After our delicious breakfast at Kona we headed off to enjoy the morning at Epcot. This is by far my favorite park and I couldnt wait because we had reservations at
Last year I had tried multiple times but couldnt ever get a reservation for a time that worked with all of our other reservations. This year thanks to the online reservations I was able to attempt multiple times and finally landed a reservation time that made us happy! Candi was also really excited about this restaurant it was one of his top three choices for this trip (the other two being Fultons and Artist Point).
As was routine at this point, we arrived about 20 minutes early for our reservation. They let us know that it would be a few minutes and gave us our little buzzer. Candi went to go wash his hands and the second he went around the corner the buzzer went off. Apparently minutes really meant seconds, I kid you not we had been there maybe 2 minutes. The hostess gladly waited for Candi to come back before taking us to our seat.
This is the walkway that separates the actual restaurant from the lobby/restrooms/entrance.
Of course I was crossing my fingers for a table by one of the tanks. Sadly, they were all taken but we got a table on the first level if I remember correctly the restaurant has the main floor (by the tank) and then three levels each separated by a couple of stairs each?!? Feel free to correct me if this is wrong! At any rate, we were still happy with our seats
This little guy was our view for the majority of the time while we ate and this kind of gives you an idea of our seats.
Our waiters name was Matt and he was very quick to come and take our drink orders. He also let us know that smoothies were included with the meal plan and then gave us a second to read through those. Before leaving he also pointed out his favorites on the menu and then left us to decide while he grabbed our drinks. Im pretty sure it wasnt more than two minutes before he was back with our drinks and we placed our appetizer and main course orders at that time. He asked us if we would like him to wait a few minutes in between placing the appetizer and entrée orders to allow us time to enjoy each. We were glad he asked and happily told him that it would be great if he could do so.
Candi had iced tea to drink ($2.29) and I had a Lava Smoothie ($4.29) with water (free)
Yummy, yummy, yummy. Basically this is a strawberry pina colada without the alcohol. I know, I know
no alcohol
It was delicious and refreshing and the strawberries were yummy as well!
Matt returned about five minutes later to check on us and bring out the bread and let us know that the appetizers would be out shortly. He was an excellent server he never left us alone for too long but didnt linger or bother too much either perfect service!!
As promised our appetizers arrived within a few minutes of Matt refilling our drinks.
Candi had the shrimp and lobster cakes - $11.49
These were quite a bit bigger than the crab cakes he had the previous night and just like crab cakes he had never had anything like these before either. He said they both had decent size pieces of seafood in them and thought they were quite tasty. The cole slaw underneath he wasnt really a big fan of but thought it was because they had some sort of dressing on it that he didnt much care for. I agreed to tasting but only if it wasnt one with shrimp in it. Ive had shrimp every way known to man and I truly dislike it
I thought they were decent but much preferred the crab cakes. Mostly because these werent crispy on the outside and I preferred that more than just the grilled cakes.
As my appetizer I had the corn chowder - $6.99
I actually had corn chowder for the first time last Christmas and it has become one my favorite things ever! Im pretty sure the waiter said this one had coconut milk in it and you could definitely taste the sweetness in the chowder. Now, I enjoyed it and thought it was really good; however, I thought it was going to be thicker/milkier than what it was. Not complaining at all, as I said I enjoyed it, but it just wasnt what I thought it was going to be. Candi thought it was absolutely disgusting, but he has never had a corn chowder that he has enjoyed. So once again, his opinion doesnt really count
Almost as if it was on que or main courses arrived within seconds of us taking the last bite of our appetizers.
Candi had ordered Grilled Mahi Mahi with rice and bok choy - $20.99
I still secretly think ordered it just for the bok choy
this is something else we had for the first time right before the trip and he is currently addicted to it! Ok, well that and the waiter declared it his favorite
We had both had mahi mahi once before and neither of us cared for it. Unfortunately, Candi didnt care for it much this time either. He said the pineapple did give it a better flavor than how wed had it previously but it just isnt his type of fish. Without the pineapple it was just bland and tasteless and the pineapple didnt last for the whole fish. The rice was also not anything he cared for his opinion was that it was completely flavorless. I tried the mahi mahi and didnt care for it either of course, keep in mind that before this trip I didnt like ANY seafood. Maybe its just the type of fish you love or hate? Because I people are always recommending it to us
For my main I had the Apricot Beef Short Ribs with snap beans and mashed potatoes - $24.99
Oh my heavens, the short rib was to die for delicious. The apricot glaze mixed with barbecue was a perfect combination and the meat was so tender and had very little fat. My only complaint is I wanted more when it was gone! The potatoes on the other hand were overly buttered and I couldnt finish them. The snap peas dont forget theyre my favorite had great flavor with the apricot/pepper flavoring they were absorbing but were somewhat undercooked
Candi agreed that the short rib was really good and tried to steal my food
He thought the potatoes were delicious drowning in butter and finished them for me and didnt care for the snap peas, but he never does. Have yall wondered how the heck we manage to get through dinner at home yet
As had been the case throughout the whole meal our server was attentive and paying attention. Our glasses stayed completely full and he made sure to check about needing more bread when ours was gone. When we were approaching the end of our meal he came by to give us the dessert menu and by the time we had finished our meal our dessert was at our table.
Candi chose the Butterscotch Crème Brulee - $7.99
I think he was on a quest to try as many styles of crème brulee as possible! Usually, Im the crème brulee addict but not this trip! Overall he enjoyed it. The butterscotch was a very light hint type of flavoring and one side of the top was too burnt for his liking, but he still gave it a thumbs up. He really enjoyed the strawberries and declared them the best hes had
. well, since last night anyway
I gladly tried the side that was too burnt and quite enjoyed it but I like it burnt yep Im a bit of a crazy kid! I agreed that it was only a hint of butterscotch but still thought it was tasty.
For my dessert I had the Chocolate Wave - $7.99
I enjoyed it but didnt think it was anything out of the ordinary like Ive seen some people write about. To me it tasted like chocolate cake
Also, call me crazy but I didnt taste any alcohol in it
I gave the raspberries to Candi because I dont like them and he added them to his crème brulee and enjoyed them. I also ate the whipped cream YUM and attempted to eat the purple balloon. I dont think youre supposed to though because it was hard as a rock and tasted like powder
Candi did not like my chocolate cake but again, he is weird and hates chocolate so I didnt expect him to like it.
Along with dessert our waiter brought us out some complimentary champagne for our dateaversary!!
We thought it was super sweet and really appreciated the gesture. However, I cannot lie I am not a champagne lover BUT I was a trooper and drank it all so that I didnt appear to be rude.
Our Overall Thoughts On Coral Reef:
We think this restaurant is somewhat overrated as far as the atmosphere goes. Dont get me wrong, its really neat and I love all the aquariums but I expected more from it all. However, the service was superb and that more than made up for small let down with the restaurant itself. When it comes to the food its somewhat split down the middle. I loved my meat but Candi really disliked his and neither of us really cared for our sides and the desserts werent anything out of the ordinary. As with Kona Im not putting it on our must do list for next time but its not on our never again list either!
Starting Credits:
Snack 28 (14 each)
Meal 36 (18 each)
Credits Used vs Cost:
Iced tea, water (not bottled), smoothie, lobster & shrimp cakes, corn chowder, mahi mahi with rice, beef short rib with potatoes, crème brulee and chocolate cake and (complimentary) champagne: 2 table service credits used - $92.68 after tax
- so I should have time to update this week. Hope you are all having a fantastic start to the holiday season!!
