opinions on coral reef

[dalt01]

just cancelled garden grill and replaced it with coral reef. could i have some updated reviews from those who have eaten there. we have never been there and booked for the view mostly. thanks

 

[Alysa]

The lunch menu is less expensive than the dinner one. I would go for a late lunch - the view is fun but the bill can be quite high for what you get. DDD quite liked watching all the fish!

 

[Andrea from PA]

Our family like it, but it didn't live up to the Hype of the Reviews & Guide books. We would do it again (on DDP, so cost wasn't an issue), but expect a nice atmosphere, not a "never seen anything like it awesome" atmosphere. The food was good, but not a " I have to eat here every trip" level.

All & All, I think you will be happy

 

[checkwriter]

You may want to read this recent review by The Dis's Kevin Klose. If you go anyway, I would avoid "the sad little crab cake," (which I understand is no longer available anyway).

http://www.wdwinfo.com/reviews/coralreef.htm

And here is a picture of The Sad Little Crab Cake:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-podcast/8-8_photos.htm

 

[KatGarcia]

We ate there this past christmas time. We liked everything we had, no real complaints except for the fish I had I was told it wasnt too spicy but to me it was a tad spicer than she let me think, still good but spicy. The desserts were awesome- u can never go wrong with a chocolate wave! Although we did like it it isnt on my list of return places since there is so much good food to try in WDW. Hope it helped.

 

[latexscooter]

We went on May 25th and it was my favorite meal of the week - it was fabulous. My husband, who does not like seafood, thought the steak he got was fine but it wasn't his favorite. Prior to my trip I posted just like you and got all sorts of mixed advice. I think you should give it a shot and hopefully you'll have an experience similar to mine.

 

[minnie mouse]

I really liked the Coral Reef. I ate there last year for the first time and will be dining there again this August. The food, service and atmosphere was very good.

 

[kimkarli]

I enjoyed it. We were lucky enought to get a table next to the tank and my DD7 loved it!!

 

[casaazul]

We were there during early April this year and loved it. Had a 5:20 ADR and we were seated within 5 minutes. They first tried to give us a booth, that had a view of a wall between the windows of the aquarium. The restaurant was 1/2 empty, so I asked for "that" table, right by the window!! The hostess had that deer in the headlights look for a minute and looked for a supervisor who nodded yes!

We had an excellent waiter, who looked sad when we said we were on dining plan, and they we proceeded to order before dinner drinks at about $8 a pop, a bottle of wine and after dinner coffees!!

My 12 yo son loved the aquarium and loved the food. He had the Mahi Mahi, the best plate of them all. I had the catfish and my husband had the seared tuna. All was very good, but the Mahi rocked!!

We will go back. It was our best dining experience of the trip!

Have fun!

 

[ModestMouse]

We ate at Coral Reef just last week for the first time and enjoyed it very much. We were not on the DDP. My wife and I both had the grilled mahi-mahi with Israeli couscous--delicious! Our DS8 decided to try the kids' mahi-mahi as well, loved it (usually he'll only eat fish if it's fried in a stick shape), cleaned his plate. I had a dessert that was a mousse parfait with flavoring of Bailey's Irish Cream and Jack Daniel's, very good.

I particularly like Coral Reef's wine selections. They offer Trimbach Gewurztraminer (an Alsatian wine, like a much drier, more minerally Riesling), which I had not seen on a Disney menu before. This is one of my all-time favorite wines (it's great with food, and we often drink it at Thanksgiving dinner). It went great with the fish. My wife had a pinot grigio with the mahi-mahi and liked it very much.

We were seated kind of far from the tank, but my sons still enjoyed watching the fish. Our server was very good and attentive. This was our first time at Coral Reef but we'd definitely eat there again.

 

[Donold_Fan]

We were fairly disappointed with it when we ate there. The tank was way cool, but the food was disappointing. My DD10's steak was good, and her rib appetizer (which I notice isn't on the menu at allears) was good and all the deserts were good, but DW's shrimp pasta and my tuna weren't that good. The Tuna especially was a let down. I eat a lot of seared Tuna and there's was cooked all the way through, I much prefer rare. The worst thing I had was the soup appetizer (creamy lobster), which was the one thing I was looking forward to. When it arrived it had formed a skin on top (which didn't bother me too much), but when I ate it, you could really taste and feel the texture of the flour or whatever the thickener was. Very disappointing. When the $161 bill showed up for 3, we were very glad that we were on the DDP and didn't actually pay for the meal.


