How good is Coral Reef?

[bangzoom6877]

We don't make our ADRs until January, but we know all but one dinner as of now. The one we are undecided on is the third Epcot dinner (yes, still!!). I had gotten some really great feedback here a while back, and we have been thinking about San Angel Inn or Le Cellier (I would only try for Le Cellier if DH really wants it, otherwise I would rather do a different country...we can get great steaks at home). So far, the first 2 days we go to Epcot, one dinner will be at Biergarten again (LOVE that place!) and the other will be Chefs de France.

So now I saw that Coral Reef's menu is slightly different than it was a few months ago. It looks more appealing to me now than it did before. How good is the food there for dinner? I know the kids would love watching all the fish swim in there while we eat. Is it worth it to go to Coral Reef if you are going to get meat there instead of fish? I love fish, but DH only eats shellfish and I see it is mostly fish fillets served there. But, they have the NY Strip steak and the Beef shortribs on their menu too. Are these any good? Also, how are the desserts? What is the chocolate wave and would they serve it to me without the raspberries (I'm allergic to raspberries)? DH would love the Bailey's and Jack Daniels mousse (he's a huge fan of Bailey's).

Now I'm thinking that Coral Reef might be "the one". For some reason I always think we should eat only in the WS at Epcot, but Coral Reef looks nice too. What do you all think? Worth a try?

 

[SheenaXena21]

It's a must-do for our family. The mahi mahi is excellent. The steak is excellent. The atmosphere is great. I've had good servers, and servers I barely saw. But you can get a good/bad server anywhere in the "world". I can't really comment on any of the other food. I've only gotten steak here myself, and "tried" the fish on someone else's plate. The mousse dessert is good, the chocolate wave is good.

I think it's all good!!!

 

[jerrifox]

We ate at the Coral Reef during our trip last year and it was really really good. I had the mahi which was incredible..can't remember what my DH had. The restaurant is also very pretty with the fish tanks and almost every table has a view of the tanks since the floor is staggered. You should definitely try it!!

 

[phnguyk]

I don't eat seafood and my dh and two boys 3 and 1 enjoyed our meals there. We were lucky to be seated right by aquarium (although i think across from tank is better yet) I would and am going to go back there again.

 

[MariDisney]

After several bad experiences with terrible service and the incredible volume of the restaurant, it is on our "must never do again" list. The food was pretty good, but to us it wasn't worth the stress involved in eating there.

 

[MJMcBride]

After several bad experiences with terrible service and the incredible volume of the restaurant, it is on our "must never do again" list. The food was pretty good, but to us it wasn't worth the stress involved in eating there.

Thats how I feel about Le Cellier

 

[Minniekins]

We tried Coral Reef last Nov for lunch and it was very good, but it was freezing in there!! I had the NY strip steak and DD19 had the Seared Chicken Breast. The steak was good and DD19 really loved the chicken, she said it was awesome!

I'd love to hear if anyone has tried the Apricot braised beef short rib that the OP mentioned. That sounds yummy and now reading this thread and revisiting the allears menu I'm thinking I'll try that! So, has anyone tried that dish at all?

 

[williamson_ja]

It is an absolute NOT for us! Parent's ate there and had inedible food and so much noise it made them feel sick. That's enough for me. They had to find somewhere to eat afterwards because the food there was so bad that they couldn't eat it (and are NOT picky eater at all)

 

[tony67]

In my opinion this is another Disney restaurant that is more about atmosphere (the aquarium) then the food.

The food was really good at one time, but once Disney started to standardize the menu accross the parks a few years ago it really went downhill.

It's too bad, I had one of the best fish dinners ever here several years ago.
Now it is bad food and kids running around nearly knocking over the wait staff.

The food is not as good as Red Lobster. I don't travel to Florida to eat at Red Lobster.

For the prices they charge they can take a few risks and offer some unique dishes.
They even removed the catfish recently. This is a seafood resturaunt in the south and they don't have catfish.

 

[disneyloveNY]

Coral Reef is one of our favorites. The Creamy Lobster Soup is unbelievably amazing and the chocolate wave is delicious.
Our one experience with Le Cellier was not good. I had ordered the scallops( I know, should have ordered steak) and it was 100% inedible -salt had been poured on in huge quantities-awful. Sent it back which I've never done before.

 

[mrebuck]

In my opinion this is another Disney restaurant that is more about atmosphere (the aquarium) then the food.

.

I completely agree. We at at Coral Reef in January. While the aquarium was interesting for my DDs (6 and 9), the food was just ok. And even the aquarium lost its appeal after about 1/2 hour. The service was very slow. We've decided we don't need to return there again (and it is not on our list for our November trip).

 

[racreel]

This is why we try each restaurant for ourselves. For every "It's the best, a must do!" there's an "It was inedible, never again!". These are pretty much the responses to every restaurant at Disney World when someone asks for opinions. How could anyone know if they or their family would like the restaurant based on these responses?

With that said, we've always had great service and food at the Coral Reef. The one time that my son got something that he didn't like, the waiter took it away and brought him something else. He noticed that my son was just picking at his meal and asked if he would like something else.

The only issue I've seen there is the same as most everywhere else, people who won't control there children and allow them to bother the guests who are seated near the aquarium.

 

[Jerry@dvcstore]

The ambiance is great the food is good. It's definitely worth checking out.

 

[JoePa4Ever]

I love Coral Reef - this is my favorite WDW restaurant. Great atmosphere with the aquarium view and we've always had excellent meals there. I always get the steak and it has been superb every time. My FIL was with us when we were there about a month ago - he got the Mahi Mahi & said it was the best he had ever had.

 

[shasess]

We tried Coral Reef for the first time during our trip in September and we loved it!!!! The service was great and the food was wonderful. There are so many other restaurants that we want to try in Epcot but my family has decided to go to Coral Reef again on our Epcot day next May.

 

[aprilp]

My BFF and I went to Coral Reef December 2008 and ate lunch there. We loved it....I had the sea and land appetizer and she had the soup. For the main course, she had some kind of open-faced sandwich which I dont see on the menu anymore and I had the grilled mahi-mahi. We thought the food was fabulous (though the portions were a little small, glad we ordered the appetizers!). For dessert, I had the chocolate wave, which was then served with brandied cherries. They were STRONG! The chocolate wave was absolutely delicious! You can get it without the cherries/raspberries or whatever they serve it with now, as its just added on the top. My BFF had the Bailey's and Jack Daniel's mousse and loved it also. She commented that her parents (big meat and potatoes type ppl) would not have liked it, but she loved it, as did I. It is expensive if done OOP like we did then. This year, we have the DDP so I'm taking my parents there to see if they like it.

Oh, btw, we were seated in the booths on the first level, which I think is the best view. As it was early December, the restaurant was not even half full so the noise level was low and there were no children crowding around the glass. A diver came down with a happy birthday sign and he picked up some gravel and threw it as confetti...it was quite funny. We saw a shark and a huge turtle and lots of fish. It was great!

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Good food & a great atmoshere with an AWESOME Aquarium.