Coral Reef?

[sammi6]

What is your opinion? Good or Bad? how is this restaurant?

 

[M5ward]

We thought it was just okay. The atmosphere was great, the service so not bad, and the food was average.

 

[Golden Rose]

We love the atmosphere so much that we try to go almost every trip - it is DS's favorite restaurant (for the view, not the meal.) We've generally considered it to be overpriced for the quality of the food, but not for the experience. We've generally had pretty good service there, and you can't beat the view if you like aquariums.

As far as the food goes... well, on our trip in January we had surprisingly good food. Some of the best food we'd ever had there, and some of the best on our trip. When we were back there last week, the food was back to being only ok. Not bad, but not exciting (and still expensive.)

It was a good overall experience, and we will certainly be back.

 

[MariDisney]

We had two terrible experiences. It's beautiful, but it's terribly loud and the service was poor on both of our visits. Never ever again.

 

[FINFAN]

We have been once, we had a bit of a wait past our ADR time, but eveerything else was really nice! We enjoyed our food, service was fine and we faced the tanks in the first set of booths Our kids really liked it ( they were 13 and 17 at the time) we would go back, And we were not on the dining plan ( free or otherwise) so no swaying of our judgement there.

 

[disprincess2002]

We love coral reef for the food and the atmosphere, but have had the same snobby server 2 times in a row! We are going back again this Aug. because it was one of my DD7 picks(she loves the kids mahi-mahi and make your own sundae). I am excited about the blakened catfish w/ pepperjack cheese grits and the chocolate wave! PLease let us get a better server though!

 

[Chevyscool]

What is your opinion? Good or Bad? how is this restaurant?

Hi...I grew up in Cincy and went to UC, I sure miss Skyline, LaRosa's and Greater's!

Anyway, I have to agree with the others...CR is pricy and the portions are on the small side. Having said that, we love to go there for the atmosphere. My two kids went crazy and loved seeing all the fish, sharks and other marine life while we dined. We lucked out and had one of the best tables in the restaurant (even without requesting it ). I know the table you get there can sometimes make or break the experience. Our last trip, we really enjoyed our meals, but we went for lunch (and were on the DxDP) so small portions and prices didn't bother us.

I'd say go, especially if you have loved ones who enjoy sealife...we plan on returning this fall.

 

[Tweevil]

Well, it wasn't the best for my group. We had a late ADR and the place had a waiting line a mile long due to their PC's going down. Then one of my boys had to use the facilities and it was down due to flooding (seriously...). The host took us to the "private one" which was just the area for special parties. Looked like it could have used a refurb. The atmosphere in the dining room, lobby area is wonderful, decor is great. We had one of the last ADR's of the night and the waiter was overwhelmed, busy, and extremely apologetic. We got the basics but not much more than that. Drink refills weren't done, etc.

They (and all restaurants we went to) were extremely accomodating for the other son because he is picky and they basically made him what he wanted (spinoff of a menu item) for that I was thankful.


I would say it is a go to for one time, look at the fishies, check out the decor, have dinner and then decide if it's for you. I don't think I will do it for the next trip though....

Hope this helps

 

[Pakey]

We've eaten here about a dozen times, maybe more. I'd say the place is fairly consistent.

1 Great atmosphere 2 Seating and service can be terribly slow 3 The place can be extremely noisy 4 Food is average with pretty small portions

 

[Crystal_27]

We really like Coral Reef. DH and I both had the steak, and it was very tasty. We also loved the chocolate wave for dessert - - yum! However, we found the service a bit lacking, but since the food was so good, we can overlook that and will definitely eat there again.

 

[JoePa4Ever]

This is my favorite place for dinner. I love the atmosphere with the aquarium view. I've really enjoyed my meals there - I always get the steak, which has been superb!

 

[caroline1851]

We were sat near the tank so the atmosphere was awesome! Divers are amusing.
Food was really good though I didn't see any desserts that I wanted (odd for me)
Service average

 

[vascubaguy]

Coral Reef is OK, but I'm not sure we would go back. It was VERY loud and the service was horrible from start to finish.

We had an ADR sometime after 7pm. We checked in (all 7 of us) and we waited a few minutes with the other 20-30 people in the lobby area. We were then told our table was ready. We got up, they started walking us in and then asked us to wait and then told us it wasn't our table. So we had to go back to the lobby and wait. 45 minutes later they tell us our table is ready. The only bright side of that was that if the first call had been our table we would have been on the top level furthest from the tank, but we ended up being seated on the first level in a big booth across from the tank glass.

Our server came by and seemed nice, but he wanted our complete order (drinks, appetizers, entree and dessert) all at once. He said it would speed up the orders if he could put it all in at once, but it really meant it would reduce the number of times he had to come by our table. We didn't see him too much after that, but we didn't mind asking the many other servers who were walking by if we needed something. The food was good though and my nephew enjoyed watching and pointing out the different fish.

I might would give it another try, but with so many other places I'm in no rush to go back just yet.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We ate there in January, first time since 99. Full review and pics in my January link. I loved my sauteed grouper and risotto...the nieces did not like their pizza at all and DH didnt care for his NY Strip.

I would not mind going back but DH doesnt want to give it another chance

 

[TKL SHOP]

We ate here on Friday, May 22nd. We had a party of 9, our reservations were @ 7:40 We didn't get seated until 8:30, so the wait was long even with adr. We did get a great seat on the first level facing the tanks, the kids loved it, atmosphere is great. Our server wasn't very friendly, he did get all items to us fast and efficent though! He seemed a bit annoyed when asked for refills on drinks. Food was great, my steak was juicy and tender. My DH and others that ordered the steak loved it, my mom had the chicken dish, she loved it too! The kids didn't really like their pizza. The wave wasn't that good in my opinion, but no one really like any of the desserts. Overall I would have to say it is about an 8, I would go back again, as the food was tasty.

 

[renato24]

I have to day that for both my DW and I this was the best meal we had at Disney during our week-long trip earlier this month. We both had the Grilled Mahi Mahi and it was to die for - liked it better than the Filet Mignon at Le Cellier. Service was awesome and so was the atmosphere of course - even though were were not seated that close to the tank.

 

[phisigprincess]

It gets a lot of mixed reviews, but we've done it twice and loved it both times.

 

[Karebear6505]

I was just at WDW last week and our first day we ate at Coral Reef for dinner. I didn't have really high expectations based on the reviews I read on here about it. But it was by far the BEST meal I had all week! I had the Halibut and it was cooked perfectly! It came with mushroom risotto and scallops in some kind of sauce. I normally don't really like scallops but these were sooooo good! I ordered the creamy lobster soup and the waiter forgot to bring it out before my meal and so he didn't charge me for it, it was out of this world!! The mango sorbet was good but not my favorite (and mango is my favorite fruit) but the rest of the meal was sooooo good I couldn't stop talking about it and I'll remember it forever. Definitely going back. My friend ordered the steak and the chocolate wave and she loved it too!

 

[TheAngelForever]

I still have memories of the old Coral Reef. Back then it was not as popular and much more quiet. We just had dinner there with our boys and my parents. The food was wonderful, but the noise factor is alarming. I think the crowds and the sounds bouncing off the glass tank make things crazy. My father and hubby both loved the end of meal there and we all loved the steak. If we were not on the DP, not sure if I would go back since it is pricey.