Ginseng

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

I'm not a big fan of Chinese food, I usually find it's too fatty, and too full of filler veggies like capsicum and practically raw onion. But, I love Ginseng. It's got a lot of traditional dishes, but they're more refined, very fresh and and with lovely clean flavours. It's got to be one of the best Chinese restaurants in Canberra, if not the best.

Mar 09, 2011 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  9     

I just loved it! From entree all the way through the food was sensational. The reef and beef takes the cake along side the duck pancakes. The staff were friendly and attentive and full of great menu suggestions. I would encourage people to try it just because it isn't your stock standard Chinese food.

PS: I also popped back for lunch and had a combination soup - what a cracker, those wontons are something else and I think the broth has healing properties!

Dec 01, 2010 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  10      Value  10     

Gorgeous duck pancakes, quick service, very generous portions and very tasty Chinese, the classics like sweet and sour pork and honey chicken were excellent. Very, very good value for money!

Nov 21, 2010 

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

Great food, good service, surely will go back. The entree almond prawn and the curry chicken are delicious.

Mar 03, 2010 

5.5 Average

Food  7      Ambience  2      Service  5      Value  8     

Chilli paste is the best dish. White rice with chilli paste and a side of their $8 lunch special is all you need. Roast duck and king prawn fried rice is also yummy. All must try. Better than anything else on meal menu.

Nov 09, 2009 

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

Very lovely food. The duck pancakes and vegetarian hotpot were great, and the wasabi beef was delicious. The ambience was a little lacking, though, and definitely don't order the wine by the glass, it was very disappointing! But will surely be back for the food.

Jun 23, 2009 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

We booked a table on Sunday night over the Queens Birthday long weekend. I was feeling like some traditional Chinese restaurant food so we had a scout around some websites (we're not Canberra locals) and Ginseng looked to be the place to go. Unfortunately, our cab didn't know how to get to Manuka from our Hotel so we had a crack at directing him ourselves (we got there in the end).

After purchasing some wine across the road (gotta love BYO!). We arrived at the restaurant but our table wasn't quite ready but thankfully the weather wasn't too cold so we waited outside. We were seated about 5 minutes later. The place was buzzing with atmosphere including a large Birthday Party so it was a good start. Because it was so busy I was little worried that service may be slow but after perusing the (large) menu, our orders were in and we were on our way.

We started with some spring rolls and pork dumplings, they were absolutely sensational. The flavours were perfect. Then before too long our mains of beef (can't remember what exactly it was) and chilli chicken arrived. Again, the food was superb, the chicken was a little oily and not really hot at all but this was surpassed by the flavours. One thing to remember is that the servings are on the bigger side so keep that in mind when you order.

Service was efficient and courteous, what you'd expect in a restaurant like this.
Canberra, you should thank your lucky stars that you have a restaurant that serves food as good as this!

Jun 08, 2009 

6.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  6     

Still on my quest for great peking duck. Had the peking duck pancakes and thought they were very average, nothing special in terms of flavour or quality. I had vegetable san choi bow and my husband had duck san choi bow. Mine was good and my husband also enjoyed his. While they used good fresh ingredients there were no strong tastes or flavours to excite. I will go back for the quality in ingredients but not rush.

Mar 18, 2009 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  10     

Fantastic food, fresh, very good quality and flavour. Only criticism, not long enough between entree and main.

Jan 29, 2009 

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

There are lots of certificates of great worthy-ness on the walls of Ginseng, which is what made us chose to eat there. Whilst the food was good, I didn't think it was worth the approbation. Our crispy duck was average, not that crispy, a tad too fatty, though a nice flavour. The other dishes were ok but not remarkable. The service was excellent and they were helpful about not putting MSG in the food though did warn me that some of the preprepared sauces would contain it. Overall, too pricey for what you get I felt.

Jan 06, 2009