Coro Restaurant in Orlando Review: Is This Michelin Bib Gourmand Worth $100 Per Person?
Coro restaurant Orlando is a small plates spot in Audubon Park that earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and I can totally tell they’re catering to the Michelin guide. The cozy modern ambiance feels like walking into an artsy rich person’s kitchen, but after spending about $100 per person during my visit, I’m left wondering if this place is a bit overrated.
Here’s my issue with Coro’s Bib Gourmand status: Michelin bibs are supposed to recognize restaurants that offer good value. A fulfilling meal at Coro easily costs $50+ per person, with most dishes over $20. It lands in an awkward spot between not being refined enough for a Michelin star but too expensive to truly be a bib gourmand.
My overall verdict? It’s just okay. Keep in mind their menu changes often, so maybe some rotations are better than others. Here’s my dish by dish breakdown from my visit.
About Coro Restaurant in Audubon Park Orlando
Coro is located in the Audubon Park neighborhood of Orlando, serving fancy small plates in an intimate setting. The restaurant has earned recognition from Michelin, but whether it lives up to the hype is another question entirely.
The space itself is beautiful with modern, cozy vibes. But when you’re paying these prices, the food needs to match the atmosphere.
What We Ordered at Coro Restaurant
The Salad
We started with a salad, and this already rubbed me the wrong way. This dish is almost like a satirical representation of a fancy restaurant. Tiny portion of microgreens and cherry tomatoes with translucent thin slices of ham on top for over $10.
The taste was fine, just a salad. But it felt pretentious, and I would not get it again. This is the kind of dish that makes you question if Coro is worth the premium pricing.
Beef Tartare
The second dish was a beef tartare, and this was not good. Presentation and taste wise, it’s something a rich person would feed their dog on a raw diet. I’ve only eaten beef tartare a handful of times, but this was at the bottom of the list for me.
The beef had the texture of raw ground beef, and serving it with rice made it taste very muted and bland. I would have preferred the beef to be minced into thin cubes with more aggressive seasoning or some extra fat in the form of an aromatic oil. This was too one dimensional and dry.
Ceviche
The ceviche was decent. It was bright, refreshing, and tangy from the buttermilk sauce. Also looked great for Instagram. Nothing mind blowing, but miles better than the tartare. This is what I expected from a restaurant of Coro’s caliber.
Scallop with Bone Marrow
The scallop served with bone marrow was the best dish we tried at Coro and was a special item that day. The scallops on top were well cooked. While it looks like a lot of scallop, it’s an old restaurant trick. If you kept the scallops whole, it probably would have been about two pieces.
The mousseline they had piped into the bone was less flavorful than I hoped. It tasted more like a sausage without a casing than the smooth butteriness of a savory mousse. Still, this was the standout dish of the night.
Pasta Dish
I should have definitely taken a picture of their menu because I completely forgot what this dish was called and what kind of filling it had inside. I know it was a pasta dish, and I only remembered it being quite doughy. I couldn’t taste much other than the pasta itself. The sauce or soup was also pretty bland.
Fish Filet
The next dish was a fish filet. I didn’t love the presentation on this one, but the taste was fine. One of the few dishes with some protein substance to it.
The dish was purposefully undercooked on the inside, and I personally was not a fan of that technique. I would have preferred it cooked all the way through but still tender and flaky.
Half Roasted Chicken
We were not planning on ordering the chicken, but as two big dudes sharing these tiny plates, we were still quite hungry at the end of the night. So we got the half roasted chicken.
Honestly, it was just okay. It tasted no different to me than a Costco rotisserie chicken, just marked up significantly. The vegetables were an okay pairing, crunchy at the stems and tender at the leaves. For the price at Coro, I expected more.
The Verdict: Is Coro Restaurant Orlando Worth It?
Despite my overall negative review of Coro, I would definitely go back to see if they’ve improved or if I’d enjoy trying a newer menu. The scallop dish showed they have potential, and maybe I caught them on an off night.
But here’s the reality: at $100 per person for small plates where you leave still hungry, Coro needs to be more consistent. The beef tartare was genuinely bad, the salad was overpriced microgreens, and the chicken tasted like Costco.
The ambiance is lovely, and the Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition has merit in some dishes. But I’m not sure my friend would want to go back, and I can’t blame him.
Tips for Visiting Coro Restaurant in Audubon Park
- Budget $100+ per person if you want to leave full
- Order the scallop dish if it’s available as a special
- Skip the beef tartare completely
- The menu changes frequently, so your experience may vary
- Make reservations as this small space fills up
- Go with realistic expectations about portion sizes
- Consider it more for the experience than the value
If you’re looking for true Michelin Bib Gourmand value in Orlando, Coro Restaurant might not be your best bet. But if you want an upscale small plates experience in Audubon Park and don’t mind the price tag, it’s worth trying at least once.
Have you been to Coro Restaurant? Did you have a better experience? Let me know
