Ginga Sushi Bar

Ginga Sushi Bar
http://www.gingarestaurant.com.au/southbank/



Sunday lunch after a big night out (breakfast was skipped due to being queasy)... Marc and I decided we'd go to Southbank and definitely find something there. However, once we arrived at Southbank, inspiration did not suddenly strike. Indeed we walked up and down the precinct before deciding on the Burrito Bar. Unfortunately it was not open nor did it open at 11am as stated on their trading hours sign (we gave it a good 10min before giving up). Conveniently next door was Ginga, which was my second choice.



After living in Brisbane for double digit years, it's strange that I never tried Ginga Sushi Bar. I had heard good things about it though. We were literally one of the first customers through the door but the ring of seats around the sushi train area filled up rather quickly.



We were starving by this point and I eagerly scouted the sushi plates that chugged past before snatching a couple down to start with.

Teriyaki chicken roll

Chicken and avo roll

It's hard to blog about a sushi train because essentially, what we had was a variety of sushi. I thought the quality was pretty good. Being some of their first lunch customers, we did get the freshest pickings so I'm not sure if it makes a difference going at other times.

Potato salad sushi roll

Tempura seafood stick roll

Salmon nigiri

I didn't try any really exciting varieties (figured out too late that I could've ordered them from the menu rather than waiting for old favorites to magically appear).

Lobster roll

There was something that resembles the lobster roll from Top Sushi that was nice. The salmon nigiri was very fresh and plump too.

Mango smoothie and taro smoothie

We had some drinks too. Marc tried the mango smoothie. It had that artificial yet not unpleasant mango flavor that Asian mango puddings have. Not bad. I couldn't go past the taro smoothie. I was curious about different it would be to a taro milk tea. It was much creamier and thicker, as though blended from taro gelato (which is probably what it is).

Karaage chicken

Finally, I could not resist the urge for fried chicken any longer. After waiting fruitlessly for karaage chicken to appear on the train, I grabbed a waitress and asked for a plate and she miraculously had one on hand. Amazing. Ask and you shall receive.

I thought Ginga was quite nice. Perhaps the sushi were not as refined as Hanaichi Sushi Bar or as creative as those little sushi bars in the CBD but the ones we tried were consistently fresh. The atmosphere was nice too, although that's almost a given for any Southbank restaurant.