Ginger Asian Bistro

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.

A while back, the owners of Ginger Asian Bistro had taped a small sign in the window: the word "buffet" with the red circle and line through it, probably as a way of telling prospective customers that this restaurant does not offer a buffet, but I saw it as their way of proudly saying, "this ain't a buffet!"

My wife and I have eaten here many times since they opened, early in 2012.  We have been pleased every time!  They have a great $4.95 lunch special.  The food is not especially spicy or fiery, but if you want some heat, order the Ma Po tofu, or the Ginger chow fun (the jalapenos ratchet the heat up--probably the hottest dish on the menu).  The Singapore noodles have a nice warmness and hint of curry.  The chicken Pad Thai was a little more tangy than I like, yet I'll order it again, I'm sure.  My wife is a true fan of the cashew chicken.  While we haven't had everything on the menu, we've sampled enough to say you probably can't go wrong.  

A nice "secret" to know is that they are usually able to prepare dishes not on the menu (for example, egg drop soup, chow mein, eggs fu yung).  Just ask.

One thing that impresses me here is the care they take to have very good presentation of their dishes--the food is arranged attractively on the plate, not just heaped there.  Ginger Asian Bistro would compare very favorably with any Chinese restaurant in a much larger urban area, with a much larger Asian population.

The floor service has gotten much faster than when we first started eating there.  The restaurant should be more crowded!  At lunch it can feel a little full, but seating is hardly ever a problem.  Folks in Pekin should discover what they've been missing!

Ginger Asian Bistro is no longer offering "pinot nair," but they do have beer and wine, including pinot noir.  I just never had the guts to try the pinot nair . . . I wish my wife had, though.

Great food!  Lunch specials are very generous and inexpensive.  Menu gives so many choices.  Good service too!