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Category: Vietnamese [Edit]
Neighborhood: Inner SunsetTue-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Tue-Thu. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
"Tao Cafe is an amazing place in every respect. The location is nice, the restaurant is very cozy and nice, the food is breathtaking and the…" read more »
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Came here on new years eve.
Everything we had was amazing. We had two appetizers with beef-- spring rolls and one with lettuce, cant remember the names of them. The eggplant was good and so were the garlic noodles (very similar to chinese chow mien), but the Hai Nan flavored rice was TO DIE FOR!! I want to go back just for that. It is a chicken and garlic flavored rice, wrapped in a pretty leaf. You can find a picture of it (above).
We also had the chocolate fondue, which came above a flame and in an adorable chocolate kiss container. Yummy!!!
Cant wait to go back!
Yum. I find that every time I go to a Vietnamese restaurant, I find myself loving the food more and more. And craving it more and more. Well, this sure didn't stop that pattern.
I came here on a date. At first the restaurant's front room was a bit quiet and I thought, uh oh, this could be a very long night. But it filled up! The decor is simple and it's a rather quiet restaurant, which allows for conversation at a decent level.
Onto the food.
Papaya Salad- simple, sweeter than I would have liked, topped with sweet tender beef. No spice to it.
Ban Xeo- mmm. My favorite dish. The crepe was thick and crispy, filled with delicious pork and shrimp. I LOVE IT! Plenty of sweet dipping sauce, carrots, cucumbers and lettuce for wrapping too.
Shaken Beef- Stand out dish! The beef was SO tender and served atop fresh greens. The beef was flavorful and good on it's own, it didn't even need the lemon pepper sauce.
Clay Pot Chicken- it was tasty, but didn't have any spiciness, as promised.
Coconut Sticky Rice- a touch sweet, as it should be. It complimented the other dishes nicely.
The service was good. Although we ordered 1 bottle of wine and we were told they were out, we had to fall back on a bottle of Pinot that wasn't very good. Other than that, I will go back, as the food was very tasty.
My review is based on just one visit, one bowl of chicken pho, so by all means take other reviews into account. It was a pretty good bowl of chicken pho. It was served with the thin banh hoi rice noodle and the right amount of chicken. It was tasty. It compared favorably to the chicken pho I had at Pho Phu Quoc the night before.
I came for lunch on a Sunday, and it was not crowded. With table cloths, the place has a nice look. Tables are not bunched together as we experienced the night before at Pho Phu Quoc.
Located just two blocks from a friend's place, we decided to check this place out.
We ordered:
Shaking Beef - tenderly cubed fillet mignon chunks sautéed with purple onions mixed with raw baby spinach leaves. Very delicious. It almost felt like eating a salad. It wasn't too rich or heavy.
Steamed Sea Bass - It was mediocre mainly due because I expected the fish to be more fresh. It was not edible but not fresh.
Five-Spice Chicken - The most disappointing dish that night. Not spicy and fried.
Hainan Rice - I love Hainan Chicken so when I saw that they had somehow managed to infuse this taste into rice, I had to try it. It did not disappoint. It was delicious.
Princess Flower Green Tea - very light to the taste and complemented our meal well.
Dark Chocolate Fondue - This came in a Hershey-Kiss-shaped bowl over a glowing candle. The chocolate was appropriately bittersweet mixed with Grand Marnier. Pieces of mango, strawberry, pound cake, banana, and coconut flaked vanilla ice cream filled cream puffs were served to dip with the chocolate. Those coconut flaked vanilla ice cream puffs really incorporated an Asian taste into the fondue experience. What a brilliant idea and the perfect way to end a great meal.
Overall service was good. We were seated right in front of the window looking out into the street. I would have personally preferred more privacy in a booth.
You know when you're debating between two items, order one of them, and then come onto Yelp and see that people rave about the other one?
We picked this place on a whim, so in my defense, I had no chance to check Yelp beforehand.
Thank you Mona C. for making me crave the Garlic Noodles now, though.
Pineapple fried rice was really yummy (though I was surprised to see it on the menu). The fried imperial rolls were the best part of our meal; they're better than any other one I've had so far, so A+ for that. We also tried the sticky black rice for dessert, and if you're not looking for a super sweet dish and happen to like coconut and sticky rice, this is probably a good pick. I liked it a lot, but nothing compares to my dream dessert of Osha's Mango Sticky Rice.
