Well,...
Hmmm...
How do I put this?
I'm Chinese-American and my family eats "real" Chinese food both homecooked and restaurant. But since I was born in the States, I do enjoy the typical Chinese fare that are more geared towards Americans like sweet and sour dishes. So, I'm definitely not an authentic Chinese food snob.
My family and I have eaten at Nine Dragons numerous times, I'm embarrassed to say. And each time we say it will be the last!
All I can say is that it is way over-priced, bad Chinese food. Even if the food was good, it would have been expensive. But hey, we understand that we have to pay for the "rent" too.
The reason that we have kept going back is that when my grandfather was still alive, he loved going in to chat with natives (the waitstaff) that have just come over from the homeland. He. especially, loved that many of them came from rural villages just like him. The food sucked, but hey we were paying for the company for my grandfather. I even remember that the waiters kept apologizing to my grandfather for the food! One time they actually had the chef stir fry some simple vegetables because they said he wouldn't like what was on the menu.
After my grandfather died, the only time we went to eat at Nine Dragons was when we were at WDW with guests who wanted to "check it out." We warn them ahead of time. But maybe the lack of having rice for a week, makes them want to take a risk?
I'd like to give a restaurant the benefit of the doubt. Every place has a down time, management and chefs change. The last time I ate there was October 2003. We hadn't eaten at Nine Dragons for a few years by then. So, when the guests we were with wanted to try it out, we gave in again.
When we sat down, our waiter was surprised to see us. More so when we spole to him in Chinese. Mom asked him what he recommended or what was fresh. He looked around, leaned in, and replied in Chinese that the food was geared toward..."foreigners." That's o'kay, we are used to eating "foreigner" Chinese food. Anything that he would recommend? He kind of shuffled his feet in embarrassment and gave a little shrug, as if he would never eat any of it.
Well, we were there already. So, we ordered a few items. Our table was extrememly quiet during the meal which is extremely rare because in my Chinese family, meal times are extremely noisy. In any case, it was the worst Chinese food I have had there yet. We all started talking about how awful it was once we left the restaurant!
I wish it was a fluke. I have heard a few others on the board comment on how they enjoyed their meal. But after eating there at least 4-5 times in the last 10 years, and batting zero, I can honestly say, NEVER again. The food seemed to get worse, if that was possible. It went from not too good to yuck. So, in the future if some first timers want to "try out" the Chinese food at WDW, I will tell them that I will meet them all later, after the meal!
Good luck! Hope the food improves but I won't be the one to find out!