Gan Shan Station

We celebrated two family birthdays for lunch. First visit for all of us in our party. We had cocktails, small plates, bowls and big plates. EVERYTHING was superb! The sorbets were divine. Run, drive, walk, skip to GSS immediately! We’ll be back for sure. Aren’t we lucky that we live nearby?

It’s all about the Ramen and the Phở!!! Go for Ramen night on Tuesdays. You won’t be disappointed. The whole fried fish is also a winner here.

We had high expectations for this restaurant. However, the food tastes really bad. The Mapo Doufu is too salty for any human being to take. The drunken noodle is extremely spicy and salty. One star for service, and one star for the environment. They should hire a new chef.

Excellent experience, the menu is really good and the flavor on every dish is A+
Visiting asheville and decided to stop by this place on our way to the hotel and the experience was awesome!!!
Thank you to the team for such good food and experience. We had a great time. Gio

Another fabulous meal. GSS does not disappoint. Everything our party of 8 shared had wonderful flavored and was cooked to perfection. If you have an adventurous palate and are looking for an excellent meal, please come here.
We ate on the enclosed patio outdoors and it had a happy relaxed ambiance with food as good as anything I’ve had in New Orleans or New York. An up and coming restaurant, I will go out of my way every time I’m in Asheville to dine here!

Gan Shan, I wonder if that translates into gas shack? More on that later… This is a very trendy, retro oriental fair/​flare restaurant. Food was very fresh, very original. Would definitely come again. The restaurant is a renovated gas station, ergo the comedy. We sat in the corner across from the bathrooms. In 20 minutes, we watched NINE employees run to the bathroom. My conclusion as a physician, they all have very good hygiene, there is something being shared or sold in there, or the spicy nature of Gan Shan is taking its toll…
…
Uuummmmmm, I feel some rumbling in my tummy. I think I have my answer! Gotta go now!

Gan Shan Station arrived with much ballyhoo to Asheville’s exploding dining scene…
Given the complexity of the menu it understandably took a little time to get the engine fully charged, but now, there is no question, the train has arrived at the Station…
The chef, Patrick O’Cain, puts his own spin on Asian dishes, so I suggest it’s best to leave your expectations behind as to what the dish should taste like. Check with the wait staff as to how the dishes are composed, how much spiciness, salt, etc…
I’ve eaten there 3X in the last few weeks, and each meal gets better. Dishes I highly recommend are spicy Chinese broccoli, chicken wings in Korean BBQ sauce, any fish dish, the squash soups, and spicy drunken noodles.
For dessert, the coconut black rice is as good as it gets…
They have worked very hard to make this a unique and delicious dining experience, and they’re really pulling it off…

Food was good. It wasnt great because a lot of it was over salted in my opinion. The broth in my vegetarian ramen was so concentrated. The smoked tofu had too much salt as well.
One big irk: servers who think can memorize your order without writing it down. My waitress forgot the dish i was most looking forward to– the papaya salad. Boo

Well, tried it again.
Food was improved over our first visit: we had the (wonderful) coconut squash soup again, and this time added the dumplings (meh — unless you’re just really craving celery?), the massaman curry (respectable but nothing super special and the ribs (which were outstanding — don’t miss these if you come).
The cocktails were abysmal! I actually sent mine back (some kind of supposedly Asian-​influenced bourbon sour). I don’t know if I’ve ever sent back a cocktail before. It was a bitter muddy mess. My wife’s cocktail was drinkable but subpar. These are $ 10 3 – 4 oz cocktails, they should be good, if not great. They had a nice saison from Burial that replaced my lousy cocktail — so all’s well that ends well.
The ramen (which we didn’t order) looked good. Might try that at lunch sometime but I’m not in a huge hurry to get back.
This meal didn’t feel like it should have cost $ 80-​something (with tip), especially considering they took that godawful cocktail off the tab.

