Dragonfly-Café & Jazz Bar-
Taste the Freshest Cuisine from all Provinces of China.

Our mission is to guide you through a positive dinning experience and also keep you entertained. In our quest this month, we took a short drive south on 101 and were soon at Dragonfly, Chinese cuisine, in The Village at Corte Madera.

George Chen, a well known Bay Area restaurateur, created Dragonfly. He is also the owner of Shanghai 1930 in San Francisco and Xanadu in Berkeley. George’s goal was to bring gourmet Chinese cuisine to Marin. He chose The Village in Corte Madera for Drangonfly because it is a destination point. You can dine while shopping or meet friends for lunch, dinner and or drinks.

Kellie Piper, the General Manager, warmly greeted us and we were seated in the main dining room. We admired the Asian décor that included a fantastic Roberta Ahrens mural of a "Dragonfly". The chairs were quite comfortably spaced so one could dine in a relaxed manner. The Bar area includes a Piano and Wednesday-Sunday nights there is live Jazz. The atmosphere was relaxed but you could see that the service was like clockwork. Our waitress Betty soon came by and we ordered some wine and perused the menu.

It was time to eat and here are some dishes that we recommend.

Appetizers

Lobster Spring Rolls
Delicately prepared crepes filled with Lobster, Shrimp and seasonal vegetables. These are more delicate than your normal spring rolls and are a great starter.

Spicy Szechwan Soft Wontons
Soft- boiled wontons in a chili broth with crusted Szechwan peppercorns, cilantro and scallions. Excellent, great flavors.



Mongolian Barbecue Chicken Skewers
Lean chicken meat marinated in a special sesame satay, skewered and grilled.

Dungeness Crab Cakes
Dungenes Crab Cakes served with red chili aioli and mixed greens- A must- stupendous- The Best that we’ve ever tasted.

Bacon-wrapped Butterfly Prawns
Bacon-wrapped prawns lightly sautéed with ground and roasted peanuts and a tangy plum sauce. These were spicy and tender.


Soups

Velvet Chicken and Corn Chowder
Strips of tender chicken and sweet corn in a delightful medley of flavors. Great soup, we particularly enjoyed the cilantro flavor. Soup tends to fill you up but this was worthy.

"Subgum Wor" Wonton Soup
Ten special ingredients and spices with pork-filled dumplings in a chicken- based broth. This soup had fantastic tasting mushrooms and lotus root.

Noodles And Rice

Subgum Chow Mein
Whet Lo Mein noodles wok-stirred with chicken, shrimp, pork and vegetables. Also a cut above the traditional Lo Mein.

Main Courses

Traditional Peking Duck with "All The Trimmings"
A whole duck, skinned to perfect crispness, served with plum sauce, shards of cucumber and scallions in house-made pancakes.
It was quite impressive to have the Duck presented to us before it was cut… a nice touch.



Ghengis Khan’s Mongolian Beef
Tender beef strips spiced with peppercorns, sesame and spring onions over a bed of rice noodles.

Shrimp in Lobster Sauce " Redux"
Dragonfly’s interpretation of an old Chinese Fisherman special. This was a reminder of our youth where every Sunday night we would go out for Chinese Dinner and my sister Sheila would always order this tasty treat.

Five spice Lamb Chops
New Zealand lamb chops marinated in five special spices and grilled to perfection. Lamb Chops are a favorite and they were presented in a "Rack" style –nice touch.

"Budda’s Feast of Eight
Four fresh seasonal vegetables plus lily bulbs, tree ears, lotus root and red dates. A great Vegetable dish.

Desserts

Mango Pudding- Absolutely Delicious! A wonderful finale to our dinner.

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse- We were tempted but had no room left. We noticed that other diners ate this dessert happily.

Crispy Red Bean Crepe for Two-with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. This was truly worth saving room for. Delicate crepes and outstanding Vanilla Ice Cream.

Wines
Dragonfly has a full bar and a nice selection of wine. As ever we opted for wines by the glass and here the wine buyer has done a better than average job. We tasted and enjoyed the following wines.

1998 Ferrari Carano Chardonnay, Alexander Valley
1998 Coppola " Diamond Series" Chardonnay
1998 Sterling Sauvignon Blanc,Napa Valley
1997 Ferrari Carano Siena, Sonoma County
1998 Kenwood Pinot Noir, Russian River

Other wines on the wine list that we’ve enjoyed are:

Cakerbread Cellars, Napa Valley Chardonnay 1998
Caymus, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1996
Howell Mt. "Old Vines", St. Helena Zinfandel 1998

George Chen’s Dragonfly offers the freshest ingredients gourmet preparation, presentation and service. This is a combination that will make you want to return. It’s also great to have a wonderful restaurant in the best shopping spot in Marin!