Ginger Hop
Restaurant, Bar
$$ - average
Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese
Asian bistro and bar with labeled vegan options
This pan-Asian bistro offers a few labeled vegan options such as a yellow curry, wonton soup, and a couple of salads.
- Happy Hour
- Large Group-Friendly
- Outdoor Seating
- Romantic
Added by conde.kedar on Sep 28 (updated Sep 28)
Reviews
Ginger Hop is probably the only place in the portion of Northeast, directly across from downtown, that has labeled vegan food. I stopped by here for lunch one day and had a mixed experience.
First, the location is great in a quaint, cozy section of Northeast. Second, the bar area is gorgeous and makes you feel like you're in the 1920s with original woodwork, high arches, brass and the whole deal. It's truly striking and atmospheric. The draft beer selection is limited, but has a few keepers (Lift Bridge, for example); the bottled beer selection is much better, though prices range in the $5-7, which is a bit pricey for what they're offering.
The main dining room area is nice, too, though modern and not as distinct.
The service was excellent: friendly and prompt.
But I was not terribly impressed with the food. There are a few labeled vegan options on the menu, but none of them were particularly appealing or innovative. Also, there was only one vegan entree option; otherwise there's one vegan soup, a couple of salads, and a couple of appetizers such as sweet potato fries.
I had the only vegan entree, the Bodhisatva curry ($10.95 with tofu). The dish came to me lukewarm in temperature, and I felt the dish lacked robust flavor---no spice and little salt. The fried tofu that came with it were tiny, runt-sized cubes that were deep-fried rather than stir-fried, which made them too chewy and slightly unappealing.
The portion size was also quite small considering the dish cost $11 (they charge $1 extra for tofu, just to make things worse). You could get 2-3 times as much food, and much higher quality food at that, at Evergreen or Jasmine 26 for the same price.
Also, there was no option for brown rice. Please, offer brown rice, Ginger Hop.
To make matters worse, Ginger Hop is one of "those" restaurants that gives you a tiny portion of white rice and then forces you buy more for $1. I hate it when places charge for white rice, especially because it's an inferior product and the restaurant's cost is pennies (at most). It's a really dirty way to do business, I think, and disrespects your customers.
Ginger Hop is a new place so I'm sure they're working stuff out. Add some brown rice, stop charging for white rice, add more vegan options and this place will be worth coming back to.
I really enjoyed this place. The vegan options are clearly labeled, which is nice, even though there aren't many of them (that's the one downside--and the only reason I'm giving this place 4 stars instead of 5). The atmosphere is great, the wait staff was super friendly, and the food was delicious!
For appetizers, I tried the sweet potato fries and the tofu spring rolls, both of which were awesome. Then I had the only vegan entree option, the Bodhisattva curry with tofu. It had a very nice flavor, but could have been a little spicier for me (I guess I could have asked for extra spice). The tofu was cut into small cubes and fried, and I like it that way a lot so I enjoyed the dish overall. It was just the right amount of food, and not too spendy. I asked for brown rice, and the waiter said they aren't currently offering that, but that they're still figuring out their menu. I suggested that they add that. I also asked if the Pad Lao could be done vegan and he said that right now there is limited flexibility due to the place and chefs being so new, but that perhaps in the future that will be an option.
I'll definitely go here again - while the options are somewhat limited, what they do have is really good, and the atmosphere is upscale without being pretentious.