Dragonfly

The words hip and groovy come to mind. Dragonfly is new, it’s hip, it’s groovy, it’s in the middle of town, literally and it’s doing ‘Asian meets European’.

It offers a bar and dining option, think ‘a drink?’ or the whole shooting match. This tiny spot (cute tiny little seats and tiny tables) in Victoria Square is, apart from a few buildings, slap bang next to the GPO. Can’t get more central than that! In fact, any time soon there will probably be a tram station right on their front doormat! Think northwest corner of Victoria Square.

It has very clean lines, and flashes of red and a sort of distressed modern Asian feel. I don’t know if the exposed electrical conduits are supposed to be a design feature but they are certainly different. The menu is likewise; flashes of red, chilli and a modern Asian influence. Think soy steamed tofu with fresh chilli and spring onion on the same menu as grilled saganaki with roast cherry tomatoes and rocket leaves.

We dive right in and try the lotus root chips with our Melbourne Bitter Longnecks. If we think that is adventurous, we then go the Ekonomi Yaki – Japanese style pizza. It is more like a pancake with crème fraiche and fresh noodles. O’Leary Walker Watervale riesling from the Clare Valley is ordered with a Heartland Shiraz from Langhorne Creek. Frankly, why ever drink wine from out of the State when you have marvellous drops like this in your backyard. The mains come in a rush. The fish of the day is a pan-seared snapper with kifpler potatoes and a salsa verde. One of our dining partners has the charcoal lamb rump with green beans, cherry tomatoes and Persian fetta. Sansho beef fillet comes with rice wine butter and Chinese broccoli, sounds suitably exotic and is. I have the red roasted spatchcock with green tea noodle salad. More exotica. Sound very East meets West meets Middle Eastern? Well it is. And all goes down well. The menu is the first I’ve seen in Adelaide that flags both local, organic produce, and indicates vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options. Thoughtful.

Dessert walks the fine lines between sweet sensation, an alcoholic treat and a coffee hit. Affagatos come with vanilla bean ice cream and espresso with Pedro Ximenez sherry and Frangelico. Happy? Yes! We are there on a fairly quite night, however things are bound to hot up – several of the owners are performance DJs around town, so Friday and Saturday nights especially, are bound to be a big hit. Art shows for SALA as well. What more can you ask for: food, wine, arts, music. Think Dragonfly.

Dragonfly

by Karyn Foster

NAME: Dragonfly

ADDRESS: 193 Victoria Square, Adelaide

PHONE: 8212 5661

HOURS: Tues 11am – 4pm, Wed and Thurs 11am – 12pm, Fri 11am – 3am, Sat 6pm - 3am

ACCOUNT: Snacks from $4, starters from $7.50, mains from $20 (of menu), sides from $7.50, desserts from $6.50, wines from $6 per glass or $20 for a sparkling

OVERVIEW: It’s all happening at Dragonfly

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