Dragon Gate by Phoenix

I am not very happy with food. I ordered a beef bento box and the beef was old and had no flavor as well as the chicken bento box. Secondly, the California roll fell apart. This was a one time would not come back again.

I have been here a few times as it is close to work. Not many good choices in the area for Asian food.
They have Chinese, Japanese and sushi dishes.
I usually get the Bento box with shrimp tempura or the sesame chicken. Both are decent, but not outstanding. I have also tried their sushi. Not bad, it tasted fresh but again nothing outstanding. Their service depends on who your server is. Sometimes it is slow, while other times it is lightening fast.
Pricing is average also. Are there better asian restaurents to go to? Yes, but not within my work area.

Went here on Sunday & was surprised considering the bad reviews I read. We used a groupon & brought our kids.
There was a man there pulling double duty… he seemed to be hosting… waiting on our table & even working at the bar. (short staffed?) but anyhow… I thought he did a great job & our service did not suffer.
We ordered 4 rolls… the lady gaga roll was one of our favorites. 1 roll we were not as impressed & actually didn’t finish it which never happens when it comes to sushi. It had a fishy taste… yes I know… sushi is fish. That’s the best I can describe to say maybe it wasn’t as fresh? But the other 3 rolls we ordered were delicious. Also the vegetable fried rice was the best I’ve ever had. Lots of flavor.
The only thing I was not happy about was we were charged for refills on soda. My kids sucked down their Shirley Temples & were charged for 2nds. After informing our server that we were not aware of the refill cost & that they should inform their customers of this… he promptly took off the charges.
I give this place 4 stars because of the good customer service & the food was good too.

Not sure why the bad reviews, maybe they are old. Went there on a Tuesday and the food was great, especially the sushi, calamari appetizer, and fried rice. Atmosphere and service wood good as well.
Enjoy!

I had a very interesting lunch experience here…
We decided to celebrate a co-worker’s birthday here the other day. Our waitress was very nice and helpful, until she got our entire order wrong… Apparently, the accidentally ordered kung pao instead of the chef’s special for 8 people. Then the fire alarms started going off…
Overall, the food wasn’t bad, and honestly the waitress was very nice. I might try this place again… but probably not.

The ONLY explanation for the people who are giving this place 4 and 5 stars is that they have never had good Chinese or Sushi! Frankly it should be illegal for less than a mediocre Chinese restaurant such as Dragon Gate to pretend they can serve sushi! If you had seen the shrimp tempura roll and the $ 14 hama roll that was brought to our table you would agree… unfortunately the unflavored rolls did nothing to wash away the hideous flavor of the seafood hot and sour soup that was served lukewarm. Gross.
I usually don’t care about too much about the service since I am focused on the food… but service was horrible. The server would drop the food at out table and make a run for it like the kitchen was on fire… at 9pm on a Sat a total of 1 table was occupied! What a waste of nice premier restaurant space on 360!

It’s been a while since I updated. Their food is still really good. Their sushi is great (and again, they have Tuesday specials) and the staff is quick and friendly. I get the $ 2 hand rolls on Tuesday. The ‘crack’ noodles, as we call them, are awesome and fresh and unlimited and free.
It’s a great spot and super convenient. I love Dragongate!

The star dish of this place whispered to my wife through her connections in the Austin Chinese Girlie Mafia is the Three Cup Chicken. When she heard one of her favorite dishes was being served here off we went. And it didn’t disappoint her. The aroma of flavor poured out of the hot stoneware and into our faces. She declared it authentically pleasing.
Whew! I’d agree with most of the reviews here that mention average sushi but spectacular happy hour deals. We missed happy hour, but on Tuesday there are $ 2 hand rolls and and $ 2 Kirin specials the entire day. Find me a better deal than that! Soy was a little salty for our taste. But the spicy hand rolls were spot on at that price point!
The spider roll wasn’t as elaborate as I have seen in other places. Long crispy legs weren’t sticking straight up. The taste was good enough.
Fried spicy calamari was also a winner. Crispy fresh fried jalapeño slices are mixed in with the dish giving it some color. Try it with a little hot sauce for an added kick.
Service was friendly and fast. Server was knowledgeable about his sake and wine offerings. My wife chatted with the owner a bit too. Looks like Dragon Gate attracts many regular customers. She seemed to know almost everyone who came in. Love to see that!
This is a definite return spot for us especially since I can eat a little sushi and the wife can get a satisfying Chinese meal.

Hey, Not Bad!
We were pleasantly surprised by this place as I’ve never seen it crowded. Ordered some sushi and American Chinese food. The Chinese food was above average and the sushi was average I would say. We also ordered the yellow tail sashimi with jalapeño appetizer which kicked ass!
Interesting surprise: all the waiters have prison tats!

