Ginger Bistro is at its best from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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During those four hours you’re limited only by your appetite and sense of adventure. It’s a time for rice rolls, bao buns, sticky-sweet chicken feet and more than a dozen unique dumplings served in the bamboo trays in which they’re steamed.
Those four hours are the bistro’s most magical ones.
Because of two little words: dim sum.
This Chinese daytime tradition of small plates served with tea is what Ginger Bistro does best. It’s true of the original 3-year-old restaurant in Fort Myers, and it’s true of the new second location which opened Sept. 10 in the Shops at Surfside in Cape Coral.
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Ginger Bistro is the Cape’s first taste of dim sum. And while its offerings pale in comparison to the massive dim-sum houses in New York and San Francisco, for this little corner of Southwest Florida, Ginger does quite well.
Among its must-try dim sum dishes: almond shrimp balls made from meatballs of sweet shrimp shingled in almond slivers and fried to a shattering crunch. And the shrimp spinach dumplings, more shrimp blanketed in a delicate, hand-pinched wrapper dyed green by fresh spinach.
The shumai (which may be stuffed with beef, shrimp or pork) are a safe bet. As are the classic, fluffy bao buns. But, as I’ve mentioned, adventure here is rewarded.
Take the taro turnovers.
They look like egg-shaped birds’ nests. They taste like savory meat and creamy mashed taro that goes frilly and crisp when it hits the fryer; like a Chinese take on shepherd’s pie, but deep-fried and so much more interesting.
Or the “glutinous rice chicken,” a cryptically named dish that’s not helped by its accompanying picture (the outside of a banana leaf?). Unwrapping that leaf is key. Inside is savory meat pressed into a hunk of sticky rice that is indeed glutinous in the best possible ways. It’s only three or four bites, but each is stunning.
And then there are the soup dumplings, or as they’re called here “Ginger soup buns.” This dish epitomizes dim sum. It’s like soup, inside out: a dumpling filled with a wee meatball and steamy broth that should come spilling forth at first bite. But at the Cape shop they’ve been wholly uneven for me: dry and lifeless in a too-thick wrapper one day; soupier and more savory another, but still lacking broth.
Ginger struggles with Chinese-American dishes too (and maybe that’s a good sign?). Those seeking General Tso’s chicken or Mongolian beef are likely to be disappointed with these versions, which lacked spice and, at $15 or so with rice, didn’t deliver much bang for the buck.
Nor did Ginger’s service one night, when our young and very green waiter brought our appetizers after our entrees without batting an eyelash. Service was far better during my dim sum lunches, despite the waitress’s general amazement (or was it disgust?) at how much food my table put away.
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The Hong Kong-style barbecued pork belly and ribs, which dangle in a glass-enclosed oven embedded in the rear wall, are another place where Ginger shines. As is its roti canai, an Indonesian-style flat bread that’s lovely and chewy-crisp, and even better daubed in a spicy curry of chicken and potatoes.
Ginger’s Peking duck was almost as wondrous; a whole bird spliced into hunks of soft meat and crisply shellacked skin lined with velvety duck fat. Load a sliver or two onto a steam bun, then layer on scallions, cucumber and hoisin, and all is right with the world. Don’t let the $37 price tag scare you, just find two or three duck-loving friends to share in your feast.
This is, after all, a place built for sharing.
Ginger’s dim sum dishes are mostly in the $4 range, meaning you can order 10, bring a couple buddies and binge on tea and dumplings for the better part of an afternoon — all for about $15 apiece.
Still feeling adventurous? Cap off the dim sum delirium with baseball-sized custard buns filled with sweetly gooey filling. Or fried sesame balls with crisp sesame-coated shells that give way to sticky walls made of glutinous rice flour. The balls go puffy and hollow in the fryer, leaving room for a mahogany dollop of sweet bean paste.
It’s a dish that grows on you exponentially with each bite. They go from weird, to unusual, to another-round-please-and-pronto.
They’re a little bit magical, and a whole lot Ginger Bistro.
Jean Le Boeuf is the pseudonym used by a local food lover who dines at restaurants anonymously and without warning, with meals paid for by The News-Press. Follow the critic at facebook.com/jeanleboeufswfl or @JeanLeBoeuf on Twitter and Instagram.
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Ginger Bistro Cape Coral
2366 Surfside Blvd. unit c-101, Cape Coral
•Food: ★★½☆
•Atmosphere: ★★☆☆
•Service: ★★☆☆
JLB’s new stars system, explained
•Price: $$-$$$$
•Call: 239-689-3113
•Web: gingerbistrousa.com
•Hours: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily
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•Noise level: Moderate
•Etc.: Beer, wine and sake served; takeout available; dim sum menus only offered during lunch from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. daily
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Sample menu
Appetizers
• Spring rolls (2), $4.50
• Green papaya salad, $7.50
• Salt and pepper calamari, $10.50
Entrees
• Roast duck noodle soup, $9.95
• Beef with broccoli, $13.95
• Mango shrimp, $17.95
What the symbols mean
★ – Fair
★★ – Good
★★★ – Excellent
★★★★ – Exceptional
$ – Average dinner entree is under $10
$$ – $10-$15
$$$ – $15-$20
$$$$ – $20-$25
$$$$$ – $25 and up
Nguồn: https://blogtinhoc.edu.vn
Danh mục: Info
