There are a LOT of places to eat in Disney World (and by that we mean HUNDREDS), and if you’re trying to decide where to eat on your next trip, that’s where we come in to help.
Here at AllEars, we know all the ins and outs of Disney World restaurants — including where you should definitely eat, and where you should skip. We recently stopped by Nine Dragons Restaurant in EPCOT and are bringing you our FULL review!
Background
Nine Dragons Restaurant is a table service located in EPCOT’s China Pavilion. It’s described as an elegant dining room that serves up typical Chinese fare, representing various regions of the country.
This restaurant has often faced criticism for being too basic for Disney World — essentially offering up what your local Chinese restaurant back home but for much higher prices. But is that true? We’re about to find out!
Atmosphere
If you’re looking for a spot to escape EPCOT’s crowds, this will be a great spot for you. It’s quiet and relatively dark in here in a pleasant way that allows for you to truly take some time to yourself during your wild park day. Not to mention, the design and color palette of the restaurant is gorgeous.
But enough about that, what are we eating?!
Food & Drinks
To drink, we grabbed the Lychee Martinifor $15. This is made with Vodka, Lychee Puree, Vermouth.
While this isn’t the best lychee martini we’ve ever had in Disney World (to us, that’s currently over at Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs), it was still pretty solid! It was a little overly sweet for us, and we felt we could taste way more of the Vermouth than the vodka.
While it did have a whole lychee fruit on top, we really would have liked to have a little more lychee flavor and less sweetness from the vermouth. Would we get it again? Maybe not, but we didn’t dislike it, per se!
To eat we grabbed the Sichuan Shui Zhu Beef for $35 which is made with Bistro beef, white mushroom, baby corn, wide glass noodle, and Sichuan chili oil broth.
This bowl was MASSIVE! It was far too much for one person, in our opinion, and we ended up with an entire container of soup to bring home. While that’s great for leftovers, it wasn’t great to be carrying around the park for the rest of the day.
This definitely has some spice to it! We’d rate it a 2/5 on the spice scale — it is closer to “Disney spicy” than true spicy, but it’s certainly got a kick. We didn’t need to take breaks in between bites until we were pretty far into eating it, but if you’re spice averse, this won’t be the dish for you.
However, we really enjoyed the beef in here! It was tender and slightly on the chewy side in the best way, and the broth was the star of the show. We also really appreciated how full the soup was of mushrooms, baby corn, and beef. It was hearty, that’s for sure, and we wouldn’t recommend it on a hot day.
Magic or Tragic?
This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…
- You’re a big fan of Chinese food
- You’re a more adventurous eater, especially one who enjoys a little spice
- Chinese food is comfort food to you
You should skip this Disney World spot if…
- You dislike Chinese food, or you’re not a fan of adventurous and spicy options
- You’re looking for Chinese food that’s the best of the best
- You’re nowhere near EPCOT (we wouldn’t say it’s worth the trek over)
Overall, we would totally consider dining here again, which wasn’t what we were expecting! We do feel that if you know what you’re looking for when you go into EPCOT and this matches up with your description, then you’ll enjoy it here. The prices are decently high, though, but that’s most table service restaurants in Disney World, so just keep that in mind when budgeting.
We’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disney World and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news and more!
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Have you eaten at this Disney World restaurant before? Tell us in the comments.
We visited Nine Dragons for the first time in January on a cold, rainy day where we were looking for a sit-down dinner to get out of the gross weather for a bit. We were able to get a table for 5 people, no problem. We enjoyed our dinner, although next time we will make sure to get different things and “share” the variety and would definitely consider going again on a future trip.
Tried Nine Dragons on our last Disney trip! I was amazed and sad we had not tried it before! I really like it.
We love this restaurant and go back several times a year!
I have eaten at Nine Dragons many times in the past. I found the restaurant to be cool and pleasant, a welcome break especially on a hot summer day. I always enjoyed the food I ordered, as well. It was traditionally one of the more accessible (they had availability) and affordable restaurants at the time, also.
I have not been to Nine Dragons in several years, though, because I was not able to make a trip to the parks at all. I just returned from a birthday trip to EPCOT with my sister and her family, and can happily recommend both Biergarten and The Garden Grill from this most recent trip!