Gina's Chinese Kitchen & Sushi Bar - Great Food 
I couldn't bring myself to give Gina's a less than five knife rating, even if I wanted to. Outside of the fact that Gina's is in a strip mall, everything else is exceptional. The restaurant has great food, great service and very reasonable prices. It is exactly the kind of place that I was looking for when I started blogging, a little known gem of a restaurant that I could share with everyone.
FOOD:
Admittedly I have not tried the entire menu, but everything that I have had is excellent. As I mentioned, they have wonderful fried rice. With such a simple dish, you would think that fried rice would be hard to screw up, but it is a delicate balance. Not too salty from too much soy sauce, enough egg to carry the flavors used (its one of the secrets to great fried rice) and not over cooked so the meat doesn't get tough; it is the baby bear's porridge of fried rice.
Recently, Gina's changed their menu...and quite frankly, I panicked. Since it was one of my favorite Chinese restaurants I was terrified that the new menu wouldn't be as good. However, I was proven utterly wrong. While I won't say the new menu is better, it is still Gina's and still exceptional. The Bento Boxes are amazing and the egg drop soup is silky and delicious.
The sushi here is very good as well. While strictly speaking there may be a place or two in Little Rock that exceed Gina's on this particular front, I can't say anything negative about the sushi. It is not inventive or heavily sauced, it is just good straight-forward traditional sushi. There are times when that is exactly what I want. Bottom line...it is awesome food.
ATMOSPHERE: While Gina's is in strip mall, once you go inside, you pretty much forget that fact. The decor is not over the top, but it is very comfortable. I assure you that once you have eaten there, you wouldn't care if it looked like a run-down truck stop in a third world country...you will go back.
SERVICE:
Another amazing aspect of Gina's. Most days, Gina herself can be found in the front of the house. She is very warm and has an amazing ability to remember you as if you were her most important customer. Some of her other servers aren't always as attentive or memorable, but they are pleasant.
VALUE:
Next to the food and service, the next best thing about Gina's is the value. The $8.00 Sushi lunch comes with two rolls and soup. Definitely a bargain compared to almost anywhere in the city.
Gina's Chinese Kitchen & Sushi Bar is located at:
14524 Cantrell Road
Little Rock, AR
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