How I found it: I stayed just next to it when visiting town, unluckily they closed on Sunday, after checking the quite positive reviews on here, I decide to try its lunch on Monday before leaving.
I love the ideas and design the chef and business owner put in the place, quite a chic and trendy environment for an Asian fusion restaurant. I tried the daily special — Korean Fried Chicken (with rice and kimchi pickles, sadly no brown rice substitution) as entrée and Coconut yellow squash soup as starter, also ordered the green curry salad (it also comes with a plate of rice — wish the waiter would remind me that, since obviously I can not have this much white rice)
The soup is so creamy and warm, nice dressing of chives, black sesame and a few drops of hot sauce, I would try at home making some of this by Vitamix
Love the Korean Fried Chicken — it’s a hand sized chicken leg, I believe they picked the local grass feed one since normally chicken legs are way more much bigger. They grasped the Korean fry technique ! Since I’ve tried a few Korean fried wings chain store in NYC (the best brands originally from South Korea) Gan Shan almost copied the recipe! The chicken skin is so thin and crispy, the sweetness and the ginger zest balanced so well. The kimchi pickles are little different with authentic Korean style — more crunchy and sour, which means kept less time for ferment.
Maybe the chicken was so good, that totally drafted the green curry salad’s flavor (I guess part of the reason, it’s a cold dish) 100% sure that I would come back and try more different items here.
Tips: They can do a chef’s tasting menu any evening Monday through Saturday, just call or email and let us know when you would like to it. They just need your name, a phone number, the time you would like to dine and the number of people in your party and any food allergies. AT least 48 hours notice.

This place never fails to please. The tamarind shrimp are not to be missed. It’s fun whether you choose an entrée or small plates.
I had a fish special with two sauces, broccoli and kale over farrow. Lots of umami and pretty presentation. I leave with my palate blissed out by the mix of savory, salty, sweet, and spicy. I can’t wait to treat out of town guests here.

Good lord, where do I begin?
I don’t usually give out stars this low, but this warrants it.
This was COMPLETELY AMERICANIZED Asian food. They had a special for sweet potato dumplings. I figured that the rest of my meal was going to by authentic, so I went ahead and ordered them. It was so Americanized that it tasted like a Polish pierogi. Then the sake flight came. At least that was good.
So why was I so upset? As if what I already said was not enough, my drunken noodles had NO PEANUT flavor and was loaded with pineapples. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? PINEAPPLES??? The nicest part about this dish was the fresh noodles. Everything thing else was a nightmare.
So after that I needed something to get get that flavor out of my mouth. I ordered the sichuan peppercorn vanilla ice cream. We were told that this was going to be spicy. What did it taste like? Vanilla ice cream that had sichuan peppercorns sprinkled on top of it.
The only reason that this is getting two stars instead of two is that the waiter and staff were kind people.

Cool eatery and with ample parking. & has a Bay Area — Chiang Mai — NYC atmosphere.
Green Curry Salad — tasty and spicy
crispy tempura okra
tangy pork dumplings
Also a chalkboard of daily specials
Open kitchen. Tables inside/​outside and at the Bar.
Friendly servers. Prompt delivery.
Nice selection of wines and spirits.
I didn’t partake in any of the desserts, but they looked sweet & yum.

So many locals told us this place is not open for lunch, but I checked out the website and it said they were… so, we drove over.
I was happy to see that they were in fact open for lunch and that so many locals were wrong. I guess they used to not do lunch, and they reputation may have stuck, so spread the word around lunchtime if you’re nearby.
The place, itself, is really cool. The building is a converted gas station with plenty of seating both inside, and outside under the roof where the pumps used to be. The service was very friendly and the local beer selection was good.
The menu is very small, but there’s enough variation for everyone. I had the plain ol’ fried rice and it was awesome. Definitely in the top 3 fried rice dishes I’ve ever had.
I can’t wait to come back and see what’s on the dinner menu!

So I did some research after eating here and this place used to be a gas station! It’s quite impressive. They also have a tasting menu for $ 45, which you would have to tell them a day or two in advance if you’re interested.
As I continued my usual food adventure, dumplings was next on my list, I was so glad to have found a joint that sold veggie dumplings. The choice of veggie dumplings that day was mapo tofu. It’s $ 10 for 5 pieces, which is on the pricey side, but worth a try. I ordered it to go and ate one when I got it, I usually eat one on the spot to give a proper review. The dumplings were surprisingly very flavorful and the texture of the skin was not hard, it didn’t break apart when I picked it up and it held the filling and juices in perfectly. I didn’t use the sauce on the side because I felt like the dumplings had enough flavor.
As I waited for my order, I was offered water and chatted with some of the waiters, which were all super friendly! The bar seat is the best in the house because not only do you get to see food prepared but you also get to see the handsome co-​chef/​owner in action! His name is Patrick. Since the menu was still on my side, I ended up ordering ice cream. I asked to sample all the flavors because I have commitment problems when it comes to ice cream and I was given a sample of all their ice creams/​sorbets! Check out the pictures I uploaded. I was extremely grateful that they let me sample. My favorite was the toasted rice and Szechuan peppercorn. The chocolate gochujang was good too but I’m very picky when it comes to chocolate ice cream. I ended up ordering the peppercorn ice cream which was very satisfying.
SO, I usually don’t do repeats but I came back the following day after being so impressed with the dumplings. I had to try their vegetarian ramen and I did! Patrick wasn’t there that day. that was kind of a bummer; I like talking to the head chefs about their menus. The sous chef was there but I didn’t know who he was until I researched afterwards; I should have done it beforehand. So the ramen, they make everything from scratch! I was delighted to hear that but I was a tad thrown off by the texture of the ramen, it was harder than I expected. The soup base and apparent ingredients were a good mix though! I loved that it wasn’t overly salty because ramen tends to lean toward that side.
There’s outdoor seating and parking on both sides of the building. There was also a tiny clothing stand at the front lawn and games; I’m not sure if that’s there every day.

