It's on busy Gladstone Road at South Brisbane and be prepared to hunt for a park in the surrounding streets. At night there is limited parking available at the petrol station, city bound on Gladstone Road. The petrol station is located on the right, just before arriving to Red Ginger on the left.
The restaurant has clean lines with plenty of white and a few touches of red as befits its name.
We sat down intending to have a quick meal and ended up ordering three courses because all the food sounded so enticing. The menu may have changed since our visit as it's early days for the restaurant, but the Asian Oz fusion theme should make for interesting dining.
I started with skippy dim sims (kangaroo) which were good although the dipping sauce was a little too strong for my palette. K2 enjoyed the duck spring rolls.
Our mains were beef rendang and braised duck salad with preserved orange dressing. The duck salad was superb with plenty of duck wonderfully enhanced by the orange dressing. It was so good I ate every little leaf.
We weren't really thinking about dessert at the beginning but the coconut sago pudding with mango sorbet, toasted coconut and Gula Melaka was too interesting. My last encounter with sago was in Year 7 when the boys had sago spit ball guns to annoy everyone. Despite that experience, the pudding with it's unusual texture and flavours was a huge success. K2 enjoyed the ginger spice cake too.
Chef/owners Mie Mie Wing Kee and Prue Brown wanted a name for their new venture which reflects their energy and passion about good food as well as a blend of Asian and Western influences. Mee Mee is ex Makanan Indonesian in West End.
Where possible, they use organic, free range and fair trade ingredients in the dishes and their small herb garden provides many of the fresh herbs for the restaurant.
Their 'Be my Valentine' banquet looks interesting for $45 per person- Glass of Bubbly;
Crispy Prawns with wasabi Japanese mayo or Grilled Asparagus with béarnaise ; Lamb with Strawberry, Ginger, Chilli Sauce and Roast Sweet Potato or Beetroot, Orange, Walnut and Goats Cheese Salad; Coconut Sago Coeur with Berry Coulis; Dark Ginger Chocolates
Tea or Coffee.
Red Ginger is open for breakfast on the weekend and I'm keen to try their Asian Oz style for this meal.
Bottom line: Try it - you might get hooked.
Red Ginger Restaurant, Shop 5, 17 Gladstone Rd, South Brisbane