Price aside, is Coral Reef at Epcot really THAT bad?

[flyingenie]

We're a family of 4: 2 parents and 2 older kids (late teens, early 20s). Like seafood. We're getting the candlelight processional package so everything is included (price isn't an issue here).

Was thinking about Chefs de France or Teppanyaki because of its good reviews, but we live in a very multicultural area, and we've eaten French and Teppanyaki style tons of times back home. We were thinking about Coral Reef because of the cool atmosphere... but how is the food (other than it's price)?

thanks in advance!

 

[missypie]

I posted an almost identical question a few months back. The almost universal response to "Is it really so bad?" was YES! I can handle being over charged for a decent meal, but being over charged for an almost inedible meal would really tick me off!

 

[Ms. Belle]

I was at the Coral Reef in August. I thought it was pretty good. I loved the atmosphere and the food was not inedible, it was good. I even witnessed a marriage proposal there! Give it a try.

 

[liznboys]

Ya know, I've read all the bad reviews about the Coral Reef, but I think we're going to eat there anyway on our Feb. trip. I've ALWAYS wanted to eat there because of the atmosphere, and I think our 3 young boys would really get a kick out of it. Because of the reviews, we won't go into it expecting to be WOWED, and who knows, maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised.

I want to see (taste, pay) for myself. If it's awful, then we just won't go there again.

 

[spagheddie]

I've read all the bad reviews as well, from the DIS and the Unofficial Guide. That being said, we'll be eating there next week. My wife wants to try despite the bad reviews and our DS2 will love it, so that accounts for a lot. If it's decent, I'll be happy.

 

[scrump]

We ate there back in December 2003, and we didn't think it was so bad, but the dessert was really good. They claimed it was consistently voted "best WDW dessert", so give that a try. It was called something like "chocolate wave" or something. Being an "atomsphere person" myself, I would almost go back just for that, but the food was ok. I really didn't think it was so bad, same goes for the prices. Of course, living in a New York City, perhaps I'm uninformed about what is considered "reasonable". I would expect to pay that much for a moderately nice seafood restaurant.

 

[Tabetha]

We ate there last year (April), and had a fabulous time.
We used our Wish Points to pay for the meal, and saved a good $70 doing so.

Our food was fantastic - the atmosphere was lovely - our server was wonderful. Our favourite meal!

 

[Tim4WDW]

I personally didn't find the food terrible, but to Disney standards, it was mediocre. The atmosphere and desserts were great.

 

[oogieboogie]

a co-worker of mine ate there this past October. She said it was overpriced for the quality of the food. It was mediocre at best.

She regretted eating there especially since she had better meals at the F&W Festival.

 

[flyingenie]

bahh... I caved and changed my dinner to Chefs de France, even though we have French food quite a bit back at home (but I love it!)... technically we have seafood lots at home too, and my dad reminded me that we HAVE eaten in an aquarium-type restaurant, in Hawaii. Hopefully I'll have better odds of having a better meal.

I'm excited for my dinner at Ohana that I just booked too!

 

[cdntourguide]

Just had a wonderful meal at the Coral Reef on Nov 1. Three of us each had the surf & turf (steak and Lobster). Price with taxes and gratuity was $300.00
But the food was excellent: the best lobster I have had ever. The steak melted in my mouth: it was so tender I literaly cut it with my fork (just as well as the waiter did not bring a steak knive to the table).
Desserts were unbelievably good: the only dessert we felt that was way overpriced was the make your own sundae. The smallest scoop of ice cream I have ever seen. It was more like a sorbet ball than an ice cream scoop.
I would save go for the food if you like seafood: it is beyond excellent.
However: the price is high.
Worse: it is LOUD,NOISY and jam-packed.
Unfortunately the wait staff was not as accomodating as he should have been. Plus the latte and capucino's were not available the night we were there.

 

[Scrappymags]

I too read some reviews both good & bad, but we're going. Honestly, some places people write bad reviews - it seems to be about price or get this - they don't like seafood so they thought the selection was limited. I look at Disney restaurants like movies.... everyone is going to have their own opinions. I know tons of peole who HATED the movie Pulp Fiction and I LOVED it. Give it a try.

 

[cookie2001]

We ate there in the June of 2003 and it was delicious. One of us got shrimp and the other one got something else that I don't recall right now. We are going there for CP because I thought it was one of the best values on that program. This time with the kids. Hopefully we will still like it.

 

[hig4s]

Most of the resturants in the front of Epcot seem to be bland to me,, but not all that bad.. It has been a few years since we ate and the Coral Reef though and it does change from year to year..

I remember years back when the Cantina on the water outside of Mexico had real shredded beef tacos.. I loved those.

My favorites at Epcot now are the Rose and Crown and Le Cellier.

 

[kathyclownfish]

We ate there on Halloween and loved it!! We have eaten at many of the "upscale" restaurants at WDW and were really hesitant about the Coral Reef. My DH did Dive Quest and we met him afterwards at CR. It was a wonderful experience looking at the tank and having him point out all the fish he saw up close. The food was one of the best meals that we had (other than Tchoup Chop in Universal). I don't understand what all the bad reviews were all about. Compare to the Flying Fish, the CR was priced like a McDonalds dinner

 

[Texowl2]

we ate there a number of years ago and thought it was terrible and very expensive. Of course, maybe we're spoiled by our great Gulf Coast seafood.....

 

[disney4us2002]

My friend returned Monday from WDW and they ate almost exclusively at counter service but had one expensive dinner over Veteran's weekend and they chose Coral Reef. I was reluctant to ask since I've read the horrible reviews here as well, but she volunteered that the meal was great! She had the tilapia w/crab cake and her sil had the South African lobster tail and they split a chocolate wave. She said she can't imagine going again and not eating there. She also said there were several scuba divers in the tank which kept their girls entertained.

 

[JRoglitz]

Has anyone just gone there for dessert?

 

[pooh6890]

I love the Living Seas. Maybe it's just me, but I would feel funny eating fish after that.

 

[epcotfan]

Ok this was 15 years ago, but my mother felt extremely sick after eating there. Not indigestion, bad nausea. I realize the menus have changed quite a bit since then. We think she had a touch of food poisoning. Needless to say we were a bit put off from eating there again. Maybe we will give it a try in the future. I can barely remember what the restaurant looked like.