Ginger Asian Bistro

The restaurant is run by a Chinese immigrant family, who are by no means wealthy. It is a strip mall Chinese restaurant, and gets the appropriate amount of attention. It has a total of 4 servers, and only 1 or 2 are normally on staff. Some days when there is only one server, they are surprised by a large amount of people coming in at once, and the server will have to scramble in a sweat to get everything done. I would attribute most of the «bad waiter» comments to this. Yes, certain foods are frozen. They do not have the clientel or the income to get everything fresh all the time. If you’re elitist about it you can jump off a cliff.
The boss, Jin, works on the floor and as a fry cook. To everyone mentioning that she «comes out of the kitchen then goes right back,» now you know why. Because it’s busy, stressful, and nobody has time to deal with your crybaby «oh I didn’t get a refill» whining. Also making death eyes at servers won’t get them to serve you quicker.
To everyone complaining about the «spicy» rating. This isn’t a science. Literally a 30 year old chinese woman who knows English as her second language made the menu. Yes there are typos. Yes the «pepper» scale isn’t scientific. But you know what? I think the curry is spicy as hell, and then I read reviews from people who say it doesn’t even deserve 1 pepper rating? I have to wonder if they’re putting that because they’re honest, or just indirectly complimenting themselves??? Or perhaps the SUBJECTIVITY of the spiciness just shouldn’t be brought up at all, if people have such a huge gap in spicy tolerance? I think the curry is just right, any spicier and I wouldn’t eat it. Should Ginger change the recipe just because 2 or 3 people negatively reviewed it on Unilocal?
And as far as Bradley H’s review goes, wow man the army did not help your writing skills much. Need a few more periods and a few less capital letters. I can only disbelievingly laugh at your «black licorice» comment.

We went here for a Sunday dinner, and definitely weren’t disappointed. We started with an order of crab Rangoon, and spring rolls. Both were delicious, and perfect for our group of four. I ordered the broccoli chicken, which was amazing. It had the perfect proportions of chicken and broccoli, and I got my own individual bowl of rice. There was more than enough for two meals, and the leftovers tasted just as good! Our server was very friendly, everything came out quickly, and she kept our drinks full! Will definitely be going back!

I’m from California originally, and have been to a lot of Asian restaurants. Generally, the quality of ethnic food in this part of Illinois leaves a lot to be desired. However, Ginger Asian Bistro is a breath of fresh air. Nice crisp vegetables and excellent seasoning. The cumin lamb is unusual and my favorite!

Writing this while in the restaurant. Took awhile to get waited on. The lone server was waiting on a table of friends and spending a lot of time catering to them. Finally took my order then disappeared for several minutes before bringing a drink. Suddenly my plate of food was literally dropped in front of me and the woman who brought it disappeared back into the kitchen very quickly. At one point the server offered more to drink but never asked how anything was.
The hot and sour soup was excellent. My chicken entrée was just ok. Tasted like it was pre-​made and simply warmed up.
When I paid, the waiter/​cashier said nothing. He just took my money, handed me change and just stood there. I said thanks and I think I heard a faint «thanks» in return, but I was already headed out the door.
There were very few other customers in the restaurant. If this service keeps up, there will be fewer.
It has potential, but it seemed tense, like the employees were not happy to be there.
I probably won’t go back. There are better Asian places in town.

Great food we both had the chicken pad Thai and shared the sampler platter. The pad Thai was pretty freakin awesome. I would order it again. The sampler platter was good too. Gotta give them hella props on their mango sauce it was amazing. We went for lunch and we ordered from the lunch menu where everything is only $ 5.25. I thought that was a steal. You should try this place. 5 stars keep it up you guys!!!

