642462 Thu Aug 06 07:13:24 -0700 2009 20 12 Boston Area 0 4922256 Looks like a new Japanese (and possibly Korean?) restaurant is coming to Inman Square in Cambridge. It will be called The Ginger Exchange, and it's going into the spot vacated by Montien, which closed a couple of months back. No real info at this point, other than the fact that they will have bento boxes, sushi, and noodle dishes.... Thu Aug 06 07:13:24 -0700 2009 14771 hiddenboston 1 4922303 Yeah, I saw this on the eatboston twitter last night. Could be cool! Thu Aug 06 07:30:52 -0700 2009 4922256 13193 ponyboy 2 4922326 Huh, I wonder if he was in the area last night as well. I was at Tupelo and just happened to see the sign for the new place while strolling through the neighborhood afterward. Thu Aug 06 07:39:53 -0700 2009 4922303 14771 hiddenboston 1 5115947 The place is open now. At 7:30pm tonight it was empty; not a single diner I could see through the window. http://thegingerexchange.com/ Mon Oct 19 19:00:09 -0700 2009 4922256 10820 Blumie 2 5116642 Curious - do they have the entire space? That was a fairly decent sized space that Montien had. Tue Oct 20 06:12:04 -0700 2009 5115947 13028 kobuta 2 5116675 Oh what a horrible website. And they have sushi rolls called "Sake 2 me" and "O.M.G." Interesting sake list though. This should be a fun one to watch. Tue Oct 20 06:28:54 -0700 2009 5115947 10232 yumyum 3 5116757 Okay, I think I am in curmudgeon mode these days but that web site is just a huge ick. Call me crazy, but somehow the place does not give off a real authentic vibe... Tue Oct 20 07:11:28 -0700 2009 5116675 10169 StriperGuy 4 5116771 Hm. What was your first clue? The cartoon samurai or menu items like buffalo wings? OTOH they do have a quail egg and uni shooter so who knows? It's really unfair to judge a place by the website but that thing is just plain awful. The ONLY thing they could do to make it worse is add music. Tue Oct 20 07:16:21 -0700 2009 5116757 10232 yumyum 5 5116783 Pretty good beer list, though. Tue Oct 20 07:21:36 -0700 2009 5116771 223386 rknrll 5 5116861 Heck, while we are piling on, wasn't Jae's doing this 15 years ago? www.jaescafe.com They actually used to have a location in Inman where Bukowsky's is. They still have three in the Boston area. Those beers do look good though. Tue Oct 20 07:55:57 -0700 2009 5116771 10169 StriperGuy 4 5116786 On the upside, the website isn't a complete Flash explosion, and actually renders properly in my browser. That is a rarity in the resto world. Tue Oct 20 07:23:47 -0700 2009 5116757 111910 jgg13 5 5116910 Good point. IMO the most irritating site (because of the awful music it thrusts at you before you can see anything) is Cambridge Common's. I don't care if you have a venue next door, it's not why I'm visiting your site. Tue Oct 20 08:11:50 -0700 2009 5116786 90719 chickendhansak 6 5116959 Thank you for alerting me thatI shouldn't go to their website :) I used to *really* hold annoying websites against places - particularly when they were Flash only (as I don't have Flash at work, and don't like Flash based sites in general). Use standard HTML control, don't use sound, don't do stupid stuff like try to resize my browser and the like, don't make your only menu content as PDF - I don't want to download a file, I want to see text in my browser, etc etc. There's a thread on NAF already about this though. :) Anyhoo, I started missing out on some really good restos (e.g. Hungry Mother) due to this, so now I just view it as a black mark against them, but not a deadly one. Tue Oct 20 08:32:10 -0700 2009 5116910 111910 jgg13 3 5117294 Yes, awful! And if you are color-blind, that red-on-black combo is rather hard to read! Tue Oct 20 10:11:15 -0700 2009 5116675 17434 Splendid Spatula 4 5117371 I got a little nauseous just looking at all the colors--almost like a migraine coming on. Someone should tell them that black on white is very in these days! Tue Oct 20 10:33:16 -0700 2009 5117294 14771 hiddenboston 1 5117432 Ok, so the website sucks. Anyone have any views on the food? Tue Oct 20 10:49:12 -0700 2009 4922256 10820 Blumie 2 5117947 I'd like to know the same--while I didn't worry a great deal about the website, I did worry about the prices on it, which seem very high. I would like to know if the food has been worth it for any early diners. Tue Oct 20 13:33:17 -0700 2009 5117432 184951 hckybg 2 5128796 went there a week ago (on opening night), won't be back. the menu is best described as "pan-asian" but the food is best described as "bland-american". tried tom yum soup, which needed a lot more flavor; we ended up getting some limes and hot sauce to add some taste ourselves. ordered "spring rolls" which arrived - surprise - deep fried, filled only with some sort of pureed paste (the menu's entire description is "seafood or vegetarian"). ordered "unagi w/avocado" from the nigiri menu, and were served unagi w/avocado maki (after inquiring, the explanation was that 2-ingredient nigiri is impossible to make, so of course it only comes as maki) which was fine, though we thought the sauce they squirted over it was too sweet. we were hoping to see some ramen or udon or soba; they have none of that. it looks like they've geared up to be a sushi & cocktail bar primarily. didn't try the cocktails (ordered a couple of drinks but due to opening night glitches they didn't have the ingredients to be able to make either, eventually we gave up) so we can't comment there. the one maki we tried suggested it could be an average sushi joint. but based on our other dishes I don't have much hope for the rest of the menu. Sat Oct 24 22:21:01 -0700 2009 5117432 25442 grg 3 5129918 My expectations were already set pretty darn low when I saw the menu (pan-Asian = yuck), but this sounds like don't even bother to try. Sun Oct 25 15:33:02 -0700 2009 5128796 13028 kobuta 1 5154665 Has anyone gone in the past week? I went and thought it was way too expensive for what it was. The sushi was good but the entrees were not. If they lowered their sushi prices a bit, I might be more inclined to eat there again. Wed Nov 04 07:14:28 -0800 2009 4922256 18447 David_A 2 5164143 I went last night. It is quite expensive. I only got edamame and some maki.... the sweet potato maki was the best. But yes, expensive. It was awfully good though... I'd go back just for that. Sat Nov 07 18:03:04 -0800 2009 5154665 290756 amymisha