is a table service option in Epcot’s Future World at Walt Disney World.
As you might imagine, Coral Reef is located in the Seas Pavilion, home of The Seas with Nemo and Friends. It’s one of only two table service restaurants in Future World — the other being Garden Grill in the neighboring Land Pavilion. The biggest draw to Coral Reef is the centerpiece of the restaurant: the six-million-gallon aquarium where fish, sea turtles, and (sometimes) divers swim by throughout the meal.
But even with that draw — making Coral Reef a truly unique Disney World experience! — Coral Reef often sinks to the bottom of DFB’s rankings of table service restaurants. Sadly the food just hasn’t been that great over the years. Lunch in 2014 was decent at best, with the Seared Mahi Mahi being the only I’d-get-that-again dish (alas, the Sriracha Shrimp we enjoyed on that visit are no longer on the menu…).
But you know we like to re-review restaurants on the regular, since chefs, menus, and servers change up regularly. My most recent visit was the best I’ve had in terms of food, and while it won’t move Coral Reef up to the top of the list at Epcot — admittedly a difficult park because there are so many awesome choices — it gives me hope that maybe the restaurant is providing a better experience for guests.
Coral Reef
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of Coral Reef is the star of this restaurant, and for those who love sea life or aquariums, this really is a must-try. Nothing quite compares to the beauty of dining with only eight inches of glass between the diner and the sealife.
Aquarium views
The stadium seating here is designed to provide views, even if you’re not immediately tank-adjacent.
Coral Reef Seating in front of aquarium
Coral Reef Dining Room
Details from the entrance through the dining space emphasize the seas, with mosaics, carpeting, fabrics, and lighting designed to submerge you in the theme.
Octopus at check-in counter
Ceiling light effects
Light Fixture
And if you and your crew want to learn a thing or two during your meal, you can search for creatures using this handy Fish Guide!
Fish Guide
So which of these gilled friends will end up on the plate (ouch!)? Thankfully none of them, but their cousins aren’t so lucky! Let’s take a look at the menu.
Eats
The menu at Coral Reef has changed a lot over the years, with only a handful of starters and entrees. Even with its limited offerings, Coral Reef does have a decent variety, with fish and seafood dominating but turf-based dishes (and a vegan entree) available as well. Lobster Macaroni and Cheese is a popular option.
Coral Reef Menu
Meals here start with bread and butter, and even this staple has changed with the times. Current bread is rustic, floury rolls, thick and warm.
Bread and Butter
Butter here used to be sprinkled with black sea salt, but that’s no longer the case. This is a straight-forward way to start the meal.
Bread and Butter
The Crispy Rhode Island Calamari is a much better start! This fried squid dish is crispy, as advertised, and topped with Roasted Corn Relish and Tomatillo Sauce. This is packed with flavor and textures. Awesome way to start the meal!
Crispy Rhode Island Calarmari
The Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli is another starter option, but it’s heavy enough to work as an entree (perhaps particularly for vegetarians — sans prosciutto! — as there’s only one veg option in the entree section). Opinions at my table were split on this one. I thought it was a little bland and heavy, but my dining companion loved it — it was her favorite dish of the meal.
Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli
The ravioli are served with Artichoke, Leek, and Dill Cream and topped with Baby Asparagus, Prosciutto Chips, and Balsamic Glaze. The Balsamic Glaze carries a good amount of flavor, but the rest of the flavors were washed out, for me. But, again: my companion loved it, so it’s worth a try if this sounds like something you’d enjoy!
Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli
For the carnivores there’s this 10-ounce Top Grilled Sirloin Steak served with delicious Garlic and Rosemary Potatoes, Creamed Spinach, and Bercy Butter. The potatoes tasted like twice-baked potatoes and had a nice richness of flavor. The spinach was fine but not remarkable. The Bercy Butter is a great addition! It’s a compound butter loaded with the flavors of shallots and white wine.
10-ounce Top Grilled Sirloin Steak
The steak itself was not a winner. It was tougher than I’d like, and the flavors just weren’t there. This is definitely not a steakhouse steak, but if you must have red meat at Coral Reef, this will fill the role.
The stand-out of the meal, though was the Shrimp and Grits! These were truly fantastic and worth coming back for. The Sauteed Shrimp, Local Corn Succotash, Andouille Sausage, and Creole Spice Emulsion top faaaaaabulous Cheddar Cheese Grits.
Shrimp and Grits
Seriously. The grits and the emulsion on top — which was like a spicy aioli — make the dish.
Shrimp and Cheddar Cheese Grits
Desserts at Coral Reef have been mediocre at best in the past, and this visit was pretty much par for the course. Many readers recommend the Baileys and Jack Daniel’s Mousse, and I totally should’ve listened to you guys!
Dessert Menu
I went with the Key Lime Tart, which should surprise no one. I typically enjoy the tart flavor of key limes, and this was all right, though not a stand-out.
Key Lime Tart
This Key Lime Tart incorporates other fruity flavors in the Strawberry Sauce, Tropical Fruit Glaze, and Boba Pearls.
