derryX Disney Dines: Coral Reef Restaurant (EPCOT)

EPCOT has tons of dining options. On the day we dedicated to EPCOT, we decided to have lunch at a place called the Coral Reef Restaurant. It’s located in the Future World part of the park right near the Nemo attraction. We actually had lunch right after watching that Nemo live action performance.

The main attraction of the restaurant is the giant sea tank that you can observe while you eat and wait.

They even give you a key with the different species in the water to get you to identify stuff.

The menu has a lot of seafood, which wasn’t a surprise to me and shouldn’t be a surprise to you.

They gave us some fresh rolls and butter while we looked over the menu.

Cassie ordered a pretty amazing looking strawberry lemonade. I skipped that because I had just drank my weight in international sodas at the Club Cool Coca Cola spot in EPCOT.

The crispy fried shrimp (With Jicama slaw and spiced remoulade) sounded good enough for an appetizer.

The shrimp were crispy (maybe a touch over-fried) and were tossed in a hot sauce not unlike sriracha. It was a hefty portion for the price. The slaw was somewhat forgettable, but it was nice to break up the fried goodness.

My entree was the Coral Reef Lobster Orecchiette Pasta (With white cheddar cheese and basil oil), which is a fancy way of saying Lobster Mac and Cheese.

This was a pretty big disappointment. In the large bowl, there was a whole lot of pasta, a whole lot of oil, and almost no lobster. The pasta also didn’t have any taste. Honestly, by this point in the vacation, I was really full because the deluxe dining plan is no joke and because I couldn’t help myself at Club Cool, so I just set it aside and figured dessert would redeem the experience.

Not much on the dessert menu appealed to me, but the chocolate wave, which the server described to me as a “flourless chocolate cake”, sounded great. I did not expect what I was about to be served.

It looked a lot like molten chocolate cake. I’ve gotten really good at making these, but, as far as I know, it has flour in it. So I called the waiter out on that. He stood behind the “flourless” claim and offered to bring me the recipe.

Now, I didn’t know at the time that, within the Disney complex, you could ask for any recipe and they will give it to you. So I declined the recipe, thinking he was being clever with me. Seconds later, he emerged from the kitchen with a printed post card with the damn recipe.

Holy crap.

Anyway, it’s pretty much the same recipe I use but they use corn starch instead of flour.

Fair enough.

It was delicious, and a real treat after the terrible lobster mac and cheese. They even gave me a little decorative “Congratulations” chocolate on the plate since I was wearing my “Happily ever after…” button. The raspberry ice cream on the side was a nice counterpoint to the rich molten chocolate. The ice cream was a little on the sweet side, though.

It wasn’t exactly the best meal we had in EPCOT, but it was a lot of fun, and the visuals in the place are pretty impressive. If nothing else, the dessert was awesome.