Love this place! It is a gas station turned into a restaurant.
It has a casual vibe and very pleasant to sit outside on warm days.
I love their house made ginger-​lime soda. So refreshing.
Here are my favorite dishes:
tempura okra
chicken wings
salt and pepper tofu
pork ribs
can’t go wrong with any of the dumplings
anything from the daily special is excellent too.
Service is always friendly and efficient.
Plenty of parking.
No reservations.

I am so glad that we gave Gan Shan a second chance! We went once, shortly after the restaurant opened, and felt that we had experienced an ‘off’ night. I have heard such great things over the past few months that we thought it would be good to head back over and see what has changed. I am happy to report that it lived up to our high expectations this time around!
First off, please let me say that having a restaurant in an old service station is pretty awesome. They have done a great job blending the existing industrial vibe of the building with original art pieces to create a bright, open, and well-​utilized dining area. I love that the kitchen is proudly showcased along the back wall of the restaurant and you can watch your food being prepared.
On both of our visits, the wait staff was friendly and attentive. Our food was prepared quickly and they also accommodated bringing my daughter chicken wings with sauce on the side.
Tonight we had the small plate shrimp, Gai Lon, Massaman curry chicken, chicken wings, and a couple of sides of rice. The shrimp was absolutely amazing! It was perfectly cooked and seasoned to be flavorful but not spicy. The Gai Lon is AMAZING and a bit spicier than last time, which we felt was a positive change. My daughter enjoyed her chicken wings and rice, and was kind enough to leave us a few wings to sample. They were delicious and the sauce was sweet with just a little zing at the end.
Gan Shan also has a decent little wine list, plenty of beers to choose from, and a good selection of cocktails.
This is a great place to meet up with friends, have a drink, and share several items around the table so you get to try a little bit of everything. We will definitely be going back and I recommend that you check it out, if you haven’t already! If you are visiting town, this is a great example of what the Asheville dining scene has to offer: bold, flavorful, adventurous food in a down-​to-​earth and funky setting.

**Disclaimer**
Usually Asian Fusion isn’t my scene. I find they’re a lot like a Swiss Army knives. They have a lot of options but do very few things well. This wasn’t the case at Gan Chan Station.
I visited this place for lunch, and the menu is more limited than dinner service and I certainly wasn’t disappointed.
We tried an assortment of small plates, starting with the Chinese Broccoli, which was grilled (very unique) and seasoned perfectly. Slightly spicy but perfect in all ways.
The Mapo was high on my list to try and it didn’t disappoint. I was nervous at first about the ground pork, but it was perfect over rice and the tofu was tender not over cooked in the slightest.
The salt and pepper shrimp was well seasoned, fried perfectly and served warm. My only beef with it was that the shrimp wasn’t peeled, not the biggest deal.
Lastly but far from the least enjoyable was the ginger beef dumplings. The spicy dipping sauce was great, the wrapper consistency was right on, slightly rubbery but still tender (the Asian version of al dente). I found the filling tasty and reminiscent of soup dumplings, with a nice slurp of broth inside.
The service was prompt and friendly, the food served warm and attentive without being annoying. I will definitely be returning.

Starters: Peppered beef dumplings… OMG FREAKING AMAZING my only issue there are only 5 dumplings excellent dipping sauce BTW!
Main course I had their special of the night which was Pork Laap. This is the spiciest dish I have had since being in the carolinas. This dish is served room temperature and was just delicious. WARNING If you don’t like spicy don’t order this dish. I absolutely loved it
Wife had the peppered steak dish which was so tender, cooked to perfection, and melted in your mouth along with the freshest vegetables!!!
The décor of this place was very cool. They left a lot of aspects of the previous gas station which is really sweet including belts still on hangers! The new bar layout is very chic along with the bad ass concrete bar with comfortable bar stools
The kitchen is open and the wait staff is superb. Customer service at its best in Asheville
This place deserves more than five stars I’m in love!!!

