This week leading up to the holidays is tricky with prepping to travel and not wanting to get too many groceries before we have to pack up and leave so it’s leading to more lunch takeout than I would typically like but I won’t say I’m upset that I’m getting lunch from Wild Ginger.

LOCATION: 47 MAIN ST., CORTLAND, NY, 13045

Typically, I just order sushi and call it a day but I’m craving something warm today and miso soup won’t cut it. I decided to be a little more adventurous and I ordered the Beef Negimaki Bento Lunch Special. I’ve never heard of Beef Negimaki before but I really wanted a beef dish (I guess my body wants iron) and I looked up Beef Negimaki and to seemed like something nice to try. Google says it’s a traditional Japanese dish of thinly pounded meat that's marinated in teriyaki sauce, wrapped around scallions and grilled. I’m never really drawn to teriyaki sauce dishes but it’s not usually bad either so it seemed worth the shot.

The bento boxes from Wild Ginger are a good deal since they come with a couple dumplings/mini eggrolls, rice, soup/salad, and a California roll along with the protein of choice. While I knew this was a filling order I also go a spicy salmon roll too because I really wanted that but there wasn’t a way to substitute the Cali roll for it when I ordered online. I was super happy I ordered the salmon roll though because the California roll just doesn’t cut it like it used it. I did have too much food and had to save some for dinner but it was a good order overall. I didn’t really love the Beef Negimaki because there was SO MUCH scallion on the inside which was very overpowering; not the dish for me though the grilled beef was still good. I also still don’t love teriyaki because it can be so salty so these were things I knew going into ordering that weren’t a surprise for me. If these things sound like your type of food, then Negimaki is good for you but it turns out to not be my thing. I’m still glad I tried it and it was a good deal for lunch so I’m happy about that as well. Wild Ginger doesn’t let me down.