Prices are good, service was nice, and they didn't even try to rush us, even though we were the last ones there, past closing. Going back for more food later!
[M]ona: 5 Stars
[W]ayne: 5 Stars
Average: 5 Stars
+ Great Service
+ Nice Ambiance
+ Reasonable Prices
+ Yummy Pate and Bread
+ Refreshing Beef Carpaccio Salad http://static.px.yelp....
+ Flavorful Garlic Noodles http://static.px.yelp....
+ Creamy Seafood Curry http://static.px.yelp....
+ Fun to make Spring Rolls
+ Fun to Watch Flaming Beef http://static.px.yelp....
+ Cute Individual Rice Balls http://static.px.yelp....
+ Yummy Fried Ice Cream
+ Happy Hour Specials
[M] That's all you need to know : )
Yes, Sunday afternoon is fine.
We dropped in for a bite around 2 pm, and the room was about half full. It was quiet, so conversation was easy. We sat in the window, and basked in the direct sunlight. Yes, direct sun, in San Francisco, in the Fall. I love this City!
OK, food. A glass of Oriental Beauty tea, where they drop in this tightly wrapped ball of tea, and as it steeps it slowly unfolds into a flower that fills the whole glass. Appropriately classified as Art Tea. Mine was oolong, not so artistic, but delicious nonetheless.
Spring rolls. Yummy prawn goodness in a rice paper wrapper, with a spicy dipping sauce.
Chicken pho, more than enough. My Lady took some home in a doggy bucket. I mean, it's soup, you can't carry it in a bag, can you?
Clay pot special. Basically everything you can think of, over rice. I mean prawns, ginger beef, roast chicken, vegetables, and soy sauce. More than enough here, too, but I ate it anyway. I wasn't going to stop as long as there was some left.
Big meal sleepy time, for $28 + tip. Two trips to the register for the waiter, who showed us he wasn't working just for tips by bringing back minimalist change on the first try.
Had a good experience here last week for a joint birthday dinner. We had the entire back section to ourselves ( I guess things were slow that night) and the service was good. It wasn't without problems though, because they forgot our two orders of garlic noodles (but didn't charge us on the bill) and they only had two orders of coconut rice left compared to the 7 orders that we wanted.
On the plus side, they prepared a fried ball of coconut ice cream for dessert for the birthday girl and kept the water flowering through the night. They didn't rush us out of the place even though they were closed and the food was pretty good. The five spice chicken was quite a large portion and was tasty. The garlic eggplant wasn't as juicy as I like but it was still soft enough. The asparagus dish with mushrooms was sweet and not overdone.
I'd go back.
Somehow the food here just lacked flavor...
When I had two friends visiting from out of town, we wandered down Judah and finally stopped into Dragonfly (which is fairly amazing that I haven't visited as of yet... given that I live 5 blocks up the road)... only to find ourselves pretty disappointed in every dish...
The flavors fell flat, the service was decent... but the night was just off all for the all.
Reading other reviews, it seems that people have had infinitely better experiences than I have to date... and perhaps it is just a matter of going back and trying them again, but nothing really prompts me to do so...
Its been a while since i've reviewed so here we go.... :D
Dragonfly restaurant is on Judah, but almost "hidden" it's not very catchy but if you happen to stumble upon this place like we did, you're in for a very pleasant dining experience.
The decor inside is super cute, the dining room in the front is decorated in a funky way reminding me of Alice in Wonderland, the nice comfy seats to the starburst mirror on the wall..the back dining room was cozier and had a more japanese teagarden feel. Strange combo, but whatever.
On to the food...we ordered to start: Spring Rolls - Goi Cuon
Shrimp, pork, lettuce, mint, Chinese chives & deep-fried crackers wrapped in rice paper. Served w/ fish sauce $7.50 - very refreshing, although i thought it was peanut sauce that we got.
Coconut Chicken - Ga Kho Slow-braised chicken in clay pot, w/ coconut juice & fish sauce (Spicy) $11.00 which was great, came in a sizzling hotpot, but unfortunately, neither of us really tasted much of coconut..though the chicken was tender & delicious. Keep in mind though, this dish didn't have a large portion.
