Liquid Ginger

Good Food, SLOW services…
I went for a friends birthday, so I was lucky to be there with friends, because the chitchat kept us from noticing that we were starving and the food was taking forever. The waiter (the manager) was distracted, forgetting to fill water cups, didnt clean out plates from the tables, and seemed confused about the menu. This restaurant’s saving grace is that the food, prices, and drink menu. The avocado salad was wonderful, the ginger dressing was unique and delicious. I also had the crab rangoon which were well made. Others had the chicken pad thai, and all expressed their satisfaction. I tried it, it was spicy for me, so just check with your waiter for spicy levels. I will probably go again but with reservations and patience.

Really didn’t like our food. The pad Thai was terrible, the chicken bulgogi and the beef bulgogi had very little meat and very little flavor. The sushi was decent. I would definitely not recommend this place.

The food was absolutely fantastic, but the overall experience was much less enjoyable. We went with a group of 5, and it was raining outside. They sat us at a table on the covered potion of the patio, and the tables and black chairs were all soaking wet. We stood and waited while our server went to get towels to dry everything off, but he came back with a few white linens and told us to just sit on them. We did.
His service from then on was friendly and attentive, though when we had waited for about 30 minutes after we ordered, it started to get very cold outside. We asked to move to an inside table, and they accommodated. It was about 25 minutes later when our food finally arrived at the table. It was DELICIOUS! I ordered two sushi rolls (Angry Dragon and Philly). I’ll post a couple pictures.
Highly recommend if you have lots of time to spare and are craving incredibly sushi!

We ordered take out from Liquid Ginger. The girl who took the order didn’t know anything about was available. Every question required a wait while she checked with someone else. We finally ordered crusty lime chicken with a side of broccoli.
When we arrived, the «manager» got our order. When we suggested that the person who took our order didn’t know the food, he got angry with us and told us she was well-​trained. When we asked if the broccoli was in the bag, he snapped that it was (without looking.)
You guessed it — when we got back to our B&B room (exhausted) there was no broccoli.
The lime chicken is really just a fried chicken breast with a side of lime sauce. It was greasy and at best mediocre. When we called, the same manager answered. When told we did not receive broccoli, he said, «well you can come back and get it.» No apology, no offer of a credit, no offer to make up for our coming back with a drink or dessert. He actually made it sound as if it were our fault!
Needless to say, we did not go back to the restaurant to get our broccoli.
And we will never walk in the restaurant again — I would suggest you avoid it as well.

Great location and nice ambiance. Its not directly on the road around downtown. So I had not tried this for a long time. The inside location helps because it keeps you away from a bunch of homeless people which are increasing day by day in downtown Gainesville.
Had some chicken and shrimp with peanut curry on valentines day 2016. It was the only place in downtown which did not have 1 hour waiting that day. No problems with service. The food was ok. Ice tea was really good. It might seem expensive but it is still cheaper than other places in this area. I might come again if I cant get in anywhere else

This was a very disappointing experience… Came here with 4 friends for dinner on a Thursday and they were pretty empty inside. Our waiter was nice but seemed uneducated about the menu (didn’t know what wine we were ordering). I shared the creamy shrimp bento box and chicken pad Thai bento box with a friend. The soup was good, salad was incredibly overdressed to the point that dressing was just dripping all over the place every time I took a bite. We watched our drinks sit up at the counter for 5 – 10 minutes before our server brought them to the table.
The bento boxes were cool with the little sides but the meals were pretty unappealing. The creamy shrimp had soooo much breading and was so crispy that it was hard to even bite through and find the shrimp inside. The pad Thai didn’t taste very authentic which would be ok but the flavors were still not very good. One of the girls in our group ordered 1 sushi roll instead of a bento box and even though it didn’t seem like there were many other sushi orders it took an extra 5 minutes after the rest of us got our food. Definitely wouldn’t go back.

Decided to try some sushi when I was in town on business. This place was recommended, and I have to say I really enjoyed dining here. The food is delicious and their presentation is gorgeous. The décor of the place is very clean and relaxing. And the servers are pleasant, not super friendly. They have very reasonable lunch specials that come with miso soup and a house salad. Very filling portions. I would definitely recommend giving this place a try if you are in town and have a hankering for some sushi!

This place is terrible, let me count the ways:
1. The food is bland. It wouldn’t be terrible if it were priced what it’s worth, as generic Asian fast food. But it’s expensive, which just adds insult to culinary injury. You have to add salt to everything, and even then it’s not appealing, just passable.
2. Service was bad, and I don’t think it’s the waiters’ fault. Honestly, I watched some guy who looked like a manager or shift supervisor micromanage every employee. And it seemed like there were way too many people on staff. Our waiter was this creepy skinny kid with a semi-​beard, and he seemed like kind of a douche. He got us our food on time, but he completely ignored us the rest of the time.
3, That’s pretty much it. Isn’t that enough? I have no idea how these people keep a good enough amount of business coming in to afford the prime location, but I don’t think they’ll last much longer. At least, not without a serious change of management.

