| Gingko Restaurant and Bar - CLOSED |    Based on 3 Reviews | | Categories: | | 东城区安定门内大街199号交道口附近 | | Dōngchéngqū āndìng mén nèi dàjiē 199 Hào jiāodao kǒu fùjìn | | JianGuoMen |
+86 10 6402 7532 | | www.ginkgobeijing.com |
Tags: european(1) italian(1) western(1) |
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| Mon 10:30-late | Wed 10:30-late | Thu 10:30-late | | Fri 10:30-late | Sat 10:30-late | Sun 10:30-late | |
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| 3 Reviews |
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I ended up at the Gingko a few weekend’s back and was under whelmed to say the least. First, the restaurant is too much of a destination. Not only is it way out by jiaodaokou, but it’s also not close to anything else. If the night turns out to be a bust, like it did when we went, then you are left with a hefty taxi fare back to where you came from. Even if you decide to taxi it up to Houhai or Gulou, the traffic is so bad that it takes twenty minutes. (Oh, and don’t even think about grabbing a taxi after midnight near houhai!)
The good bad and ugly:
The good: inexpensive drinks count for a lot. The service was good. The menu was clear of all the fluff that most restaurants put in just to look professional. The fries were excellent!
The bad: we came to see a band play but what we got was feedback – literally. Sitting upstairs we watched as the French singer stopped and started each song several times only to be interrupted again because of heinous feedback from the amps. Understanding that this stuff happens sometimes, I put up with it for the first 3-4 songs but 40 minutes into the set I had enough.
The ugly: at least upstairs, the décor is a mix between wannabe Asia (drapes hung from the ceiling) and trailer trash north America. The banisters were especially ugly. The bathrooms need some work as well.
I realize the owner, along with perhaps other owners, have started a few other restaurant / bars. I know they have a loyal following. What I would like to know is if they would go to this establishment more than once without the promise of free drinks or beautiful women.
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Basically, this place is overpriced, quality of food is okay. Unless you get the attention and help of the foreigners running the place anything beyond simple requests can't be handled by the local service staff.
I ordered the lamb and the meat was pretty chewy, the thyme gravy wasn't anything particularly special, the mashed potatoes were okay, and the spoonful of greens were fine. If it cost less than half of the price, I'd say it was good.
The whiskey wasn't poured generously, and the ice was 3/4 melted at the time the drink was placed in front of me.
I don't plan on going back, not because it was terribly terribly awful, but because there are so many other choices for good non-Chinese food in Beijing (nowadays), that I'm no longer willing to put up with a subpar environment and overpriced selections just to get a taste of non-Chinese food.
Positively, the foreigners running the place are on the ball (you'd expect that as a minimum though). If you DO go here, be sure to reach out to them for help. |
| Tag: western |
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In reality, this place gets 3.5 stars. We made reservations for Sunday night (completely unnecessary)...when we arrived, the owner greeted up right away--from his bar stool. He said our table was ready right away and we can just go upstairs. We were a table of 7, but only arrived with 4 at first. We ordered a bottle of proseco to start out and a couple of dips (tsaziki and baba ganouch). About 5 minutes later the server said it would be 10 minutes for the wine (which I assumed they had to chill). After another 10 minutes when we asked for the wine, we revealed that they didn't have it and we actually had been waiting for them to go out and buy the wine. Thankfully, they served the newly-bought, unchilled sparkling wine in a wine bucket. For our meal we order just main courses--1 tagliatelle with pesto, sundried tomatos and goatcheese, 1 lemon, mint and asparagus risotto, one carpaccio and one crab stuffed tomato (two apps served as a main) and four orders of lamp chops (which were described as served with mashed potatoes and sauteed greens). The risotto was very, very good. The pasta was bland and not worth ordering. The carpaccio was sliced too thick (which is alittle gross for raw meat, but the crab stuff tomato was good). The lamb chopped were served with fried potatoes, no mashers and no veggies. I would have chalked this up to a language issue, but it was the french manager that described the plate, so I don't really know what happened. We enjoyed this all with a bottle of their 98RMB house wine (not bad!). We also had a cake delivered, which was received and served seamlessly. (much appreciated!)
Overall, I would say Gingko is worth the visit and I will probably we back for the bar snacks menu, but for the price point, I'd rather head to the Vineyard. |
| Tag: italian european |
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