Not So Wild Ginger - Gluten Free Vegan Pan-Asian in Brooklyn

Okay. As much as I like Brooklyn Heights and Boerum/Cobble Hill, being stuck there on a rainy Tuesday for a pep rally-like sales conference is not my idea of fun. In fact, on a professional note, it was an all around awful day for reasons that I won't get into here.

Anyway, rain and my awful employment situation be damned, I took a stroll down Court Street to take in the neighborhood. As dusk began to creep, I realized that I hadn't eaten anything in about 8 hours and was in need of sustenance. But, in this neighborhood that is somewhat known for its pizzerias, finding something that I could eat--save trolling the aisles of the sexy Court Street Trader Joe's for Gluten Free snacks--was going to be tricky.

After some searching, I ended up over on Smith Street near the Bergen subway stop at a place called Wild Ginger.

Their MO: Vegan Pan-Asian cuisine (think: tofu done 50 different ways), served in a dimly-lit, semi-trendy atmosphere. Now, you might be thinking, "Hell, that sounds like an all-veg PF Chang's." And, you wouldn't totally be wrong about this. But, it is small touches--like the soundtrack that eschews Asian pop music or even--shudder--the faceless trip-hop that is cranked out at so many other trying-too-hard-to-be-hip eateries in favor of surprising choices like Gene Autrey or the Dap Kings wafting through the air--that make it feel un-vanilla and very Brooklyn-esque. (Note: There are other outposts of Wild Ginger on Broome St and in Williamsburg, too. And I refuse to refer to the latter as Billyburg. Not happening.)

My first issue was that, as you enter the place, there's no clear indication of what you're supposed to do or where you're supposed to stand. You're just sort of...there.

It also took a good 5 minutes before some guy (he might have worked there, he might have been a regular from the neighborhood, who knows), grabbed a menu and seated me toward the back. The good thing was that he didn't flinch when I asked for the Gluten Free menu. In fact, the GF menu is its own separate menu--not just a back panel on the "regular" menu or some afterthought on copier paper. I have experienced the latter with dread at other eateries here in NYC and elsewhere.

The bad thing about the GF menu: Prices were not accurate. My entree ended up being $2 more than what was listed. The dish was, however, listed correctly on the "regular" menu, which I consulted before paying the bill.

Demerit #2.

Now, for the food. I ordered Sauteed Vegetables and Tofu in a brown kung-po sauce. It was nicely presented and looked very appetizing. The vegetables, which included carrot, celery, zucchini, snow peas, broccoli, and cauliflower, were done nicely: tender, yet still crispy and flavorful. In other words, the carrot was still recognizable as carrot, and not as a pale, floppy imitation of its former self.

The tofu was just...okay. Not amazing, but not inedible. It lacked any kind of seasoning and didn't really add anything, except maybe protein and chewiness, to the dish.

But the real fulcrum of the dish was the kung-po sauce--the thing that would make it work or fail. Unfortunately, it just didn't deliver. I was expecting some sort of nuance--maybe a hint of ginger or five spice to go along with the flavor of sauteed garlic--that would give my palate something to hang its hat on. Although not totally unpleasant, garlic and tamari were the only two flavors that really stood out.

C- for the dish.

All in all, the atmosphere was nice enough to warrant another visit. And the rain and my grumpiness no doubt colored my view of things a bit. So next time I'll seek out something with a little more flavor on Wild Ginger's Gluten Free menu.

Wild Ginger
112 Smith Street
(718) 858-3880