Atlantic City Weekly

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Judging by the crowds waiting to be seated at Ginza Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar on a recent Thursday evening, the Egg Harbor Township establishment is a welcome addition to the area's restaurant scene. But that shouldn't surprise anyone who has dined here since it opened in late October. It has so much to offer: polite servers, a humongous menu of Japanese cuisine and diverse dining-style options.

Ginza takes its name from the Ginza section of Tokyo where silver coins were minted from the 17th to 19th centuries. Today the area is a flourishing shoppers' paradise with upscale stores. Many Japanese businesses are named Ginza in hopes that they will also prosper.

The restaurant is located in a building that formerly housed a motorcycle shop, but one would never know it. Choppers have been replaced with chopsticks, walls are now decorated with shoji screens and other tasteful touches of Oriental art. Just to the left of the entrance is an area with four stainless steel hibachi grill stations, each with ample table space and comfortable chairs. When you sit here, you get dinner and a "show" of artful cooking skills.

If you want to partake of traditional Japanese food, eat in the main dining room at a regular table. Or, be a little adventuresome and sit at a Japanese-style table where you will be required to remove your shoes (remember to wear socks without holes!), but there are tatami mats on the floor to cushion your feet. Another dining option is to sit at a sushi bar where sushi chefs prepare all kinds of sushi rolls and multi-course sushi meals such as assorted sliced raw fish served over a bed of rice ($17.95) and a love boat for two filled with 12 sushi rolls, 18 pieces of sashimi, a California roll and a dragon roll ($49.95). Sushi bar entrées include miso soup and salad.

But you don't have to sit at the sushi bar to partake of sushi and sashimi. In fact, diners at regular tables often begin a meal with sushi as an appetizer and then follow with a traditional Japanese entrée. Among the dozens of sushi options are cucumber rolls, California rolls with cooked crabmeat, eel rolls, asahi rolls with boiled shrimp, asparagus, caviar and a spicy sauce, and Atlantic City rolls prepared with salmon and scallions and topped with tuna and wasabi tobiko. These are priced from $2.95 for a cucumber roll to $11.95 for the Atlantic City roll.

Among the menu's more conventional Japanese dinner entrées are a chicken or pork cutlet stewed with eggs and onions ($12.95); broiled eel ($15.95); chicken, salmon, shrimp, beef or seafood teriyaki ($12.95-$16.95), and vegetable, shrimp or seafood tempura ($10.95-$16.95). All of these entrées include miso soup, salad and rice. Special bento meals served in attractive lacquered boxes (bentos) can also be ordered. One of the most popular of these is chicken bento complete with soup, salad, rice and chicken teriyaki paired with a tempting array of shrimp and vegetable tempura, California rolls and eel sushi, each served in a separate compartment ($19.95).

My dining partner Dan and I elected to sit at a hibachi grill, which enabled us to watch the chef prepare our meal, and at the same time enjoy a "show." Before indulging in hibachi-prepared entrées, a delightful waitress dressed in a colorful kimono served each of us a bowl of delicately flavored miso soup and a large house salad. These and a hibachi shrimp appetizer, fried rice and veggies are included with all hibachi dinner entrées.

Dan chose the filet mignon and shrimp combination for his main course ($22.95), while I opted for the hibachi steak and chicken combo ($20.95). And then it was on with the show. And what a show! Our hibachi chef (it takes from two to five years of training to perfect the art of hibachi cooking) adeptly juggled raw eggs, twirled forks, whirled spatulas and even flipped a piece of shrimp directly into a diner's mouth. He also designed a volcano from onion rings that actually emitted lava (sparks) from its center.

Most importantly, the steak, chicken and shrimp were delicious, and perfectly cooked to order. We ended our meal with fried ice cream, which was not quite up to par because the coating was on the raw side rather than fried to a crispy, golden brown finish.

We enjoyed our unique "eatertainment" experience at Ginza Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar and highly recommend it for a fun time coupled with tasty food.

Ginza Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, 6708 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor Township. Open seven days. Lunch served Monday-Thursday 11:30am-3pm; dinner served Monday-Thursday 4:30-10:30pm; Friday & Saturday 11:30am-11pm; Sunday noon to 10pm. BYOB; major credit cards accepted. Phone 383-2588.