mcsue
21 Apr 07, 07:40 PM
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/Suzyfoodpics/2006/disney_0600.jpg
We planned to eat at around 7.30pm, and we dropped into the restaurant to book a table at around five-ish, when we arrived at Epcot.
It was an Extra Magic Hours evening and the crowds were building, but we still managed to get a table at the time we wanted.
In the meantime we made a quick detour to Mexico to grab a Margarita and then we headed off to Canada get our Off Kilter fix. :)
When we returned to Nine Dragons, we found that the restaurant had now become incredibly busy.
There were masses of people waiting around for tables and a constant stream of others trying to make a reservation - it was quite difficult to negotiate our way through the crowd to check in.
Even though it was so very busy we didn’t have to wait long to be shown to our table, thankfully.
Our server was rather quiet and shy, but he was polite and efficient.
He personally didn’t make us feel rushed, but somehow we weren’t able to feel relaxed.
I think it was just the general tone of the restaurant tonight. There was a definite air of “get them seated – feed them quick – get them out!” about the place.
Paul ordered a Tsingtao beer and I had a glass of Ravenswood Zinfandel.
I should have gone for the Sauvignon Blanc I usually have here, as the red wine didn’t complement my food at all well. My first mistake!
Generally I select a meat dish for myself, complemented by digging in to some of Paul’s veggie dishes, but tonight we decided to keep everything vegetarian. My second mistake!
We ordered three dishes to share; Stir-Fried Seasonal Vegetables, Aubergines Sautéed in Garlic Sauce and Spicy Ma Po Tofu.
I keep trying to teach myself to enjoy eating Tofu.
I know it’s versatile, low in fat and generally good for you, but I still just can’t take to it. I really don’t like the texture and I can’t see that I ever will ever come round to liking it.
So I suppose it was no big surprise to find that I absolutely hated the Ma Po Tofu dish - just one mouthful of the horrible stuff was more than enough for me.
Paul made more of a noble attempt, but he really wasn’t at all keen on it either - and he likes tofu!
Needless to say we left most of the miserable Ma Po Tofu, and I regretted not ordering the Cantonese Sweet and Sour Pork I chose last time we ate here.
The stir-fried vegetables and the spicy garlicky aubergines tasted delicious though, and they remain tried and tested family favourites.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/Suzyfoodpics/2006/poly%20pics/IMG_0491.jpg
The portion sizes at Nine Dragons have diminished somewhat over the last year. We noticed they’d become smaller when we ate here in October, and now I see they’ve shrunk even more!
Also I don’t approve of this new way of serving up the rice on the same plate as the entree - it’s just a ruse to fill the plate, so you don’t notice the shrinking entrée size.
We did have enough to fill us up, even without the dreaded Tofu, but I really hope the portions don’t get any smaller.
We don’t tend to take too much time over a meal at Nine Dragons, but tonight’s dinner only took about 40 minutes from start to finish – a record for us.
We noticed that people were still streaming through the doors as we left and there were even more people waiting for tables than when we arrived!
We found it had become absolutely freezing once we got outside, so I think people were desperate to sit in the warm to eat. I also noticed that the Lotus Blossom counter service place next door was closed for renovations, so that too would have added to the volume of guests at Nine Dragons.
So, not the best of visits to Nine Dragons tonight, but I have to say that was partly my fault for ordering the wrong things.
The dwindling portion sizes are a concern, but then higher prices and smaller portions seem to be the trend in many WDW restaurants of late.
We’ve had some great times at Nine Dragons and we’ll be eating there again for definite, but in future we’ll avoid the busy EMH nights - and the Ma Po Tofu!
We planned to eat at around 7.30pm, and we dropped into the restaurant to book a table at around five-ish, when we arrived at Epcot.
It was an Extra Magic Hours evening and the crowds were building, but we still managed to get a table at the time we wanted.
In the meantime we made a quick detour to Mexico to grab a Margarita and then we headed off to Canada get our Off Kilter fix. :)
When we returned to Nine Dragons, we found that the restaurant had now become incredibly busy.
There were masses of people waiting around for tables and a constant stream of others trying to make a reservation - it was quite difficult to negotiate our way through the crowd to check in.
Even though it was so very busy we didn’t have to wait long to be shown to our table, thankfully.
Our server was rather quiet and shy, but he was polite and efficient.
He personally didn’t make us feel rushed, but somehow we weren’t able to feel relaxed.
I think it was just the general tone of the restaurant tonight. There was a definite air of “get them seated – feed them quick – get them out!” about the place.
Paul ordered a Tsingtao beer and I had a glass of Ravenswood Zinfandel.
I should have gone for the Sauvignon Blanc I usually have here, as the red wine didn’t complement my food at all well. My first mistake!
Generally I select a meat dish for myself, complemented by digging in to some of Paul’s veggie dishes, but tonight we decided to keep everything vegetarian. My second mistake!
We ordered three dishes to share; Stir-Fried Seasonal Vegetables, Aubergines Sautéed in Garlic Sauce and Spicy Ma Po Tofu.
I keep trying to teach myself to enjoy eating Tofu.
I know it’s versatile, low in fat and generally good for you, but I still just can’t take to it. I really don’t like the texture and I can’t see that I ever will ever come round to liking it.
So I suppose it was no big surprise to find that I absolutely hated the Ma Po Tofu dish - just one mouthful of the horrible stuff was more than enough for me.
Paul made more of a noble attempt, but he really wasn’t at all keen on it either - and he likes tofu!
Needless to say we left most of the miserable Ma Po Tofu, and I regretted not ordering the Cantonese Sweet and Sour Pork I chose last time we ate here.
The stir-fried vegetables and the spicy garlicky aubergines tasted delicious though, and they remain tried and tested family favourites.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/Suzyfoodpics/2006/poly%20pics/IMG_0491.jpg
The portion sizes at Nine Dragons have diminished somewhat over the last year. We noticed they’d become smaller when we ate here in October, and now I see they’ve shrunk even more!
Also I don’t approve of this new way of serving up the rice on the same plate as the entree - it’s just a ruse to fill the plate, so you don’t notice the shrinking entrée size.
We did have enough to fill us up, even without the dreaded Tofu, but I really hope the portions don’t get any smaller.
We don’t tend to take too much time over a meal at Nine Dragons, but tonight’s dinner only took about 40 minutes from start to finish – a record for us.
We noticed that people were still streaming through the doors as we left and there were even more people waiting for tables than when we arrived!
We found it had become absolutely freezing once we got outside, so I think people were desperate to sit in the warm to eat. I also noticed that the Lotus Blossom counter service place next door was closed for renovations, so that too would have added to the volume of guests at Nine Dragons.
So, not the best of visits to Nine Dragons tonight, but I have to say that was partly my fault for ordering the wrong things.
The dwindling portion sizes are a concern, but then higher prices and smaller portions seem to be the trend in many WDW restaurants of late.
We’ve had some great times at Nine Dragons and we’ll be eating there again for definite, but in future we’ll avoid the busy EMH nights - and the Ma Po Tofu!