FOOD REVIEW: Drgnfly Asian Restaurant | Ashley Cross Poole

Set in the heart of Ashley Cross, Drgnfly is Poole's premier Asian restaurant serving up an exotic array of Pan-Asian delicacies and five-star drinks. On a hot summers evening, Total Guide to Poole's food reviewer Kate Silverton @the.lockdown.mumma visited Drgnfly for our latest food review.

Drgnfly opened its doors in 2018. It promises to offer a pan Asian, distinctly different world-class dining experience…..it did not disappoint!! 

 

Venue

Drgnfly Asian restaurant is set in the heart of the popular area of Ashley Cross, surrounded by a vibrant mix of restaurants, cafes & bars. 

The building itself used to be a bank and locals may remember it being Patrick’s bar & restaurant before Drgnfly moved in. Well, what a transformation! 

Outside is a small terrace, perfect for people to watch and enjoy a drink in the evening sun. Arriving at the venue, we couldn’t believe how beautiful it was inside, boasting an authentic Asian décor, including a huge bonsai tree snaking around the walls and ceiling with a massive bar area that is well stocked with a vast array of spirits along with lots of oriental artwork and artefacts. 

We were greeted warmly by Carlos the restaurant manager, he explained the concept of Drgnfly & showed us to our table where Jennie was our host for the evening, she was attentive & chatty, recommending dishes to us and explaining each dish as it arrived. Each staff member we interacted with throughout the evening was professional, warm and friendly. 

The Covid procedures were in place, hand sanitiser, track and trace when you arrive, and clear screens in between tables to ensure social distancing, which didn’t detract from the classy but buzzy atmosphere.

Drink

Ashley Cross has a large selection of venues for those looking for a drink or two. We have old fashioned pubs, modern cocktail bars, quirky real ale bars and many different beer gardens. Therefore Drgnfly has a lot of competition nearby, but it certainly does stand out as we enjoyed some of the best cocktails we have tried in a long time.

The drinks menu is very appealing offering a wide selection of beers, wines, spirits and a tempting choice of gin, whisky, rum, tequila, vodka & champagne based cocktails, all with interesting names, clear descriptions and none of which we had tried before!

I had the ‘Nanajugo’ which was delicious, flavours of gin, plum sake, rosemary & lemon, finished with champagne, both delicate and refreshing.

My husband chose the ‘Owari’ which was served on the rocks, featuring the unusual mix of flavours of bourbon, coffee, chilli, hazelnut & chocolate, he described it as ‘incredible’. 

They were both presented beautifully & complimented the food we chose too. I later ordered a ‘Honu’ Sauvignon Blanc which was crisp & zesty, this also matched well with the spicy food on offer. My husband went for a ‘Drgnfly Easytime’ draught lager which he really enjoyed too. 

 

Food

Where do I begin?! The food at Drgnfly is spectacular! We have wanted to visit since it opened and were very excited to complete a review there. 

The menu is vast and Jennie recommended we have tapas-style small plates, therefore we could try lots of different tastes, textures & flavours.

Whilst we were browsing the menu, we ordered some nibbles ‘Ebi Senebi’ prawn crackers, served with chilli jam, these were a cut above the normal prawn crackers from takeaways! 

The menu caters for all tastes, including vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, meat eaters, fish eaters and spice lovers or haters! The menu included popular Asian dishes such as katsu curry, prawn toast, and bao buns but with a twist. There are also many unique dishes such as ‘Kani Karrage’ which is crispy soft shell crab with ponzu, ‘Gindara No Saikyo’ black cod marinated in yuzu miso & lovingly handmade sushi.

After much deliberation, we chose-

• Aigoma Gyoza-crispy duck dumplings served with hoisin sauce. These were very moreish filled with lots of crispy duck.
   
• Takoyaki-fried octopus ball skewers with tonkatsu sauce. This dish was really memorable, I’m not a massive fan of squid, but this dish blew me away, it was delicious.
   
• Ebi No Tempura-king prawn tempura with chilli mayonnaise. The batter was light & crisp, with juicy prawns.
   
• Char Sui Bao- pork belly, pickled veg, cucumber & coriander. The pork belly was sticky & tasty, alongside light as a feather bao buns.
   
• Sake To Avocado Maki- salmon, avocado & sesame seeds. The sushi had big flavoursome pieces of salmon alongside creamy avocado.
   
• Prawn sashimi. Big juicy prawns, beautifully served on ice with lemon, wasabi & ginger to accompany.

We were happy with dishes coming out as soon as they were ready, so we didn’t have a set starter, main etc. As soon as the first plates arrived, we were impressed, the dishes smelt wonderful and were presented in a modern, clean way, using black plates & this made the food really stand out. 

We finished the meal with a Drgnfly Platter, a selection of desserts to share. This included-

• Mochi-soft Japanese rice cakes, filled with coconut mochi ice cream
   
• Matcha Crème Brulee.
   
• Drgnfly Brownie-salted caramel sauce to drizzle.
   
• Berry cheesecake.
   
• Chocolate ice cream.

The platter was the perfect size to share between 2 people, it was nice to be able to try a variety of sweet treats and we especially enjoyed the Matcha Crème Brulee. 

Overall, we cannot wait to return to Drgnfly. The food and drinks were fantastic, the service and décor is wonderful, and we would highly recommend Drgnfly for an intimate date night, cocktails with friends or a special occasion. 

In our opinion, it is one of the top places to eat and drink in Poole.