Nine Dragons Restaurant Review
Nine Dragons is the table service restaurant at Epcot’s China pavilion in Walt Disney World. This World Showcase dining review includes food photos, thoughts on our experience eating at Nine Dragons, including ambiance and value. In terms of basic info for WDW vacation planners, this is a 1-credit table service restaurant on the Disney Dining Plan, and accepts Tables in Wonderland for a 20% discount.
Nine Dragons has a reputation that precedes it. I recall planning our first Walt Disney World vacation as adults around a decade ago, and the two universal truths of World Showcase dining seemed to be that Le Cellier was not to be missed and Nine Dragons was definitely to be missed. If you’ve ‘made the rounds’ on Disney fan sites, you’ve likely encountered this sentiment. This was a big bummer for me given that I get hyped for restaurants with even one dragon–let alone 9 of them, flying around, reigning fire and hellacious dragon-fury upon patrons.
Well, the times they are a-changin’, as I today I wouldn’t even think about Le Cellier (unless someone else were paying) and I’m about to (spoiler alert) call Nine Dragons a hidden gem in World Showcase. I know this goes against the teachings of the Disney Elders, Yelp scores, etc., but hear me out because Nine Dragons is potentially worthy of consideration.
Okay, so why is Nine Dragons a hidden gem? And, does the phrase “hidden gem” really have any meaning when being applied to a restaurant in plain view at one of the busiest theme parks in the world? Let’s take a look…
Actually, let’s start first with ambiance. As soon as we stepped inside, I knew why the reviews have been so harsh: a complete dearth of dragons. None flying around, none climbing the walls, not even any nestled in the shadows under tables. Unless they are in the kitchen powering the ovens, the name of this restaurant amounts to blatant false advertising. I can see how some guests would be peeved.
We tried to rise above this. Dragons aside, there’s nothing necessarily special about Nine Dragons in terms of theme or decor. It strikes me as a high-end Chinese restaurant that you might find in a major city, with a level of craftsmanship and sophistication that (I assume) is an original (or close to it) EPCOT Center design.
The style is definitely understated, but really, what are you going to do thematically with a Chinese restaurant that wouldn’t characterize it? There’s a lot of detail in the carved details around the restaurant, the light fixtures are pretty, and the carpet features nice designs. It’s not as ornate as it could be, but it gets the job done.
Moving on to the food, which is where Nine Dragons shines.
Sarah ordered the Lunch Special, which is a 3-course meal for $18. For her appetizer, she started with the vegetable spring rolls.
These were fine with the vegetables providing decent flavor, but they were nothing memorable. In fairness, I think the ceiling on vegetable spring rolls is pretty low, so if you’re a huge spring roll enthusiast, your opinion on them may be more nuanced than mine.
I started with General Tso’s Chicken Buns. These are traditional, steamed Chinese bao with fried chicken, topped with pork floss and General Tso’s Sauce. We first became fans of bao at Tokyo Disneyland as there are several cutesy versions (Mickey’s glove, Donald’s duck bill, etc.) served there, and these stack up very well to them.
The breading on the chicken is almost reminiscent of batter you’d find on traditional fish and chips, which made for an interesting (in a good way) flavor. The two bao were also quite sizable, and potentially could have been an entree on their own if you have a smaller appetite. (This is also available as the entree in the lunch special, and includes 3 bao instead of 2.)
For her entree, Sarah had the Nine Dragons Lo Mein, consisting of egg noodles stir fried with barbecue pork, beef, shrimp, and vegetables. There was a good amount of everything here, rather than a scattering of meat hiding in a sea of noodles. The beef was tender and the shrimp had a superficial crispness to them.
One of our common complaints about lo mein is the overuse of soy sauce, resulting in a thick coat of glaze on the dish. That wasn’t the case here. The amount of sauce was conservative to moderate, allowing the noodles and other ingredients to stand out, rather than everything being bogged down by a heavy coat of soy.
I felt similarly about my Honey-Sesame Chicken. It was not overly sodium-y or sugar-y as a result of the same conservative approach to the marinade, and I think the dish was better for it. The chicken was garnished with sesame, which hardly added to the flavor, but did enhance the texture a bit. The portion here was huge, and made me slightly regret also ordering the appetizer. Fortunately(?), I’m a ManBearPig that roams Walt Disney World attacking delicious foods for no reason at all.
For dessert, we split Caramel-Ginger Ice Cream that came with Sarah’s Lunch Special. This wasn’t huge, but it was enough for the two of us to share. It was what you’d expect in terms of the caramel flavor, but with refreshing and distinct thanks to the bits of ginger. We both really enjoyed this, too.
We both were really impressed with everything we tried (aside from the spring rolls) and would recommend what we had if you’re visiting Nine Dragons. Truly, though, it’s the prices of the food that shine at Nine Dragons. When we dined here, the 3-course Lunch Special was $18 (adjust this for “Disney Inflation” if you’re reading this a year or more after it was published). That’s cheaper than a counter service meal, for a larger portion of much better quality food.
The thing is, even after heaping on all of this praise, it’s still somewhat difficult to recommend Nine Dragons if you’re a first-timer visitor to Walt Disney World. That’s because good Chinese food is not all that difficult to find in the real world, and the ambiance here is not spectacular. Restaurant Marrakesh is more unique on both fronts, as are Biergarten and Via Napoli if you don’t mind spending a bit more. Then there are the “fun” restaurants like Garden Grill and Coral Reef. All of these are probably better overall experiences, even if the value proposition at Nine Dragons is tough to beat.
For Walt Disney World regulars who have tried many of the above options, the decision is a lot easier, and I’d go as far as to say doing the lunch special at Nine Dragons should be a no-brainer given the cost. However, for first-timers perusing the field of restaurants in Epcot, it’s a more difficult choice.