Beef Sauteed Green Beans - Bo Xao Dau Sauteed strips of beef tenderloin w/ green beans. $11.00 - the beef was very tender & tasty, the dish was very plentiful & went great with the jasmine rice.
The service was super, our busser/server was very on top of things, very attentive but not too overbearing. All together, we had a fabulous dinner & will most definitely patronize this establishment again.
My boyfriend and I decided to try this place out on recent a Friday night, and upon finding the restaurant nearly empty, almost walked out. Oh, how glad I am that we didn't!
The food turned out to be delicious, inventive, and elegantly presented (we tried the spring rolls, the flaming beef, and the tamarind jumbo prawns -- yum!). The wine list had a surprisingly broad selection (a St. Supery sauvignon blanc -- fantastic!). And the service -- the service was downright superb.
I wish, wish, wish I could remember the name of our server, to give him due credit, but alas, he will have to remain anonymous. Still, I hope that the managerial staff can identify and applaud the fine gentleman who was working the late shift on the night before Halloween, because his warm, friendly, and attentive demeanor made for a memorable evening.
Here's hoping more Yelpers heed these good reviews and give Dragonfly a try. I'd really hate to see it go empty on another Friday night!
Yes, that was real good dinner!
We had the flaming quail , which our server put on fire at the table! It was served with sour lime sauce - great combo!
Shaking beef - was really tender!
Beef carpaccio was delightful and perfect!
Oxtail stew - was good, but still nothing can beat Tommy's Joynt oxtail stew on Mondays :)
Spring rolls with mint - were refreshing and yummy!
Service was great! I absolutely enjoyed the 3 hours I spent there! :)
I went to Dragonfly yesterday for dinner. I'd been there twice before and it was really good, but that was at least a year ago. It's really gone downhill.
First of all, we were there around 5:30. There was only one other table of people in the restaurant. It still took over 30 minutes to get our food. I had the beef with green beans, which is basically a stir fry. Stir fry takes about 5 minutes to cook. What were they doing back there?
Second, the beef tasted a bit funky. My boyfriend had the shaking beef and said his had a "cheesy" flavor, but it didn't taste rotten to him. Mine just tasted off. Ugh. (No, it's not fish sauce. I know what that tastes like.)
I would have recommended this place a year ago. Now I would warn people about it.
This is not Vietnamese food.
We knew we were in for trouble when we walked in and there were no Asians, let alone Vietnamese, in either the customers or the staff. Food was OK but overpriced for what you got. None of it was Vietnamese. Perhaps some Vietnamese inspired, but mostly it was Western.
This is a good restaurant to take your White Boomer parents/grandparents who want to think they're being adventurous but who still think Italian food is exotic. OMG, they don't even have pho at this place, what kind of Vietnamese restaurant is this?
WARNING: the Steamed Sea bass in the Vegetables section does not included real sea bass fish! Yes, I should have known because the dish is under the vegetable section, but why would they have the word sea bass in the title?? Luckily after we ordered it, the waiter asked us if we knew it was a vegetarian dish. We did not.
Other than that, the food was delicious!
Garlic Noodles - always good. how can you go wrong with that? & i think they put eggs in it.
Vietnamese Crepe - my favorite! It looks like an omelet, but there is no eggs in the dish. It's crispy on the outside & has shrimp & chicken and bean sprouts inside. Not sure if we ate it correctly, but we wrapped it in the lettuce & put fish sauce over it.
BBQ short ribs - came out on a sizzling plate & was good. I have no complaints, but there was nothing extraordinary about it
Steamed Sea Bass...with REAL fish - The portion was big & the fish was good. Expensive, but good.
Everything we ate was delicious & the portions were very big. We may have ordered way too much food for 2 people, but we were glad we got to try a good variety. The prices are higher than a typical vietnamese restaurant and parking was really hard!
Averaging $10/person with good portion sizes, I would come here again for lunch. I ordered the coconut chicken in a clay pot. The coconut flavor was pretty mild, but the dish was good. I left satisfied.
MMMM....this place reminds me of Bodhi...except for the romantic ambiance. the ambiance here is very calm. What I like about this place is that they are not stingy on their bread and instead of butter, they have the peppered liver spread (that you find as the spread on vietnamese sandwiches). I would recommed:
SHAKEN BEEF: the beef cubes were perfectly cooked and was savory with a hint of zest from the mint and lime. it was a great combination.
