dragonfly

very disappointing / e-cigarettes everywhere!. have been going to dragonfly for years since the food there is very good. however, tonight's experience was very disappointing. to my surprise, discovered that the restaurant allows e-cigarettes in the dining area; could not believe it when the manager said they allow them. the two adjacent tables next to me had a total of three individuals blowing their vapor smoke towards our table. it was very annoying. we got up and left before we ordered our main meal and went a little further down spid to black sheep bistro. not sure if i am goingbackto dragonfly!

disappointing. the bacon cream sauce had hardly any flavor. the jalapeño poppers were just ok. never did taste any of the chorizo that was supposedly inside. wouldn't gobackagain.

i went to dragonfly last night for the first time. wow so enjoyed it. i didn't dine but sat outside in the area off the bar and the staff were very attentive and constantly asking us if we needed anything. we had some of the starters and they were delicious. the squid and the three cheese wontons were yummy. will have to gobackto try the restaurant. loved the decor and ambience.

oct, 2018: one of the best pan-asian restaurants in wellington, and what sets it apart is the professional and friendly service, and the bloody awesome flavours popping out of every dish! thanks to our hosts, who apparently are perennial fans of dragonfly, they rate this place for consistently great food. definitely a food sharing type of place, and you’d be mad not to try as many dishes as possible on your visit. for us, that included starters of a burger bao special, korean wings, salt and pepper squid, spring rolls, and the best edamame ever! larger plates of pork belly, duck curry, beef rib, chicken ? and asian greens were smashed. along with 3 bowls of rice (jasmine and coconut), there was nothing left between 6 of us, and we were all pretty full, but eyeing up the last morsels on the plates till they were gone! a most enjoyable dining experience, and special mention to the cocktail staff who put together a very pleasing mojito for my wife, with a whiskey base instead of gin as per the menu. very highly recommended!

may, 2017: first stop for the night out, and we struck it lucky here, with half price cocktails on a tuesday night. definitely worth a visit for yummy cocktails, a cool vibe, young, friendly staff and competent cocktail bar staff. the decor is very eye catching, and the food on other diners' tables looked extremely inviting. too bad we weren't booked in for dinner here, but will definitely headbackfor a meal when we visit again.

another great night dining in a quality establishment. the friendly staff, speedy service and fine preparation of the meals was up to the highest standard. the spring rolls, tuna, salmon, curry duck and the nase göring were first rate and all washed down with an iced rose wine were all well on target. the after dinner cocktails, at thebackbar, to cap off the evening just hit the spot. highly recommended on all counts with a return visit again clearly on our agenda.

an outstanding creative menu and an excellent wine list, delivered by fantastic, caring people in a gorgeous atmosphere. what more can one ask for? for girls night out we made hotel zaza's restaurant, dragonfly, our destination. the wine list (even by the glass) were all outstanding choices - all high quality standards, yet fairly priced for fine wine a la carte. the dinner items were all perfectly prepared and presented - delicious, farm to table, with an emphasis on nutritious (great high quality and high food value ingredients; creative use of spices) - another wonderful benefit. we will bebackagain soon!

first time here today and omg the food is just so
amazing and delicious, everything is so fresh and wakes up your tastebuds! we were greeted and showed to our table as soon as we walked in and our orders were taken pronto. love the ambiance and the feel of the place, it’s just so lovely, the drinks we ordered were refreshing and the entree followed not long after that which was just wow..delicious !!!!!!! i absolutely loved the perking mushroom bao’s, it’s a must try, the buns are so soft and every bite is full of deliciousness! the ginger chicken dumplings are so very delicious and so was the 3 cheese parcels, don’t think i’ve ever had such great dumplings before!!! our mains were super yummy as well and so was the dessert, the plum and tamarind tart which my boy ordered was so delicious that i regret not ordering one for myself. i have used the word “delicious” so many times because it just is !!!! some of the best food i’ve have had in ages, it’s just mouthwatering. i really can’t wait to gobackand try more. it’s a 10/10 for me overall.

went here last night with my partner for dinner, the restaurant was all full so we were told to go down to the bar area which was way better than the restaurant anyway with the same menu.

service was impeccable, we were seated with menus and water straight away. orders taken and the server kept comingbackwith water and asking if we needed more drinks etc plus cleared away anything we were done with.

the food was beyond amazing! we had the twice cooked pork belly, edamame beans, asian greens, fried rice, chicken dumplings and prawn shumai. everything was delicious!

every cocktail we had was delicious too! china girl was my favorite of the evening!

will definitely be comingbackhere, i dont give 5 stars often because not many places blow me away but this one sure did!!

