trip we ate at Tony's, Crystal Palace, Liberty Tree Tavern, Chef Mickey's, Ohana's, 1900 Park Faire, Le Cellier, Donald's Breakfastasaurus, Hollywood and Vine, and Akershus so you can see we went to lots of different places. I would rate Coral Reef as the worst. In January 2007, my husband and I dined at Raglan Road, Wofgang Puck downstairs, 1900 Park Faire, and Le Cellier. Le Cellier continues to be my favorite.

 

[swankybeth]

Hi!
Same question as in my last post. Could you please share what you had and why you didn't like it? That would really help those of us who are going there to decide what to order.
Thanks!

For my appetizer I had the braised BBQ beef with polenta. I liked that. DH had the shrimp cocktail and did not like it. My entree was the blackened catfish and I didn't enjoy it at all. DH had the steak and it was pretty good. Dessert was the Chocolate Wave for me and the Butterscotch creme brulee for DH. Dessert was good all around. For more details and my pictures, you can check out my reviews.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1346992

 

[jenr812]

For my appetizer I had the braised BBQ beef with polenta. I liked that. DH had the shrimp cocktail and did not like it. My entree was the blackened catfish and I didn't enjoy it at all. DH had the steak and it was pretty good. Dessert was the Chocolate Wave for me and the Butterscotch creme brulee for DH. Dessert was good all around. For more details and my pictures, you can check out my reviews.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1346992

Wow! How can you screw up shrimp cocktail? LOL Off to read your reviews