Liquid Ginger is one of those restaurants that is kinda tucked away in a corner that if people don’t tell you about, you might never go. Walking through the front door, you are greeted by a well decorated. though dimly lit, restaurant. The restaurant is spacious and the seats are comfortable. But lets move on from the décor. The food is the main focus. Liquid Ginger does a pan-​Asian style menu and they do it pretty well. You have everything from sushi, to steak, to Pad Thai and Thai curry. I happened to get the Pad Thai tonight and the portion size was big. The chicken was cooked well, tender and very flavorful. The noodles were cooked just right, not overcooked and had some good bite. Liquid Ginger also has a decent bar with a solid selection of drinks. The only downside I can say is that things are pretty pricey. But with good food, a romantic atmosphere, and friendly servers, if you have a special occasion, this is a good place to go. Give it a try!

If you want a nice looking restaurant in the middle of Downtown with some okay food, this is the place for you. I’ve been here a few times and have never been impressed. The only reason I like this place is for the classy ambiance and the location.
I’ve ordered their bento box specials for their dinners and it is a decent deal. The entrée you order comes with a salad, soup, and ice cream. Their miso soup and green tea ice cream is good. However, I tried their beef curry and was disappointed. There is so many vegetables in the dish and barely any meat. I was so hungry afterwards just because the vegetables do not fill me up at all. The curry was mediocre in my opinion. It was not that flavorful and I felt that the chefs did not know how to cook yellow curry that well.
In terms of service, I did not get the best impression. I came one evening for an event was being held at the venue and some of the waiters were very rude. They walked right across the presenters during the programmed event, and walked in interrupting while someone was giving a speech. If they did so in a polite tasteful manner I would not have minded, but one of the waiters came in yelling about who ordered what and did not care about the event that they had agreed to host. If you are thinking about hosting an event here, I would reconsider because the service will not be too accommodating.
The ambiance on the other is nice and classy. It is decorated very nicely and is perfect for a lovely evening for a date for two. They also have outside seating, which is nice for the downtown nighttime setting. All in all, this restaurant is just okay to me and I have had better.

3.5 stars
I found liquid ginger to have a few dishes I absolutely loved and a few things not so great. The eggplant appetizer was fantastic while the spring roll appetizer wasn’t so great to me. The Thai curry coconut tofu was absolutely wonderful, however the steak meal my wife ordered was less desirable. We did not order the sushi but it doesn’t look like sushi is their specialty. The service was very at tentative and very friendly. I think I would come back again for take out on a few selected dishes. Like all restaurants in the downtown area parking can be a bit difficult. My feelings about liquid ginger are mixed. But over all the experience was decent.

I loved this place, food and service were beyond expectation. I will be going back!
I’ve been back about three times in the same month. All is still exceptionally good. The sushi was flavorful, the lunch was very well portioned, and service is always so nice.

Great food, atmosphere, and service!
I came for dinner and left very satisfied overall. The space itself has a «simple yet elegant» feel to it, and it seems like a great place to maybe take a dinner date. Our waiter was incredibly helpful, polite and attentive. They have a huge tea selection and food selection, but as a vegetarian I was grateful for my less extensive (but still sizable!) list of options. (There’s a vegetarian menu, and it seems like most all of the options were vegan, although I didn’t verify that.)
We started with the plum tea, which was pleasantly sweet and just $ 3 for a pot that lasted through the meal. We both ordered entrees with the «bento upgrade” — $ 4 more to add soup, salad, sides, and ice cream to your order. My spinach and tofu soup was really flavorful, as was the ginger dressing I got on the salad. I got the stir fry vegetable udon as my entrée, and it was really good and a pretty big potion size! I avoid dairy (which I assume the ice cream included), but I took a small bite of the green tea ice cream and that was quite good as well.

There is absolutely NOTHING objectionable about Liquid Ginger. I ate chicken curry, beef bulgogi, rib eye steak, salad w/​sesame dressing, miso soup, broccoli, pickles, potatoes, plum and lavender teas, and green tea ice cream. I can’t say that anything was mind-​blowing, but it was certainly a place I’d return to. Expect to pay $ 20/​person and have a nice time, not the best time, but you run absolutely no risk of getting dumped here.