Wow.
This place is bustling with energy. Having been open for a few weeks, I felt that it was time to give this place a shot. (If you go too early in the opening process, there can be kinks that need to be addressed)
The space is extremely modern, while maintaining some of the quirks of the space to remind you that this building was indeed a gas station for quite some time. My favorite of these quirks are the bathroom mirrors, which still have the soap dispenser built into the metal chassis.
The kitchen is open, and a real part of the dining room. It’s bright, vibrant, but surprisingly quiet. There’s no yelling, the motions of the cooks seem focused and dedicated to the task at hand. There’s a long bar in front of it where the drinks are prepared and patrons can sit as well. The dining room has ample seating for probably about 60 – 80 people, but I didn’t count.
I arrived at 7 pm, which to my own fault was a dumb idea. Had I arrived at 6:30, or 8:30, I probably would have been sat much faster. No biggie, this place is brand new, everyone wants to check it out, and I just happened to pick the exact time that everyone else wanted to go.
My friends and I ended up waiting for an hour for a table. While we waited, we were sat in a pleasant little waiting area with chairs. We ambled to the bar and were able to bring drinks back with us to our holding pen to pass the time with libations and conversations.
Once sat we ordered about half the menu. Our items came out piece meal style, arriving once completed by the kitchen hot and quickly. I believe our first item came out within 5 minutes of our initial order which is remarkable considering our server would have to place the order in the POS and that takes time.
Oh yes, our server! Michael. Michael was extremely pleasant, he seemed to mold himself to our table’s pace and attitude. He was quick, and present whenever we needed him without hovering. Polite and pleasant through a full section and a slammed restaurant. I liked his style.
Now let’s talk about food! We ordered a variety of snacks and small plates, along with the Mapo Doufu and the Huiguo Rou larger plates.
The real hit were the ribs. Goodness they were great. Seriously wow. Tender, covered in a sweet spicy tangy sauce that was just great. These are an item not to be missed.
A personal favorite of mine were the pig ears. I don’t think I’ve ever had pig ears before last night, but they were quite splendid. Served in a small bowl, the pigs ears are sliced extremely thinly, some are boiled, providing a gelatinous collagen sort of textural experience, while others are deep fried like pork cracklings, thrown in along with this are tree ear mushrooms, giving you ears three different ways. I really enjoyed this.
The Huiguo Rou was the best I’ve ever had. The pork belly was porked (ha, that was a typo but I’m going to keep it) perfectly. Firm meat, melting fat, served in a delicious and not overly sweetened red sauce. You could write love letters to this dish.
The Mapo Tofu was pleasant as well, but the pork definitely shined brighter.
The dumplings, both vegetarian and meat, were great. The wrappers were a little thicker than I was expecting, but the filling was incredible. Both quite spicy. The meat dumplings were served with a righteous dipping sauce with Thai yam seasoning. I would dip anything in that sauce and call it delicious.
A real surprise was the Chinese Broccoli. It’s hidden on the side
The mung beans three ways were quite nice, I really enjoyed the mung bean cakes. Yum.
My friends loved the hearts of palm salad, and I must admit it was quite lively and balanced in flavor, but I’m not a palm heart hunter or aficionado.
I think that I’d pass on the pickles next time, as they were not much more than carrots, daikon, and sesame seeds with vinegar. I’ll survive without them.
One of the most pleasant things about Gan Shan Station was the spiciness. Things were actually spicy! Not in a maleficent attack your senses kind of way, but in a flavor enhancing lip and tongue tingling fun type of way. Being a leather mouth, it’s rare that I get that tingle, but Gan Shan had it popping. Really fun.
Huge meal, two drinks a person, $ 40 a head. Awesome.
The one sour note of my visit was before we were event sat. Having just ordered a round of drinks from the bar for my friends, I returned to the waiting area to find that a server was taking my chair. There wasn’t a, «Would you mind» or a «So sorry». No. Just «I’m taking this» Lucky for me there was an extra stool close by, but this individual experience left a sour taste on my tongue and hurt my feelings more than I expected it to. How can you ask a party to wait for nearly an hour and then take the chairs you’ve given them? It was silly. I resolved not to let it spoil my experience or sully my first impression.