Liquid Ginger is a restaurant with some history, housed in a building once home to the "Gainesville Daily Sun" before renovation made it perfect for dining out. It’s a fine choice if you’re looking for a relaxed, elegant environment and delicious dining at a great value—a typical meal includes soup, salad and desert. The meal portions are generous, and the service friendly and inviting.

By Jon Silman; Photos by Sarah Hsu

SWEET AND SPICY

As a starter, we ordered ginger tea, which comes from Thailand by way of New York City ($3), and pork pot stickers ($6). Exquisitely flavored, the tea comes with its own ceramic heater and a side of honey. On Sunday, tea is half-off, which is a steal at $1.50 a pot. According to our server, customers flock to Liquid Ginger on Sundays just to relax, sip tea and split appetizers.

The pot stickers come in a light chili oil soy glaze, and are just the right amount of spicy. We also tried the five-spiced crispy chicken ($6)—think sweet and sour chicken with more flavor and smaller portions.

ENTREE AWAY

After soup (spinach and tofu or miso, $3 alone) and salad (the ginger dressing is a stand-out, also for $3 alone), we couldn’t believe how much food came with the main course. Entrees are served in a box tray with compartments of green beans in a soy glaze, sweet pickled cucumbers, sesame noodles and garlic-sweetened potatoes.

Try the pan-seared shrimp and scallops ($15)—the scallops are smooth and well-glazed and the shrimp is hearty and satisfying. Or the beef bulgogi ($15), which comes in a light Korean pepper sauce, has quite a kick.

NO NEED TO BE GINGERLY

A meal isn’t complete at Liquid Ginger without a sample of their ice cream, which is also included in the dinner. Try the unconventional but delicious green tea or the refreshing mint ($2 alone).

As the name suggests, ginger is a main ingredient in not only their entrees, but also in the in-house drinks.

Some of the specialty drinks are original recipes concocted by employees like The Taotini ($7.50), one of the restaurant’s most famous. Made from sweet and sour, Absolut vanilla, Thai basil, fresh-squeezed lemon and brown sugar, it's sweet yet spicy.

Like specials? The wines are 25 percent off on Mondays. Enjoy $5 martinis on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Or check out Happy Hour daily from 5 to 7pm for $5 glasses of wine, $5 martinis and $3 Sapporo bottles.

Fast Facts

Address: 101 SE Second Pl.
Phone Number: 352-371-2323
Hours: 11:30am-3pm and 5-10:30pm weekdays; 5-10:30pm Sat; noon-10pm Sun
Parking: Sun Center parking lot.
Signature Dish: Liquid Ginger Ribeye ($18)
Price Range: $$ (out of $$$$)
Dress Code: Business casual; date attire
Delivery: Call-ahead pick-up is available; no delivery.

• Add New
• Search

Comments (0)

Write comment

Your Contact Details:

Name:

Email: do not notifynotify

Website:

Comment:

Title:

Message:

Security

Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

Powered by !JoomlaComment 4.0 beta1

!joomlacomment 4.0 Copyright (C) 2009 Compojoom.com . All rights reserved."