Ginga, Emporium, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane

March 17, 2017

Many knows Ginga in south bank but since it opened a branch in Emporium, it has allowed many to try it in a convenient shopping and dining complex without the hassle of being over crowded and noisy. Offering the same wide range of menu from sushi to rice bowls, udon and more, their seatings are also more organized and less noisy. Usually wouldn't be my first go-to restaurants when in Emporium but we were wanting Japanese and since Ann Gyoza closed for the afternoon, we thought we'd pop by here instead.

'Katsudon' (AUD$22), crumbed pork cutlet with egg omelette served on a bowl of steamed rice. Thinly shredded ginger and nori seaweed placed on top to give it that extra touch as well as texture in the dish. Portion wise was sufficient however I did feel that there was not enough pork cutlet and most of the dish was rice and egg omelette. Do give it a mix when you eat it and you will be able to taste the juicy pork and the egg omelette altogether with the soft onion slices. The main hero of Katsudon dishes should be the broth which is known as the sauce or some sort, but I did feel that it did lack that hint of salt.

'Tempura and Udon soup' (AUD$18) was a bowl of udon noodle soup served with a side of prawn and vegetable tempura. The udon size was quite big I do have to say, and having the tempura placed on a separate plate makes it not soggy and maintain its crispiness. There has been times when Tempura is placed on top of your Udon or Soba noodle soup and it will eventually be soggy by the time it arrives on your table, which is not something you want.

The Udon noodle was out of a packet which is I guess, normal, in a way where not many restaurants would tend to make their own Udon noodles as it takes time and precision as well as dedication. Nori seaweed and spring onions gave the dish the extra pop of colour which is usually a standard to have when ordering Udon.

Prawn and vegetable tempura will get you about two pieces of prawns, green beans, sweet potato and cucumber. It was fried well however again, it lacked the saltiness and felt that if you had sauce to dip it into or even the broth, it would make it better in taste. Overall, an okay dish.

'Seared salmon and scallop' (AUD$19) served with Japanese tartare sauce and black caviar. One of the sushi rolls that caught my eye as it had both seared salmon and scallop, as the menu says. It was rather small for a roll with thin rough slices of scallops being piled on top of each other on half of the sushi as well as a thin piece of lightly seared salmon on the other. A tiny wedge of lemon was placed next to it which I wasn't sure of what it was for, as the wedge would only squeeze out its juice for maybe half of the sushi roll and not all.