Who'd have thought that the day before Valentine's Day would be such a busy night for eating out? And on a Tuesday night in the burbs at that? Not me, that's for sure and it was my fault for not making the resi at Roxy's. Nevertheless, with out of town guests (Yelpers Omar B & Mayumi F) in tow, rather than wait 1.5 hours... Alisha & I decided to flip a B & head back towards the grid to check out Dragonfly.
Unlike Roxy's, upon arrival Dragonfly was serene and only had a smattering of tables occupied. Dragonfly's decor exudes a warmness---ruby red walls and persimmon colored accents coupled with dark Bali-esque wood furniture round out the faux Asian look...I'll admit it-- I liked it, it was both trendy (industrial ceilings & dangly lights) yet sexy at the same time. A good date restaurant perhaps, if you go when it's quiet. We were seated by the window by the hostess, who hastily dropped the menus off, with nary a smile, before disappearing into the dark abyss of the rear of the establishment...pretty much never to be seen again.
Our waitress was courteous but was also MIA for a good portion of the night...yep, that dark abyss in the back kept swallowing up the staff one by one. Considering how slow it was, it would have been nice had she checked back a few times. At least she left us with a drink menu to peruse in her absence... I was eyeballing the lychee martini but opted to experience the pomegranate margarita instead, which turned out to be mildly sweet and not too overpowering. A nice choice! BTW, I did notice that the Dragonfly carries Chimay---bonus points for their bar manager! Good call.
Although the service left something to be desired, the food turned out to be pretty tasty. We decided to go "tapas" style with the fusion menu so that we could try a little of this and a little of that. Because I was whining that I was samosa-ed out, we skipped the samosas and chose the BBQ albacore, the asian chicken salad, the Burmese tofu tori with peanut sauce (I love peanut sauce), the calamari and a random sushi roll. The BBQ albacore tuna was so flippin' good--- the menu said it was accompanied with a miso garlic aioli but the sauce was a bit on the spicier side (very similar to the old Taka's) and I tasted no garlic whatsoever. Everyone at the table liked it so much, we requested round 2 for the tuna. My friend that was visiting from Tokyo was alternating between yips of foodie pleasure and happy eating noises while consuming the albacore. In addition, I thought the tofu tori kicked butt...but then again I like pretty much anything when it's coupled with a peanut sauce---tofu, satay, an old shoe ...throw some peanut sauce on it & I'm good to go. The salad was eh, nothing that you can't get pretty much anywhere in midtown. In addition, I wasn't too crazy about the calamari; I feel that a thinner/smaller slicing and a lighter breading would do wonders for improving this dish. As for the sushi roll, there was no salvaging that. Remember that children's rhyme about the Farmer in the Dell, that ends with the "Hi-ho, the derry-ho. The cheese stands alone?" Yeah, well that's Dragonfly's sushi rolls, the nasty roll was left alone. Ick.
Overall, the dining experience was decent & we left satiated. As someone who waited tables for years, I feel that I'm usually lax about service but the staff was nonexistent this go round which irked me. The constant, lengthy disappearances made me want to venture to the back and see what back there was so riveting. Lastly, I think Dragonfly should ditch their sushi menu and do an expanded tapas menu. There'd be more flexibility in choices (work that fusion aspect!) and who the H-E-double hockey sticks doesn't like to indulge in a smattering of delicacies??? I love the idea of tapas, it keeps me from having to reach over with my chopsticks to "take tastes" of my friends dishes when they're not looking.
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