We’ll be there on our 20th anniversary. Where would you go for dinner? We’re staying at BCV, and could do EEH at MK that night so either Boardwalk or MK area make sense, but open to other resorts.
Ambiance is high priority, just as important as good food.
To be clear, when I say “big date night”, I don’t mean V&A big. Ha. Yachtsman, CG, etc are within budget.
You should look at some of the options at Swan or Dolphin.
I don’t know if this meets your needs, but my DH and I had an excellent dinner at Topolino’s at the Riviera. The food was delicious and our service was great. We had the ability to go onto the terrace to look at the sky/view afterwards as well.
I would 100% recommend it if the menu appeals to you!
We had date night at Narcoosee’s which was very nice. But I think Citrico’s is one of the best restaurants on property… plus, easy to get to MK.
This also allows for a stop at Trader Sams either before or after…
Topolino, Cali Grill, Jiko
Topolino’s
Citricos
Jiko
I will whole-heartedly endorse Jiko if AKL isn’t too far out of the way… its probably my favorite TS restaurant on property.
And I will endorse Cali Grill, if the prixe fixe menu looks good to you.
I hate Topolino’s. Sorry-not-sorry. I think it is far to costly for inferior food. The patio is nice. But the juice ain’t worth the squeeze in my opinion.
I should probably move that the the “unpopular opinions” thread… 
Since you have specifically requested ambiance, I would suggest Citricos (MK area), Jiko (AK area), or Flying Fish (EP,BW,HS) area. I’ve been to all three multiple times and have never been disappointed.
You probably should 
I agree with the others. I like TT a lot. I also liked Cali Grill but I liked TT more. Flying Fish and Citricos are both on my bucket list and seem to get consistent rave reviews.
In Epcot there is the Japanese place Takumi Tei and Monsieur Paul for fancy but I think they are pushing V&A prices.
OK so we had settled on Citricos and i was second guessing it because it looks very open and brightly lit in photos I see online. So I’m worried it will feel bustling and busy rather than relaxed. Thoughts? I was starting to think maybe Narcoossee’s would have a better vibe.
I do love the idea of Trader Sam’s afterward. We could walk off enough dinner on the way over to have room for fun drinks.
Oh, and as far as Jiko - first half of the trip we’re at AKV, so it’s on my list for one of those days.
For our 25th, we actually did something a bit unconventional and went to Whispering Canyon Cafe. Normally, this would likely be a poor choice, but they seated us out on the “patio” area instead of in the main seating area, which had a much more romantic vibe. It may not be the most elegant (um…at all), but it worked for us…since we aren’t “fancy food” type people to begin with. Because we put on our reservation that we were celebrating our anniversary, they even brought us free glasses of champagne.
My point isn’t to suggest you go to WCC…only that, I think you can make almost any place work for you! 
Good reminder!
The patio bit is a little funny. I almost put “I am a bit like Olaf so climate control is a necessity” in my original post because it will be August and I must be someplace where the ambiance indoors won’t kill the mood if its 30° out, but deleted it because I have a tendency to write posts that are way too long…
It is an “indoor patio”. Since we were there in December, definitely an outdoor locale would not have been ideal!
The heart means awesome date night idea and agree that we can find magic in unexpected places!