To sum it up, I'd eat there again, but we are going to exhaust all the other ones that interest us before giving them another shot.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We ate there a few weeks ago for lunch. Even with an adr we had to wait for our table. We were up on the 2nd tier I think. DH had the lobster soup and blackened catfish. He said it was good but looked like a small serving. DS 15 had a kids pizza with chicken since he hates all things seafood but he did have a cup of lobster soup too. DS 17 had the lobster soup too and the strip steak. It was good but a small portion for a very hungry teen. He didnt care for the broccolini and only ate some of the cheesy potatoes that were the sides served with it. I had the lobster salad. The server told me that it was going to be a very small portion without me even inquiring. Sure enough. The soup listed with it is only a small ramekin that contains 3 tablespoons or soup spoons of soup in total. The salad listed is not actually a salad at all. It is only the salad greens that are underneath the lobster salad. The baquette is 2 small strips of toasted crusy bread. The lobster salad itself was very fresh and delicious. We all shared 2 servings of the bread that they bring with the meal. DH and I shared the citrus creme brule, ds 15 had the kids sundae and I dont know what ds 17 got for dessert. We paid out of pocket and that is why we chose lunch, much cheaper. We still like the food there and the atmosphere but with lots of kids around its not a quiet place if that is what you are looking for. I think our adr was around 1 pm.

 

[Quinn222]

I'm glad you booked for the view because the food is horrible.

 

[jmpellet]

We ate there last October and were disappointed with the server and with the food -- of course, except the dessert. My NY strip was fatty and just so-so. The server practically ingored us (ddp ). We were on the top tier which didn't even have a great view of the tank. With all that said we are returning this year as every restaurant has good days and bad days. We are giving it another shot and are going for the tank and with lower expectations. There will only be 5 of us (one infant) so we hope to get closer to the tank. Glad to be on the DDP as I would never want to pay those prices!!! In fact I would be pretty mad if I would have had to pay $200 for the 6 of us (4 ad, 2 ch)!!

 

[bucky1023]

We just ate there on Wednesday (6/6), had a wonderful meal. It was our first time there and enjoyed our fish dinners. It was quite loud, but that didn't bother me. The service was great and it was very cool to sit and watch the fish, sharks, turtle while you eat. They give you a sheet with all the fish so you can try to identify everything.

We would eat there again.

 

[nonsmom]

We ate there last Sept., which is a very slow time of year. We had a 5 p.m. ADR. We had to wait quite a while in an area with no seating and people sitting all over the floor. Might I add we arrived 1/2 hour early to check in. I think the view is nice, but as most everyone else said, don't go for the food. I was not impressed. That said, it is not on our list for this Sept.

 

[LisaY]

We were not impressed with Coral Reef. To start off, we had to wait almost one hour total for our table with ADRs. We did have a terrific server, but were just not thrilled with the food. The atmosphere was neat, but very loud. We were glad we had the dining plan because our meal was around $180 for the four of us.

 

[JPG]

We were not impressed. Expensive and the food was just OK. We live on the Gulf Coast and the seafood was not up to the standards we are used to. The atmosphere was cool though. Just remember, you are looking at the same aquarium in the Living Seas. So.......if thats the reason for going, check out the sights from inside the Living Seas and eat somewhere else.

 

[obithar2]

We ate there for the first time last September and it was one of our favourite meals of the week. It was one of the only repeat requests for this August.

 

[Prinny27]

DH and I were there just two weeks ago for our honeymoon, and had a DELICIOUS meal. We were put right next to the tank and they had created a personalized menu for us, and had a diver go into the tank holding a sign congratulating us. The lobster bisque for an appetizer is excellent - I would go there for that alone. I had the shrimp pasta, which is a bit spicy but so good. DH had the NY strip steak, which he said was wonderful, but his favorite part of his meal was the potatoes au gratin that came with it. He wouldn't even let me try a bite! You will definitely love this restaurant!