Ginger Asian Bistro, Orland Park

Just wondering if anyone else has had any experiences with Ginger Asian Bistro in Orland Park. My husband and I went here probably about eight months ago, and had such an awful experience, I felt like it wasn't worth returning.

In short, we arrived around 4 pm on a Sunday and they were serving their brunch / dim sum menu. It was an odd combination of regular breakfast items (omelets, steak & eggs, etc.) and dim sum items (steamed BBQ pork rolls, gyoza, etc.) Mr. GF had a taste for regular food, so we asked if they had a dinner menu as well.

The dinner menu seemed like an odd combination of Asian / American and French cuisine. We decided to order a little bit of food off each menu, so we ordered a few dim sum items and then a couple entrees. The dim sum appetizers weren't bad -- in fact, we both liked what we ordered there.

However, the entrees were definitely not really anything to write home about. I had some type of a noodle entree (my memory fails me at this late date) from the dim sum menu, I'm pretty sure, that turned out bland and lifeless. My husband ordered a steak entree which came with steak fries -- the steak was overcooked and way too fatty and grissly for a restaurant-quality steak. He is a huge meat-eater and couldn't finish the steak because it was so bad. (That entree was around $22, I remember, because I couldn't believe how overpriced it was.)

The fries weren't bad, but they were just that -- fries. They came with a pretty excellent wasabi mayo, but for $22, we didn't feel it was worth the price.

After all of that, the service was very slow and inexperienced, even though I'm pretty sure the restaurant had been open for about 6 months at that point.

Inside, the interior is very nice; the place settings are gorgeous and comtemporary, and the drink menu is well-varied. Overall, we got the impression (at the time), that they'd spent more time on the ambiance and not enough time on the actual quality of the food. We didn't feel like we got our money's worth, for sure.

I question my opinion, though, for several reasons.

1) We haven't been back since that one bad experience.
2) A couple of my friends went, and really enjoyed their meal. (On the other hand, these same friends went to Chuck's and didn't like it, so...)
3) Chicago Magazine listed Ginger as a Best New Restaurant last month, so I wonder -- are they seeing something I'm not, or are their restaurant reviews that hit or miss?

Has the service improved? Have they updated their menu? According to their website, it appears they've gotten rid of the brunch/dim sum menu on Sundays and are only open for dinner, and, they've introduced a few new "Bistro Wok Creations" which appear to be more traditional Asian dishes as opposed to fusion.

Any other feedback on this would be appreciated. I'd like to know whether it'd be worth it to give these guys a second chance.

Ginger Asian Bistro
15700 S Harlem Ave
Orland Park, IL 60462
(708) 333-1818

My last two experiences at Ginger have been great.

Couple recommendations:

- Seabass marinated in maple syrup and sake
- Halibut with wasabi pea crust

Cookie dough egg rolls for dessert!!!

There was a time when service and food quality were sub par so hopefully this place has turned the corner...