Gim Ling: Modern Chinese Bistro

Chinese restaurants usually take one of two forms. Either they are specifically interested in catering to American tastes i.e. almond boneless chicken, crab Rangoon, and cloyingly sweet fortune cookies; or they are a "bistro" that still caters to American tastes but charge more per dish because they have added "bistro" to the name.  

Sure, there are a few authentic Chinese restaurants around, but they are few and far between. attempts to straddle the line between Chinese-American and bistro, but seems stuck in purgatory rather than blossoming in paradise.

It had been years since I last visited Gim Ling and my how things have changed.  If memory serves me right, the space used to be decorated in gaudy reds and gold. Now it is clean, minimalist and bright.  The light colored walls add to the spaciousness and there is plenty of room between tables for comfortable dining

As with most things, however, the upgrade in appearance also means an upgrade in price.  A complete dinner includes soup, egg roll, white rice, and dessert is an additional $2.65.  If you want fried rice instead of white rice, it's another $3.  By tacking on almost $6 to a dish that is already $9 or $10, prices Gim Ling on the very high end of most Chinese restaurants.  Sixteen dollars for a complete meal
usually would not be outrageous, but for some reason, this seemed really expensive for Chinese food.  Of course prices are not important if the food lives up to the cost.

The menu at Gim Ling is very much slanted toward American-style Chinese food.  All of the usual suspects are on the menu.  Giving Gim Ling the benefit of the doubt, I hoped that maybe they had also ratcheted up the flavor quotient on these "classics."

Crab Rangoon, along with almond boneless chicken, is truly unique Chinese-American cuisine. Wonton wrappers are filled with a combination of crab (or krab – imitation crab meat), cream cheese and scallions, and are then deep fried and served with plum sauce and hot mustard. Gim Ling's version was above average with perfectly crisp wontons that are not greasy at all, stuffed heartily with the crab/cream cheese mixture.  Crunchy, salty, creamy, and substantial – it was a flavorful way to start the meal.

Potstickers are more traditional than other dishes on the menu, and these little fried dumplings were quite good.  Stuffed with a dense filling of pork and herbs, the outer wrapping was chewy and crisp.  The ginger-soy dipping sauce served with the potstickers was especially tasty — sweet, salty and subtly spicy.

Fried rice is one of those dishes that should be hard to mess up.  Rice, soy sauce, vegetables, and protein — sure, there's more to it, but these are the basic ingredients of the dish.  Gim Ling's version was flavorless and boring.  Heavy on the soy sauce and light on any other flavor, the dish was a disappointment.The rice was gummy, but the bean sprouts added some needed crunch.  Oddly, the bean sprouts were the only vegetable on plate. If you're going to skip one dish, chicken fried rice is not worth the calories. 

Steak Kow, on the other hand, was a truly delicious take on a sometimes heavy handed dish. Brown gravy can be a fickle mistress.  She has the ability to be luscious, gently spiced, and velvety, but sometimes she can be bitter, lumpy and super salty. Luckily, Gim Ling's gravy was the former and could be drunk straight from the bowl if push came to shove.  The steak was also super tender and the vegetables still maintained some crunch.  

Sesame chicken was somewhere between awful and great. The sauce was spot on — sweet, spicy, and just a touch of ginger — but the chicken left something to be desired. Soggy outer coating with a overly dry interior made the chicken difficult to eat. Had the chicken been cooked properly, this dish would have been a winner.

Dessert was a real surprise.  Green tea ice cream was incredibly creamy with a delicate earthiness. It was just the right amount of sweetness to end the meal.

Aside from the service being spotty, the overall experience at Gim Ling was positive.  The food was above average with quality being very high and flavors being on the money, for the most part.  Chinese restaurants are a dime a dozen, but at least Gim Ling is trying something different.

Joe is a food writer and photographer for TheHungryDudes.com. Follow him on twitter: @joefoodie and @thehungrydudes. Check out The Hungry Dudes food photos on Flickr