Coral Reef Review

Fishy Shot of a Fishy Place

Coral Reef is a seafood restaurant in Epcot at Walt Disney World with views into an aquarium. This review features food photos, our thoughts on the cuisine, and whether the excellent ambiance here is enough to justify dining at this restaurant in The Seas pavilion. We’ve dined at Coral Reef a few times, with this review featuring photos from our most recent visit to Coral Reef.

Although Coral Reef is primarily a seafood restaurant, it has options for everyone for both lunch and dinner. Coral Reef is a 1-credit restaurant on the Disney Dining Plan, and also accepts Tables in Wonderland. Coral Reef is one of the more expensive non-signature table service restaurants at Walt Disney World, making it a bad option if you’re paying out of pocket, but a good option for maximizing your value on the Disney Dining Plan.

On our prior trips to Coral Reef, things had been a bit hit or miss. The food was considerably better during our most recent meal. It was actually very good, unexpectedly good, resoundingly good. As you might have gathered from the superlatives, this was not something either of us were expecting. While we both really enjoy seafood, it can be easy to poorly prepare, and many times even well-prepared seafood is just so-so.

I would compare our meal to some of the better seafood dishes we’ve had at top-tier real world seafood restaurants. It’s still no Flying Fish, which we’d consider the top seafood restaurant at Walt Disney World. However, for an in-park restaurant, Coral Reef has a lot going for it.

We’re getting ahead of ourselves, though. Let’s start by taking a look at that exceptional ambiance…

coral-reef-epcot-seating

The ambiance was also better the previous trip because we were able to get a seat right next to the tank. If you have reservations for Coral Reef, we highly recommend waiting the extra 20 minutes or so that it typically takes to be seated at a tank table.

Plus, for you fellow children of the 90s, who doesn’t want to eat at the table where Danny tried to propose to Vicky on Full House, or where Cory interrupts Topanga’s date by holding up a sign inside the tank that tells her “I will chase you forever” on a classic episode of Boy Meets World. Seriously, Coral Reef deserves a spot in the TGIF Hall of Fame (and if such a hall of fame doesn’t exist, it should!).

coral-reef-epcot-tank

One of the fun things about sitting at a tank table, especially if you have small children or wildlife enthusiasts, is that the restaurant will provide you with a fish guide describing and picturing various creatures living in the tank.

This can lead to an incredibly fun meal–potentially the best of your Walt Disney World vacation–for your 8 year old…or for your “Tom.”

We dined at Coral Reef for lunch (even well in advance, it was extremely difficult to secure dinner reservations for a day we wanted), and many options on the lunch menu were enticing.

Despite this, we both ordered the Grilled Mahi Mahi. In the future, we need to plan these things better so that we can sample some of each others’ dishes and try multiple dishes. It just sounded so good, though!

And good, it was. The creamy, coconut-lime sauce was the perfect compliment to the grilled mahi mahi (which is right up there as one of my favorite fish, anyway), which had a wonderful texture and flavor thanks to its preparation. Even the rice, something I normally view as a sort of filler, tasted fairly good.

Don’t even get me started on the rock shrimp; I’m salivating at my desk as I think back to their crisp crunch and perfect taste. It’s not often that Disney prepares shrimp this well. They’re usually either soggy and cold or rubbery and cold. These were perfect. I don’t think the cilantro really added a whole lot to the dish besides being a nice garnishing touch.

The Chocolate Wave was delicious, too. Again, we both ordered this, but after such a great experience with it our last time at Coral Reef, this should be no surprise. It doesn’t really look like anything special in the photo here, and honestly, I remember the preparation being a lot more impressive on our last trip, but it was still quite decadent.

Certainly something you should consider ordering, but from what I understand, most desserts at Coral Reef are actually pretty good.

Our server was inattentive, but it appeared that she was serving a lot of tables. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were short-staffed that day, so I don’t blame her. I would rather give people the benefit of the doubt in these situations. Still, I expect attentive service (regardless of who is at “fault”) when dining out, so it was still disappointing, although it certainly could have been a fluke, and nothing on which you should base your decision.

Overall, Coral Reef treated us very well, and was a real surprise. Coral Reef can be a bit pricey if you’re not on the Disney Dining Plan, but the cuisine and ambiance can justify the expense. Many commenters have remarked that the food is a bit hit-or-miss, and our own experiences corroborate this. Knowing exactly how much of a hit it can be has me optimistic for the future, and we’ve decided that if we ever get another subpar entree at Coral Reef, we’ll likely send it back. After all, the restaurant has demonstrated that it’s capable of preparing amazing dishes, and with the prices it’s charging, patrons certainly shouldn’t accept anything less than an exceptional meal. Coral Reef is currently one of our favorite dining options at Epcot and we look forward to returning here soon, but it does lose a point for its noted inconsistencies.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts…

If you’ve been to Coral Reef, did you have a poor or great meal (or somewhere in between)? Do you think it stacks up to the highly praised options in Epcot’s World Showcase, or would you rather dine at one of those restaurants? Planning on going to Coral Reef? Share your thoughts in the comments!

72 Responses to “Coral Reef Review”
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