Wild Ginger Dim Sum Review from Cornichon

Last week, I talked about the new brunch offerings at Wild Ginger and Barrio in Bellevue. While I had a mediocre meal off of Barrio's new brunch menu, my colleague at the Seattlest Ronald Holden stopped in to explore Wild Ginger's new Dim Sum offerings. Looks like he made the better choice.

Here is an excerpt his review from his blog Cornichon.

"This is Bellevue's version of Asian street food, not so much dumbed down as cleaned up. "Authentic"? If you mean aggressively spicy, no. The Ladies Who Lunch, who let the valet park their Lincolns, probably won't come in for the full-on Thai treatment, which you can find elsewhere on Bellevue's back streets, if that's your preference. But let's give Yoder (Wild Ginger owner) and his crew big points for going where mainstreet Bellevue hasn't gone before, even if it's where the Eastside is already heading: there's a huge Asian community out past Crossroads, and the young fashionistas cruising the Bravern's shops look more like China Beach than Jersey Shore."

Two New Brunch Options in Downtown Bellevue

Bellevue already has two pretty decent offerings for authentic Dim Sum in Noble Court and Top Gun, but if you are looking for a little bit more of a comfortable, upscale experience in Downtown Bellevue, Wild Ginger fits the bill.

Beginning tomorrow Wild Ginger at the Bravern will be serving Dim Sum and a Hawker Brunch every Saturday and Sunday from 10am through 3pm.

Most people are probably familiar with Dim Sum with its steaming dumplings, roasted pork humbows and assortment of various small dishes, but Hawker (street) foods are still pretty exotic for most Americans. Similar in fashion to the NYC hot dogs and falafel trucks or to some of Seattle's mobile food trucks, Hawker foods are ubiquitous around Asia where they are usually situated amongst open-air markets and offer customers good, authentic, affordable local fare. Wild Ginger already has some of Asia's most popular hawker foods on their menu; satay, laksa and curry crab, but are adding additional menu items like Singapore noodles, nasi goreng (fried rice topped with a fried egg), and coconut pancakes for these special brunches.

---

Barrio Restaurant recently launched their own new Brunch menu last weekend. Many of their regular menu items will be available, but there are some very enticing specialty items that will be available only for brunch .

Most notably are the Breakfast Tacos en Cazuela with scrambled eggs, housemade chorizo, habanero salsa, manchego cheese, fried potatoes, guacamole, fresh tomato salsa and house hot sauce that will run you $13, that sound great as well as the Mexican Style French Toast made from brioche accompanied with candied pecans and maple syrup for 10.

I think these are two great additions to the pretty lackluster assortment of local brunch offerings. Hopefully they will literally and figuratively, spice up the local dining scene.

I hope to check out these brunch spots in the coming weeks, but if you beat me to it please share your experiences by leaving a comment.

Ellie Krieger Book Signing in Bellevue – Sunday 11/15

Arguably America's favorite dietitian, Ellie Krieger will be at Sur La Table at the Bravern Shops in Downtown Bellevue this coming Sunday beginning at noon. Ellie is in town promoting her new cookbook So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week, which you will be able to purchase and get signed at this event.

If you don't know her show, Ellie Krieger is a registered dietitian specializing in nutrition and health communications, and is the host of the Food Network’s Healthy Appetite, which airs Saturdays afternoon. She is a NY Times best selling author who has written 3 books about healthy eating including one of my favorites called Small Changes, Big Results which is a really good resource covering the basics for a healthy diet.

If Sunday doesn't work for you, Ellie will also be conducting a discussion and another cook book signing at Town Hall Seattle on Monday. Details can be found here.

Sur La Table

11111 NE 8th St
Bellevue, WA‎
(425) 450-4010‎

John Howie Steak - Seattle Weekly Review

In this week's Seattle Weekly Jonathan Kauffman reviews the newly opened John Howie Steak (JHS) in Belluvue's new Bravern complex; the latest endeavor from the lauded chef/entrepreneur of Seastar.


Per Kauffman's review it seems like they are doing alot of things right at JHS, including some elegant, old-school table service and high quality, aged beef. It is no wonder that Kauffman found the service hit-or-miss from such a new restaurant with the precision needed to pull off the pomp and circumstance of the traditional steakhouse experience.

My advice would be to wait a while for JHS to get its practice laps in before splurging for what could be a pretty elaborate and expensive meal. If things follow Howie's reputation, service should fall into line shortly.

Wild Ginger @ the Bravern in Bellevue: Yay or Nay?

A nice overview of the new Wild Ginger in Bellevue written by Nancy Leson ran today in the Seattle Times. It mentions the decor and some signature dishes and overall gives it high marks.

Things get a bit interesting in the comments field where some readers either agreed with Nancy's admiration for Wild Ginger or strongly disagreed. She followed up the Times article with a post on her blog All You Can Eat.

What are your thoughts? Have you dined at the new Wild Ginger at the Bravern? Share your thoughts and experiences with us with a comment.

Wild Ginger @ The Bravern
11020 NE 6th St. Ste 90
Bellevue, WA 98004
425.495.8889