It has to be said right away this has hands down the Worst Asian dinning experience i have ever had and that is saying something since i have been all over the country and outside the country through the military. At first walking in the place looks nice and clean. The person behind the counter told us to seat ourselves anywhere so we chose a half Booth half Chairs Table, there didn’t seem to be any full booths so if that is your thing you wont get that there. Our server came to the table shortly after sitting down with menus and silverware/​cloth napkin rolls then took our drink order my Wife having Diet Pepsi and I got water. Our server brought our drinks right away and took our food order.
After we ordered our food the only other times we had seen our server was when he dropped off the appetizers and shortly after he was walking to his car and driving away. We ordered the Cheesy Crab Ragoon and Thai Crispy Chicken Wings for our starters. The Cheesy Crab Ragoon had very little filling it was like we ordered fried Wantons instead and the Mango Chili sauce was just a Thai Chili sauce if there was Mango in it then they must have used about as much mango in the sauce as crab filling in the crab ragoons. The Thai Crispy Wings was the best part of the meal the chicken had a nice crispness to it and tossed in Thai chili sauce. For the Entrée portion of our lunch my wife ordered Egg Drop Soup while i ordered the lunch special General Tso’s chicken which comes with fried rice and either spring rolls or soup or both for an up charge of $.99 i went with the spring rolls. My wife’s review of the Egg Drop Soup is the only thing she could taste was pepper and lots of it she also said it is the worst egg drop soup she has ever had. The Shanghai spring rolls that came with my lunch were luke warm at best and tasteless save for the «Mango» Thai chili sauce they are served with. About 15 minutes after the appetizers another server brought out my General Tso’s chicken puts it in the middle of the table and walks away to another table (at this time my drink had been empty for about 8 minutes). The fried rice was tasteless save for the large amounts of peas and large chunks of onion there was nothing else to this fried rice i even spread it out so i could be sure and sure enough only peas and onions the rice was devoid of any flavor. The General Tso’s Chicken was just flat out not good with a taste and smell that i can only describe as black licorice after eating a few bites of the chicken and not having my drink my stomach was not feeling so good. After a few attempts and eye contact with the other server i finally had enough and went in search of my own drink refill. This server who seemed very intent on not helping our table seen me getting my own refill and yet didn’t seem to even bother with coming to check on our table. Shortly after getting my own refill what i assume was the manager she came out went to one table asked if they needed anything and was gone just as quick. After a few more minutes the Manager lady came up to my table and asked how everything was so i told her how terrible the whole experience had been, she looked at me for a few seconds then without a word just walked away. My wife had to go to the cash register to ask for a box that’s when the manager lady let her know she would bring it out with the check. The Check coming to $ 14.56 which is very cheap when stacked against other Asian restaurants but it shows in the horrible service and Bad food… But at least it was clean

Wonton soup was awesome! Then I got the rest of my food. This was the worst general Taos I’ve ever had. My boyfriend got seaseme chicken and both dishes tasted the same. I don’t even know how that is possible? The service was horrible, I had hot tea but my boyfriend had soda and only got a refill once. The only reason this place got 2 stars is due to how amazing the wonton soup tasted, it’s by far the best I have ever had. It wasn’t just us either another couple sitting at a table near us had the same issues with the place. Food and service. I would go back but only for the soup sadly!

Excellent in every way. A hidden gem in Pekin. Service is just right, the food is very fresh and packed with flavor. Very clean and friendly. My wife is Chinese so this is where we eat when we go out.

Quaint place, quit and relaxing place to get an excellent lunch for a great price. Food is hot, fresh and served quickly.

Excellent spring rolls and pad Thai. Any of the noodle dishes are tasty.

Great hidden gem. Broad menu haven’t had a bad dish yet. Excellent presentation, great staff, atmosphere. Look forward to eating there again.

Thee best Asian food I have had in a long time! I hope it stays open for a long time! Please try it!

Service was prompt and attentive. I had the Curry Chicken. The menu says it is a mild Coconut curry. I’m not sure I’d call it a coconut curry as the sauce looks like it has more fish sauce than coconut milk. I think the menu accurately gives it 1 chili to show the amount of spice. There are no dishes with 2 chilies and a handful with three. This dish has a little bite but won’t leave you crying to your mother for a glass of milk.
I’m not familiar with the Peoria/​Pekin area but I will be back often for work. One of the reviews I read before going to Ginger said it was good for Pekin but gave just 3 Stars. I guess that means the bar isn’t high? I’d say that this is your typical Midwest town’s Americanized Asian cuisine. It’s close to my hotel so I’ll more than likely be back.

