Coral Reef Restaurant
The Living Seas, Epcot®
Average Member Rating:
Read Member Reviews : Submit a member review!
OLP Review : videos : Pictures : Menu(s) : Other Epcot® Restaurants

The Coral Reef serves lunch and dinner, focusing on food from the sea while adding the occasional novelty like alligator sausage. The lobster bisque is a classic favorite that many return to sample again and again. Special meals are accommodated graciously and attentively. While the lunch and dinner menus are very similar, the lunch prices in the $$ bracket and the dinner prices in the $$$ category. For early dinner goers, be ready for a special treat - The diver entertains while he feeds the fish :).

Coral Reef Restaurant lunch review by OLP and friends, The Living Seas, Epcot, Walt Disney World

The Coral Reef restaurant is located in the Living Seas Pavilion of Epcot. It borders the gargantuan salt water tank of the Living Seas and you can watch the sea life frolic while you enjoy your meal.

Member Reviews:
Average Rating:
Submit a member review!

Fantastic!6/6/2010 by Ser Alan
We recently had lunch at the Coral Reef and I was very pleasantly surprised; the food was absolutely delicious and the view of the aquarium is spectacular.  The theming here is exquisite.  The most impressive thing for us was that most of the items on the menu are sweetened naturally, without added sugar -- even the sweet corn chowder which I ordered and it was deliciious.

After the sweet corn chowder I had the seared trout.  I was surprised by how small the trout was, this is not a whole trout as is customary.  However, the two small pieces of trout I received were very delicious and flavorful.   They also had a delicious sugar-free dessert for us, a very light lemony Cheesecake Napoleon with fresh fruit.  Overall I give the ambience a 4.7, service a 4.7 and the food a 4.6 which is good enough to get a 5!  Highly recommended if you are looking for a delicious lunch at Epcot.  Price point is pretty high, around $100 for a party of 3.Read reviews by this author

Outstanding food, service, and atmosphere11/27/2009 by carrie
We had reservations at Coral Reef, but we arrived 30 to 40 minutes early.  They got us back within 15 minutes, and we were seated at one of the main tables right at the aquarium with a huge turtle near the glass , while we were there we saw sharks, sting rays , and divers! The waitress was very good to us. She took our picture for us and brought us everything we needed. The food was perfect!  We ordered steaks cooked just the way we asked.  It was one of the many highlights of our trip to Disney!Read reviews by this author

Coral Reef Service less than Average11/11/2008 by Disney Diva Susan

The Coral Reef had LESS than ACCEPTABLE service by the Hostess Staff and Manager.  Our fantastic travel agent had NOTHING to do with the Wait time that we waited to be seated.  We got to the place 10 minutes advance of reservation (made 6 months in advance) and were not seated until 40 minutes later, almost creating us not to utilize our "Fast Pass" time for a ride and almost missing Spectro Magic Parade in Magic Kingdom.  The manager's excuse for taking larger parties in front of us who arrived later than we did, was that "that party had a table for 6 available, we would not seat a party of 4 at that table".  The hostess from the start stated that our wait time would not be long since we arrived on time.  This was the usual when dining in disney, HOWEVER NOT the CASE at Coral Reef.  Then, after 10 minutes of waiting, she stated that we would be less than 5 minutes to be seated, but in reality it was another 15 minute wait.  With two children, this was unacceptable. 

I can say that the Wait Staff was more that accomodating.  He did bring our meal very quickly and the steak was delicious.  We did get a table by the aquarium which was fun for the kids.  We especially liked the "human like" fish who snorkled around the other fish and turtles.  BUT...Caution to all who do NOT like to wait.  The manager did not even try to comp. us a "Drink" which is all she could have done due to the meal being Pre-Paid.  We would use caution when traveling to this place again. 

Susan

Incredible meal4/13/2008 by Holly

First, I must say how much I appreciated the input this website provides.  I've been to Disney probably over 30 times and this past trip was the first one where I really planned our meals (Disney Dining Plan), made reservations way ahead, and had an itinerary for the parks and our time there.

Our last night there we ate at the Coral Reef restaurant.  It was OUTSTANDING.  The food was incredible, service was wonderful, and the view of the aquarium was phenomenal.  We had another family with us so we had 4 boys (2 are 7, 2 are 9) and they loved it too!  One of the 7 year olds has a gluten allergy, so at every dinner the chefs would come and speak with his mother and him and were incredibly accomodating.  It was just such a great experience.  We are Disney Vacation Club members so we go to Disney about once a year.  I will HIGHLY recommend this restaurant and am anxious to try more!  Thanks OLP for all of your great advice!

Cool, relaxing, delicious!8/26/2007 by Lynn & Kayla

Kid perspective:  The best thing about the restaurant was the delicious pasta and the fantastic view of the fish tank.  While sitting there, we watched turtles, fish, and a shark swimming right by the window.  A diver swam by followed by hundreds of small fish.  It was fun to watch them eating while I was eating.