Sushi Review Only
I bought a groupon, $ 30 for $ 60, which said 2 edamame and 4 rolls.
I get there, and ask the waitress if there is a restriction on which rolls. She says no. Well, maybe she should have pointed out that it couldn’t go over $ 60 or you pay the difference.
[Normally when it defines what you get, 2 edamame+4 rolls, thats what you get and the establishment discounts the items. If it’s $ 30 for $ 60 why the hell did I have to get 2 edamame then? shouldn’t i be free to spend that $ 60 if it’s not a promotion].
Needless to say, I had to pay extra… which would be my bad, if I hadn’t ASKed the waitress before ordering.
Also the groupon said: «must buy food» which meant, in addition to $ 60 of sushi– you had to order an entrée. must buy food = Not very discriptive. They made me get an entrée. –_​– (it was lunch time).
Okay, here is my actual review of the sushi.
gross gross gross!
It looked amazing. visually some of the nicer peices I’ve seen in Austin. The taste, not so much. It wasn’t bad, just lacked flavor. The rice was made the day before = horrible. I ordered a specialty rolls are trying to do too much. If you are serious about sushi, then skip this place. Also their normal menu prices are too high for the product served.
Well decorated, nice location.
I won’t go back.

I went with some friends after a Home Game (YAY, UT) for some sushi and champagne. We ordered about ~$ 50 of sushi. Some of the sushi rolls I didn’t recognize, but I was informed by the waitress that they were unique to the restaurant.
The sushi chef, realizing that we were UT students, actually sent us a FREE sushi plate of the UT longhorn. I was so ecstatic!

Spouse and I on a date night. We quickly got glasses of water and a friendly greeting from our waiter, and we were off to a good start.
We started with spring rolls and miso soup. The spring rolls were nice, had a bit of a fennel taste to them which was interesting, but the miso soup was bland and separated strangely — leaving us pondering an extraterrestrial blob at the bottom of each bowl.
From there, service was slow to non-​existent, most of the food was common compared to better we’ve enjoyed elsewhere, and we limped along to a bad end.
The unagi roll and miso tuna roll were the best of what we tried. The volcano roll landed as a large, oversauced lump in a foil boat, and the rest of what we tried did not make enough of an impression to describe either way.
From the time we finished our soup and spring rolls and ordered our food, we waited OvEr ThIrTy MiNuTeS for three rolls and three sushi items. And we waited OvEr ThIrTy MiNuTeS without one person coming to check on us, explain the delay, refill water… nothing, nada, zip. Finally a different waiter noticed me sighing and staring blankly at the wall (maybe we should have kept our soup, we could have been entertained by the blobs) and asked if we were alright.
About ten minutes later, half of our food came out, one of the sushi items we ordered was not available, and the other two items came out about ten minutes later.
Water, two beers, one diet coke in a can, unexciting food, dismal service and $ 127.00 later, we bolted out of the restaurant glad to be done, and we won’t be back.

I’ve eaten at Dragon Gate five or six times as it’s really close to where I work, and I’ve never been very impressed.
The food is just not a good as many other Asian places, and the portions are a little small for a fairly high price. I’ve never had anything I would call «bad» but the Chinese food isn’t that good. The egg drop soup in specific is very sub-​par. I can’t say I’ve tried the sushi, primarily because I’ve heard it’s not very good.
I would probably give Dragon Gate three stars, but a couple of times that I went here the service was absolutely horrible. They weren’t very busy either time. Once we 10+ minutes before the waitress came by to take our drink orders. Other times the service was been average.

Children to the left of me Chinese to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you. Of course I love children and Chinese. It’s not that at all. It’s just that both tables were LOUD! THIS LOUD! They were hurting my ears. And the Stealers Wheel lyrics seemed to fit the occasion.
I think my husband won the menu selection award again. He had the sesame fish (tilapia) and won ton soup as an appetizer. His soup had giant won tons floating about. At least three were crammed in to the small cup of soup. And his platter of rice and tilapia was really quite delicious.
Whereas, my miso soup tasted bland and it separated. It turned into a cup with a floating clear liquid on top and a murky grainy liquid on the bottom. I love Basil Chicken and prefer it with white sauce rather than the typical brown sauce. Our server said that would not be a problem. It was good but did not have the jalapenos or even the spicy kick I’m used to finding in this dish. When I inquired, our server graciously took it back and the cook added them.
My green tea was very weak so I asked if I could have the tea bag to steep it and she also kindly provided that to me. I’m not usually this hard to please but there were a number of glitches on this night. Every request was met with a smile which gave them the third star.

UPDATE: Went back to use my second coupon and tried the Chinese food. We ordered the Pot Stickers again and when I asked for more sauce, the waitress said «That’s not enough?» Yes, she really did say that.
They forgot to bring my mom’s soup and her $ 7.25 lunch special of Sesame Chicken was mediocre in her opinion and not good at all in mine, and I love Sesame Chicken. I ordered a $ 15 shrimp dish that was mediocre, too. There was quite a bit of shrimp in it and the vegetables were all cooked really well (crisp but not crunchy), but the flavor was pretty bland.
My coupons are gone and I will not be going back to Dragon’s Gate.

