Coral Reef Review
- Date Booked: Originally on 10/29/15, but changed the time on 11/13/15
- Date and Time of Reservation: Tuesday, 1/12/16, 5 pm
- Location: Epcot
How to get there: You must have a valid park ticket to eat here. It is located in the Living Seas area of Epcot. It is actually tucked away, and it may be hard to find for some. First, look for the Finding Nemo ride entrance. Once you find this, go right. You will eventually see a sign for The Coral Reef, and around the corner, you will find the entrance.
Checking in: You will check in as soon as you enter the sliding doors. We arrived about 5 minutes prior to our reservation. They will give you a pager if you are required to wait. They have multiple areas you can sit, or you can sit outside and wait as well. We were seated within minutes of receiving our pager.
Menu: Most things here are seafood related, however, you can find a few things for those that are not a fan of seafood. See below:
Review: As I noted above, we were seated almost immediately. We had a nice two person table directly in front of the aquarium glass. Below you can see our view throughout the meal:
Our waiter arrived within five minutes of us being seated, took our drink order, and scanned our MagicBands because of our dining plan. We were allowed one drink, one entrée, and one dessert a piece. He brought us our drinks, then we each ordered our entrée. I decided to get the shrimp and grits and my mom got the New York strip steak. I must say, I was not thoroughly impressed with the menu. We ate here more for the atmosphere and to say we have had dinner here. I am sure you have seen it on Full House, but it looks nothing like they made it look on the show. Regardless, the menu was lacking, in my opinion.
After our waiter took our orders, he brought us some bread. The bread was really good, and the butter that they put with it is amazing. I think the bread was one of the best parts of the meal for sure!
Our meals came out about 10 minutes later. The shrimp and grits was actually really good. The corn succotash was just ok, but the shrimp was nicely cooked and the grits were really yummy. I didn't really try any of the sausage. I am not a huge fan of it, but overall, I would order it again.
My mom's New York strip steak was also good. They cooked it well done as requested, which I am always impressed with. I always feel like I have to send steaks back when we request them well done, but luckily that was not the case. The butter topping was also good, but really rich. The steak did not need steak sauce however, and I found it to be really tender. The mashed potatoes were also quite rich, but they were delicious. The green beans were just ok. Nothing I would call home about, but they were not bad. I personally wouldn't order this, but it was nice to try. I am not a huge red meat eater, so I prefer the seafood here.
About 20-25 minutes later, the waiter brought us our dessert menus. I decided to get the vanilla panna cotta tart, and my mom got the chocolate wave. It took about 20 minutes before we received the desserts (a fairly long wait for desserts). On top of that, we had to ask the waiter for drink refills. I find that super annoying. The waiter can't control the kitchen, but he can control drink refills!
So the desserts finally arrived. They delivered mine with a candle and "Happy Birthday" chocolate. They didn't sing to me, but that was ok. The panna cotta was different that I am used to. It really just tasted like key lime pie. My husband and I make panna cotta a lot, so I know what it usually taste like. I expected this to have a different flavor than ours, but the texture was more like a pie not a custard. But it was still really good.
I didn't try my mom's chocolate wave, but she said it was really good. I am almost positive she finished it all. I am not a huge fan of chocolate cake myself. She said it was very similar to the chocolate molten cake you get on a Carnival cruise.
So overall, the food was good, the service was ok, the atmosphere was nice. I would not rush back here to eat again, but I am glad we finally tried it.
