Hmmm...interesting question. I love Epcot for it's variety of restaurants. Don't know if I could ever pick just one.
It sounds like you want something of interest going on while you dine and/or an interesting locale. If that's the case, eliminate Nine Dragons (Chinese), Akershus (Norway), Alfredos (Italian), the two French restaurants, Rose & Crown (England), and Le Cellier (Canada). Although they all are good to excellent dining experiences in their own right, they are kind of second-class citizens to the other Epcot sit-down restaurants in that the decor inside might only be a step above what you might have in your nearest big city, and, except for Alfredo's singing waiters, there really isn't any entertainment going on. But all are kid friendly in that they all expect and cater to families.
Which leaves the remaining restaurants:
If you have a Benihana nearby, or a Japanese steak house where a dude with a big knife chops and prepares your food right in front of you with somewhat big fanfare, then you might want to skip Teppanyaki in the Japan pavilion. It's a Disney-ized version of what goes on at Benihana and it's clones. Fun but not that unique.
The Coral Reef ius quite scenic. It features
one huge all glass wall that gives a view of the Living Seas attraction monster-sized aquarium. When we've dined there not only to the sealife float by on a continual basis, but divers floated by and did their thing. All tables are provided with a sealife chart to help you identify what's floating by. Kids get crayons and charts of their own. Food for adults is pretty good to quite unique and excellent, but it's also kind of pricey. Kid food is the same that you'd find most everywhere at WDW with maybe fish sticks replacing chicken fingers.
The Garden Grille in the Land is a character meal in a revolving restaurant that will give you views of the Living With The Land ride. Food is good, plentiful, not too adventurous, all you can eat family style (meaning they bring platters to your table--not a buffet). Although it's something you don't find back home, it is a kind of Disney character meal that you can find all over WDW.
San Angel Inn has the best overall theming that will totally engage your kids. They'll probably even want to go on the ride that floats by the restaurant once dinner is over. Food is great to mediocre depending on what you order and the quality of Mexican that you like. Kids menu tends to be a bit Mexican but I think it has burgers and chicken fingers.
Never did the Biergarten (it's on our hit-list for our next visit, though). It seems like fun. A few of the unnofficial guide books (that one can purchase in bookstores) claim the food isn't that spectacular. I've also read many trip reports on this site where people think the food is quite yummy. Depends on if you want totally authentic German or not. Note: no real German beer of any repute is sold here. The choice is Becks and only Becks.
On our last trip, through a reservation making mishap, we ended up at Marrakesh in the Moroccan pavilion. This place is quite a hidden gem. Very well decorated and very easy to walk into on most normal nights. A belly dancer and scitar(sp) player do a show every forty or so minutes, and the dancer works the crowd quite nicely. If you're adventurous eaters, this is a good place to try. Having been to Morocco, I can vouch that the food here is pretty authentic. Might be kind of exotic if you never tried it before. My four kids didn't complain (and my youngest about whatever's on her plate on an almost nightly basis!) Only alteration from authentic Moroccan dining is that you sit on chairs at normal tables rather than on cushions around a coffee-table height table. My family liked this place so much that we ranked it as our favorite WDW restaurant (but we're a little weird). I guess we liked it so much because it was such a pleasant and excellent surprise.
Good luck with your decision!
