Fast n Fresh at Ginger on Church

546 Church Street
Phone: 416.413.1053

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Posted by Tanja
May 29, 2007

Currently 3.20/5
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Rating: 3.2/5 (5 votes cast)

I've been meaning to write about Ginger's Church Street location for months, but every time I go there, the food shows up looking so good that everyone digs in before I can snap those quintessential blogTO resto review photos. This time it nearly happened again but, thankfully, someone spoke up before a chopstick made contact.

Ginger serves up MSG-free Vietnamese dishes in a cafeteria style location where you order at the counter, are given a number and then have a seat in the often crowded cafe til someone speeds over to you with a freshly made order.

I love this location as the food is always good, the staff friendly, you can refill on zesty lemon water as much as you like and, of course, it's home to just as many friendly kings and queens as Zelda's next door - 'cept there's no fierce competition going down on stage.

The first order to arrive is my Lemongrass Tofu & Veggie Springroll with Vermicelli ($5.95).

From the Vegetarian list, this is my favourite dish because it isn't covered in any sauces. The bun-style vermicelli are dressed in lime juice and covered with big chunks of slightly saucy fried tofu, veggies, pickled radish along with the crispiest fried spring roll on this side of Yonge St. The fried elements are offset by steamed veggies and noodles to make this a well balanced dish for the health-conscious.

Next is Curry Tofu & Grilled Eggplant on Rice ($7.25). This was the first time we ordered this and assumed that "grilled eggplant" meant chunks/slices of eggplant. Instead, an entire eggplant (soft and tender with skin carefully removed) appeared alongside tofu covered rice. It was a work of veggie art.

The curry was also really nice -- spicy with a rich nutty flavour to it. Sneaking a few spoonfuls, I thought it was great, but the owner of the dish had one small complaint: not enough curry sauce for the rice! So, she simply got up and asked the guys in the kitchen if she could get a little more sauce. They gladly spooned some more on.

Lastly, the Chicken & Beef Skewers with Teriyaki on U-Don ($7.25) for the meat-lover at the table. Pictured at the top, it was a great deal for three huge skewers of juicy grilled chicken and beef over a big plateful of thick u-don noodles. The famished carnivore can't go wrong with this one.

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Ginger
546 Church St.
416-413-1053

Other (potentially good) locations at 252 Carlton St & 521 Bloor West.

Reader Reviews and Comments

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Its a great place to go for a nice quick and cheap meal!

Posted by: stung at May 30, 2007 5:55 AM

I feel like I've been waiting for this review all my life! Thanks Tanja. :)

Posted by: Matt at May 30, 2007 6:02 AM

that looks so good! i'm so going there very soon!

Posted by: Mike at May 30, 2007 6:08 AM

well worth the wait ;)

Posted by: carrie at May 30, 2007 6:24 AM

I recently moved away from very near the Parliament and Carlton location and will miss the convenience of the quick and good food available there. Fortunately I'm now a short TTC ride from the Bloor location.

Don't they also have a store at Yonge and Gerrard

Posted by: Jonathan at May 30, 2007 2:13 PM

There's five of them: Bloor St. W., Church, Carlton & Parliament, Yonge/Gerrard, Yonge/Charles.

mmmmmmm, good.

Posted by: Allan at May 30, 2007 3:50 PM

the one at yonge&Gerrard is the same owner as Yonge&Charles... but different than the one on church.. i found out last night when I was at Gerrard(the guy there told me they were cheaper than the one on church)

Posted by: Jack at May 30, 2007 4:11 PM

I like the food here, but the smell of cooking grease is very strong - can smell it on clothes after leaving. They need some better exhaust fans in the kitchen!

Posted by: Paul at May 30, 2007 5:08 PM

Uhh... Having a vegetarian review a restaurant is like sending a eunuch to an orgy.

Posted by: Aidan at May 30, 2007 11:59 PM

This may be news to you, but you don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy a good vegetable-based dinner. You might try... sounds like you could use the fibre.

The chicken n beef was tasty too.

Posted by: Tanja at May 31, 2007 12:02 AM

"This may be news to you, but you don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy a good vegetable-based dinner."

True, but a vegetarian doing a review can't tell me the flavours of non-veg items on the menu (Chicken & Beef Skewers with Teriyaki on U-Don), can she? It was not described in the review.

"The chicken n beef was tasty too." Do you know this, or are you relying on heresay?

Send an omnivore to do an omnivore's job.

Posted by: aidan at May 31, 2007 12:24 AM

The point you missed there was that I'm not a vegetarian.

but a fascinating use of the work "heresay" regardless.

It was described as juicy and a choice you 'can't go wrong' with... if you want more detail on the specific texture of the beef, ask around at the cafe. I'm sure the patrons here will come up with some hilarious responses.

Posted by: Tanja at May 31, 2007 12:29 AM

Have you had a bad day?

Posted by: aidan at May 31, 2007 12:58 AM

Not at all! Had my veggies... feeling quite energetic.

Posted by: Tanja at May 31, 2007 1:10 AM

Personally, as an omnivoire with a partner who doesn't eat meat, I love seeing reviews that include the vegetarian options. And since there was a meat dish included I know that if I want to eat some flesh while I'm out I'm going to be able to. The truth is, it's harder than you'd imagine finding places where my partner has more than 1, maybe 2 options to eat.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, thanks Tanja for the review, and all this talk of veggie options aside, it's made me really want to try that chicken and beef skewers dish. mmmmm. chicken and beef skewers...

Posted by: megan at May 31, 2007 10:38 AM

The service is excellent, everyone is very accomodating and helpful. The food is exquisite and inexpensive, offering a wide variety of vegetarian dishes to choose from. Ginger's Wellesly and Church location is a rare find in the heart of the city. I would recommend this place to anyone, whether you are on your own, going out with friends, or simply looking to appease your finiky children.

Posted by: Robbyn at February 29, 2008 4:58 PM

Why is the rating so low at the top of the page if everybody loves it so much? I think people don'lt realize they have to click the stars to enter a rating!!

Ginger's is awesome, the Church St location is particularly pleasant, clean and new. Not fancy, lots of take-out action happening, but for a quick meal it's unbeatable!

Posted by: davEy at June 4, 2008 1:30 PM