FISH CLAYPOT: they were a little stingy on the fish and some of the fish pieces had bones in it. I didn't mind too much...the dish was well seasoned and the catfish was smooth.
Their rice had a nice touch to it b/c it came wrapped in a lotus leaf...although...we didn't get the lotus flavor steamed in our rice b/c we had brown rice and that type of rice tends to have a harder shell coating to it.
I recommend this place if you like vietnamese fusion type of food.
Sorry Dragonfly, we just didnt have that connection that would make me want to come back.
The food for me was mediocre at best. Every dish: the imperial rolls, the shaking beef, and the coconut prawns, never had me thinking "mmm this is good." I did, however, like the fact that the prawns were huge, but the coconut sauce it came in was bland. And i know ordering take-out is never the same as dining in, but it was only a 5 minute drive to my destination and the food was already cold. What gives?
Maybe i need to try other dishes from the menu. And maybe things would taste better if i dined in. I dont know. The restaurant itself is pretty nice inside and the staff are more than friendly and accomodating. I might return one day to give it another go, but if we dont have a connection second time around, i just cant continuing seeing you Dragonfly.
I love our seat at this place. Right by the koi. These koi are boisterous. Jumping out of the water, splashing water with its tail out of the pool, taking in air. Another boisterous creature in the restaurant is one of the owner's boy who's 3. This boy calls a lot of the shots in this place. And he is not shy, which is cute, but. But the food is so sublime and the service is VERY good, the boy just adds to my experience (kinda).
The last two times I've gone here, the flavors have been insanely awesome. I remember we got the shaking beef last time among other things and that was fantastic. I also remember thinking that really all the dishes we ordered were so incredible.
This time we started with the app combo and the quail. On the combo, the endive with beef was so incredibly good. You can taste the char on the beef. Mmm. The salad was wonderful. The springrolls were the BEST springrolls. Shrimp was hot and crispy. The quail was delicious. Nice glaze. For dinner we had the short ribs and the seafood hot plate. The sauce on the hot plate was really tasty and the ribs were good but nothing special. I was most excited about the ribs when we ordered but they were my least favorite of the feast.
For dessert we dug some molten hot fried banana with ice cream and also got the dark chocolate fondue. Their dessert list rocked.
We got 2 bottles of the Spatlese and the EOS dessert wine. The waiter said to us, "You guys drink a lot." Made me laugh.
I went there for lunch with a group of 8 other people. There was only one other occupied table in the restaurant. We could not flag down the waiter to take our drink orders. When he finally took them, we had to flag him down again to actually get him to bring us our drinks. The place smelled really funky (not like food--like mildew & old lady.) The food was fairly good, but the beef in the Hue Pho wasn't great. The waiter never came to check on us and then we had to flag him down again to bring us our check.
Food = OK
Service = terrible
Atmosphere = attractive, but smelly
I DIDNT WRITE ABOUT THIS PLACE??
its expensive vietnamese food. Period.
Dined here last night with a girl friend and we are both HUGE fans of Dragonfly. The staff was extremely attentive - like to the point where my iphone was dying and they charged my phone while I ate! I thought the food was authentic and DELISH! Crispy calamari was definitely my favorite; also ordered lotus salad (yum) and shaking beef (double YUM!) No complaints on portion size either. And we loved the pate and bread so much that our waiter packed us some to go!
Basically, if you're looking for a cheap Vietnamese meal, this isn't gonna be your place (I personally thought the price was reasonable). You could get equally authentic and delicious food in the TL for cheaper, but then you'd have to deal with tacky decor, a waitstaff who blatantly ignores you and a not-so-charming atmosphere. Cheap and fast is great when you're hungover, but if you're looking for authentic Vietnamese grub and you want a nice dining experience, this is an excellent option!
What a nice find! The food is similar to what you will find at Slanted Door, spring rolls, pork balls, shaking beef, the works! The employees are very welcoming and service is good as well. Prices are great: we had two blooming flower teas, the pork ball appetizer (made 8 rollups), a shellfish sampler with yummy sauce, shaking beef, sauteed asparagus, jasmine rice, vietnamese coffee and bittersweet chocolate fondue...$80. Ended up with a large doggie bag as well.
