Review: Coral Reef

Coral Reef restaurant is located in the Land Pavilion of Epcot next to Turtle Talk with Crush and The Sea with Nemo and Friends.

Ambiance

Every seat in the restaurant has a view of the panoramic windows of The Seas with Nemo and Friends aquarium.  The aquarium is home to over 85 species of tropical fish, sharks, turtles, and sea rays.  Every table contains a souvenir Fish Guide to help you identify the marine life.  The cast members are also very knowledgeable of the marine life.  If you are having difficulty identifying a species, just ask!

During certain times of the day, there are also divers in the aquarium.  The divers will interact and feed the marine life and pose for pictures.  They are quite entertaining!  When one of the divers realized that we were taking pictures of him, he began to wag his finger at us as if he were scolding us and then made faces at us.  The divers were certainly a highlight and memorable part of our dinner!

Menu

This is a table service restaurant.  The menu changes seasonally and also contains a sustainable catch of the day, so be sure to ask your server what is new or what has changed.  Kid friendly options include pizza, grilled fish, meaty macaroni, and grilled fish.  Because we were on the Disney Dining Plan, my 11 year old stepdaughter had to order off of the adult menu.  She is picky eater and was not very happy with her choices.  Our server was kind enough to offer her popcorn shrimp and fries, even though it wasn’t on the menu.  This made my stepdaughter (and me) very happy.

Food and Drink

I had the grilled mahi mahi with laughing bird shrimp, hearts of palm, jasmine rice, cilantro, and coconut-lime sauce.  My two year old (and non-picky eater) ate off of my plate and we both loved it.  For dessert I had the Bailey’s and Jack Daniel’s mousse with a caramel crisp.  It was amazing.   My stepdaughter shared her chocolate wave with raspberry gelato with her little sister.

Service

Our server was extremely knowledgeable of the marine life in the aquarium.  Every time she came by our table, she was able to point out different species and tell us a little bit of information about them.  My girls loved getting a little bit of special information about the marine life every time she came by.  We also appreciated our server offering a meal suggestion for my stepdaughter that was not on the menu.  It is the little special touches like this that make me love the service at Walt Disney World.

Overall

Overall we enjoyed our time at Coral Reef.  My girls enjoyed watching all the marine life and the divers.  The adults enjoyed the quiet atmosphere.  As much as we love character meals, it is nice to have one nice, quiet table service meal as well.

Alexia is a fan of all things Disney, especially the food!  When she is not helping plan magical vacations you can find her on Facebook or Twitter.