Dragon Inn Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in England

I,m afraid I Will not be recommending the New Dragon Inn in Swanage anytime soon with reference to what we experience. We ordered our drinks, starters and main. We cannot fault our drinks and starters, these were lovely but the main meals all went down hill from there. My Brother and his wife ordered the set dinner for two which consisted of Chicken Chop Suey, Sweet & Sour Chicken Balls and Special fried rice. The chicken chop suey was good but the chicken balls were pork and the rice was egg fried rice. My husband had the beef chow mien which arrived on a cold plate, bone dry, no oil or juice and in no way was it piping hot. I order the Thai green curry chicken, something I have eaten over fifty times in many Chinese restaurants knowing that this is a relatively mild curry. One mouthful from this bowl made me choke it back up, it was unbelievably hot/over spiced and burned the back of my throat and lips, it was inedible and clearly not how it should be. We flagged all these issues with the assistant who took the rice, balls, chow mien, and tai curry away and said nothing. We could hear the conversation going on with her boss admitting her mistake with the rice and helped the chef find the chicken balls in the kitchen. The special rice and chicken balls arrived after my brother and his wife finished their chop suey which was pretty useless really and my husband and I was waiting for the assistant to come back and ask if we would like something else… well, this did not happen, ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING! We left our table to pay for the drinks and the food we had eaten and the assistant advised there was no charge for the rice, REALLY!, I should think not but then I noticed on the receipt that she had also charged us for the curry and chow mien. I questioned this and finally got her to take this off the bill, she took the chow mien off but she insisted payment for the curry because I tasted it. WHAT!, REALLY! I had enough of this by now, so my husband paid for it, and they want cash, another way to dodge the VAT man. Just to let you know peeps, watch your backs, make sure you get what you order and most of all CHECK...

Dragon Inn is one of those places that's been around forever, and unfortunately, it shows. Walking in, you're immediately struck by how dark and tired the interior feels - the lighting is dim (and not in a cozy way), the décor looks like it hasn't been updated since the 90s, and everything has that worn-down appearance that makes you wonder if they've given up trying.

The staff aren't particularly welcoming either. Not rude exactly, but definitely on the blunt side - you get the feeling you're interrupting their day by being there. Orders are taken with minimal enthusiasm and don't expect much in the way of recommendations or friendly chat.

As for the food, it's the definition of underwhelming. My sweet and sour chicken was fine, I suppose - not terrible, but nothing that would make me want to come back. The rice was a bit dry, the vegetables in my partner's stir fry seemed like they'd been sitting around for a while, and everything just tasted... adequate. Like they're going through the motions rather than actually caring about what they're serving.

Look, Dragon Inn isn't awful - you won't get food poisoning and you'll leave fed. But when Swanage has other dining options that actually put some effort in, why would you bother? There are better places to spend your money and your evening. Dragon Inn feels like a restaurant that's coasting on the fact that people will always need somewhere to eat, rather than one that's trying to give you a reason to...

I had a takeaway delivery a few days ago and it was not Dragon restaurants finest hour, it took a long time to come and the food was not good, short staffing evidently meant the chef was also delivering the food, I was very disappointed as I don't often get takeaway and my review reflected my disappointment, after which the chef/ manager/owner ( I'm not sure ) contacted me by text and apologised profusely for the experience I had, he also called me and offered another, replacement takeaway,it was after the call I decided to take him up on his offer because his apology was sincere, this evening my takeaway arrived 10 mins after ordering and it was genuinely delicious, chips were crispy and fluffy, the meat on the ribs was melt in the mouth, juicy tender and fell off the bone and the portions were generous, the rice was fluffy and the chicken curry delicious, the chicken was really tender, sauce really tasty and vegetables perfectly aldente, so I know the food is and can be very very good, you just need to find consistency, if you have no one to deliver them don't compromise the food and try to do it all, take bookings for the restaurant and collection only takeaways instead, The manager is a nice man who is trying too hard to be everything, it's all about the food after all, I very much enjoyed the...