Royal Ginger Asian Fusion Bistro

Royal Ginger is a sushi-centric Asian fusion spot located in the old Wolfgang Puck's in Upper Arlington. It is a similar concept to its relative Blue Ginger, another place I enjoyed on separate visits.

The restaurant interior is stylish with modern accents and a lot of dark wood. Service was efficient, and the server was able to address any and all vegetarian concerns.

The menu at Royal Ginger features numerous vegetarian options. There are multiple sushi choices and stir fried dishes without seafood and meat. Vegetarian spring rolls, edamame, peanut noodles and a few salads are available as starters.

There is a lunch special with a choice of vegetarian soup or salad and an entree for about $9. The salad was made with multicolored greens, onions and daikon in a fruity vinaigrette. It had soft and crispy textural accents that made the salad delightful to eat.

The vegetarian sushi at Royal Ginger is excellent. The vegetarian sushi combo is very similar to the one at Blue Ginger. The artful nigiri are topped with carrots, squash, asparagus and various other ingredients (vegan or ovo-vegetarian warning: the platter also has tomago, a nigiri egg roll. It may be omitted on request). The combo also comes with a few maki rolls containing avocado, asparagus and Japanese squash.

I ordered the veggie roll, which also is available with special lunch pricing. The uramaki veggie rolls were the aforementioned ones with the squash, asparagus and avocado. The menu at Royal Ginger features many other vegetarian options, including interesting options like peanut avocado and fried bean curd skin.

The black bean tofu was stir fried with long beans, red onions and shiitake mushrooms in a spicy Szechuan base. The earthy, spicy dish has a great flavor, and the serving size is fair. It comes with a choice of white or brown rice.

Royal Ginger has a decent list of beer, wine, sake and designer faux-tinis. The parking lot is small and poorly designed, so parking can sometimes be an issue.

Royal Ginger