By Erica Keppel

Prior to meeting friends at the CBD location, I jumped onto google and punched in “Ginger Boy”. To my surprise google offered me a choice selection of striking red head children (and strangely – some adults)....Shaking my head in disillusion, I refined the search to “Ginger Boy Restaurant and Bar / Melbourne City”...and so the eastern adventure unfurled...

...strategically located in a back ally between Little Bourke and Bourke Streets, Ginger Boy is everything a true Asian eatery should be – narrow, all hustle and bustle, and dutifully equipped with a steep staircase and neon lighting.

For anyone who has ever spent time traveling through South East Asia – be it Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and even parts of Malaysia and Indonesia – you will know the smells, tastes and intensity of flavours seeping from the local street Hawker’s markets remain firmly embedded (if not in your clothes) in those eerie memories you bring home and savor forever. Safely home again, one often takes on a fruitless quest to emulate the experience through home cooking. Alternatively, via Thai take out or an Asian Fusion eatery. Having recently surrendered defeat to my own efforts, concluding that there really is nothing that comes close to the real McCoy (such as those adjacent to Khao San Road in Bangkok)... I was pleasantly surprised last week, when I dined at Ginger Boy.

Admittedly, Ginger Boy comes with a certain amount of hype among a few of my fellow compatriots – and the local foodie media as a whole – so, always the skeptic I prepared my clever and discerning palate for disappointment.

Aside from the cleverly modern take on the traditional South East Asian restaurant décor – with it’s glossy black bamboo walls, red tasseled lamp shades and transparent resin chairs – the atmosphere was a hubbub with mid week diners. The staff were overly attentive, my water glass never reached below “half full” before an eager young attendant swooped down and made the top up. I choose to acknowledge this pre dinner omen whilst anticipating food derived from a combination of the world’s most superstitious cultures.

In due celebratory form, my two girl friends and I selected champers from the extensive international wine list. This well adorned drinks menu was peppered with tongue and cheek banter and references to pop culture for an engaging read. The first round was followed by summery still whites to accompany our mains of seafood and poultry; mine of Austrian origins. There is something disenchanting about sampling wine whilst eating hot and spicy food, I found it refreshing, though missing the delicacy and definition I crave in a good drop. I was left wondering if a Beer Laowould have been a better choice on this hot night?

We began our banquet by selecting three small tapas styled dishes to share (to be followed by two large shared meals and two sides) as suggested by our waitress. The Banana Blossom Crispy Duck with Ginger Nuoc Cham, threw intense spicy and sweet flavours our way, whetting our appetite for more. Reminded of my predisposition to the trying the hottest food I can bare ‘when in Rome’, I was on my way to extreme-eating paradise. Next was the naughty but very nice Crispy Cuttle fish in chili salt with lemon and roasted sesame. An al la carte spin on your regular deep fried fish – this tasty number held a similar consistency to calamari and the dipping sauce certainly had bite. Perhaps my favourite of the entire spread were the delicately balanced, and perfectly proportioned Ginger and Prawn dumplings – gorgeous, and a far cry from those those muggy, grey and bland little numbers you might find at Flinders Station!

Without a lot of time to savor our starters or perve on the spoils of other diners, we were presented with two large dishes to share between the three of us. My seasoned companion had worked Ginger Boy’s Snapper up to regal heights. Tight lipped as a free standing fish arrived in front of me, I took a deep breath. As we negotiated the demolition of this famed Fried baby Snapper, mandarin caramel and young coconut salad, our waiter eagerly reminded us not to forget the eyes and cheeks (“his best bits”). We began picking flesh from the bones of this little Nemo, and I was taken back to balmy summer’s evening on the shore’s of Cambodia’s coast, selecting my seafood fresh from the day’s catch and watching it cook on a BBQ beside whilst sitting in the sand watching the sun fall away into the sea... Quick flash – here goes the next dish, a side of spiced and Roasted eggplant with tomato Sambal. This dish provided an explosion of flavours – capturing the smokey essence that wafts through the night markets in Thailand. A perfect accompaniment to the elegant flavours of our scaled friend and his pretty salad. In all honesty, by the time the next shared dish came out, we were in the staggered throws of over indulgence. The Baby Chicken, green Prawn and mint relish with crispy fried Sambal was rich and tender, however slightly less appealing than the previous dishes, our over worked taste buds and full bellies simply couldn’t give it credit.

Sadly, desert was out of the question. Each of us over whelmed with the amount of food still surrounding us. A reminder of larger eyes. The sweet, hot and spicy extremes I had craved were delivered, the company was fabulous (as always), the service flowed...perhaps a little quickly. All and all I was a happy girl, after all our sensory memories are of the strongest – there is nothing quite like taking time to recall an incredible journey, and snippets of it’s gritty details from the past...nor embarking on a new one.

Ginger Boy – Same Same – but different
www.gingerboy.com.au