Description:
I came here a few weeks ago for lunch. A friend of mine said their food was pretty good and worth trying so I figured why not. From where it’s located to its name, Liquid Ginger, sounds like a cool fusion hip restaurant if I had to take a wild guess. Although the interior is nice and somewhat ideal to bring a date, it wasn’t what I was expecting. The place looked a tad worn out and generic. My guess is that the restaurant has looked the same for a long time. Again, nothing wrong just not what I expected when I heard the name.
Food & Service:
I will say their lunch menu is very affordable and quite reasonable. A lot of their lunch specials came with a soup and salad, not bad. It seems to be a solid place for people getting a bite to eat on their lunch break. Not sure about their dinner. Anyways, my experience turned a bit sour from there. After getting my water, my waiter didn’t come back for awhile to take my order. Granted he was busy but it took longer than usual. I ordered the coconut curry with shrimp. Soup and salad were very basic. It’s nice that they come with the meal but it’s just filler food in my opinion. The curry was eh. Flavor wasn’t bad but it was slightly watery and wasn’t very hot. Rice portion was a tad stingy. The vegetables and shrimp weren’t good though. Not well seasoned and tasted like packaged food. The shrimp was way too rubbery, definitely overcooked. I was in and out pretty quick because I had to work. The waiter was kind enough to bring me a box and my check swiftly so I could leave.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I’ll still give the place 3 stars because I didn’t have a terrible experience but it definitely won’t be memorable. There’s a chance I’ll come here again for lunch because of the prices though. I’ll stick to something else next time. I’ve heard their dinner is not bad though? I’ll do a possible updated review in the future. Oh! I heard they do have some good tea though, also something to check out maybe.

This is a pretty good place for lunch, we had gone about 30 mins before closing time, but we were seated and got our food fairly quickly, we got the lunch combo which includes soup, salad, spring roll rice and entrée. The weird thing is I ordered Pad Thai with Chicken and I still got a side of rice, those who ordered fried rice, ended up not getting a side of rice, I mean it makes sense to have with curry. Strange !! But the service was good and food was pretty good.

This is my 5^th time here at liquid ginger.
I could testified that their service is a hit or a miss depending on the time of day.
Their sushi I had was a bit expensive for what it’s worth – that one time I went here with a friend and we ordered 40 dollars worth of sushi and we left unsatisfied by both the quality and service given)
Other than that one experience, the other had been great.
If you’re here for the first timw, I recommend trying their «Spicy Cream Schrimp», it’s delicious.

I have been coming to this restaurant for over a year now at least once or twice a month. The serving sizes have generously gone down and the service is not as great as it should be for a restaurant like that.
1. The tea has gone from amazing loose leaf to cheap tasteless tea bags (A brand I have never heard of).
2. Our waiter Alex was absolutely terrible. We arrived waited 15 minutes to get waters; waited another 15 for our drink orders and so we decided to order our food at the same time. It took forever to get refills and our food. After 50 minutes of waiting our food, it arrived so we went ahead and asked for the check.
3. Sauce spilled on the table and he handed me paper napkins to wipe it up myself. He then left and I had to ask him to wipe it up again!
Update: it’s been about 2 months since I’ve been back and I’m sad to say the service is worse. I’ve tried talking to the owner/​manager and he had a hard time understanding me. If they got better service if be coming back again.

I came here with my family on Christmas Day after driving around Gainesville looking for a place that was open. Even though I have lived in Gainesville before (during my undergrad days), I had never been to Liquid Ginger.
There were plenty of tables open, probably only two or three other small groups eating, when we came in. We were seated quickly and water was brought out right away. Our waitress was nice; she answered our questions and took our orders in a timely manner. The decorations were trendy and not tacky.
Originally, I wanted to get sushi, but after looking at the quality of the fish, my mom didn’t think it looked super fresh. I mean, we did show up the evening of Christmas, so maybe it’s not usually like that.
Anyway, I ordered the pad thai with beef and I enjoyed it. The pad thai was slightly spicier than most places, but I liked it like that, since most pad thai is extremely sweet. There was a lot of food on my plate. I did think it was strange, though, that it came with a tiny dish of rice, but everyone’s dish did, so I guess that’s just how they do things there. I think my brother ended up eating my rice because he didn’t have enough, so it worked out anyway.
Dishes my other family members ordered included thai red curry, coconut curry chicken, some dish with scallions and beef and ginger, and some beef and veggie stuff in a clay pot. The red curry was spicy and tasty, but the other dishes were unremarkable, especially the clay pot dish. My husband didn’t finish the clay pot dish because it wasn’t that great, so we took some of it home. When I decided to eat it the next day, I had to put a good amount of sriracha on it to give it some more flavor.
I decided to give Liquid Ginger 3 stars because of the following reasons:
— I enjoyed my pad thai
— the prices were on the high side
— fast service
I probably wouldn’t go back again unless I wanted to try their sushi, but I wouldn’t discourage anyone to go try them out… just don’t get the clay pot dish!

haha, wow. I had such a horrible experience at Bahn Thai that it is actually making me lower my standards (and appreciate) what little Gainesville has!
Liquid Ginger isn’t trying to be Thai at least, its more of an Asian Fusion place heavier on the Japanese. The salmon ginger on coconut rice is actually pretty delicious.