Red Ginger, Wellington

Sorry for my absence - this has been one of those weeks for me that feels interminable. I felt a tickle in my throat at about 9pm on Sunday, which is never an auspicious start to a new week! Add a bit of a cough, an unavoidably busy few days at work, and I couldn't imagine doing anything besides sleeping in the evenings. I hope you'll forgive me! Sometimes we all need a spot of hibernation to get through. ;-)

Before the dreaded cold set in we went out with friends for a fabulous meal at Red Ginger, which has been recommended to me by quite a few people over the past year or so. The problem with Wellington is that there are so many great places that it can take a long time to get to them all - if indeed I can keep track of the recommendations.

Naturally I'd done my research beforehand (i.e. I'd scoped out the menu on the website) so I knew the desserts looked good - so we elected to skip starters (though they looked delicious) to ensure we'd still have room.

Mr Cake chose the roast duck curry noodle soup, while I chose duck two ways - so a very duckie theme all around. The food did take a while to come, but it was reasonably busy, and we weren't in a hurry so it wasn't a problem for us - probably this is not the spot for a quick pre-theatre bite, though!

The roast duck curry soup was served with mantou buns to soak in the soup, which Mr Cake adored, and he enjoyed the soup, though he commented it could have been more flavourful - it was quite mild. The duck was really good, beautifully cooked and there was plenty of it. Unusually for him he didn't manage to finish his meal - a good indication that the serving sizes were ample.

My duck dish was also great - it's always nice to have separate elements to the meal. I found the wraps nice - fresh and a little bit different, but next to the kom po dish they paled. The sauce was rich and hearty, a little peppery and full of flavour. I asked for my leftovers to be packaged up for me to have the next day as I couldn't bear to see them go to waste - it was so good!

Our much anticipated dessert was worth waiting for. I love chocolate so that it's pretty hard for me to choose anything but the standard chocolate option, but that wasn't a choice here - just fresh, light, delicious Asian-inspired puds. Mr Cake had the coconut mousse, which was fluffy, only gently coconutty but very good, and the mango sorbet was sublime - tangy and very refreshing. My sago pudding also had the coconut element (almost like we had derivatives of the same dinner!) and also came with the divine sorbet, but the sago was soft and perfect, with a stronger coconut factor, creamy and rich and completely satisfying. Which is saying something - Mrs Cake's dessert stomach is not easily satisfied!

It was a lovely meal, though stretched out - the restaurant was spacious, though, and the conversation was flowing, so a great evening altogether.

Do you keep track of recommendations of great places to eat, or do you prefer to play the game of chance or just go somewhere handy when the whim strikes?



Red Ginger is located at 82 Tory Street, Wellington, ph 04 385 7091, www.redginger.co.nz