You don't see Treasure Island out the window, but the food was wonderful and we were treated very well by the staff. A keeper.
Before coming here, I was always skeptical about paying so much for Vietnamese food. But one day, a few of my friends and I decided to come here and try it since it was so close. It is definitely more expensive than your average vietnamese restaurant, excluding pho places, however, it's not going to break your wallet. The price for appetizers varies from $8-15. The entrees cost about $13-25, depending on what you get.
To start you off, they usually give you pate, which is SOOOO GOOOOOOOD! As for appetizers, I really like their beef carpaccio. The beef is drenched in fish sauce (or nuoc mam) with lemon juice and fried onions. It also comes with shrimp crackers too! I also got the banh xeo or vietnamese crepe. It had a little too much bean sprouts inside of it for me... could have had more meat/shrimp.
As for entrees, I've tried a large variety of them:
Catfish Claypot - Ca Kho (Catfish w/ black pepper, ginger & scallions in caramelized sauce. (Spicy)) . The fish is really flavorful, and one of my new favorites!
Beef Look-Luck - Bo Luc Lac (Sauteed cubed beef w/ garlic & oyster sauce layered on a bed of lettuce and onion). This is also really good.
Flaming Beef - Tom Bo Lua Hong (Shrimp & marinated beef, w/ tomatos & onions. Served w/ rice paper & vegetables. Flambeed at your table.) --I actually do this at home ( you get more meat that way), but I wanted to try in the restaurant. The beef is cooked with onions in a bowl lit with fire. You then wrap the beef in the spring roll wrappers with lettuce and pickled carrots. You roll it up and dip it into the fish sauce. It's normally reallllly good, but here the meat sits in its own fat and isn't drained, and the wrappers are usually soaked, so it's too wet to roll... at least that's how mine was.
BBQ Short Ribs - Suon Bo
Marinated beef short ribs w/ onion served on a sizzling iron plate. -- also very tasty, but it doesn't come with a lot.
Coconut Chicken - Ga Kho
Slow-braised chicken in clay pot, w/ coconut juice & fish sauce (Spicy) -- relaly good
BASICALLY... EVERYTHING IS GOOD here... what's even better is the FRIED ICE CREAM. My friend and I once came here just for the pate and fried ice cream. It's different than japanese fried ice cream. it doesn't have a lot of batter, and isn't made by corn flakes. It is in my opinion, THE BEST FRIED ICE CREAM EVERRRR. It comes in Coconut pineapple, or rocky road. The coconut pineapple goes really well with the fried part of it. When it comes out, it has a flaming sugar cube, which is a really nice effect.
Overall, food is great, service is great (the waiters are really attentive), and nice decor. Would definitely come back again.
I haven't given anyone a 5 star review in a long time. Maybe it's because of the economy and the fact that everyone is hurting or maybe it's because I was bummed out last night and this place was in the right place to make my bad day feel better, but it turned my day around.
It's nice Vietnamese. And by that I mean, table clothes, real plates, cloth napkins, bottled wine, and waiters that wait on you. Plus in the first dining room you have a lovely view. It's a view of the N Judah, but given the location, that really can't be avoided. The restaurant can't help where it is located, right?
The food is good and hit the spot: crispy imperial rolls, tasty perfect portions of yummy clay pot catfish with soft white rice wrapped in a lotus leaf, yummy garlic noodles with a little bit of beef all served with complimentary french bread and pate, and a complementary dessert of fried banana and ice cream drizzled with honey. Top it off with our bottle of white wine and we had the perfect meal.
I've driven by this place several times wanting to come in and now I'm glad I finally stopped in.
-Really enjoyed the sea bass (we asked for no ginger, made in black bean sauce), sesame beef appetizer, vietnamese crepe appetizer, and the complimentary bread with duck pate
-Enjoyed the shaking beef
-Average were the garlic noodles, oxtail soup, and coconut chicken
We had a very nice time eating here. We were seated immediately and the waiter was very nice and effective. The place was clean with white tablecloths. The bathroom was clean too.
I would not recommend this place for a confidential conversation. It is very easy to overhear another table's conversation.
