Obviously it wasn't my choice to have a meal at Wild Ginger. But the man likes this eatery for lunch. He's gone there twice this week already. There's something about him on work trips craving Thai food at lunch, never dinner. In London, he raves about Busaba Eathai for a mid-day meal as well, easily going there four times a week. Last trip here with him, he kept going to Chantanee, which was quite forgettable. This trip, Wild Ginger. To be fair, Wild Ginger offers Asian food and not just Thai food. However, the man simply zooms in on the Thai food and ignores all other items on the menu.
Scanning the menu, it was like reading familiar names of dishes but befuddled by the ingredients and descriptions. I didn't know what to think. Not when it offers the wah-lau-eh-can-we-not 'Singapore Noodles' that doesn't exist at home (this version comes with house-made barbecue pork). I didn't know what to order. My idea of downtown commercial American Asian food is that it tends to lean towards either the salty or the sweet side. Very rarely would it be nicely spicy. Anyway Wild Ginger seems to offer a re-interpretation, which often works better than trying to mimic authenticity. Still, it would be very sad if I ordered their 'laksa' and it turned out weird. But you know what, I ordered it anyway, in a starter portion.
Inspired by Malaysian laksa, the menu stated. It was green like no laksa I know. Thin, not particularly complex, and not at all spicy. Not Johor or Betawi variations. It's closer to a Northern Thai khao soi. At that moment, I threw all expectations out of the mouth so that the first taste wouldn't be disappointing. It was filled with awesome ingredients that no commercial laksa in SEA offers, unless you're eating at someone's home. In that little bowl, there were pieces of cod, salmon, a prawn and a mussel, and familiar strands of thick white beehoon (rice noodles). It wasn't too bad. Just don't think of it as laksa. When I got to the bottom of the bowl, a serious craving for sambal-anything arose. Dammit.
The potstickers were rather bulky and packed tightly with loads of chicken. I suppose that satisfied the pricing of six potstickers for USD13. The table also had satay which I didn't bother with, but they were apparently fantastic. Tried the dipping sauces which were quite cool. Its curry of rama seth was surprisingly spicy nice. The man loves the Thai spicy clams with brown rice. At least this dish held heat and alleviated my craving for sambal. There were pieces of bird's eye chilli floating around. Those manila clams were huge and juicy!
Scanning the menu, it was like reading familiar names of dishes but befuddled by the ingredients and descriptions. I didn't know what to think. Not when it offers the wah-lau-eh-can-we-not 'Singapore Noodles' that doesn't exist at home (this version comes with house-made barbecue pork). I didn't know what to order. My idea of downtown commercial American Asian food is that it tends to lean towards either the salty or the sweet side. Very rarely would it be nicely spicy. Anyway Wild Ginger seems to offer a re-interpretation, which often works better than trying to mimic authenticity. Still, it would be very sad if I ordered their 'laksa' and it turned out weird. But you know what, I ordered it anyway, in a starter portion.
Inspired by Malaysian laksa, the menu stated. It was green like no laksa I know. Thin, not particularly complex, and not at all spicy. Not Johor or Betawi variations. It's closer to a Northern Thai khao soi. At that moment, I threw all expectations out of the mouth so that the first taste wouldn't be disappointing. It was filled with awesome ingredients that no commercial laksa in SEA offers, unless you're eating at someone's home. In that little bowl, there were pieces of cod, salmon, a prawn and a mussel, and familiar strands of thick white beehoon (rice noodles). It wasn't too bad. Just don't think of it as laksa. When I got to the bottom of the bowl, a serious craving for sambal-anything arose. Dammit.
The potstickers were rather bulky and packed tightly with loads of chicken. I suppose that satisfied the pricing of six potstickers for USD13. The table also had satay which I didn't bother with, but they were apparently fantastic. Tried the dipping sauces which were quite cool. Its curry of rama seth was surprisingly spicy nice. The man loves the Thai spicy clams with brown rice. At least this dish held heat and alleviated my craving for sambal. There were pieces of bird's eye chilli floating around. Those manila clams were huge and juicy!
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