Dining at Nine Dragons

A new blog reader reacted with surprise about the number of restaurants and dining experiences we have experienced and reviewed.  I hadn’t really given the number any thought and yet our quest for new dining at the Walt Disney World Resort continues, especially the goal of eating around World Showcase in EPCOT.  To keep us on track with our goal, we dined at Nine Dragons in the China Pavilion at EPCOT during our most recent trip.

Nine Dragons is a table service or “sit down” restaurant in the China Pavilion at EPCOT.  The restaurant is easily found as it is one of the first buildings on the left as guests enter the pavilion.  The shops and other attractions are deeper into the pavilion.

Nine Dragons serves lunch and dinner daily.  We had advanced dining reservations or an ADR for lunch.  The lobby and restaurant are a dark, quiet retreat from the theme park just outside.  Check in for ADR’s is inside the entrance to the left and bathrooms are to the far right.

Our check-in went smoothly and we were seated almost immediately.  There were only a handful of other diners around noon.

We were using Disney Dining Plan credits and had a variety of entrée selections.  Our strategy was for each of us to order something different so that we could share and sample.  And, while an appetizer wasn’t included in our dining plan, we ordered egg rolls and paid for those out of pocket.  I just couldn’t eat Chinese without egg rolls.

Our drinks and appetizer came quickly as did our entrées.  I had the friend rice with shrimp, the boy had sesame chicken, and the husband ordered honey chicken.  We were all very satisfied with our meals. 

For dessert, the husband had green tea cake, while I had the rice pudding served cold, and the boy ordered ice cream.  My dessert came with a chocolate design on the plate in the shape of a dragon—one of the nine dragons I suppose.

Our general impression is that the pavilion itself offers more “wow” than Nine Dragons.  We left with a “we just had lunch” feeling and nothing more.  The most “wow” was when my dessert plate had the chocolate dragon on it.  There wasn’t anything notable or spectacular about he décor, the service—in fact we had to wait a while to get our check even though the restaurant was not that busy.  The main entrees were good and offered generous portions.  The placemats provided guests an opportunity to practice writing Chinese letters.

I would consider Nine Dragons a “go to” restaurant for guests finding themselves in EPCOT, hungry and without dining reservations.

Outside Nine Dragons, Mulan was greeting guests and we roamed the pavilion playing Agent P’s Adventure (more on that another time.)