I am sooooo looking forward to the beef rice bowl at Lotus Blossom! I'll be there for 10 days in a couple weeks, and I bet at least half of those days, I'll be dining at Lotus Blossom. I like Nine Dragons, but since I don't do the dining plan, I find Lotus Blossom to be a more economical alternative. Here in Orlando we don't have a lot of great Chinese restaurants. I love Ming Court over on I-Drive, but it's really out of the way to go there so I don't get there often. Ming Court has a similar quality and style to Nine Dragons, but a wider selection of food. I agree that if you have a really great Chinese restaurant at home you may not be wowed by these two - but I've never been disappointed.
Food is such a subjective thing. You can't really go by other's opinions only. You have to read between the lines to see why they liked/disliked a particular restaurant to see if their tastes are similar to yours. For example, the pp who doesn't like how close the tables are - I wonder if they ever eat at Biergarten in Germany? My "personal space" bubble is very uncomfortable at Biergarten because you actually sit at the same table with strangers. But there's just enough room at Nine Dragons for me to feel OK. It's the same with meat vs. veggies. I prefer Chinese meals that are either all veggie (like a stir fry and rice) or meat and rice. I've never been big on the meat and veggies together. My favorites at Nine Dragons are the Honey Sesame Chicken and the Kung Pao Chicken.