Working across the street from Dragon Gate, I have many dining experiences there that can be summed up like this the «after work office happy hour aka ladies venting», the «group work luncheon» and last but not least the «occasional sit at the sushi bar solo» which includes chatting up the sushi chef if he will lend me his ear.
The roll offerings are not enormous and the nigiri I want to order is a little over priced and never on happy hour. The atmosphere is comfortable but lacks atmosphere.
The reasons I do frequent Dragon Gate (besides the 2 minute drive from work):
1. They have a fab happy hour 7 days a week! The regular happy hour runs 3 – 6 Monday through Friday & Saturday/​Sundays 4 – 6.
2. the restaurant menu includes a huge Chinese menu, making Dragon Gate a great place to bring the non-​sushi eating.
3. Tuesday ALL day $ 2 hand rolls and $ 2 Kirin.
4. Not busy in the afternoons making it a great place for groups without reservations.
5. The staff is always wonderful and the sushi Chefs are really sweet.
6. No matter what you order you get a fortune cookie (so you can always end the dining experience with your fortune of course amending it with «while naked» or «in bed»…whichever you prefer)
7. and most importantly what I have eaten here I like and haven’t gotten sick. Yes this sushi venture has resulted with me sick a few times but Dragon Gate is not one of those places.

This place strikes me as more of a lunch place, but since I’ve never been for lunch I can’t really confirm that but it’s always deadsville at dinner. Or maybe it’s just because everyone already realizes this place sucks.
To be fair, I’ve had a few of their chinese dishes and they’re adequate, but when I go here it’s for the sushi. Not because it’s great but because it’s a mile away and I’m lazy. I’ve eaten here quite a few times and it just gets worse. Last night was a disaster.
We ordered the ceviche and it was… odd. For starters, it didn’t actually contain 90% of the ingredients listed on the menu. There were maybe 5 tiny chunks of fish, apples, mandarin oranges in what tasted like a vinegar/​OJ sauce. And at $ 12 a complete rip off.
One of the rolls smelled a bit «off» and tasted «off» as well. Fortunately no one got sick, but was so off-​putting was a bit difficult to eat. But again, at $ 15 another rip off.
The kicker– the service is consistently slow, even if you’re the only person in the restaurant.

Ok, another disappointment in Westlake. I expect a certain level of ambiance and décor when in Westlake and this just doesn’t cut it. I’m not a snob — but when you’re paying a premium for food — everything should meet a certain standard.
The menu consisted of chinese, japanese, and vietnamese food. Most of it was okay, the Three Cup chicken was too salty — and the price for all of these was a bit steep for lunch.
The restaurant décor was cheap looking — but the staff was friendly. I’d come back here but only for a quick bite for lunch.

I think we got a coupon for this in the mail, but I forgot it at home. Nonetheless, it still worked because I needed a place between home and Westlake to grab a bite to eat. Evidently, M and I were the only people with this idea that Saturday night at 8:30pm.
I got the Phili roll and the spicy tuna. Neither were remarkable in any way. I could have gone to Central Market or Whole Foods and gotten that same quality and flavor. M got the curry chicken, and found it to be bland. CURRY CHICKEN. BLAND. These words should never go together!
Going backwards… We actually started out with the edamame (can you screw up edamame?). I got the miso soup (Why were there snow peas and no tofu?) and M got the hot n sour soup, which was passable.
I can’t see us going back to this place. Perhaps we just didn’t get the right dish, but for an empty place on a Saturday night, I’m guessing dinner just isn’t their thing.

This place has absolutely adequate lunchtime fare if you want to get your garlic chicken or beef and onions in pepper sauce on. They have pretty darn fantastic eggdrop soup and good egg rolls. If you’re with a bunch of «omg lets go to sushi» people and can’t stand sushi, you can bring them here and not have to get the same damn mediocre chicken teriyaki dish sushi restaurants throw in for people like us that get dragged to sushi. The sushi people that came with last time said they enjoyed what they got. So that’s definitely a plus.
The reason I can’t rate this place higher is what passes for chili sauce there is way weak. And I eat chili sauce with everything. It’s mostly oil with some pepper flakes in it, and it’s not even hot. Also, seriously, why an extra dollar for brown rice? It takes just as little work to cook brown rice, and even less than fried rice, but fried rice is free? I just don’t get it.
I want to try some of their other menu (like the hibachi stuff) and I might expand it to 4 stars if that blows me away, but since we are moving offices away from the area, I’m not sure if they’ll get the chance anytime soon.
I’d say if it’s a convenient lunchtime spot for you, check it out. I just slightly prefer the fare at bamboo grille which was even closer to my previous office, so I went more.