Gingerboy
Where? Gingerboy (Melbourne CBD, Melbourne, Australia) Map Menu
When? Sunday December 28, 2014
Who? Reuben, Shereen, Sam, Jo, John and Sam
Food Style? Modern Asian Hawker-Style Street Food
Melbourne has a thriving Asian presence, evident in the number of food establishments serving Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Taiwanese, Chinese and Hong Kong cuisine. I found this incredibly exciting, seeing a full range of styles of eateries around the CBD - there were the Taiwanese chains like Chatime, Gong Cha and Dessert House, familiar names that I've seen in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore; there was Pappa Rich, a Malaysian delights store; there were family-owned restaurants like Rice Paper Scissors and Coconut House. On our first night in Melbourne CBD, we decided to go for a nice dinner somewhere, but all the popular places were booked out (naturally)! Sam and Jo, the locals, set us up at Gingerboy on the east side of the CBD.
The place is a dynamic buzz of hipster and upmarket activity, where modern Australia meets Southeast Asia. Food here is meant to be shared in tapas-style; variety is the spice of life, after all. We chose five small plates and five large plates between the seven of us.
Peppered Swordfish Tataki
With tofu, curd, avocado, Korean black bean dressing
Great fishy flavour with a good solid bite. The wasabi mayo is quite subtle, but when combined with the avocado, it provided the dish with a nice creamy sauce and a tasty soy finish.
Tempura Chilli Salt Cuttlefish
With lemon and roasted sesame
Not outstanding, but still enjoyable. We agreed the batter was pretty good, but it really just tasted like your regular deep fried squid.
Crying Tiger Beef Salad
With roasted rice, cherry tomato and Asian herbs
Great Southeast Asian flavours - really liked the coriander and chilli. The meat was juicy and sliced ever so perfectly.
Creamed Coconut Rice
We had heard that Gingerboy was famous for this, so we had to try it. It was very tasty, but incredibly rich and I wouldn't have been able to eat too much of this by itself - it needed more rice to dilute the flavour! Fantastic when eaten with curry and other spicy dishes.
Salt and Pepper Chicken Spare Ribs
With tamarind hot sauce
Incredibly intense flavours with a great piquant zest. I kinda wanted rice with this, it was quite overwhelming at times. It was delicious and juicy, and the tamarind, lemongrass and chilli really stood out. We mixed some of the leftover coconut rice with the tamarind sauce for a great time - the flavours from each dish complemented the other so perfectly, the balance it struck was truly impressive.
Red Braised Pork Belly
With caramelised chilli and coriander relish, green apple and roasted peanuts
Soft but not overly so; I've had better pork belly that melts in your mouth. The flavours were similar to the chicken spare ribs - strong and bold.
Szechuan Spiced Eggplant
With crispy egg noodles, garlic stem and Chinese wine dressing
Nice and simple flavours, this dish was a wonderful interlude from the intensity and richness of the other dishes.
Whole Fried Baby Snapper
With pickled ginger flower caramel, young coconut
Absolutely delicious, the fish was fresh, and had a hint of sweetness in the skin.
Mussaman Curry
With slow roasted lamb shoulder, kipfler potato, candied shallots
Very tasty, but far too intense and salty for me to enjoy it. It needed a lot of rice to take the edge off the dish.
Red Duck Leg Curry
With Thai basil and coconut cream
This had a very overpowering ginger taste, but with the meat and potato, this was quite palatable.
Overall, very impressed with the ambience of the restaurant and the intense, bold personality behind the food, but the flavours were often too strong or overpowering, and really needed some moderation or balance (or a lot more rice) to even it out. Not bad Melbourne, not bad at all.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:10am on Sunday February 15, 2015 :: 0 comments :: 