Overall, dining at Nine Dragons is a restaurant that is off the radar of a lot of Walt Disney World guests, especially regulars who have heard poor things about it. Even sans dragons, it deserves a second look. We doubt it will become anyone’s all-time favorite meal, but in terms of value options at Epcot, we can’t think of any stronger choices. For those willing to spend the time here, it’s a viable replacement for a counter service meal that will be about as economical, and probably much more satisfying.
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Your Thoughts…
What do you think of Nine Dragons? Do you think it has a deserved or undeserved negative reputation? Have any of your own experiences dining here to share? If you don’t like Nine Dragons, why not? Share your thoughts or questions in the comments!
Just ate there about 2 hours ago. Food was OK, waiter was responsive. The hostesses were terrible. Be forewarned that if you DON’T have a reservation in a EMPTY restaurant, despite it being nearly empty, you will be seated near a large loud group at an adjacent table because you dared walk into the restaurant without a reservation. You can make your own assumptions, but we had it happen at Epcots Hacienda San Angel the night before. Half empty and they put us in a back corner, the only place in the restaurant where you could NOT see the Illuminations show from the restaurant. They were quite smug about not being able to seat us in a better area. Back to 9 Dragons – When our meals arrived, the waiter was corteous enough to move us further away to a quieter area, after speaking to a hostess, who just shrugged her shoulders when he spoke to her. To verify the maliciousnes of the hostesses, my daughter noted that as we left, none of the hostesses bid us goodbye, but one simply rolled her eyes at us. Well, certainly not the first time an antisocial hostess treated us like crap. Negative 1 star except for the waiter, who gets 5 stars. Food was 3 stars. Avoid this place like the plague.
100% agree. Felt like I was stuck in a tourist trap. We purchased the 3:30 Candlelight lunch package and we waited until about 4:00 to be seated. When the bill came, we were charged the dinner price. I said we were ten minutes early and waited because they didn’t seat us promptly. The manager and server were horrible and embarrassed us in the middle of the restaurant. Other tables were looking at us and I guess since the manager was fighting me in the middle of the restaurant he thought I would give in. I was mad and didn’t give in to them. I said i would pay the price I agreed to and left. Ruined my night.
I haven’t been to Nine Dragons since right before the remodel (around 2008 or so?). As I recall, the more standardized the dish, the worse it was. I would definitely say that it used to be worse than “real world” Chinese food. Since I need a good lo mein to keep everyone happy, I’m glad to hear that it has improved.
I’m probably in the same boat as a lot of people when it comes to Nine Dragons. I have plenty of decent Chinese restaurants in my home town, so I don’t see any reason to try one elsewhere unless it gets superior notices. The one time I tried Lotus Blossom Cafe it was some of the worst Chinese food I’ve ever experienced. The snacks at the outdoor Yak & Yeti are MUCH better.
I’m glad the place is not as bad as I’ve seen it represented, though.
I think your sentiment probably describes a lot of people, and I think that’s totally valid. It’s certainly not a restaurant we’d hit every trip, but I could see adding it to our ‘once every few years’ rotation. (It’s far superior to Lotus Blossom, for what it’s worth.)
The lunch special does sound really good. Normally I do the lunch special at Japan, but I might have to try something new…..
thanks
We’ve had nothing but great meals the last 2 years here. We’ve probably dined 3 times in that period and loved it. The 3 course lunch special was a fantastic value.
As well a pro tip. Always ask if they have any feature or special items. We did one time and they were offering Shanghai style soup dumplings. These are very rare to find at Chinese restaurants in most cities. For those who are new to them, it’s a steamed dumpling filled with meat and soup broth. You put it in your spoon and bite off the top of he dumpling carefully. Then you slurp the delicious soup broth out. Add Chinese vinegar in to the opening and then eat the rest! These compared VERY authentic to soup dumplings in china. Im Chinese and so is my girlfriend with her parents being from china, and they loved them.
Thanks for spreading the word on this place. Love it!
Awesome tip–now I’m wondering if we missed out on something delicious!
We ate here a couple months ago. I found that there are many dragon decorations throughout the restaurant. In the second picture of the entryway I can see three dragons alone! There are also dragons carved in the arch leading into the dining room.
Decoration of a dragon =/= dragon.
That’s like saying, “I know you wanted a pet dog, but I drew you this picture of a dog. Hope it does the trick!” 😉
I feel meh about Nine Dragons. It was fine, but not unique enough from what is available in the real world to pull me from other options. (Although I will admit I’ve never found a good Chinese restaurant locally, so I settle for PF Chang at home.)
Thanks for the review. In our corner of the city, good Chinese is surprisingly hard to find (while you can throw a rock and hit at least 2 good Indian places, it seems). We’ve never considered eating here because of the other solid options around in Epcot, but I could see splitting that 3-course combo for a nice light and cheap lunch.
We ate at nine dragons on a big family trip back in 2014. It was a same day decision and was one of the few restaurants available. I have to say that our meals were rather poor. Perhaps they have improved as of late.
I ate there last time we visited the park, 2005 to be exact, that was the most authentic Chinese dish I had since I left China 2003. Well, to be fair, you won’t find general CSI chicken anywhere in China!
We ate there a few months ago and it was HORRIBLE. Mediocre food coupled with rude waitstaff left us saying we would NEVER go back.
100%agree. Rude. Awful experience.
We ate here in July. It wasn’t a planned stop, we were hungry, wanted air conditioning and they could seat us right away at lunch time. My husband and I really enjoyed it! We got the chicken buns as well and loved them! Our server was also really nice and attentive. We would definitely go back on our next trip.