‘No stone unturned’: The Dragon Room Asian restaurant and cocktail bar debuts in Columbia
Kristian Niemi is no stranger to the Columbia dining scene.
The longtime restaurateur’s Bourbon, with its Cajun-inspired food menu and ever-evolving bar program, has for years been a go-to spot on Main Street, helping to fuel that corridor’s continued renaissance. And Niemi’s Black Rooster restaurant in West Columbia, just on the other side of the Gervais Street bridge, has become a local favorite, offering what it calls “Frenchish” cuisine, as well as rooftop dining with views of the Congaree River and Columbia’s skyline.
Now, Niemi’s latest culinary gathering spot has made its debut. The Dragon Room, an Asian restaurant and cocktail bar, is open at 803 Gervais St. in the Vista district. Niemi has described the restaurant as an Asian izakaya.
According to gotokyo.org, the word “izakaya” translates to “stay-drink-place,” and establishments known as izakaya are ubiquitous in Japan. They are “places where people come to unwind with co-workers and friends.”
The Dragon Room features a menu with delicacies from a swath of Asian nations and regions.
“We are fanatics about the flavors of Asia, from the vastness of China’s multitude of regions to the Taiwan night markets to the varied prefectures of Japan,” The Dragon Room’s website proclaims. “We swoon over the flavors of Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Burma.”
The Dragon Room’s menu includes a host of offerings — a Sichuan hot chicken sandwich, steamed buns (including one with Sichuan shrimp, cucumbers, remoulade and shredded cabbage), noodle dishes (including a ramen dish with smoked chicken dashi, kimchi, soy pickled mushrooms, soft-boiled egg, bok choy and scallions) and more.
A pair of Columbia service industry mainstays are helping spearhead The Dragon Room’s offerings, according to Niemi, with Alex Strickland serving as the spot’s executive chef and David Adedokun leading the bar.
“We are super excited,” Niemi told The State. “I’m not saying it because it’s mine — I think it’s absolutely fantastic. We have a ton of world-class Asian restaurants in town. But I don’t feel like we have anything like The Dragon Room. It’s a cocktail bar just as much as it is a pan-Asian restaurant. ... We are leaving no stone unturned in our desire to have a diverse and fun menu that’s constantly changing.”
The izakaya won’t be afraid to experiment and tweak various dishes and flavors, Niemi noted. For instance, the restaurant is planning to offer baby back ribs that are marinated in the same way as chicken satay, a popular dish in southeast Asia.
Niemi pointed out that there are a number of venerable Asian restaurants in the Vista, from 929 Kitchen to Boku Kitchen and Saloon to SakiTumi Grill and Sushi Bar and others.
“I think there is room for all of us in the Vista,” Niemi said. “I feel like what we are doing is different from what all of them are doing. We are all kind of doing our thing. There might be some overlap in some places, but I think there is room for all of us. The more the merrier.”
With Bourbon being located at 1214 Main St., near the intersection with Gervais, The Dragon Room located at 803 Gervais and Black Rooster located at 201 Meeting St. just on the other side of the Gervais Street bridge, Niemi’s current roster of restaurants line up conveniently along what is basically a straight shot corridor. The distance from Bourbon to Black Rooster is 1.7 miles, with The Dragon Room located about halfway between the two.
Niemi insists he didn’t necessarily plan it that way.
“That has been one of the most fortuitous aspects of this entire thing, being lined up in one straight line down Gervais Street,” he said.
The Dragon Room is open from 5 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Thursday and 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Aside from nearby street parking, there also is a parking lot behind the restaurant, accessed off Gadsden Street.