I love this restaurant! I have been there twice and had the pad Thai both times. It is so good. They will adjust the recipes for vegetarians. Also serve beer and I think wine. Good food and good service. Looking forward to the next I go (want to order something different next time.)

Visiting Pekin, I decided out of curiosity to eat here. Usually I eat at Thanh Linh in Peoria.
For an appetizer, I ordered the pot stickers. They were fried rather than steamed — a matter of preference, I guess. The acommpanying dipping sauce was unremarkable.
For the main course, I ordered the Basil Chow Fun with tofu. The noodles were terribly overcooked — just mush — and the sauce was tasteless. The vegetables in the dish seemed like frozen vegetables.
I will not return. I will stick with Thanh Linh for no-​fail Asian food.

Finally found myself within 5 miles of Ginger Asian so made a detour to check it out. Not terribly busy for a Friday night although there were people in and out for takeout. One star off for no plum wine, I feel like that’s a staple for any Asian restaurant in Central IL. We decided to share 3 items so we tried the Ginger special fried rice, eggplant with pork and chicken curry. Both the eggplant and the curry had the spicy pepper symbol so we asked for the eggplant to be made mild. She said she would leave out the jalapenos. The table next to us had a dish with jalapenos in it and they made up about 30% of the dish so it was a good thing to leave them out!
Our food arrived quickly and the eggplant was the tastiest although the pork was very, very mushy so I would leave it out next time too. The curry had only a slight hint of heat to it, definitely didn’t need that pepper symbol and I’m a spiciness lightweight. The special fried rice just had bacon pieces in it and wasn’t my favorite. I do love me some bacon but that flavor doesn’t blend with Asian food or curry. I ate it the next day by itself and it was a good dish on it’s own but not with other food. Our main dish ingredients were all very fresh tasting and there was plenty of food for 2 people. Glad I made a detour to try it out!

For Pekin this would be a 5. Overall a 3 for me. The food isn’t spicy when marked as such. Hot sour soup isn’t very good. Spring rolls are a little lackluster not fresh made, frozen if not store bought. Chicken satay wasn’t anything like any place I’ve had fried not grilled. If you’re in Pekin and want decent read as edible Asian food this is your best option. Lunch is a good deal dinner seems high priced.

We were referred to Ginger Asian Bistro by a friend. I was very shocked that it wasn’t the standard Asian buffet. I was a little disappointed, but since my wife (who doesn’t care for Asian food) was willing to try, so was I!
The food was good. She loved the spring rolls and I was pleasantly surprised at the crab Rangoon. Very original flavors. The General Tsos was… just okay. I give this place a 4 for the good service, cleanliness and guts enough to finally bring a decent sit down restaurant to Pekin that doesn’t taste like canned truck stop food.
I recommend Ginger Asian Bistro!

My favorite Asian restaurants always seem to be in strip malls, so let’s add Ginger to the list! Our server was very attentive. I was part of a party of nine, and we were there to celebrate my grandparents’ 56^th anniversary. The server was prompt and made our celebration special by bringing my grandparents a little slice of congratulatory cheesecake. My crab Rangoon was honestly some of the best I’ve had in years. Everyone at the table had plate envy when my entrée of pistachio coconut chicken arrived. Even the server commented that the pistachio coconut chicken was one of her favorites. The chicken was thinly sliced with a crunchy coating and was served with a lime sauce. I hope I make it back here someday!

A great find in Pekin, IL. San Fransisco and Monterey Park has better Asian restaurants, but in Central IL this is the best I have found. It has an Americanized taste as I would expect for the area, but good. Asians find the taste okay but us locally born loved it. We tried a beef curry, beef noodle soup and thai basil beef. All were good, but the curry was the best of the three.