Asian Fusion at Red Ginger

Red Ginger located on West Broadway and Oak is an Asian fusion restaurant that I had been meaning to try.  It is close to my husband’s workplace and his coworkers get take out from them regularly.  I read online that Kam, the owner of Red Ginger, formerly owned and ran “Kam’s Place” on Davie (now occupied by Banana Leaf).  I had been curious about Kam’s Place before but never made the time to go there.  I finally seized the opportunity to go Red Ginger when I saw that they had an Entertainment deal for BOGO free entree.

Asian Fusion Cuisine

The decor inside Red Ginger is Asian-inspired starting with the low and wide Chinese chairs and wooden panel at the entrance.

Chinese scroll paintings adorn the walls while Buddha statues rest behind the banquettes.

What We Tried

For our lunch, we went with two seafood, one noodle and one rice dish.  When the dishes were brought to to our table, I noticed the portions were quite reasonable.

We first had the goong ($13.95) which was deep fried prawns with fresh pineapple and Singaporean red curry.  The curry was pleasantly flavourful and had a two pepper rating for spiciness.

The house seafood combination ($13.95) with squid, prawns and mussels served with house sauce was the next dish we tried.  It had a low level of spice enough to tickle the taste buds.  The squid pieces were a bit too large in my opinion which made it difficult to eat.

Our noodle dish was the vegetarian beehoon ($9.95) with stir fried rice vermicelli, onion and bean sprouts with panang curry powder.  I was surprised by how good this dish was on its own with the taste being rich and sweet, but dry.  The noodles soaked up the sauces of the seafood dishes and was even more delicious.

The Malaysian style curry fried rice with curry paste ($10.95), chicken and shrimp was also a winner.  The rice was nicely fried with a delicious curry flavour.  This also went wonderfully well with the seafood dish.

The Service

The service at Red Ginger was minimal.  The dishes were brought to the table in a timely manner, but no one checked on us during the meal.  They did not refill our glasses as well.

Entertainment Offer

I presented my Entertainment mobile coupon which they had no issue accepting. Two dishes were $13.95; one was $10.95; and last one was $9.95.  When the bill came, the cheapest item ($9.95) we ordered was the one that was free.  We were expecting the second most expensive dish (which was $13.95) to be the free one.  There was no additional fine print on the coupon except that the second entree of lesser value than the first would be free.  I guess it was open to interpretation as to which of the lower priced entrees was free.

From a customer standpoint, it would have been more worthwhile to order two items of the same price only or all items of equal value.  I guess we felt like we were penalized for ordering extra dishes.  After talking to the server, the bill was separated so that one person had the BOGO deal with the two $13.95 dishes.

Overall Impression of Red Ginger

I enjoyed the food at Red Ginger which was very flavourful and had ample portions.  The service was less than stellar, however, and I was disappointed in how they handled the BOGO entree free deal.  Though the food was quite good, the service was not satisfactory and I do not have a strong desire to return to Red Ginger.  Rating: 3/5

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