Recently remodeled, Nine Dragons is probably the easiest restaurant at Epcot to get in to without a reservation. That's because to so many people Chinese food is not equated with fine dining -- it's something that comes in a cardboard container and you get it for takeout. This is different, more of an upscale Chinese dining experience.

I popped in for a lunch and started with a bowl of chicken consomme with pork dumplings, a golden broth with a rich mouthfeel. It had two big dumplings of chewy dough filled with well-spiced ground pork.

For my entree I had the shrimp with spinach noodles, which looked very much like something you'd find served in the Italy pavilion. (But remember that Marco Polo is said to have introduced Italians to pasta after a voyage to China.) The noodles were fettuccinelike and were mixed with red and green sauteed bell peppers and dotted with flecks of hot pepper flakes and topped with cool, fesh coriander.

The shrimp had a thin film of crispiness and peppery spice.

For dessert there was a sponge cake with fruit filling that was slightly dry.

Additional location: Mall at Millenia, 4200 Conroy Road, Orlando; 407-345-2888. I don’t know why I included this restaurant under the Chinese listings – the food is about as far away from authentic Chinese as you can get. But, for some, this is what they want in a Chinese restaurant. And they can have it.

Still, there are some tasty things to be had.

For appetizers the salt & pepper shrimp were a treat. The shrimp, lightly breaded and coated with salt and pepper, are meant to be eaten shell, tail and all. It's an unusual textural experience, but it's one you should try.

The ``soothing lettuce wraps,'' available with chicken or vegetables only, were good too. Here the meat or vegetables were stir-fried with a light sauce and served with whole leaves of iceberg lettuce. To eat, you simply spoon some of the food onto the lettuce and roll it up.

Red sauced wontons featured shrimp and pork steamed inside rather doughy wonton skins. They were sticky and much less pleasant than the other appetizers.

My favorite entree was Chang's spicy chicken, a version of the popular General Tso's chicken found in many Chinese restaurant. The chunks of chicke... Read more