We went here kind of late for dinnertime and they were out of some of the beers and also the coconut rice which I was looking forward to trying. We ordered the sugarcane shrimp to start which was pretty delicious. Also chewing on the sugarcane was fun. I ordered the bamboo rice which literally comes in a little log type thing that you open up and scoop it out of. It was really good. The food wasn't too expensive and the atmosphere was very nice (gotta love eating next to a big fish pond).
Location is suprising for this restaurant. It's right in front of a Muni stop and parking is really, really tough. The restaurant's decor is okay. It tries to be upscale and it has a Koi pond inside. However, it makes the place smells like a sewer. Sorry, but that's the first thing I noticed when I walked in - the smell. Also, for a restaurant trying to be upscale, it is not very helpful to see the owner's little boy playing near the cashier.
Food is pretty good. Shaking beef, garlic noodle, steamed fish, and water spinach were all excellent. Good quantity too. The waiter was very helpful and friendly. Definitely great service. He gave us a complimentary fried banana and ice cream, which I could not eat because I was already too full. Prices are also quite reasonable.
I would come back if someone else wanted to go, but would not go out of my way to do so.
Generally this place is ok, but its not something I'd return to anytime soon.
I went with a large group, and was seated in the front. Fair enough - it was mid-day and there weren't too many people. I assume they wanted to seat us near the front so it looks like they have a lot of business. Or maybe to wait on less tables and have a smaller space open. The space though was really nice. Its decorated well, and seems to have enough room to fit many people.
The server was friendly, and was pretty good about getting the food out. We got our food at more or less the same time. Except one or two people who had to wait excessively long. I don't think we were told that the wait for those particular dishes would take that long.
Food-wise, its not so amazing. There's a Vietnamese feel, but its definitely not authentic. Yet, its also not distinctive enough for me to call it "Fusion." So it leaves me with...interesting? I had the Vermicelli, and I've had better, for cheaper, in a more convenient location. I'd say go here if you're really craving something Asian-esque in the area, but not if you really want Vietnamese food.
I came here last night with my favorite boys in SF. I've passed by this place many times and have always wanted to try it. Not sure why in six years that I haven't been to this place. I was elated when Kevin suggested this place.
The decor/atmosphere was relaxed, nothing pretentious and because it was a Sunday night, it was not crowded so we got all the attention we needed. We began with the ox tail soup (which I was disappointed), although it had lots of flavor -- I wished they had cooked the ox tail longer so the meat would fall off the bone. Then we had the sesame beef - I love how it was on the endive, which made me want more. Our pork clay pot, shaking beef and crab on a bed of garlic noodles all came out and each dish was deliciously flavored and balanced.
This is by far cheaper than Slanted Door and I'll come back for all of the reasons above and the fact I love neighborhood restaurants. This place is seriously satisfying.
I'm a fan of Dragonfly.
The food is always excellent, but service the two times I was there was not great. The first time service was so slow! It took 20 minutes for us to put in our order and 45 for the food to arrive!! The second time we were there the staff was trying to hurry us out. They were taking down tables as we were eating our entrees! Yes, we arrived at 2pm (late for a lunch service), but it's no excuse for being so rude.
But as I said... the food makes up for it.
We always get a veggie crepe and veggie spring rolls because it's fantastic. The veggie hot and sour soup is AMMAAAZING!!!! And the sauteed asparagus w/ mushrooms is fresh and light.
Go, but don't expect great service.
I like the web address "dragonfly420" ..is there a message in there somewhere. I have been meaning to come by for the "power lunch".
Had the $13 lunch special. it was
Five-Spice Chicken, Imperial Rolls, Lotus Roots Salad, Hot and Sour Soup, and rice.
The salad was really good! i wish there were more. i was mixing it in with my rice and having it that way. The soup had shrimp and pineapple among the ingredients. a weird kind of sweet and sour with a fishy aftertaste. But i liked it. Imperial rolls were hot and crunchy. really nice when dipped in the dipping sauce they give you for it.
I thought I got a pretty good value for my money even if its more than my cheap ass likes to spend on lunch. a good "friday special" lunch.
was just checking out the photos. 1 showing the grade of the restaurant as 98 has changed. it is now 96. still pretty good.
I have been wanting to try this place for a while now and today we needed a last minute dinner location that was laid back after packing all day.
