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Gan Shan

4.0 (183 reviews)
ModerateRamen, Asian Fusion
Closed • 4:00 pm - 9:00 PM
Updated 2 months ago

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GAN SHAN ATMOSPHERE

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Moderate noise

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Recommended Reviews - Gan Shan

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Lacy H.

Oh Gan Shan. This spot has been on my must try list for years now, and I'm sad to say that I finally tried it. Not because the food wasn't 10000/10, but because I want it every day and can't have it every day. This restaurant is counter service. The inside space is tiny, but don't let that fool you. There's outdoor seating available and a bunch of sake to choose from. Do yourself a favor and get the tofu dish. I think about this meal literally every other day. The tofu is crisp perfect, the broccoli is fresh, and the rice is a perfect addition.

General Tso's chicken (left) and Gan Shan rice bowl with black bean chicken (right)
Tony S.

We were sitting outside on the patio at Archetype Brewing (next door) on a beautiful late afternoon and decided to order food from Gan Shan. It's a small place, with very little indoor and some outdoor seating. As with many small restaurants in Asheville these days, you order and pay at the counter. The great thing is they'll bring the food over to you at Archetype, which is much larger and has numerous indoor and outdoor seating options. And you can have the food with a beer! The counter service was fast and efficient and the server who brought the food over to Archetype was very pleasant. The food could have been a little hotter when it got to us, but it was still warm enough and most importantly, it tasted very good. Portions were large, plenty of meat, sauces and veggies, with tons of rice underneath. The General Tso's chicken was very tender and the sauce was tasty. Sweet, but not cloyingly sweet. If anything, I would have liked maybe a bit more heat, so next time if we order this, we'd ask for some hot sauce to mix in. The broccoli was perfect, a little crunch, but still fully cooked (lots of Chinese places seem to over or under cook broccoli, but Gan Shan gets it just right). We added black bean chicken as the protein to a Gan Shan rice bowl. The black bean and sesame coating on the chicken was excellent, charred a bit on the outside but very tender inside. Even better was the eggplant which was coated with a seasoning mixture that was other-worldly. I could eat a whole meal of just this style of eggplant [Note: it is not the same as the eggplant appetizer, which is mixed with basil]. There were also slices of white radishes that were very good. We ended up using them as little wrappers for some of the chicken pieces from the General Tso's chicken and that made a great combination. Even the pickles in the Gan Shan rice bowl were excellent, on their own and when mixed with other things in the bowl. They were like an Asian version of Southern-style bread-and-butter pickles. There was a sweet soy mayo in between the meat and veggie layers and the rice. It was good in limited amounts, but I'm not sure it elevated the dish much at all. Prices are reasonable. Overall, I'd give this place a 4.5, but in this case rounded up to 5 instead of down to just 4. We'll go back, as there are several other menu items (like the shrimp curry and house fried rice) that we'd like to try.

Wonderful food.  Drunken noodles and fries and spring rolls
Carl S.

Incredible food! Ask for the fries on a hidden menu. Best fries in Avl. I love outside seating ... it's enchanting sitting at tables underneath the trees. The staff are very friendly especially a server named Sky. She was I we the top nice and pleasant!!! Might be my favorite new restaurant in Avl

Kristin C.

The food was great and I love that you can order it while sitting at Archetype brewing next door and they will bring your food to you. They have a pickup window as well and at the pickup window they have boxes and other things you may need like napkins and such. They have some outdoor seating as well which is nice.

Chicken Ramen
Miss P.

Gan Shan truly deserves all the praise it gets! Our stop in Asheville was the final leg of our trip before heading back to Los Angeles, and after craving some Asian flavors, we decided to give this place a try. We were absolutely blown away by the food--hands down, the best culinary experience of our entire vacation, and we've dined at some pretty popular, high-end spots. Every dish was so flavorful, we couldn't stop talking about it. Huge kudos to the chef--you're a genius for crafting such mouthwatering dishes. We ordered five dishes (plus a complimentary dumpling!) and loved how they were served in bowls, which made it easy for everything to fit perfectly on the table. Brilliant idea! The service was also quick and super friendly. If we ever make our way back to Asheville, this place is a must-visit again! It's that good!

Patricia P.

We had dinner at Gan Shan West after we visited the Biltmore Estate. This restaurant is next door to a brewery and has outdoor setting. It has some indoor tables and chairs but it was a nice evening outside so we sit outside. We ordered the Mao Doufu which is made with sezchuan peppers and its so delicious and it came with white rice. I really enjoyed the saltiness of this dish and the softness of the tofu, the savory of the ground pork, the yumminess of the tree ear mushrooms oh so so good! We also ordered the spicy beef ramen, and the braised beef on this ramen tasted so good. The korean chicken wings were crispy and the amount of sauce was on point. So glad we came here for dinner!

Cold noodles and sake
Amy V.

Fresh food, great service. Love the outdoor seating! Definitely will be back. Great sale and local ginger beer too! Even though it was busy, it still felt peaceful !

Plum lime Waynesville Soda Jerks soda
John B.

