Restaurant Review: Ginza, Japanese Steak House
8933 W. Colonial Drive, Ocoee, FL, 34761
407-523-8338
One of the perks of living in Orlando is the vast variety of food options. From Italian to Tex-Mex to Korean BBQ; You can find it all. One of my favorite options has to be Japanese. There are a lot of Japanese restaurants to pick from around Orlando, but Ginza is one of my all-time favorites. The food is delicious and the prices are super reasonable.
A Google search describes Ginza as a "wood-trimmed hibachi grill with interactive cooking, combo meals & a sushi bar with bento boxes".
Ginza
Type: Japanese Steakhouse/Hibachi
Hours: Mon-Thurs: 11 am-2:30 pm, 5 pm-10 pm;
Fri: 11 am-2:30 pm, 5 pm-11 pm;
Sat: 12-11 pm; Sun: 12-10 pm
Pricing (lunch): appetizers: $2.25-$10.95
entrees: $7.25-$16.95
Mood: casual
As soon as you walk in you are greeted by a small indoor pond stocked with small fish and ambient lighting. The unique wave-shaped cutouts in the ceiling are back-lit by colorful lights that change color. There is a good sized seating area here that makes for a pleasant waiting space. The host stand where you check in is also located here.
Miso Soup
Some of the meals come with a steaming bowl of miso soup and a small salad (pictured in the back right).
The miso soup was a soybean paste soup with tofu, seaweed, and scallion. The salad was your usual "hibachi-style" salad with ginger dressing.
Lobster Roll
$9.95
Cream cheese, kanikama (imitation crab), avocado, cooked scallop, with masago (fish eggs) on top
Trust me, it tastes a lot better than it looks. This roll was warm and pretty big. It reminded me of a California roll topped with scallops.
If you are just looking for sushi options, then I would suggest going elsewhere. The sushi here is good, but not overly impressive in quality.
Scallop Tempura Bento
$9.95
(also includes miso soup and salad)
This bento came with 4 pieces of California roll (bottom left), tempura style scallops and vegetables (bottom middle), 2 crab puffs (bottom right), fried rice (top right), tentsuyu/tempura sauce (top left), and sweet and sour sauce (top middle)
You get A LOT of food for the price you pay. The food was all tasty. My favorite part was probably the crab puffs, which were the perfect mix of sweet and savory. The California roll was a little sloppy, but tasted fine. The fried rice is a little boring, but the sauces can help with the flavor. The tempura vegetables included: mushroom, broccoli, sweet potato, and zucchini.
The dining area is relatively small with a few booths, tables, and a sushi bar. As you can see by the picture, it was not busy when we went, so it was quiet. There are several TVs set up at the sushi bar that you can see throughout the dining room. The other half of the restaurant is reserved for hibachi.
Good food
Excellent pricing
Large portions
Good variety and specials
Hibachi or Sushi seating options
Nice atmosphere
Easy parking
No wait
Cons:
Split hours can be a bit inconvenient
Service is decent but nothing spectacular
Dining space is on the smaller side
Small variety of alcohol
Not the best sushi option
They have a lunch and a dinner menu that are a little bit different from each other, but from my knowledge, you can get the same food items anytime. They offer a small variety of alcohol options that includes sake, and have a few dessert options as well.
When we arrived around 1:30 pm the restaurant was not busy and we were seated immediately. Our server was attentive, but we waited a little for drink refills (which wasn't a big deal to me). Overall, the experience was good. The food is tasty and the price is great, but it's nothing fancy or overly spectacular.
What's your go-to Japanese Steakhouse?
Comments
Post a Comment