Although it took me a little while to wrap my head around the concept behind downtown St. Paul’s new Gray Duck Tavern (345 Wabasha St., St. Paul; 651-340-9022; grayduckstpaul.com), it now makes sense.

“Global comfort food” sounded a bit like a gimmick, but in chef Donald Gonzalez’s capable hands, it works.

Gonzalez, most recently of Forepaugh’s, is known for playing with different ethnic flavors while staying true to classic techniques, and that’s largely what he’s doing here.

The restaurant resides on the first floor of the former Lowry Hotel on the corner of Fourth and Wabasha streets. The space, which had been empty since 1982, has been revitalized with cushy booths, a pretty U-shaped bar and funky light fixtures.

Oh, and a seriously ridiculous amount of giant televisions. I get that the ownership is trying to convey that it’s a casual place, but I have no need to see three different TV sets from my seat. The TVs are mostly in the “bar” area, which takes up most of the restaurant, so if that’s off-putting to you, I’d ask for a low table, all of which seem to be situated outside the televisions’ glare.

The menu can be a little confusing, but servers are adept at letting you know how much to order. There are “snacks,” which are smaller items, maybe three or four bites, but also starters, which range from generous portions to just a few jerk shrimp.

Entrees are straightforward — mostly generous one-person-sized plates — but then there’s the “carved meats” section, which offers three sizes, from 7 or 8 ounces to 21 or 24. The largest size easily fed our table of four and left us with plenty to take home, but we paired it with lots of sides.

Starting with the “snacks” section, the Cuban “cigar” ($4) is a don’t-miss. Elements of a traditional cuban sandwich — juicy pork, ham, Swiss, mustard and pickle — are shaped in an egg-roll wrapper to resemble a cigar. The thing is served in a (clean) ashtray, along with a sweet-citrusy orange mojo and little bits of fried oregano that vaguely resemble ash. If it sounds fussy, it is, a little. But it’s also fun and tasty.

It’s easy to overlook soups and salads, but it’s not advisable here. An heirloom tomato salad ($9; $16; $24 — again with the three sizes) is one of the best things on the menu. Juicy tomatoes, hand-pulled mozzarella studded with herbs, pistachios, picholine olives and a subtle, tasty sherry vinaigrette takes the usual caprese to the next level. The medium size was just right for sharing among four people who also ordered entrees.

Soup-wise, you can’t go wrong with a velvety crema de elote ($8), which tastes of fresh corn but adds a little aleppo-pepper kick, and the coconut curry chicken ($9) is a comforting, satisfying bowl of Thai-spiced goodness.

The other starters on the menu can’t compare to the superb Chong Qing Chicken ($10), an addictive blend of crispy chicken bits, calabrian peppers, ginger, garlic, scallions and fluffy, fresh herbs.

In the entree department, the duck schnitzel ($28) is a giant, shareable portion of duck breast, pounded thin, dredged and fried until uber-crisp. It’s served on a little warm potato salad with hard-boiled eggs, more duck, confit style, and a mustardy sauce, and there’s a fresh berry puree served on the side if you want to add a little sweetness.

The Mediterranean salmon ($25; $45; $59) is a gorgeous, fresh plate of rosy pink oil-poached fish, crisp radish and cucumber, cooling yogurt, kicky chiles and herbs. Like so much of what Gonzalez does here, it’s a study in contrasts — crisp, tender, cooling, spicy, fresh and earthy.

The animal burger ($11) is a copy-cat of the famous off-menu In-N-Out burger, and it’s a damn fine double burger. My one complaint (both with Gray Duck and with In-N-Out) is that I don’t like the sweetness of fried onions on a burger — I prefer the bite of raw. That’s a personal preference, though.

That burger, along with a handful of sandwiches and a few bowls, comprise the lunch menu.

A prime-rib French dip ($17) is expensive for a lunch sandwich, but it’s not your average sandwich — thick slices of prime rib are piled on a Patisserie 46 baguette. I thought the baguette might prove too tough for a sandwich, but dipped in the thick, gravy-like accompanying au jus, it’s just right.

The lunch item I’ll be back for most often, though, is the Mediterranean bowl ($13). Crisp-outside, fluffy-inside falafel is paired with hummus, yogurt sauce, harissa, cucumbers and a pile of crisp red cabbage. It’s an explosion of flavor, but feels light and the portion is perfect for lunch.

Service at lunch seemed less polished than during dinner — we waited a significant amount of time between each server interaction. If Gray Duck wants to pack in the business lunch crowd, that will have to improve.

Back to dinner, the carved meats are a fun way to eat, especially if you have a crowd to feed.

Our favorite was the Singapore Broil (7 ounces for $19; 14 ounces for $34; 21 ounces for $48), a sous-vide hangar steak floating in a slurpable salty-sweet caramelized soy-coconut sauce and piled with fried herbs, peppers and shallots. Though the meat was tender, we did wish it had been given a better sear after the sous vide process (which consists of cooking meat for a long time, sealed in plastic, in a warm water bath).

Side dishes, designed to accompany entrees or carved meats, are a little hit or miss. Creamed kale ($6; $10; $15) was a little too creamy for our taste, and the chow mein noodles ($5; $8; $13) way too oily. Broccolini ($6; $10; $15) was spot-on, though, and a mac and cheese ($5; $9; $13) loaded with plenty of gooey cheese a good bet.

Service, with the exception of the aforementioned slow lunch, is friendly and competent, and the kitchen gets food out in a timely manner.

The restaurant will eventually have a rooftop patio, which would be a welcome feature in downtown proper, and if the food is as good upstairs as it is down, it might just be St. Paul’s next big thing.