So after a week of fun and relaxation on the Disney Magic, we were all set for 11 days of fun and action at Walt Disney World. (Tough life, I know.) We got off the ship in the early morning, picked up our rental car, drove from Port Canaveral to WDW, dropped off our luggage at the Beach Club Villas (our room not being ready at this early hour, of course) and headed straight over to Epcot.
Having only stayed at the Wilderness Lodge before, it was wonderful to be able to actually just stroll over to Epcot from our hotel!
That of course meant that we entered Epcot through the back entrance at World Showcase and that in turn meant that one of the first things we saw was scores of booths of highly mouth-watering-looking international food. Yep, the annual Food & Wine Festival was on probably not the best time of year to be visiting on the Deluxe Dining Plan!
Then again, as the DxDP comes with two snack credits per day and person, we had a wagonload of snack credits available. So, what better way to spend some of them on than
Freshly Baked Waffles with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream!
Accompanied (not necessarily preceded) by
Steamed Mussels with Roasted Garlic Cream. Yummy! (Even though I considered it bad form that not only one but two of those five mussels were empty I know the person at the counter is in a hurry and probably does not have the time to check every mussel when scooping, but still
)
First person to tell me which country booth this was from gets an honorary mention!
Anyway, we were not here to fool around with tiny morsels of food but rather to have a real substantial lunch so onwards we headed to Future World, and through this set of doors
into The Coral Reef Restaurant.
Habitually having to pester CMs with special demands (sorry, comes from reading all this info on the DIS
), I politely inquired whether we might possibly have a table directly tank-side. I wasnt holding my breath for this, as it hadnt worked on our honeymoon. This time, however, it did!
Slightly cross-eyed bliss at being seated directly next to the tank.
This guy fled as soon as we arrived, obviously not knowing he wasnt on todays menu:
DH went for the same appetizer we had both had (and really enjoyed) last year:
Sea and Land: Grilled shrimp with cucumber salad and BBQ beef tenderloin skewer with creamy polenta.
According to DH, this was once again a wonderful choice. Actually, I was very tempted to order it again myself and am sure I would have been happy with it, but I just couldnt refrain from trying this:
Steamed Mussels - with cilantro sofrito, fennel, tomatoes, and toasted ciabatta.
I hardly ever get to eat mussels when dining out at home, and I am not quite adventurous enough a cook to prepare them myself, so I happily jumped at this opportunity.
I am a huge fan of cilantro so there could have been more of that in there, but then again I would love loads of cilantro in everything, and I realize that I just cant have that all the time
. Apart from that, I thoroughly enjoyed the mussels.
I do admit that I am having trouble at identifying DHs main entrée, all I know is it definitely wasnt mine
:
Judging from the menu, I do believe it is the Roasted Pork Tenderloin (with sage polenta, glazed root vegetables, and a calvados reduction), though.
Meanwhile, I was having something slightly more resembling the fishy fellows gliding around the tank next to us:
The Grilled Mahi Mahi with laughing bird shrimp, hearts of palm, Jasmine rice and a coconut-lime sauce.
Sounds great, was beautifully presented too, but unfortunately it was a bit bland tastewise.
I had had my first ever dish of Mahi-Mahi on the beachfront in Port Canaveral prior to our cruise, a wonderful smoky-tasting grilled piece of fish on a bed of fresh salad, and that had convinced me that I loved mahi-mahi. This one, however, was a tad boring and the sauce wasnt really helping either, as it was much too light both on the coconut and the lime tastes. I am not sure now whether I was just having a bad tastebuds day, or whether this fish really is boring unless you grill it ferociously with all kinds of spices. I havent given it another try since, anyway.
When time for dessert came, DH health-consciously decided against it (Im married to a much better person than I am myself
). No such restraint for me, however:
I got to absolutely enjoy my Baileys and Jack Daniel's Mousse (topped with a ganache and chocolate cigar) instead.
I know, I know, not only did I have something sweet and high-caloric, but something containing alcohol, in the middle of the day. What can I say
.
Now, I know that this restaurant has received some not-so-favourable reviews, but we loved our meal here in 09, and this was another very pleasurable dining experience and a great start to our WDW holiday. We will definitely be back (and we might even make a tradition out of making this our first restaurant of the trip).
Coming up next: Dinner at The Yachtsman Steakhouse ...
Thank you, I have to tell my DH that I rock! 