Key Lime Tart
The disk on top was tasty, and the key lime did work with the rest of the flavors. I appreciated the effort with the white chocolate shard, but it just wasn’t a wow. It was fine, and that’s sort of a sad way to describe dessert.
Key Lime Tart
The Turtle Cheesecake presents really well, with Pecan Florentine, Chocolate and Caramel Ganache, and Caramel Sauce. There are lots of pastry techniques at play here, and some good contrasts in texture.
Turtle Cheesecake
The pastry sea turtle and blue sugar wave are cute additions that play into the theme of the restaurant (isn’t there something fun about eating a pastry turtle whilst watching a sea turtle swim by?).
Turtle Cheesecake
But, again, this wasn’t a stellar dessert. Nothing stood out to us screaming “come back and eat this again.” It was humdrum.
Turtle Cheesecake
In the future, I’ll get the mousse to give that a try — or maybe I’ll just stop at the grits because yum!
Nosh or Not?
Swim into Coral Reef Restaurant if:
- the appeal of dining adjacent to a massive aquarium is irresistible.
- you have little ones that will be sufficiently entertained by the aquarium that you’ll be able to sit in peace and enjoy a meal.
- you’re into seafood, and want to try all of the options at Walt Disney World.
- you want to try all of the table service restaurants at Epcot.
Stay on the shore if:
- you prefer to enjoy table service meals that are more consistently delicious.
- you don’t care for the aquarium setting (or you just don’t want to look a fish in the eye while you’re… you know… eating one).
- quick service meals fit your touring schedule better.
- you prefer to eat your way around World Showcase instead.
Overall
So here’s the thing: Coral Reef Restaurant has never been at the top of our lists of dining options at Epcot. With so many options just a quick walk away in World Showcase, it’s hard to decide to eat in a restaurant that’s inconsistent, at best. So while this meal experience was better than ones I’ve had in the past, I still rank it close to the bottom of my list of table service restaurants at Epcot.
I know, that’s kind of sad. Especially because the draw of dining in the aquarium is really appealing. If you’ve got kiddos or adults who absolutely love the Seas Pavilion and sea life in general, it is definitely worth a try. But with so many dishes being hit-or-miss, you’ll want to temper your expectations a bit.
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Disagree with you. Find the salmon very good, my wife and daughter and friends have never been unhappy with what we got. I know it is no restaurant like in France but we always go there during our stay in Disney. Been there 12 times. If you want to pick on a place not to eat then list The American Pavilion.
I personally love Coral Reef, and I am planning on eating there for my 40th Birthday! My husband and I ate there on our honeymoon and it was the best meal! I still talk about the Mahi mahi with wasabi mashed potatoes that I ordered and the whole piranha with roasted purple potatoes that he ordered! So delicious!! I have not been there in quite a few years and I hope it lives up to my expectations from my previous experience.
We actually have reservations for our stay in March. I know you rank it low in Epcot, but how does it relate to other table service meals? I do have kids that love aquariums and that is the biggest draw, plus the kids menu has food they will eat.
Would love to get your take on Kid Menus and offerings at the parks!
I’m sorry to hear that your experience has never been that great. My wife and I love this restaurant. We went there on our honeymoon and had a wonderful time. We visited again a few years later and still enjoyed the meal and the atmosphere. When we’re able to afford another Disney trip we do plan on taking our kids to the Coral Reef.
DVC members. Had dinner at Coral Reef in September. I had food poisoning from what I believe was the dinner salad. Wasn’t sure who to contact but I missed two days of the vacation because of this. Will not be visiting that restaurant again
Had dinner with my family at Coral Reef in Sept 2018, had
Food poisoning from a dinner salad and missed two days of a very expensive vacation . Won’t be returning there anytime soon.
As long time annual passholders who live in FL we visit at least 5+ times every and I agree that the Coral Reef was a cool place but the food was disappointing. We love seafood and were excited to dine here with the candlelight processional package in 2015. There was hardly any seafood the menu besides salmon which noone in our group eats except me. We all ended up with the steak. I wish the shrimp and grits were available then, sounds delish. The flourless chocolate cake was good but not spectacular enough for us to return. Maybe with the new menu we will give another try.
Lori, your kids will LOVE eating at Coral Reef for the atmosphere alone. It will likely be totally worth it for you considering their love of the aquarium. And AJ’s last visit was good, so we say go for it! AJ loved the Crispy Rhode Island Calamari and the Shrimp and Grits, so if those appeal to you, at least you’ll know AJ liked them. 😉 Kids’ menu offerings are pretty diverse these days, although if you’ve got a chicken nuggets/mac and cheese kind of kid (like one of mine), you’ll find that, too. If you want to keep an eye out for healthy kids’ meals, look for Disney Check Meals. Otherwise, you might want to check out menus before you leave and give your kiddos a little preview. It might help them to get (even more!) excited about dining at Disney World! Let us know if you have any specific questions about kids’ menus! And we have quite a few suggestions for kids in our DFB Guide!
We love the Coral Reef and dine here often, it is much more relaxed and enjoyable than all the world showcase restaurants which have become too crowded, tables on top of each other, and rushed.
