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I was walking around Greenbelt shopping area in Makati the other day looking for a place to have lunch before I caught a movie when I happened across Blue Ginger Thai on the second level. The place looked nice enough from the outside, so I headed on in.

I was pretty hungry and had about an hour until the movie started, so I figured lunch didn't need to be hurried, but I also didn't have time for a long drawn out dining experience either. While I looked over the menu, I ordered one of my favorite local drinks, a ripe mango shake. I was also interested in the blue ginger martini on the menu, so I ordered one of those as well.

While my drinks were being made, I decided to start my meal with Yam Sam-O (Pomelo Salad) followed by yellow curry with chicken and an order of steamed rice. The pomelo salad arrived first. If you've never had pomelo, it's essentially like a ruby red grapefruit, only a bit drier in taste. The pomelo salad contained pomelo, shrimp, chicken, fish sauce, coconut flake, lime juice, peanuts, chilis, lettuce, and a few other ingredients I'm sure I missed. It was very tasty and something I would love to try to make when I return home. It had a nice balance of sweet, salty, sour, and hot - just as most Thai food does.

I was actually just about finished my salad when my blue ginger martini arrived. True to it's name, it was both blue in color and had several match sticks of ginger sitting in the bottom of the martini glass. I was a little disappointed with the actual taste of the martini, though. It tasted to me like it was almost entirely made from blue curacao, with only the slightest hint of ginger, and no trace of an underlying spirit like vodka.

Once the yellow curry and the steamed rice arrived, I was ready to dig in. I had asked for the dish extra spicy, but found to be extremely mild. The pomelo salad was spicier than my curry. Other than that, it tasted very nice, but was no where near as complex and flavorful as the yellow curry at my favorite Thai restaurant in Arizona, Swaddee.

Overall, my meal was enjoyable, and I learned about a new dish that I'll have to look for to compare back home. If you're in the Makati area and looking for a decent Thai meal at very reasonable prices, give Blue Ginger Thai a try.