Cafe Ginger - Houston

The food at Cafe Ginger was quite good, and the service was satisfactory. We went there on a Friday evening, and surprisingly, the restaurant was almost empty. While the flavors of the dishes were enjoyable, I found the portion sizes to be on the smaller side, especially given the higher price point. We ordered a couple of appetizers and two main courses, and since there were three of us, the waiter brought an extra serving of rice. However, when the bill arrived, I noticed there was an additional charge for the rice. I also asked for some fried noodles to accompany my soup, only to find out there was an extra fee for those as well—a charge that most Chinese restaurants usually waive. I would have been fine with the additional costs for these items if our waiter had at least informed us in advance. Overall, there wasn't anything particularly memorable about Cafe Ginger that would entice me to return anytime soon.

On Valentine's Day, we arrived hungry, but the waitress was quite busy and didn’t pay us much attention. We understood it was a busy day. We ordered our food along with some dumplings as an appetizer; however, our rolls were served first, and the dumplings came much later. By that time, we were too full to enjoy them and barely had a chance to taste them. There was no apology for the delay, and we were charged for them anyway. Since we weren’t going home afterwards, we couldn’t take the dumplings with us, which was disappointing as they ended up going to waste.

It was a little crowded on Valentine's Night, but they performed better than I expected.

The server was friendly but inexperienced. The seafood soup was excellent and the beef quality is better than most Chinese restaurants. I did not care for the brown sauces on our dishes.

The service was not up to the usual standard. Not used to asking to orfer or for a drink refill. Complimentary dessert was (frozen) tiramisu...good intentions.