CORAL REEF
I have added a few pics here related to the Diver that I requested, it adds to why I wanted to book here in the first place and it also is one of the reasons why I still have very fond memories of this place.
The bus to Epcot was quite crowded but we still scored a seat. The journey was quick, less than 10 minutes, so we were in Epcot by 6.30pm. I knew Coral Reef was in The Living Seas, so we just followed the signs and arrived at 6.45pm. I went up to the desk and gave my name and she told us to take a seat and we would be called for when our table was ready. I was really nervous by this point, I had planned the menu and diver about 6 months before but had touched base with Debbi about 1 month or so before we left with my confirmation. Loads of guests were being seated and at 7.10pm Steven asked me why we were waiting so long for a table. I assumed that we were waiting on an aquarium seat, but I just said that maybe they were waiting for a smaller table for the 3 of us.
At 7.15pm our host comes to get us and seats us at a large table right beside the aquarium. We have a great view of the whole restaurant, but more importantly the tank. She goes to hand Steven a menu, and then hands out the normal menus to the rest of us. I look down at the front cover of the menu Steven has and think, this doesnt look to special He opens it and on the left hand side it states Happy Honeymoon from all at Coral Reef, the date at the bottom says August 17th 2007 and on the right hand side is just the normal menu. I try not to show my disappointment and Steven asks if this is one of my many surprises I had planned for him. I say Not exactly and claim I need to use the restroom. Steven and my mom look at me suspiciously as I leave the table, but inside I am fuming. I had planned this for such a long time and now I was really worried about the diver and strawberries. I rush up to the desk and explain to the girl the problem. She confirms that on the reservation she has a note of the diver and strawberries but the menu isnt noted. I tell her that the menu says Happy Honeymoon and that this embarrassed me because we werent even married yet! She apologises and calls a manager down who I then have to repeat my story to. I tell him I had spoken with both Debbi and Alicia and have also sent countless emails to confirm my menu. I had sent 4 pictures and also planned on having the lyrics to our first dance printed on the menu along with a special message from me. I was completely gutted that this hadnt happened. He advised me that both Debbi and Alicia were off and he would see what he could do. I told him I needed to go back to my table, as I know the diver is at least booked and I didnt want to miss him.
I quickly leave and go back down the stairs towards my table. I see my mom motioning for me to come quickly. I look up towards the tank and see the diver pretending to sleep. My mom is pointing towards me to let the diver know I am this person. I quickly sit down and the diver shows the sign for the second time. I am disappointed that I didnt get to see Stevens face when he first displayed it, but the sign was perfect and it was what I had asked for:
The diver throws confetti in the air and blows a huge kiss on the glass and everyone cheers. Steven is stunned and gives me a big kiss, and hey, he is not one for wanting attention, but he agreed that this was a really nice thing to do. He loved the sign and was touched by the words. He told me that just after I had left the diver appeared and had pointed to my mom and him and drew a big heart on the glass, my mom shook her head and motioned to the empty chair and the diver shrugged, then looked at his watch, tapped his foot then eventually pretended to sleep while he waited for me to come back. Steven had thought it pretty funny that the diver thought he may have been with my mom and I thought it was hilarious! I really had wished I had been there but it certainly makes for a funny memory for Steven when he looks back on it now. The diver stayed for another 5 minutes and was swimming round our tank while the waiter took our drinks order. The diver would now and again throw confetti and hold the sign up every so often. As he was going he waved goodbye to us and blew another kiss. It was definitely the best free surprise I had organised.
We all ordered diet cokes to drink along with some iced water and we began to scan the menu. I decided I would try the Creamy Lobster Soup, Steven ordered the New England Cod Cake and my mom ordered the Mixed Greens Salad.
The Creamy Lobster Soup was to die for; I love Lobster and hadnt eaten it in years. The soup was so creamy and there was just a touch of Brandy added. There were huge chunks of Lobster and if I could compare it to anything it, the texture was somewhat similar to a milkshake, very thick and oh so creamy. It was also quite sweet, which was surprising but definitely not overpowering.
The New England Cod Cake, well Steven devoured this. It was quite a large portion set on Micro Greens and Remoulade. Steven loved this, he finds it hard to describe the taste but from the small morsel I tried it was very meaty and the sauce that accompanied it really brought out the flavours. I am not a huge fish fan but it was some of the nicest fish I had tried, not dry at all with a slight nutty flavour somehow! It was presented well too.
