Dragon I

In a word: For the avant-garde Guy.

The specs: #00855  
422 State St., 53703
Details at
Official web site, Facebook

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JM ate the Korean BBQ short ribs with a lemonade.
Nichole ate the beef pho with a Thai iced tea.
The bill was $28, or $14/person, plus tip.
JM and Nichole both gave Dragon I a B+ (see our grading rubric).

Dragon I (as in "The King and I," not as in "Elizabeth I") has filled the spot on State St. that Chin's used to occupy.  Now it's table service and karaoke instead of Chipotle-style, but Asian. Indeed, the Karaoke rooms kind of determine when Dragon I is open for business, much like its sister establishment Nam's Noodle. Singing, sure, but so you think you can cook?

JM got the Korean BBQ short ribs and these were very nicely done, but turned about to be about as much bone as meat, which leads to all sorts of difficulty in the putting-it-into-your-mouth-without-getting-it-on-your-face department. The rice was nicely prepared, fluffy and flavorful.

Nichole's "spicy pho" arrived a long time before the ribs did.  This was fine because it gave her a chance to savor it, which she pretty much did. It was a spicy little number to start with, even before she drowned jalapeño and variety meats into the mixture. It was filling, but the banh mi she had originally wanted had sounded better at the time. Sadly, the toaster was broken and thus sandwiches were unavailable.

The server who relayed our info and entrees was quite competant, handling us outside. This may have lead to slower service than average, but that was probably more due to the lack of passive non-verbal cues from us.

Dragon I has a long menu (somewhere between Hong Kong Cafe and Ha Long Bay) which seems loaded with the kind of Asian cuisine that State St. has not had a lot of lately. (We're thinking here of the Far East, minus the absurd sushi census hovering around half a dozen, which pretty much leaves only Rising Sons).

We found this outing better than our trip to Nam's, which may be our strongest recommendation for this place yet.