Dining Review: Red Ginger Dimsum

April 2019

Red Ginger Dimsum and Tapas Asheville, North Carolina

Our slot for Sunday brunch was vacant and the options seemed endless. It felt like we completed a marathon of eating so we were not in the mood for heavy meal. I had noticed the Red Ginger Dimsum and Tapas in my searches and thought this could be a good compromise. While dimsum can be a big meal, we were determined to keep it simple.

We did not have reservations but had no problem getting seated at our 12PM arrival. The interior has a modern flare and lots of room, including an outdoor patio.

The tables were set with placemats as menus- another enormous list of choices. Reminded that we can always order more, we started off with seven items to start. Our server brought them out in a scattered fashion so we could enjoy a few at a time instead of all at once which helped pace ourselves.

Stir Fried String Beans – dry sautéed string bean with minced pickle in garlic soy sauce

Our servers identified this dish as one of her favorites on the entire menu and we were very glad to try these. I was concerned the beans would be spicy but surprising the heat stayed with the red peppers on the plate. They certainly had a strong garlic kick to them but that added to this awesome favor. Definitely a worthy choice!

Spicy Salt and Pepper Prawn – Lightly fried prawns with garlic, scallion, jalapeno, cilantro sautéed with chef’s salt and pepper seasoning

Kevin gets excited to see prawns on the menu expecting the ones we had in Barcelona however, there continues to be disappointment that the prawns simply meals shrimp. The disappointment stopped there as the lightly fried shrimp were swimming in jalapeno and a pepper seasoning that the table enjoyed. May not have been our favorite of the items but still a solid choice.

Szechuan Wonton – famous Szechuan style dumpling with shrimp and pork in home made hot chili oil, garnish with cilantro scallion and sesame.

Just look at that red sauce these little dumplings were swimming in! Everyone really liked this additional level of spice with the hot chili oil. I enjoyed watching everyone else enjoy this one.

Pork Dumpling in Shanghai Style – steamed dumpling with ground pork, chopped green onion and chicken broth

The soup dumplings have arrived! Definitely one of the better versions I have had, I think because the dumpling itself was thick. The liquid inside was very flavorful, not overly salty, and just gave all the warm and fuzzy feelings. I could have ate all six of these and then some.

Steamed Barbecued Pork Bun – roast boneless pork loin with home made chef’s special sauce roast boneless pork

Fluffy bao buns stuffed with sweet pork- definitely one of my favorites in the dimsum world. These were typical bao buns, well executed (again I could have had many more).

Shu Mai – Steamed ground pork, shrimp, mushroom with fresh black truffle paste

Another great choice on the menu. I really liked the addition of the mushroom and the truffle paste. These four piece dish portions were perfect for our group but it made only having one piece so hard!

Sticky Rice with Chicken – steamed sticky rice, boneless chicken, pork, shiitake mushroom, carrots in lotus leaves wrap

This was our first time trying this sticky rice! I think I expected something more like jasmine rice but this was more (wait for it…) sticky and wet like a rue consistency- it took a few fork fulls to get used. This was a great value dish because each of these pods was stuffed.

While in the moment I could have eaten so many more pockets of yum, this ended up being a great amount of food to not feel like a over stuffed mess. We definitely only had a sample of the menu offerings and most people probably order double food to explore more options. This ended up being a great way to start our morning while giving us lots of wiggle room try more things around Asheville!