Guest Review of Epcot's Coral Reef Restaurant

Ambiance is the heart and soul of the experience at Coral Reef Restaurant at the Seas pavilion in Epcot. Picture this. You've just spent some time riding the EAC with Nemo and friends before meeting some real life aquatic creatures in the world's second largest salt water aquarium. You wind your way around the back of the building to find a little restaurant tucked away in the corner. Is it odd to look at fish while you're eating fish? Not really. If you loved "the back side of water" on the Jungle Cruise, you'll delight in seeing "the back side of aquarium" at Coral Reef!


Guest Review of Epcot's Coral Reef Restaurant
Coral Reef Restaurant at The Seas


The theme here is obviously aquatic, with stylized sea life used throughout the interior design, and lighting that lends to the under water feeling. The most magnificent point of interest being the floor to ceiling windows that look into the world second largest indoor aquarium with a living coral reef. We arrived at the park early and hungry and Coral Reef was at capacity, so we could not be accommodated for an early seating. It's a risk you run with the Advanced Dining System like it is. As a result, we stopped elsewhere for a light snack beforehand, which greatly reduced the amount of food we ordered for lunch.


Floor To Ceiling Windows Look Upon The Seas
Occasionally You'll Catch A Diver Swimming By


The Coral Reef Cocktail menu boasts half a dozen specialty drinks along side the standard Disney options. I was boring here and opted for my Disney favorite, the fireball cocktail. The cocktail was good. Nothing flashy, just solid, standard Disney. A Prix Fixe menu was available, but the entree that I wanted to try was not part of that menu and because I'd had my fruit and cheese tray "appetizer" already, I did not sample any soups or appetizers.


Coral Reef Boasts Several Themed Specialty Cocktails


For a main course, I had the seafood scampi, which might conjure up an image of a lighter version of a New England Clam Bake. The mussels were served still in their shells with a fair portion of large shrimp and scallops over pasta with a light tomato sauce. I've read other reviews that call Coral Reef out for having food that is utterly uninspired. On this particular day, this particular entree was delicious.


The Seafood Scampi


I did skip dessert and only because I saw a few desserts come out and they looked like they were made using pre-made pastry shells and filled with whichever artificial flavor matched the description on the menu. I'm lukewarm on restaurant desserts, so they have to do something reasonably special to get my attention and Coral Reef failed in that regard.


Fish Are Friends... Hrmmmm...
Diver In The Tank


Am I glad I tried Coral Reef? Absolutely. Would I go again? Probably. While it didn't unseat any of my top 10 Disney restaurants, my entree really was quite nice and I didn't take the opportunity to try any other food on the menu. The food was good enough that paired with the ambiance, this was a reasonably special Disney dining destination and if you or someone in your party is a seafood fan, it is worth checking out.

Have you been to the Coral Reef Recently? If so leave a comment and share your thoughts.

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A big thanks goes out regular WDWFG Guest Author Holly L. for sharing a little bit of her knowledge of Disney with us. If you'd like to read more about Holly's Disney Adventures, you can find her sharing on our member forum.