Opinions seem pretty split on this place, so I was iffy on trying it, but for me it was excellent. They have a location across from OWL bakery with a little indoor area, but they've made the most of their temperate locale with ample outdoor seating. I came for a mapo tofu. Most American Chinese restaurants offer some sort of cubed soft tofu with reddish sauce, but it is nothing like a proper mapo tofu, which uses Sichuan pepper, which has a strange, astringent taste and also causes a tingly numbing sensation of the mouth. It doesn't seem like it would be good, but when combined with the right amount of salty, savory, and spicy flavors, it is an exciting experience. Theirs delivered the balance of flavor I was hoping for; there was definitely ample Sichuan pepper in there, but the shaved onions and delightful variety of mushrooms added different flavor notes. Thanks to Asheville being Asheville ts was available vegan. It came with a ton of rice and a ton of broth, so the actual amount of tofu wasn't that much, but the portion was quite filling and I used the to-go containers they had out there. Other offerings included mushroom and corn dumplings which might convince a mushroom skeptic and an extensive drink list including some local sodas, of which the plum lime flavor was fantastic. They do an order at the counter model of service, and takeout business was brisk and efficient from what I saw. It wasn't absolutely perfect; I would have preferred a bit more tofu and less sauce and I would have liked the option for brown rice or something, but the food and drink menu delivered exactly the experience I'd hoped for.

Mapo Doufo with ground pork & tofu with a huge bowl of white rice.
Elizabeth L.

Gan Shan west is a small restaurant connected to Archtype Brewing. They offer a small menu of soups, apps, rice dishes & ramen variety. We ordered the coconut squash soup- it's rich & creamy great for a coconut lover like me. I also has the Mapo Doufu which I was underwhelmed with the pork is ground & the tofu was mushy. It's spicy so it's got flavor though. Husband had pork ramen and said it's just ok. It's a tad expensive for a lack luster meal.

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5 months ago

consistently delish. 10/10 would recommend. The tomato ramen is absolutely delicious.

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Great little duck in. The wings set the bar, followed by the general TSO's chicken. We loved the patio dining experience and friendly faces.

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2 years ago

Great dinner, wonderful service, and reasonably price! We ate before a show at AyurPrana listening room, which is just a short walk away.

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Itto Ramen & Japanese Tapas - Green tea tempura ice cream

Itto Ramen & Japanese Tapas

4.4(392 reviews)
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I go by here once a month or so to get food for my daughter. She loves the kid's ramen. It was a…read moreshock today that the prices have gone up. What use to be around $10 is now $13! The hostess said all of the prices have gone up because, "it's not American food." I took it home and prepared it for my daughter and realized that it was not same quantity as before. They raised their prices 30% and the quantity of the food about 20%. The containers were not full like they have been the past few years of ordering. Told my daughter it doesn't make sense in this economy to raise prices so much and also lower the amount of food you get. We are cutting Itto out of our choices until their prices go back down.

Extremely well done. I showed up at the end of the day looking for some food and a beer, and I was…read morevery happy with the overall experience. The space was nicely decorated. The staff were extremely helpful. I mentioned I was looking for vegetarian options, and the bar tender thoughtfully guided me through the various options on both the tapas and ramen menus. That made for a great experience. In terms of the food, I opted for the miso eggplant and the garlic butter broccoli. Both were excellent. The miso eggplant is served as well cooked Japanese eggplant with a light tempura treatment and somewhat sweet miso glaze. Not too heavy, but still delicious and nicely textured. The broccoli was perfectly cooked with lots of flavor. It made for a nice pairing. In terms of beer, they had a few different local beers on tap. I went for a local pale ale. Great. In any case, this place is highly recommended. I suspect their vegetarian ramen would probably be pretty good, but that was a little heavier than what I was looking for. It was nice to have a few other vegetable forward options available as a backup.

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We walked by Ukiah the night before and immediately noticed how beautiful the outdoor patio was and…read morehow amazing everything smelled. We saw that they were booked for the entire weekend, so we figured we'd try our luck the next night around 5 PM. Luckily, we were able to get seated right away outside! We opted for the chef's menu, which includes several pre-planned courses and is a great way to try a variety of things. There was definitely A LOT of mushroom throughout the tasting, which was a little tough for me since I don't love mushrooms. I'll eat a little, but it was surprising how frequently they were incorporated into the courses. That said, there were some definite standouts. My favorites were the wagyu appetizer, which they said is exclusive to the tasting menu, all of the raw dishes, and the pastrami brisket. And honorable mention to the desserts -- they were seriously to die for! I just wish I had more room to eat more. Our server was attentive without being overbearing, and it was such a lovely evening sitting outside in the warm weather next to the aesthetic fireplace. The pacing of the tasting menu was a little odd at times, but it ultimately worked. Best bite of the night though was the pastrami brisket with the pickled kimchi, sesame bbq sauce, pickle, a little salt, and a little wasabi...will be dreaming of this!! I definitely want to come back and try more from the regular menu. There were a lot of things that sounded amazing, and I think I'd enjoy being able to pick and choose the dishes myself!

Since my husband and I were staying at a hotel right around the corner, I thought this would be the…read moreperfect place to celebrate our 21st anniversary. We had made a reservation previously and were sat immediately when we arrived. From beginning to end, everything was absolutely fantastic. I started with the sake flight and my husband had the whiskey flight. For our meals, we decided to do the tasting meal so we would have a variety of foods. Both the drinks and food were beyond exceptional. I couldn't tell you my favorite dish because everything was just so good. Even though the portions were small, by the time we left, we were absolutely stuffed. I would definitely recommend this place for anyone wanting to celebrate something special, or want a great experience. I'm definitely going to tell friends and family they should visit as well.

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