"Non-popular" restaurants at Epcot?

[ilandrazdsw]

We ate at 9 Dragons on our Christmas 08 trip with DS (5) & DD (3) and it was VERY good. We are very picky about Chinese food, but it lived up to our favorite "local" resturant with we drive 45 minutes to get to cause those around us are awful.
We liked 9 Dragons so much it was a must-do on the April 09 trip (DH & I) and stated for our trip in 2 weeks!
Some dishes may be better than others, but all that we have tried have been good and tasty at a minimum.

 

[Ginamarie]

We ate at Nine Dragons a couple of years ago (a last minute ADR reservation) and really enjoyed it. I think that part of the reason it gets such a bad rap is because people are used to getting a $5 lunch special at their local place, so the prices seem steep when you look at the menu. Really, we had no complaints about our meal and I would go back there. However, there are a number of Epcot restaurants which I find more enticing, so it just doesn't make it to the top of our list!

There are some restaurants that are underrated/receive bad ratings which we just love. In fact, we tried Mama Melrose on our last trip and it was a pleasant surprise. I've learned to take the "ratings" with a stride on here. For every great review of a restaurant you're just as likely to find someone who had a bad experience at the same place.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

I truly enjoy the Dis Boards, and find a lot of value in the reviews and threads, but I absolutely agree that you should take everyone's opinions for what they are--opinions--and not adjust your dream vacation around the ideals of others.

I have found that there are certain posters on this board who appear to have similar personalities and styles to mine, and that we like and dislike many of the same restaurants that we have in common, so I may give additional credence to their opinions, but I'll still make the decision for myself.

For example, we love San Angel Inn. We really do, and have never had a bad experience there. It gets roundly trashed on this board, and perhaps for good reason to those posters, but as a result we chose to skip it on our last trip and regretted it when we went by the restaurant during the boat ride and thought about the good memories we had there.

Another example is WCC. It is the only restaurant to which I will not return at WDW. I just genuinely disliked everything about it. But it's packed, night in and night out, so obviously LOTS of people disagree with me and love it. If you make a choice based on my opinion, you might miss out on a new favorite. If the menu appeals to you, then you should try any place, in my opinion.

That having been said, we haven't tried Nine Dragons, so I'm pretty much useless to you, but I agree that you should really only rely on newer reviews, as the place has been totally redone and relaunched.

 

[MartDM]

I read a lot of reviews too and have found there is a pattern of some folks letting their ambition take them beyond their sensibilities when it comes to the ethnic choices at WDW.

Many folks seem to only go by the enthusiastic reviews of a restaurant in making their choices, without ever really considering whether they truly enjoy the unusual offerings at some of these places (or enjoy being adventurous enough to try them and accept if they don't appeal to them without blaming the chef). I can't tell you how often I read a review that states "all the menu choices were terrible" or "they didn't have anything we liked" or "we couldn't eat anything on our plates".

In these cases, I think some of these restaurants with more unusual cuisine get an undeserved bad rap from people who probably shouldn't have ever gone there to begin with because they weren't open to such an experience/menu.

I try to balance that all out when deciding what restaurants to try but, ultimately, when I give a restaurant a go and it's a disappointment, I appreciate the positives in the experience of trying it & move on. There are plenty more restaurants to try the next day and the day after that. Food is an adventure after all

 

[disfreak2]

AH..POUTINE!! My daughter spent 3 weeks in Canada showing dogs. All she could talk about was poutine! She ate it every day!

I have to ask. What in the world is poutine? I hate it when I think I am missing out on something delicious.

 

[mom2val]

candian dish with fries, cheese curds and gravy

 

[nytimez]

I have to ask. What in the world is poutine? I hate it when I think I am missing out on something delicious.

It's Canada's main contribution to world cuisine -- french fries with gravy and cheese curds. Most places in the US that claim to have poutine -- not that there are many -- simply use melted cheese, which isn't really the same thing. I don't think I've gotten "real" poutine outside of Quebec and the maritime provinces.

 

[Merryweather27]

I pretty much make all of my dining decisions based on this website.
It may sound silly, but I really trust the opinions of the people here.

So my question is: how many of you base your opinion of restaurants (in particular for my own interest: Nine Dragons in China at Epcot) on experiences you had years ago? I know personally, if I have a bad experience at a WDW restaurant I am reluctant to ever go there again! There are so many choices that it's easy to "write a place off"...... but restaurants do sometimes evolve.

So, for example, does Nine Dragons, 2010 version, deserve its less than stellar reputation?

We just went to Nine Dragons last month and thought it was very good. I'd stay away from the blackberry jasmine iced tea - tasted like I was drinking flowers. But our waiter gladly brought me a water when I asked for that instead and kept it refilled. We enjoyed our app (general's chicken dumplings) and entrees (canton pepper beef and honey sesame chicken) very much! We also had fun "learning to write in Chinese" on our placemats.

I'd been leery of it based on reviews from the board as well but gave it a shot and was glad I did. After our great experience there this trip and a bad experience at Yachtsman, of all places, I may not be weighting DIS opinions as heavily in the future. There are so many things that can affect an individual experience - personal tastes, who you get for a server, what time you go, how busy they are, etc., etc.

 

[bclplyr]

I take restaurant (and other) reviews with a HUGE grain of salt. While some of the info can be very helpful, there's a lot that isn't.

