Dragonfly is A Veggie Sculptor

It's difficult to find a good vegetarian restaurant. So when I heard Dragonfly Neo-V Cuisine opened up, I was excited to try it out with the company of OOK* and Granola Girl*. The restaurant atmosphere was modern, hip, but serene. The dishes used for plating were also funky, which brought another element of fun to the dining experience. The ingredients of the menu items and the flavor combinations were often exotic. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to start the meal.

The brunch course started with first course of variety of buffet items, including mashed Yukon Gold potato with saffron and horseradish, bean salad, roasted beats, Asian kelp salad, watercress with house vinaigrette, and baby fern salad. Each items had their own unique flavor. The mashed potato was filled with saffron fragrant and the horseradish gave the dish a kick at the end (note to self, definitely take small bites next time). The beans in the bean salad were cooked perfectly, just soft enough without being mushy. The roasted beat salad was sweet and sour at the same time, very refreshing for a summer dish. The Asian kelp salad was marinated in soy mayo, which was not my favorite flavor combination because soy mayo interfered a little with the velvety taste of the kelp. The house vinaigrette was thick and filled with flavor, which combined with the sharp taste of the watercress, it's just a heavenly combination. The baby fern salad was seasoned very simple and tasted great.

The brunch was then followed by your choice of entree. I ordered amerythe risotto (again, I'm a risotto whore) while my boyfriend got the fried King Oyster mushroom 'calamari'. The risotto was made with amerythe, which had a new texture and flavor I've ever tasted before. The risotto was also cooked with roasted red pepper, olives, and some leaks. The risotto tasted OK, but the flavor of the amerythe was not my favorite. The fried oyster mushroom was combined with tomato and artichoke sauce. The flavor of the oyster mushroom was great, and it stood against the tomato and artichoke sauce very well, so the sauce did not steal the show. I loved the oyster mushroom dish so much that I traded dishes with my boyfriend. And by trading I mean I took his dish and exchanged it with mine against his will.

I also had their desserts. The chocolate mousse had lemon custard on top with kiwi fruit. The lemon custard flavor was so strong, it was like being bitch slapped by Mr. Clean. The chocolate mousse was made with tofu, and the texture was interesting, very different from the regular mouse texture. The sorbet trio had a chocolate sorbet, raspberry sorbet, and a citrus foam with dark chocolate pieces. The chocolate sorbet was extremely chocolatey, and it tasted like any other chocolate sorbet dessert. The raspberry sorbet, however, had anise seed flavor and gave a kick to the sweet and slightly sour flavor to the raspberry. The citrus foam was very fragrant, but was not sweet. And even with the chocolate pieces, the combination was not very good.

The overall experience was a good one. I couldn't say I always liked the flavor combination, but I did love the way that the chef was trying different ingredient and different flavor combination to make the vegen vegetarian food more interesting than any regular restaurant out there. They change their menu often as well, to go with what is in season at the time. The food ranked a 3.5 out of 5 on my yummy scale, and I think it's definitely a restaurant to try if you want a true food adventure.

If you are interested to see how the Dragonfly chef work magic to the veggies, please go to 247 King Ave. Columbus, OH 43201. www.dragonflyneov.com

*NOTE: OOK, formally known as Earth Godess, and Granola Girl had changed their names due to privacy reasons.