Dining around the world in EPCOT is a thing, and it’s something we ALL love to do. Now, we’ve been to EVERY restaurant in EPCOT, and we have our favorites, but it’s just so cool to be able to try out all these international flavors in one place, right?

Anyway, we’re heading to China for our latest dining adventure, and there’s one restaurant that we don’t really talk about much, but maybe we should. That’s Nine Dragons Restaurant. Well, we recently visited Nine Dragons to see if it served up Chinese food that’s better than what we would normally order from DoorDash.

Atmosphere

Nine Dragons is a table service restaurant that’s open for lunch from 12 PM to 2:55 PM and dinner from 3 PM to 9 PM.  The exterior of Nine Dragons is HUGE, and it’s hard to miss if you’re looking for it within the China Pavilion.

Once you walk inside, you’ll see the host stand in the waiting room. Immediately, the gorgeous, intricately carved woodwork, gold details, jade walls, and columns will blow you away. You’ll also find the bathrooms here (which are shared with Lotus Blossom Cafe).

Inside, Nine Dragons has a whole lot of atmosphere, and that atmosphere is quiet and dark. Honestly, that might be enough to sell you on the restaurant just from that description alone. It’s a huge perk on those busy Disney World days!

This is a great spot to get away from the crowds and have a meal without feeling like there are a million distractions around you. The main dining room does have windows at the back of the restaurant, so on sunny days, it isn’t quite as dark. However, at night, you might have trouble seeing the menu.

We also love the ambiance of this restaurant, with decor that feels elegant. We’re talking mahogany accents, intricately carved wood, and muted colors. The restaurant has three sections: a main dining room, a smaller dining area separated by a wall divider, and an intimate back room. Wherever you sit, be sure to take notice of some of the details. Near the kitchen area, you’ll see nine small windows, each decorated with a colorful glass dragon — hence, the restaurant’s name!

The lighting throughout the restaurant resembles Chinese paper lanterns, which we think is so clever!

There is plenty of seating available with tables and chairs. Place settings include cloth napkins and silverware.

But enough about the restaurant — what’s on the menu here?!

Menu

Sitting on your table, you’ll find a small menu of both alcoholic drinks available…

…as well as the Desserts.

On the actual menu, you’ll find a number of familiar-sounding dishes if you often order Chinese food or enjoy dining at Chinese restaurants when you eat out. We’re talking appetizers like Cheesy Crab Wontons, Vegetable Spring Rolls, General Tso’s Chicken Shumai, and more. Entrees include items like Honey Sesame Chicken, Spicy Honey Crispy Chicken, Dry-Braised Prawns, Smoked Duck Fried Rice, and so much more.

And now, onto the main event — the food!

Drinks

To drink, we picked up the Dragon Fruit Frozen for $16, which is Dragon Fruit, Rum, Cosmo Mixer, Lemon and Pineapple Juices Slushy.

If you’re someone who wants an alcoholic drink without tasting the alcohol in an overwhelming way, this is a great drink for you! You can taste the rum, but it doesn’t take away from the sweetness and tangy flavor of the drink itself. It’s refreshing without being overly sweet, and we’d honestly even say it’s a little dangerous in that regard — it goes down super easy and is so good, you may find yourself drinking it a little quicker than anticipated!

Eats

For our appetizer, we grabbed the Wontons in Chili Oil for $14, which are steamed wontons filled with shrimp, crab, and chicken, and Sichuan chili broth.

This was fantastic! In each bite, we got tastes of both chicken and crab, and it all blended beautifully. The wontons are soft on the outside, but firm on the inside, and that texture was fantastic. The chili oil does add some kick, so be aware of that, but even if you’re spice-adverse, we think this is manageable and delicious enough to absolutely try. Our only complaint is that it’s an appetizer, because we wanted more!

Moving on to the main entree, we tried the Kung Pao Duo for $28, which is Stir-fried chicken, shrimp, unsalted roasted peanuts, scallion, and dried chili pepper.

You get your choice of rice on the side, and we decided to go with white rice.

This was another hit for us! The shrimp is cooked perfectly, as it’s firm, not too soft at all. The chicken also has great texture, and the peanuts give it a unique flavor that balances out the meatiness from both the chicken and shrimp. We really liked that the rice came on the side, as then we could choose how much rice we wanted with each bite. Interestingly enough, this had more of a kick than our appetizer, so if you’re not a spice fan, this likely will be too much for you!

Time for dessert! We grabbed the Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake for $13, which is nine layers of light and soft crepes interlaced with delicate whipped cream.

Unfortunately, this one looked better than it tasted. It wasn’t that it was bad, necessarily, but there wasn’t a lot of flavor, and it certainly wasn’t sweet like we were expecting it to be. All of the flavor really comes from the chocolate mousse, while the crêpes are just there for more of a texture feel. The treat itself is very light and very fluffy, and you’ll likely eat it fast because it IS easy to eat, but we were just left wanting more, especially with a $13 price tag!

Overall, the food was an inch above your typical Chinese takeout spot at home. It hit the spot, but the portions were not as big as we’d hoped for the prices.

Nosh or Not

This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…

• You’re looking for Chinese food that’s better than what you’ll find at your local takeout restaurant. The food here is likely better than your hometown Chinese cuisine, featuring Cantonese, Mongolian, Szechuan, Hunan and Kiangche-style dishes. We’ve had some excellent meals here!
• You want to have a sit-down meal in a lovely setting. While there are certainly more unique places to dine at EPCOT, the setting here is upscale and grand and really makes you feel like you’ve been transported to China.
• You’re looking for a nice, relatively chill place to take a break while you eat. We found this restaurant to be very relaxing, not overwhelming, and crowd-free, which is essential on a hot, busy park day.

You should skip this Disney World spot if…

• You’re not a fan of Chinese food. If you know that this type of cuisine isn’t for you, it’s best to skip this spot!
• You yourself are picky, or you’re dining with picky kiddos. The menu here isn’t very picky-eater-friendly, so if you know members of your party are going to struggle with finding something on the menu, we recommend picking another spot.
• You want something light. A table service meal often isn’t the best place to go for a lighter meal in general, especially because you want to get the best bang for your buck, but this food is especially on the heavier side, so keep that in mind!

Overall

We think for diners who know they love this style of cuisine, and they’re looking for a more upscale meal without paying an arm and a leg, this is a good spot to try. It’s rare we’re full-on disappointed here. Sure, there are a few items we wouldn’t get again, but we had some truly spectacular dishes here this trip, and that’s been the same case for the majority of our trips here.

In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disney World and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog for the latest Disney news and more!

6 Overlooked EPCOT World Showcase Restaurants You Keep Forgetting to Add to Your List

Have you eaten at Nine Dragons before? Tell us in the comments!