Linger in Red Ginger

I still remember how we first attempted to visit Red Ginger last June 2015. Unfortunately, it was afternoon and snacks were the only food that can be served.

Fast forward to exactly 1 year after our 2015 visit – our wedding anniversary – alas! We had the chance to eat in one of Manila’s finest Asian restaurant – RED GINGER.

As you can see, the spacing is well made and I appreciate how well lit the restaurant is. The sets of furniture may look light and classic but they’re very heavy and sturdy. I love how clean everything is and the casual/homey ambiance it has. The patterns and the color combination looked cool on the eyes and the weird shape of the upper ceiling will give you crazy eyes while at the restaurant. 😁 The place is well-lit and the whole restaurant has a good air-conditioning. Nothing fancy. Just a modern, simple and chic Asian restaurant. The deduction of 1 point is because of the cigarette smoke (from the outside) that can still be smelled on the inside of the (open) restaurant. As you can see, the restaurant has an open-space design which makes it easy for the customers to smell the smoke from the cigarette smokers. I cannot count how many times I tried to leave because I feel like I’m gonna have an asthma attack and I worry for my kids too. If only Red Ginger would reconsider to have a door and a glass wall, then everything would be PERFECT!

The menu is well-organized and very nice to look at. Unfortunately, the selection of food isn’t wide enough and their choices aren’t kid-friendly yet. Honestly, there was a time when we don’t understand the menu anymore and we had a hard time deciding which dish to choose. Until it came to a point when we finally decided to leave because we weren’t familiar to most of their dishes and we found the menu a bit intimidating. But instead of deducting points, I didn’t deduct any because of their friendly and helpful server who didn’t just educate us but also assured us that we will have a great time… and guess what? We actually did and that is because of her!

Value of Food (10/10) The value of food is just right especially when you consider the exquisite taste of their food plus the generous serving they offer. But! Given the chance to change and add more dishes, the value for food might be better IF I have more options to choose from. They have value meals too. Their food serving is generous that’s why food value is just right for their delicious dishes and comfy ambiance.

This is one of the dishes where we had a hard time deciding to order or not. Because of its spiciness, we were hesitant to order it. Also, the menu didn’t say that NasiGoreng has an option to be ordered separately from the main dish. NasiGoreng Jakarta is amounting to Php 440 and honestly, we wouldn’t want to order (just) rice with that amount. Fortunately, Marian, our server, informed us that there’s a way for us to order NasiGoreng without the chicken satay and for a cheaper price. She also offered us a choice between mild spicy or spicy. As soon as we heard that, we immediately ordered this delish dish. We didn’t regret ordering this spicy rice mix because it is so tasty with a kick and full of ingredients as well. If the “spice” can’t be handled well, mix it with their plain rice for you to still enjoy it… or request for a non-spicy flavor instead. The rice is in good quality. It is well-cooked and they didn’t spare any good ingredient in this dish. One of the best rice mixes I’ve ever tasted! Do not leave City of Dreams without ordering this! It has an option to have chicken satay included for the price of Php 440. If you love chicken, then this is already a great choice for a valued price!

People (9/10) : Marian is the only one who stood out among all their staff. We had a lot of attempts to eat in Red Ginger but whenever we do, it’s either we smell smoke, the main dishes weren’t available or the staff was snobby. Remember the photo above? The staff from 2015 wasn’t friendly nor did we feel welcomed to ask questions to her. When we visited this year and came in, the staff who welcomed us is just okay but not as nice and helpful as Marian. Nobody even greeted us good afternoon (it’s already 3 PM and we were so hungry to even notice this) when we went in. It is only Marian who went out of her way to serve, bless and assist us. We experienced customer service at its best. I have high hopes for City of Dreams. It is my favorite go-to place during special occasions. I always experience great customer service in this place.. that is why Marian is not just Red Ginger’s asset. She is also City of Dreams’ golden girl – the key to make their customers go back and crave for more.

Marian initiated in informing us what’s best to order. She has this big smile that made us enjoy eating though we’re eating dishes that were “new” to us. She made us laugh, become more interested with Red Ginger and also made us feel important. She single-handedly took our order, served our food, and educated us about Red Ginger. Though we honestly felt uncomfortable of the cigarette smoke that we can smell once in awhile, she made us feel at home. Actually, because of her convincing power and ability to take care of the customers well, we want to go back to Red Ginger for more. But if it’s the same bland servers and staff, we’d rather not.

The quality and taste of the tofu is top-notch. The simplicity of this dish is well-appreciated. I love the fact that it is not too salty and spicy but still crispy fried to its perfection. If I only have one comment, it is the fact that I saw another photo of this dish from Zomato (see here). The photo included herbs and spices. I’m not sure if the recipe was updated; but overall, the photo from Zomato looked so much better than what we had. Then again, I didn’t deduct anything because I can’t imagine what else can they add to make this dish more special than what it was when we ordered.

This dish is like having a piece of HEAVEN in every bite. Its beef is tender, tasty and juicy. With the contrast of the beans and potato plus the combination of salty and spice in one — it is up for a competition with all the other beef rendang recipes out there. Though I prefer it to be more saucy than what they served, I appreciate the fact that the beef had all the tasty goodness of rendang and the outstanding aroma it gives right after Marian put it on our table. It is so soft and tender, it can actually melt in your mouth! (Overrated? Try for yourself!) It teases your palate and gives you the urge to have more. OMG! Definitely, Red Ginger’s best dish! I’m on a high after having this “Oh so good” Indonesian dish! Oh? The price? You will forget about ALL their food’s prices once you try this. I know I did!

After trying the rendang, I asked for the menu again. The ever nice Marian assisted us well. We were actually full at that time and we only have a few space left for another food to eat. We will also stay at their hotel for 3 days but we still have the urgency to order another dish because for some reason, we know that we’ll regret it if we don’t. So we ordered this. The pork belly is tender and tasty. The sauce splattered on the pork is delicious too; but even without it, the pork is already juicy as is. The 3 sauces included in this dish is extra-special too. The eggplant relish is way too good for it to be in a small container. We want more! This is one of the “value” meals I pertained to earlier. It already includes jasmine rice which is too soft and with good aroma. It is so good and the serving is generous because the pork belly doesn’t have too much “fat,” I can see more meat!

The overall experience we had in Red Ginger was AWESOME. Thanks to Marian, everything turned out great because of her meddling. She took care of us and made sure that everything’s gonna be fine. From the chef to Marian and to other servers who already assisted us during take-out, thank you so much! Marian surprised us with this cake and we have nothing but gratefulness for the effort in greeting us and making us extra-special that day. To Marian and the whole Red Ginger Team, congrats! You have an extraordinary restaurant to work for and it must be a privilege to work with the best team and the best food to serve. My hope is that this great experience will stay the same or even better next time. I have nothing but cravings and so much pride to celebrate our 11th anniversary in Red Ginger — a place where we want to linger. You guys should visit NOW!

Hey! Stop drooling. I said visit them NOW! They are open 24 HOURS (they offer more dishes during dinner time) !

City of Dreams Manila

Upper Ground Floor, Aseana Boulevard Corner Macapagal Avenue, Entertainment City, Parañaque City 1701

Cuisines : Asian, Indonesian, Malaysian

Phone Numbers : 02 6917783 /  02 8008080

Website : http://www.cityofdreams.com.ph/restaurants/red-ginger

Email : redginger@cod-manila.com