Adult perspective:  The food was very good.  However, the atmosphere and scenery is by far the best part of this dining experience.  We chose a late lunch time there so it was HOT out in the park.  When you enter the restaurant it‘s dark, cool, and relaxing.  The blues and purples in the color scheme make you think you‘re under the sea!  A family favorite!

coral reef1/14/2007 by

I visited the Coral Reef restaurant on December 30, 2006. I will highly recommend to go during lunch, because the prices increase by about a 30% at dinner, so you can get the best out of your money. For an appetizer, my mom and I had the lobster bisque, and my dad the smoked one. The were all delicious, but we all agree the the smoked bisque was just unbeatable in taste, delicious!!!. My dad had the prime meat that was very tasty too. My mom and I had the catfish, which came with a delicious cheese grits. My catfish, however, was a little over seasoned with poultry seasoning, wich made it very spicy, that's why I'm rating it 4 stars instead of 5. But no doubt, the HIGHLIGHT OF THE MEAL happened at about 3:00pm, when MICKEY, YES, MICKEY, came down with a group of divers in the aquarium.  It was just incredible seeing Mickey swim, not even the staff could resisted, they all became expectators. It was a once in a alifetime experience. Highly recommend this resturant, specially at around 3 were the fun happens. Great atmosphere. A must see.

the coral reef
12/1/2006 by tricia

This was an excellent meal, one of the best that we had last week.  We were on the Disney dining plan, so each person was allowed to order an appetizer, entree, and a dessert.  I chose the lobster bisque (awesome!), prime rib (yum!), and the chocolate wave for dessert (two thumbs way up).  We had a group of fourteen people, and all greatly enjoyed it.  I strongly recommend this restaurant to everyone.

A sad disappointment10/5/2006 by Jodi
I'm sorry to have to say that, but it's true.  I'd wanted to dine here for years, but this was our first opportunity.  I was REALLY excited for this!  Unfortunately, it did not meet up to expectations.  The view of the aquarium was very nice.  The boys loved that.  However, the food left much to be desired.  Perhaps it was b/c we went for lunch, not dinner.  I don't know.  But the choices were minimal.  My crab claws appetizer was good.  But the main courses left something to be desired.  Mil and DS1 had some kind of chicken which was tough and not very flavorful.  I had lobster salad which, while it tasted ok, didn't taste any better than if I'd got it at Long John Silvers.  DS2 enjoyed his child's pizza, though!  Desserts were chocolate waves for adults and sundae for DS2.  They were good, but, honestly, no better than any other place we ate.  The service was nice and timely, and thus made this at least a better experience.  But we will not be back.  I was glad it was on the Dining Plan and we didn't physically pay for it.  I would NOT waste the money on it.   Read reviews by this author

Awesome view!10/13/2005 by Ser Alan

The view of the aquarium at the Coral Reef is simply spectaculor! If youre lucky youll even see some humans swimming around in there. The food varies, for a about a year Coral Reef was on our short list of favorites. Unfortunately, you really cannot count on the food being as good as the price warrants; hence the 4 rating. The selection for non-seafood-ites is a bit weak, although one time I did have an exceptional vegetarian dish... it was the best dish at the table! We have also had some exceptional sugarfree desserts prepared for us here, some of the best ones weve ever had.

Coral Reef is definitely unique and something that should be tried at least once if only for the ambience, just be prepared to lay out some cash for the experience :)

Coral Reef
8/26/2005 by Clara Fuller
I hate to be a downer but we were not very impressed with this place. We had a party of 8 (4 adults and 4 children ages 6-11) and were seated on the last row...so no good view of the aquarium. The only thing the kids liked was dessert - the make-your-own sundae was a big hit. The food was good but certainly not the best. I would rather spend the money for a remarkable meal like California Grill, Le Cellier, or Jiko.Read reviews by this author

great desserts
8/22/2003 by Kim
Coral Reef has the best atomsphere at Disneyworld, I wish I could say the same think about the rest of their food. You can get better seafood at other places. On the other hand, desserts are fantastic. My suggestion, go for dessert only. They are works of art. You almost feel like you shouldnt eat them.Read reviews by this author

thank you!!!
5/30/2002 by PrincessPiglet
Thanks for fulfilling my request for a Coral Reef review. Ironically, we just received our Spring/Summer Disney Magazine and there was a large article about this very restaurant. It seems that they just recently made a change in the kitchen - the former chef at Citricos is the new head chef at Coral Reef which probably explains the improved quality of the food. I understand he is interested in highly seasoned dishes and dipping sauces. He has also added a "kiddies treat" to the dessert menu called peanut butter playdough! Sounds like fun, but not sugar free! Cheers, PP :)Read reviews by this author

Submit a Coral Reef Restaurant member review!

Sample Menu(s):