Ginger Restaurant Bar — Restaurant in Sardinal

OH MY GOSH!!! I would give this place more stars if I could! I can’t even count the times my husband and I said ‘Wow!’ between bites. Before I get to the food, I’ll rave about the place itself. Basically, it’s a treehouse restaurant. Sitting on the lower level is like being in a treehouse. Huge trees all around. The bar is in the upper area and it’s less like a treehouse there but you can look out into the treehouse. So there’s that. The staff is friendly and I’m not sure if he’s the owner or manager but the gentleman who is in charge is an absolute delight and really made people feel welcome.

Now, for the food!!!! It’s a fusion restaurant they describe as Asian/Mediterranean and we picked up on a lot of Indian flair as well. We ordered 5 tapas plates between the two of us and shared a dessert. The small plates come out in no particular order, just as they are cooked. This kept us eating with a small break sometimes and dishes on top of each other at other times. Very cool vibe here and a relaxed atmosphere.

Our first plate was the fried calamari. It had a very light and crispy batter and was cooked perfectly, very tender. The dipping sauce was amazing - it was one of those you just want to drink after the calamari is gone. Next out was the firecracker shrimp. We expected it to hold some spice and it was perfectly seasoned with another yummy sauce. The surprise here? The shrimp was grilled! The char gave a surprising depth to the dish. Nice, large shrimp that were plump and juicy.

Round three was their signature dish - Ginger’s Ahi Tuna. More ‘Wows’ here. Man, this was delicious!!! Thick slices of tuna on a wonderful slaw all atop a crispy flour tortilla. Next up was the Asian Tacos. So many ‘Wows’ here that I think that’s all we said. This dish is phenomenal! Tenderloin in an orange Szechuan sauce and Asian slaw tucked into crispy wonton ‘taco’ shells. I’m telling you, ALL of this works! We were blown away.

Dish 5 was the Thai Red Curry Beef and it, too, was delicious. The fried plantain fritter was thin and crispy and did a great job of holding the beef together while providing a nice contrast with the sweetness.

To round it all out was a dessert that was recommended by a staff member. I was leaning toward the Chocolate Lava Cake but the 15 minute wait time was too much for us. We decided to go with the Dolce de Leche Torte - um, why didn’t we order two of these?! I totally did not want to share. The chocolate cake was topped with ice cold banana slices and salted caramel mousse and whipped cream. Some crunchy toffee bits were sprinkled about and we were definitely scraping around looking for more of them. The mousse was light and fluffy and not filling at all. I wasn’t sure about the salted caramel but it was a very light and delicate flavor that paired well in the dish.

Was there anything we didn’t like? Well, the red sangria was very tasty but the hibiscus and strawberry lemonade? Not so much. I guess I’m not a fan of hibiscus in my drinks. We dumped the leftover fruit from the sangria in it and it helped but it just wasn’t for me.

Overall, we may have decided that it was worth the flight from the states just to eat at this restaurant. Make a reservation if you can. They were able to fit us in at the bar, thankfully, but we will make a...

After spending three nights eating delicious seafood at typically friendly and gracious Costa rican restaurants, we decided to try this place despite its seemingly uncharacteristic setting of Asian fusion tapas in a small beach town. Right from the start, you can see they cater to wealthier North Americans and act atypical of Tico servers. We ordered five tapas and the waiter told us “no, we recommend two per person”. Surprised, I said we didn’t eat lunch and he persisted on only taking an order for four. What place refuses to let people pay more money? Strike one

The cocktails were among the worst we had and the “fusion” blend of chili with margarita doesn’t work at all. The only good tapa was the goat cheese. Firecracker Shrimp were $15 for four and doused in an overly sweet hoisin sauce. Also much smaller shrimp than the beach restaurants. The “signature dish” of ginger tuna had nice pieces of tuna but they ruined it by serving it on a mushy tortilla like pastry and it was filled with non flavorful veggies.

Bengali style sea bass had no flavor, no Indian spices and needed salt. After the first three tapas came, they got busy and we waited 15 minutes for the last one which was supposed to be Thai red chili beef but was actually some ground beef with absolutely no Thai flavor at all served with a ton of flavorless carrots and a wedge of parsley.

The bathrooms are donned with posters form the New Yorker and the atmosphere is decidedly urban sophisticated and way out of place in Playa Hermosa. The chef was supposedly classically trained but seems like she trained her staff to act condescending and very uncharacteristic for Ticos compared to virtually everywhere we’ve been in Costa Rica so far. Even the friendly servers were not genuine and seemed like they’ve been made to act like puppets to people with money.

At $96, it came in $30 more than Roberto’s and we were hungry when we left. Finishing it off, unlike every place we’ve been to, when we paid by credit card, the guy who wouldn’t let us order five tapas grabbed the card out of my hand and secretly entered the total into the machine rather than allow the customer to tap. Very uncool and what they do in places like Vietnam where ripping off tourists is commonplace. Someone needs to train this guy how to be Costa Rican.

Sorely disappointing and perhaps fine for baby boomers who overdress and want food they can get in the big US city and places that make them feel special because they have money. Spend your cash elsewhere if you want great value, friendly Tico servers and...

Whenever I travel, I always consult Google and Tripadvisor reviews before deciding on where to dine. Ginger Restaurant was well rated and I decided to give it a shot.

The atmosphere is really nice if you sit on the outside area. In the inside by the kitchen and bar it gets a bit noisy and chaotic.

During busy season, make sure you get reservations beforehand if you choose to visit. I saw many groups come to the door and told that they were full for the night.

The staff are good and speak English well. However, when the place is full, you likely will be looking around for them since they are very understaffed. I was sitting by the ordering system and noticed many a times the staff in chaos trying to put in orders, creating the check, requesting drinks from the bartender. Also note that the wait for food will be long if it's busy so be patient.

Now the most important part, the food. The menu I saw at the restaurant was slightly different from the one on the website but that wasn't a big deal. I am a vegetarian and i liked that they had a lot of options. I ordered the mango gazpacho, vegetarian potstickers and the portobello crostini. The gazpacho was alright. It tasted like a gazpacho but aside from the color, not sure where mango came into the name. The potstickers were burned and after a few bites I had enough. The crostini was not bad. It may have been better though if the portebello was chopped up instead of a large piece sitting on the bread. I considered dessert but I didn't want to wait 20 minutes waiting for it so I...