11th May 2024 | Birthday Tour Part II

As we left the car park, there was some confusion as to the location of our first stop for part 2 of the Cheltenham food tour. First half was to celebrate HT’s birthday so it was decided that an evening meal would round things off although, as ever, there’s so many more places to check out at a later date. Making our way out of the hustle and bustle of the Brewery Quarter, we headed right instead of left and away from the town centre and came upon Ginger & Garlic. The senses are instantly flooded as soon as you enter the Korean Restaurant. The amount of fellow diners gives a loud, raucous reception welcoming you in to the simply decorated interior. Someone once said ‘the less they spend on the decor, the better the food’ and they weren’t wrong. All of the attention is focused in the right places by delivering delicious dishes.

It’s always so hard to pick when the menu is so vast but determination ensured as many different options were tried as possible. Although starters were ordered, it was good to see food being brought to the table as soon as it was ready so it was hot. The exception to this was the side order of spinach which was unexpectedly cold. No real comment to be made about this part of the meal. Spinach is spinach, sometimes need to see a green thing on your plate. The two favourites among the starters for different reasons were the Kimchi pancakes and ribs. HT wasn’t expecting to like the pancakes but agreed with LC and RS that they were a good choice. The ribs arrived and were huge, so much meat that melted off the bone but had some crispy bits to add texture and dripping in sauce. Deep fried seaweed stuffed with glass noodles were more fiery than anticipated and would probably not be ordered next time. The silence that had descended as the meal was consumed was remarked upon by LC who stated ‘don’t think we’ve been this quiet at dinner ever’. Not sure if it was the hunger or the amount of food or the absorption into the task at hand but some really delicious food was presented and were feasted upon.

Mains to follow included chicken katsu for LC, Beef Bulgogi for HT and Bibimbap tofu for RS. The portions were huge for each meal but felt particularly so with the katsu curry. Crispy chicken on an enormous bed of rice and smothered with the classic katsu curry sauce. HT was a little disappointed with the meat on her bulgogi and felt if she had ordered the chicken it would have been more satisfying. None the less she was happy with the lettuce dumplings and maybe next time would try something else. RS was hit with the spicy sauce covering the tofu and fried egg at the top of the bibimbap but all of the ingredients infused together created mouthfuls of flavours with each bite. Not sure if the hot plate on the table was supposed to be used at any time but it was left off to save any injury. Drinks order was simple with sprite and Coca Cola although you wouldn’t have been able to decide on another option for your second drink as the menu was taken away.

The evening ended with a trip to a pub that RS recommended having gone during the day on other occasions with friends but hadn’t realised it would be popular for the wrong reasons in the evening. Stag and hen dos were out in force as well as a lot of very merry people. Last minute realising the ticket would be running out on the car, a speedy exit was made still full from Ginger & Garlic