Midtown Lunch

How could it be that ML has never covered Ginger’s?! This place sits brightly on 7th Ave, hard to miss but easy to overlook. Between the tourist map hawkers, juice bars, and a handful of generic delis, we find a haven of good stuff. Sure, Shanghai Broadway is bringing it too, but we owe it to ensure that our fine readers know the good from the bad. I’ve been to Ginger’s many times before and never been disappointed – it’s time to give them the Midtown Lunch treatment and put their fare to scrutiny.

Half a roast duck. It was $12.50, over the limit, but they do have quarter ducks for $7.50. I don’t know how my co-worker managed to eat all of that duck – I mean, he’s a big dude but that’s a LOT of duck.

The duck itself is fleshy, the skin is crispy, and the fat mostly cooked out, this is a nice meaty duck implementation. It’s not overly saucy like other roast ducks I’ve had from Chinese markets back in Jersey or down in Chinatown, but oh MAN, the skin is crispy and flavorful.

Yeah, it’s got that duck-grease sheen to it – better than the other sheen (two years ago, can you believe it?) in that this is at least assuring of a nice long roasting that brought the fat to where it should be. Booyah.

Behold, shredded pork and picked cabbage noodle soup. At $7.50, it’s a properly delivered article. I was pleased that the noodles and pork were in the larger container; this way you pour the broth over the ingredients instead of the other way around. No clumpy, excess dregging of pork at the bottom? YES.

The broth with a little soy sauce is perfection. It’s got so much goddamn umami to it that I had to google around what they could have put in to make it so deep while being delicate and flavorful. The garlic from the pork is omnipresent and AMAZING, lending a nice garlicky kick towards the end. I wish it was simmered in the broth a little to permeate across the entirety of the broth, but I’ll take the dregs being this good any ol’ day. The egg noodles are perfectly cooked and bunch up nicely, are perfectly chewy, and dense.

I just kinda wish there was more of the soup – it was gone too fast. Maybe also I’m spoiled by Aura Thai/Zoob Zib and Main Noodle House, but the broth needs something to differentiate it from plain old chicken broth. Sure, I can add soy, but I wish Ginger’s did some kind of twist that made it their own. While tasty, it’s online ordering alone that differentiates Ginger’s from the absolute king of Chinese noodle soup this side of Times Square – the garlicky pork isn’t enough to separate it from other shredded pork noodle soups. Good for what it is, but better can be had for cheaper.

The + (What Ginger would say once she got off Gilligan’s Island):

• Options are always good to have on 7th.
• Duck done proper for not too bad a price!

The – (What the tourists looking for directions to Times Square would say):

• This isn’t noodle soup broth, it’s damn near Campbell’s!
• Not enough soup for the price, given the above quality issue.
• I really wish the duck had more sauciness to it.

Ginger’s, 512 7th Ave. (btw. 37th and 38th)