dragonfly

second visit - second time blown away with the amazing food and great service.

has a great atmosphere in the restaurant and very attentive staff - love the garden bar for a drink before dinner.

the food is what i rate the most! - always so good! portion sizes are great, interesting ingredients and not an overly expensivenighteven with several courses.

will continue to return with pleasure for both meals and drinks out in the bar.

great! love it.

dragonfly has an extensive cocktail list and is perfect for anightout. the food cannot be faulted and my favourite dish is the salmon 2 ways. the staff were polite and friendly and were happy to meet dietary restrictions.

i went to dragonfly lastnightfor 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 go back to 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 thenightout, 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 head back for a meal when we visit again.

another greatnightdining 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 the back bar, to cap off the evening just hit the spot. highly recommended on all counts with a return visit again clearly on our agenda.

had a greatnight@ dragonfly - cool cocktail in the rear bar and sampled some interesting dishes recommended by the staff - look forward to next time soon.
tracy

our happy place. i don't feel i can write a normal, specific review of this place given that we love it and go to it so much so i'll keep it pretty general. we have been coming here for years and go at least once a month or so. we've never had a bad meal or experience, ever. there is an array of flavors/genres to choose from and we usually go with the chef's special for thatnightto get something a little more experimental. the staff is always so nice and friendly and the owner is awesome too. our favorite go-tos are the hummus, stuffed jalapenos, crab cakes, osso bucco, lamb meatloaf, and the creme brulee. but again, we've never had a bad dish. this is by far the best place to eat on north padre island, and really in all of corpus in my opinion. there are other fancy places out here but they seriously lack in the ambiance and culture that dragonfly has.

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 girlsnightout 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 be back again soon!

saturdaynightdinner with my partner. we didn’t book but got a nice table. friendly & attentive service.
really tasty food - we had a few dishes to share : mushroom bao’s, okonomiyaki, seared tuna, duck spring rolls and jasmine rice. plus a couple of yummy cocktails followed by a glass of white wine & beer.

went here lastnightwith 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 coming back with 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 coming back here, i dont give 5 stars often because not many places blow me away but this one sure did!!

my second trip to dragonfly was on 2/13/16 for dinner....i have to give the staff props for working their tails off with as big of a valentines dinner crowd as they had; and the food was exactly as i had anticipated, huge serving sizes for the price (good value), and very unique in the flavor arena.  i describe this place to my non-foodie friends as the closest thing in the corpus christi area we have to a fusion type menu as unique flavor's are fused with classic texas gulf coast staple ingredients.

my recommendation for people looking to try out this restaurant is that when you go; don't show up trying to see if there food is better than whatever you favorite place is, go have a meal there and allow yourself to enjoy something you may have had before, but served in a completely new flavor realm.  don't expect a "fine dining" atmosphere, but enjoy the uniqueness and comfortableness of this place.

the food here is great because it is cooked in a unique style and in a unique method that (from my two experiences) doesn't disappoint. 

personally; i'm a huge fan of their goat cheese ravioli and the fried green tomatoes with fried goat cheese served with a type candied "citrusy" tomatoes with toast that is extremely great.  my first trip there my wife ordered a red snapper plate off their specials menu; when it hit the table i was in awe; the head hung off one side of the plate, the tail off the other, and both the flavor & texture's were amazing.  lastnightshe had the nut encrusted flounder that was also great.  

i'm a "foodie" but not one of those types that eat out at a place looking to critique it; but rather enjoy it for what it is.   so if you don't like this place for what it is, more than likely you went there with a predetermined expectation of something this place is not.

i really wish i would have been able to consume all the menu items i wanted to try; because i regret not ordering the "piggy cheeks simmered in guajillo sauce, over bacon waffle, red pickle onions" as it just sounds amazing!
( rated this experience a 3.5; but my previous one for which i didn't write a review for would have been a 4.5 as it was an amazing experience during the non-tourist season with crowds that the staff could easily spend a lot of time with making it an amazing experience, the restaurants lack of floor space during a valentines dinnernightmade for a challengingnighton both patron's and staff.)

cool vibes, cool spot close tonightlife great for drinks, appetizers and people watching. we did'nt have any from the main courses menu, we weren't really planning on having a sit-down dinner...mainly drinks and appetizers. i would recommend grabbing a few appetizers and sharing amongst the group. hotel zaza is a great place for people watching and drink sipping!

do you have a place, you could've been there yesterday and the day before and you would still eat there again today? dragonfly is that place for me. i used to live here, often coming twice in one evening, especially on two for one cocktailnight(tuesday's) or mystery winenight(wednesday). all of the food is delicious. one note: they haven't changed there menu much since opening. which doesn't bother me- as i like to be able to be sure that my favourites are going to always be there but it does mean there's no elements of surprise when it comes to the mains. my suggestion? the duck spring rolls, pork shu mai, salmon two way, beef rib or the lemongrass chicken.

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. 

thursdaynightdinner 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 the back of the restaurant, front by the entrance isn't so bad

the decor of dragonfly is moody and sophisticated – the courtyard area is something not to the missed. i love ambience outside with the lanterns, bamboo wall and garden, definitely a good datenightlocation. the cocktail list is immense, but i would suggest the ginger kiss shot in a heartbeat! it’s delicious, and they now have it as a full size cocktail, but i feel it's just a bit too overpowering as a full drink – shot size all the way! they also have an incredible wine list where you can get a carafe of wine – a perfect size for one!
 
their food is outstanding asian fusion – full of flavour and so fresh. my favourite dish here is their entree yellow fin tuna – it’s refreshing and seared to perfection, the flavours compliment the tuna without overpowering it! other dishes not to miss are the eggplant salad, lemongrass chicken and salmon 2 ways.
 
i was really impressed when i came with a large group and had a set menu. they made changes to the shared dishes so the ones placed around me were made to be gluten free.
 
now onto something sweet – the dark chocolate mousse. this is my go-to dessert, as it is the perfect balance with a subtle kick of chilli. the coconut sticky rice pudding is a great refreshing way to finish off you meal.

sarah reynolds #challenge