take out after too many martinins. korean fried chicken is good. pork bao i wouldnt bother with. three cheese parcels are insane! must have if you like sharp cheeses. dumplings were ok nothing crazy. egg fried rice also very good. would probably eat at the venue when i getbackto wellington.

i have came here quite a few times when i wasbackin welly and the staff are really friendly also the restaurant had a really calm and relaxing vibe, the salt and pepper chicken are to die for they might not be the best chicken wings i've had as i've had many, but it was still really good the slat and pepper seasoning with dipped in the chilli sauce they provide is amazing. overall one of the best sorta asian fusion type of restaurant in welly definitely recommend you give it a visit if in welly.

this place has my absolute favourite cocktail (china girl) - a rich plummy concoction - and fabulous dumplings and other small sharing plates. the garden bar down thebackis fantastic on warmer nights - if you can get a seat!

after dinner tonight me and my friend wandered in because we'd always walked passed it but had never been inside. restaurant was fully booked but thankfully we didn't have an appetite this time.

as for a few local bars like bodega, fat angel's and monsoon poon i'm always surprised how deep bars can be. as for dragonfly, the bar was located all the way at thebackand featured a nice outdoor space with a large projector screen and a small army of waitstaff.

we were seated with water and a few menu's one with bar meals, wine & beers as well as a cocktail list. we agreed on getting the cocktail taster set which came with three concoctions: amondo, samuri sake and a ginger creme. my friend and i both favored different drinks with my choice being the sake because of its sweet sugary cheeriliscious reverb towards the end and right at the start. there was something about its balanced nodes and blunt sake rivalry that made the drink pretty dynamic. after this we brought two more of each the samuri sake and the amondo. the amondo was a bit lemony and basic for my tasting but after sipping the last few drops the drink is uplifted by a huge sugary syrup that kicks it to another place.


overall left feeling tipsy which was great, waitstaff were rather attractive and worked effectively as a team. the bar menu foldout was a cool party trick and the deep, dark and loomy bar was pretty good but of course was left light walleted. will return to check out the dinner menu very shortly, stay tuned.

love this place. had a meal in the main restaurant which was nice but was loud. we now much prefer going out thebackto the outside bar area and having a quiet wine & a few dishes from the snack menu. feels like your in thebackblocks of china, it's very cool. only complaint is the smokers as the outside area is technically the smoking area. shame as is the best place to sit.

our group of 5 had a fantastic meal on a saturday night. arriving late-ish with no reservation, we were seated out thebackin the funky courtyard. the food was terrific, a fantastic range of fresh asian flavours. we enjoyed every dish. good drinks menu too, including some great cocktails. and all this at a very reasonable price!

a dark rabbit warren / bordello of a place - constructed by a dyslexic architect with agrophobia - in other words unexpected little cosy spaces that are warm and delicious in themselves. 

thursday night dinner for five, and fortunately we booked as they were turning people away. clearly it's popular. 

our group had drinks at the bar first - beer (reasonable list), methode (choice of two) and a sake - all reasonably priced. 

staff were lovely - attentive friendly and helpful.

a very cute origami menu - clever / good idea.

food: we chose five different entrees, five mains and five desserts. 

stand out interesting dishes were the main duck and the entree cheese parcels. i struggle to differentiate the rest as being in any way exceptional. i thought accompanying dips were rather crude and fell well short of the complex liquids presented at restaurant 88 round the corner.

i use a simple criteria to decide whether a dish is ordinary or worthwhile - basically can i use the word "delicious" in its true sense to describe the dish? if not - and that applies to most dishes at most restaurants, so please don't overuse the word - then i regard it as ordinary and may feel slightly irritated that i've paid money for it. "luscious" is one notch up and is very rare in my vocabulary. 

anyway two dishes were clearly "delicious" - the duck and the cheese parcels - you may disagree. that's a low proportion but i have to say everything else was at least pleasant and therefore worth trying.

two white wines were good - maude pinot gris and an alsatian giselbrecht pinot gris. i especially liked the second, it had a bit more of an edge with the maude seeming a bit flabby as we approached the bottom of the bottle. 

would i go back? i'm not sure what it would be for though - there is so much good competition in the asian fusion scene that for food i'd probably go elsewhere. but i did like (i loved) the ambience and for a group it is great, good company, hunger, conversation and laughter inject an otherwise ordinary meal with a degree of artificial deliciousness. 

kids - yes, especially teenagers
groups: definitely
date night: yes
foodies: yes at least once
take your parents: yes
take out of towners: yes
the elderly : hmmm it's pretty noisy at thebackof the restaurant, front by the entrance isn't so bad