Bite-size bliss at Dragonfly

Prodita Sabarini ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 03/23/2008 3:05 PM  |  On the Town

Trendy nightclub Dragonfly does raise some bars, particularly when it comes to style.

Noticing partygoers were finding its food a little on the heavy side, the club recently closed its restaurant area and introduced a Spanish tapas menu, which can be sampled at the bar or in the lounge.

The best thing about tapas is that you can build a party around it as it consists of small meals, designed mostly to be shared.

"That's what our guests are like. They like to walk around and mingle and dance, so we accommodate that," Dragonfly spokesperson Kiki Utara said at a press gathering on March 12.

The club caters well to its upscale guests. It's brand new interior is definitely a place to see and be seen

Guests enter through a hallway lined with tall mirrors to the left and glass wall engraved with a pattern of leaves to the right.

A circular sofa is positioned in the middle of the club, next to a luminous asterisk-shaped table. In front is a long bar where bartenders shake cocktails, ice clinking against glass.

The design is impressive, though the wooden floor shakes most alarmingly (in a region prone to earthquakes) every time somebody walks past.

Kiki assured me it was nothing. "It's normal," he said. One supposes Dragonfly's guests do not notice the floor shaking after a couple of drinks.

Tapas is perfectly suited to Dragonfly, which can get pretty crowded on weekends. Created by Dragonfly's new chef, Asier Arroyo Manzaneque, the tapas menu features a fusion of European, Asian, and American cuisines in bite-size meals.

Assier works with a range of ingredients from seafood to potatoes to cocoa.

Manzaneque's New Mexico Chicken Quesadillas were a little on the dry side. However, the jalapeno peppers provided a deep, spicy aftertaste -- the kick the dish needed.

The goat cheese tarts, which were dusted with paprika, were also tasty -- despite the cheese lacking its usual bite.

The egg croquettes were also evidence of Manzaneque's creativity, containing as they did a smidgen of sambal bajak (Javanese chili paste).

The dishes are tasty but still light enough so that clubbers won't be inclined to sulk on full stomachs, but rather to dance the night away.

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