Exploration: Blue Giant Chinese

Exploration: Blue Giant Chinese

Location: 1300 Magazine Street

I celebrated my birthday when I was out of town, but Caroline still wanted to celebrate. We decided to go out to Blue Giant Chinese, which just opened up in our neighborhood. So six PM on a Friday night at the new place in town? Well, first step in and we saw that it is tiny and crowded. After talking with the host, we heard there was an hour wait.

Yikes. Stepped outside (into the wonderfully warm evening in January) to discuss our options. Can we go someplace for a drink and they text us? No, the service isn't available yet, Blue Giant is too new. Shall we go someplace else? The Vietnamese place by our house is great, but there's no alcoholic drink options. The pizza place is a little too far and we had Mexican food when a friend was in town. Shall we just go home, cook and get a bottle of wine and Netflix? A little appealing, but boring. Wait, we live in New Orleans, can we have a drink on the bench outside while we wait? Yes, that works! (And we were even called about twenty minutes earlier because of a no-show). 

We were seated at the bar, which also happens to be in front of the kitchen. I love open kitchens. The staff was busy, constantly in motion, with food going from wok, fryer and pot to plates and bowls and then out to customers. The menu was small, just a single page, which is nice because it's not overwhelming. I eat no meat, and Caroline eats very little meat, so we both ordered the mushroom fried rice. 

We had red wines still from our wait time (in plastic cups, because that's what you can take outside in NOLA) and later ordered a German-Chinese beer (Caroline) and a cocktail (me). Caroline enjoyed the beer, saying that it really tasted like a German drink. The cocktail was light and fruity. My favorite part of the night was the mushroom fried rice; it had a nice smoky flavor and the fresh ginger was delightful. It's always great when those fresh, real flavors come through! 

I, for one, will definitely go back. The food and drinks were good and not too expensive. It's great to have another dinner option so close by!