The shrimp and grits are amazing and I get it every time. I worry about the next price increase however which probably is not far off, as it is now its 30 and up for lunch per person. But for now well worth it.
As a pescatarian, I really enjoy the Coral Reef. I have had the MahiMahi several times. I also enjoy the lobster bisque. I have never had dessert there, but when I go, I usually get the two items above almost every visit. I really enjoy that it is out of the way from most everything in the park, and especially at lunch time, it’s an ice quiet spot to dine.
We just cancelled our reservations. My oldest LOVES the ocean and would have loved the atmosphere. We looked at the menu and found that the seafood options were lacking.
We ate at Coral Reef last year for the first and last time. We actually found the food pretty good, but the service was horrendous and the room is actually so poorly laid out. There are these wave-shaped walls that divide the levels of the room, and where the waves “crest”, there are tables with huge walls that little kids cannot see the tank over. When they sat us at one of these tables, my 5 year old son, who is the fish lover that motivated us to eat at this restaurant in the first place, could literally not see the tank at all. We asked to be moved to one of the many many open tables that did not have this issue, but instead were escorted back to the waiting room, waited for 15 minutes, and then were seated at a table with the EXACT SAME PROBLEM. So we sat there. It took forever for the food to come out. You cannot go look at the tank while you are waiting because it is completely covered in tables of people eating. By the time our food came out, we had to eat in 10 minutes in order to get to illuminations. Worst experience I have ever had at Disney World.
Sorry but i disagrre with thos review. I normally find the reviews very helpful and in formative but! Me and and my family have been regular vistors to Coral Reef since 2014. We do not have a bad word to say about the food or the ambience and we will defi ately be booked again when we go in june 2019.
We ate lunch here in November. (Table service on the dining plan). The food was fantastic. Stuffed whole lobster lobster Mac and cheese and we both had the lobster bisque. We indeed to our seafood fix. It was all fantastic. We would have liked to be closer to the aquarium but we could see it from our booth. The service was great. No complaints here. We would go back!
Go for soup and salad for LUNCH if you kiddos need to see the fish. Plenty of better quick service options at world showcase locations.
The other dessert I would recommend is the chocolate wave. So yummy!!!!!
I have to disagree, this is one of my husband and I’s favorite restaurants at Disney World. I’m a vegetarian and I always find their vegan option to be really delicious, and my husband still raves about the rainbow trout dish he had during our honeymoon in 2015. We make a point to go whenever we visit the parks and are never disappointed. I do always make sure to make a late dinner reservation to avoid some of the louder groups.
We ate here today to take advantage of the 20% passholder discount and the food was fantastic. We’ve eaten at all of the Epcot restaurants and most are not very good. I was pleasantly surprised by the shrimp and grits. I hadn’t read your review until now. Fortunately, I think I ordered the best thing on the menu.
I’ve only eaten here one time and I found the food to be lacking. If you want seafood in Disney World, there are so many other better options. I’d say that this was probably the worst seafood I’ve had on Disney property. We also were seated at a table that you couldn’t see the aquarium very well either. If you are looking to get a seafood fix, try Paddlefish, The Boathouse, Flying Fish, or Garden Grove which is an awesome seafood buffet inside of the Swan Hotel. Narcoossee’s in the GF is pretty good too, but not one of our favorites.
On Thursday, September 10 we had reservations for lunch at the Coral Reef restaurant to celebrate my birthday while at WDW. I made reservations online and checked the box concerning dietary restrictions.
When we arrived at the restaurant I was given a menu for allergies, however, I don’t actually have an allergy, but a necessity for a low sodium diet. When the waiter arrived at the table I asked him for a low sodium menu, or if it would be possible for me to speak to the chef? He assured me he would take care of it and he suggested the rib eye steak with no seasoning. He later returned to the table with rolls and olive oil saying the butter would be too salty and that he was replacing the side dish of mashed potatoes with steamed broccoli.
The dinner arrived and my plate was piled high with broccoli and a grilled steak. The steak was filled with fat and gristle, and by the time I cut away the uneatable portions, I was left with less than half of the meat. I asked to speak with the manager. The manager arrived at the table and said, “is there a problem.” I showed him the remains of the fat and gristle and the half eaten plate of broccoli. He explained, “that is the way our meat is cut and marbled, it has a lot of fat on it.” He never apologized, nor did he attempt to correct the poor meal that I was served, and he just walked away. I assumed as a manager of the restaurant that he would try to make amends, but he did nothing and the waiter brought the check with no correction or apology.
We paid the bill, which amounted to over $90 for our meals, before the tip. I know the Coral Reef is an expensive restaurant, but the expense was definitely not worth the price and the ineffective Disney employees did not make the situation any better. Here are three things that I have learned after eating at the Coral Reef restaurant and want to share: 1) Never order steak at a sea food restaurant, 2) Never have a waiter order for you instead of allowing you to talk to the chief, and 3) Never eat at the Coral Reef at Disney or any other Disney owned restaurants where the manager displays little or no concern for his guests.
What happened to the calamari at Corel Reef? We loved it as one of the gluten free options and now they are very limited!