Hubby and I ate at Nine Dragons in March '09. We hadn't planned on it, but we did the "Undiscovered Future World" tour at Epcot, which ends backstage of the China pavilion. We were given a 20% code for lunch, so we decided to try it. We really enjoyed it. I had the honey-sesame chicken, and DH had one of the specials. For us, it was a good experience and we'd definitely go back.

Biergarten is one of our must-dos, but I know it doesn't always get a good rap here. We've had good luck with table-mates so far. I thought the food was comparable to what I remember from my two trips to Germany.

Just a month or so ago my dinner group decided to go to Chicago's Chinatown for dinner. I was in charge of finding a restaurant, even though I'd never been to Chinatown. So I looked on Yelp to help me scour through the gazillion restaurants. It seemed like for every 4-5 people who raved about how authentic a restaurant was (because they'd lived in China and they'd know), there was always 1 person who thought that same place served disgusting Americanized crap (because they'd lived in China and they'd know)

So while it doesn't hurt to read the online reviews, just keep in mind that they're people's opinions. You may very well enjoy something that someone else hated.

 

[LisaxMarie]

My wife and I ate in Morocco and it was terrible. loud, bad food, our worst dinner in Disney period. Haven't tried China or Japan, not big on it to be honest. Mexico is hit and miss. half our group loved it, half didn't. Being Canadian I had no interest in Le Cellier, and now I will never miss it again. Great food.

Agreed with the mexico thing. In my party of 3 everyone hated it, but I have heard good reviews on this place.. Just didnt get to experience it for myself.

 

[loveswdw]

Well, we tried Nine Dragons for the first time last month. I had always read the horrible reviews online and thought, "No way." Well, we ended up last minute cancelling a MK reservation and needed a much later dinner reservation over at Epcot. There wasn't much available at all. Nine Dragons of course was and we were feeling "adventurous". Walked into the restaurant and WOW--it was beautiful. I was amazed at how gorgeous it was. Then, the food came. And it was actually REALLY GOOD! We were pleased.

One thing I did notice was the kids menu. If your kids don't like Chinese, skip it. There's no chicken nuggets or pizza on there. Our DS6 got the lo mein and a spring roll (which he did enjoy). I got something called the Happy Duet (not sure why it was a "duet" and not a "trio" or "family" as it had chicken, shrimp & beef all three) on the special--thought it was great. DH got the General's duet--General's dumplings and traditional General's. Good stuff too. We thought the Strawberry/red bean (I think?) ice cream was great. The Caramel Ginger ice cream had way too much ginger for my taste and tasted like dishwash.

Overall, we will not hesitate to dine there again.

 

[BYC]

It's Canada's main contribution to world cuisine -- french fries with gravy and cheese curds. Most places in the US that claim to have poutine -- not that there are many -- simply use melted cheese, which isn't really the same thing. I don't think I've gotten "real" poutine outside of Quebec and the maritime provinces.

I will be spending a week in New Brunswick in August, and I will be on the hunt for poutine!

 

[Mamu]

Once I make my decision I never change it even if the reviews are bad. One example is Germany's Biergarden, it gets rave reviews here. Yes the show was great, service was very good, but the food was below average and we will not be returning. Another restaurant is Mexico's San Angel Inn, gets bad reviews. Yet we like it, and service is always great. I do watch what I order though. The Poly's Ohana is so popular yet we've tried dinner twice and will not be returning Dry, stick in your throat meat.

 

[jimmytammy]

Nine Dragons, IMO is very good. The Honey Sesame Chicken is wonderful. I know that some folks say there local chinese restaurants are far better than ND, so maybe I have nothing to compare it with. But it has become one of our must dos.

 

[Terrie..]

We loved Nine Dragons and go back every year. If we don't do the TS, we at least do a CS. One of the places in Epcot that gets great reviews is Sunshine Seasons - we didn't like it and would not go back. We thought the food was very oily. The desserts were good though.

 

[Madhatter266]

I have never put a great deal of faith in any reviews because everyone comes from a different standpoint. We loved Nine Dragons even when it received so many negative comments. I often wondered it there was something wrong with us for enjoying it. Again, just our opinion, but we were all pleased and went regularly. I'm sure that we could criticize something there (like I wish it were free), but both the food and service during our visits have all been excellent. AND, yes, it is fun learing how to write your letters!

 

[Rohais]

Nine Dragons - their sweet n sour pork is delicious

Service is always good, have no complaints about it at all other than their dessert selection doesn't have great variety

We're heading back there on our next trip

 

[luvindisneyworld]

Well the only place that we did not like anything about it was San Angel Inn. But i have seen rave reviews here. I suppose it is not like the mexican food that we have aorund here, I am sure theres is more authenic that what I am used to :0) so I would never tell anyone not to eat there. We have seen so many bad reviews of places here and we have anjoyed everything that we have tried except that one. So to me it is something that if you want to try it then go for it, everyones tastes are diffrent so what i dont like maybe something that you fall in love with.

 

[Aggiegrl]

We didn't know any better on our last trip to WDW and walked in to Nine Dragons. It was great! The food was good and our server was top notch. She was a student from China and was attentive, made great suggestions, and even talked about "home" with us.

I agree with those that say its on par with PF Changs...which is one of our favorite chain restaurants. I wouldn't hesitate to go there again.