We got here at 8:30 and it was packed, so I recommend making a reservation. The place looked very quaint and friendly with a mix of neighborhood regulars and visitors. We were seated quickly and began to make our selections.
We decided on the quail, hot/sour soup and papaya salad and the coconut chicken and brown rice for the entree. The quail was good and the waiter came to the table and flamed it before us, always a nice presentation. I think it could have been a bit more tender. The salad was great, always refreshing for such a meal and the soup was surprisingly light and flavorful all though not spicy enough for me.
The chicken was the least favorite, it was dry, the pieces of meat were very substandard and there wasn't enough sauce. All and all this dish was very disappointing. I would rather pay a few more dollars for highter quality.
We ended the meal with tea which was nicely blooming in our glasses and we felt very relaxed and the table and never rushed. The waiter seemed to genuinely care about the service and food and was very friendly and checked in more than expected.
We spent $60 w/tip on dinner with a beer and glass of wine, which is great in the city for a nice atmosphere and no rush dinner and I would say would probably come back but be more selective about our choices.
Food : I've had MUCH better ones at holes in the wall, typical Vietnamese restaurants.
Atmosphere: Keep in mind that THIS is what you are paying for. The only thing you are paying for.ATMOSPHERE.
There's this beef dish where they light the fire in front of you for like 3 seconds before serving you the food. I really think it's a waste of time only because this dish was not too memorable in terms of the quality of the food.
I've had better. But if this is your first date, then this wouldn't be a bad choice unless your date is a food critic or knows her Vietnamese food.
MY FAVOR FAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know how many times i've been here but too many! Everytime i have a guest or someone visiting from out of town i usually take them here. Its not your cheap kinda vietnamese restaurant, more on the side of asian fusion cute romantic restaurant. They are open during lunch and dinner. I found that lunch is a bit cheaper, about the same you would pay any other vietnamese restaurant and the dinner menu offers a differnt variety of food which can run a little bit more. My favorite I get everytime is the crispy calamari!Hands down the best! The Lychee ice tea is to die for as well. They also serve you bread and pate on the house.
The servers are very kind and are always coming by to check on us. Its cute that the hispanic waiter knows how to speak and understand a little bit of vietnamese. Definitely a winner everytime! ching ching!!!
Nice atmosphere--very tranquil and ARTSY! =) Love the koi pond and stairs. =) Cute little restaurant run by a family. The owner is a young chef featured in 7x7 magazine and he's super nice! Food is a little pricier than most vietnamese restaurants, but that's only b/c they deliver quality. the food is more high-end, therefore the prices are a little higher, but it is worth it! =) they even offer free parking across the street by the "temple"?
this restaurant is great. For the quality of the food, and the excellent service, this place is relatively inexpensive compared to other fine dining establishments.
The imperial rolls are great, the bread and pate they bring out in the beginning is great, and my favorite is the beef "look lock".......(not how you really spell it, but that's how they spell it.
I definitely recommend trying this restaurant out if you like vietnamese food.
We decided to trust our evening's meal to Yelp reviews to find a new place, and Dragonfly was were we settled on.
I honestly can't see what all the buzz is about. The servings were on the small size for the price, the dishes more trendy than authentic and the taste a bit on the bland side. Between the three of us, we sampled a total of 4 dishes, and none of them outstanding in any way.
My temptation is to actually give it 2-stars, but I'm being forgiving for perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood, that they did have a health inspection rating of 100 and the decor was quite tasteful.
Went here for dinner with a group, & was pleasantly surprised. The place is small & quiet; we were the only people in there under the age of 65, and it was way past 4:30pm. Regardless, the food was really good-we got a bunch of things to share, and it was all tasty. Our server was friendly, but the atmosphere left something to be desired. Not a destination, but wouldn't be against wandering in again.
We decided to try out Dragonfly because we were going to be in the area and heard good things on Yelp.
This place is just overpriced Vietnamese food that wasn't even that great. I did like how clean it looked inside but that's the only thing I liked. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing but I definitely will not give it another try.
Neighborhood: Inner Sunset
Category: Asian Fusion
Neighborhood: Inner Sunset
Category: Vietnamese
Neighborhood: Outer Sunset
Category: Vietnamese
Neighborhood: Outer Sunset
Category: Vietnamese
Neighborhood: Inner Sunset
Category: Middle Eastern
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