My mom liked her Mixed Greens Salad but said that there wasnt enough of the bleu cheese dressing. Her salad looked pretty boring to me, but I hate bleu cheese and am not particularly fond of plain salads.
For our Entrée I ordered Grilled New York Strip and my mom and Steven ordered Grilled Chicken Breast.
I ordered my steak medium-well thanks to the tip from Tiffany, and my steaks throughout my trip were always perfectly cooked. This one was no exception but the piece I received was very fatty. I also found that it was way too salty and I ended up leaving about half. Now the Potatoes Au Gratin were very creamy and very moreish but the portion was too small so I really could have been doing with more. A pet peeve or rather it became a pet peeve was the vegetables in nearly all of the restaurants I ate at were severely under cooked. Now I love vegetables and eat them all the time, but I can honestly say that for 3 whole weeks I hardly ate any at dinner, anywhere! The broccolini that I received with my steak was practically raw. I love firm broccolini but this was stuff you could chip a tooth on. Does anyone else have this problem? Is there any way I could combat this, like ask for my veg to be cooked longer? I know the longer you cook your veg the more nutrients are lost, but I would rather eat some than none at all, and that is how it was for the majority of my trip, NO VEG!!!
Stevens Grilled Chicken Breast looked quite nice and he made the mistake of eating the chicken separate from the rice. At this point he labelled the food quite bland. However towards the end he tried the chicken and rice together and exclaimed it was lovely. Unfortunately he had eaten most of it so didnt have much left to do this with. My mom enjoyed her chicken but it was just that, chicken and I was hoping that both my mom and Steven would become more adventurous throughout our trip.
Our waiter cleared our plates and a few minutes later returned with a huge plate of chocolate covered Strawberries and 3 plates. He put it in front of mom who was very surprised. There was well over 30 Strawberries and I had only paid for 12, so I was happy that we had received much more. Steven's name had been spelt StePhAn which I chuckled at but all in all, the wording was correct. They looked gorgeous:
Unfortunately I dont like Strawberries so I had no intentions of eating any; all I wanted was my dessert!
Steven and my mom tucked in to them and my mom stated they were much better without the chocolate, hmph!!! Steven said they were the nicest Strawberries he had tasted, WITH the chocolate! I told them both to save room for dessert. I had been advised that the Strawberries would be served after dessert, which I would have preferred as I knew mom would be taking them back to the resort anyway and by this point I would have had my dessert.
15 minutes went by and I tried to get the waiters attention. Eventually I managed and asked if we could have a box or something and the dessert menu. I think they served the Strawberries first hoping that we wouldnt want dessert, but uh, uh, no way, I wanted to try the Chocolate Wave!
Our dessert menu came with 2 boxes to put the strawberries in and we all decided to get The Chocolate Wave. I asked if we could have 2 sides of ice cream too though as I love the contrast between hot and cold with desserts, so even though I knew I would have to pay OOP for the ice cream I still thought it was worth it.
Our desserts came out and we dug in. I left the brandied Cherries, as I hate Cherries and started in on the Wave. My first bite was quite dry but tasted okay, the second bite I plunged into the middle and got the gooey centre, but when I tasted it I thought it just tasted undercooked. I have had plenty of Soufflés and melt in the middle cakes before, but this one tasted just okay. The chocolate was very rich but was better balanced with the Vanilla Ice Cream, but it looked like it had been severely overcooked, very runny, and not even that hot. I was disappointed again as I had heard rave reviews about this dessert. Steven ate all of his which surprised me as he isnt that much of a chocolate fan, my mom also finished her one but agreed that it was really rich and needed the ice cream. Maybe I received a bad one, who knows, but I would be willing to try another one.
We paid for this meal using our TS credits but were stunned to see we were charged $7.70 for 2 scoops of ice cream, WHAT??? Hmmm, my dessert wouldnt have even been edible in my opinion without the ice cream! We grabbed our Strawberries and passed the manager I had spoken to about the menu. I didnt know whether he had asked for extra Strawberries to be added to our plate as compensation or not as he had not come to talk to me again.
All in all, it was a really nice atmosphere and the food was pretty good. I would probably eat here again. Had it not been for the diver however, I wouldn't have went the extra mile to book here and now that the divers and menus aren't being offered, I wouldn't rush back. The food was very overpriced but they did offer some unique dishes. The atmosphere was top notch and that alone makes it worth the visit imo.
