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Ginza III Hibachi Steak House and Sushi Bar: Eastern accents

You can enjoy the show and the food at Frankfort hibachi house

By Wendy Miller CONTRIBUTING RESTAURANT CRITIC

FRANKFORT -- Being blessed with our fair share of good and excellent Japanese dining, Lexingtonians don't need to leave home for wonderful encounters with this world-class cuisine. But suppose you found yourself in, say, Frankfort, with a craving for rice, raw and grilled fish, simmered noodles, delicate tempura and the performance art of the teppanyaki grill that Americans know as hibachi?

In that case, you would most likely find your way to Ginza III, a one-stop shop for America's most familiar icons of Japanese food, all set in a vast space holding a sushi bar, grill stations that seat large groups (often side-by-side with strangers), tables for two or more, and private tatami rooms.

To get the most from the experience, order hibachi and then supplement from the extensive menu.

For instance, while waiting for the chef to arrive with his cartful of ingredients and implements, nibble sushi rolls. Some are pedestrian, such as the California roll ($3.95), but some, such as the Kentucky roll ($12.95), are creative, abundant and worth the high price tag: with shrimp and avocado inside, then draped with tuna and yellowtail, then topped with tobiko (tiny fish roe), crunchy tempura batter and drizzled with a creamy sauce, this one item could be a meal in itself at lunch.

Or have noodle soup, another full lunch. I refer here to nabeyaki udon ($12.95). Ginza III's version is hearty, if a bit tame: in addition to the usual soft, fat udon, there are rice noodles, a meaty shiitake mushroom, bits of baby corn, broccoli, shrimp and snow peas. Traditionally, this dish is served with a raw egg on top that is cooked by the broth's heat; here, that egg is fried. A safer approach but one that loses the creamy mouthfeel of a coddled yolk.

For vegetarians, the tempura ($10.95) is a reliable, lightly battered selection of zucchini, squash, broccoli, onion and baby corn. Like all the dinners, it is served with non-vegetarian soup (a bland chicken broth), a green salad in which the odd dressing crosses thousand island and hints of tropical fruit (really), and white rice

By this time, the hibachi show has begun. It's great fun, the egg juggling, the rhythmic chopping, the joking, the extra kindnesses to children. Plus it's fast; no waiting around for cold entrees from the kitchen.

And it's a bargain: the salmon dinner, for $14.95, includes the usual soup and salad courses, two "appetizer" shrimp and (non-Japanese) fried rice made with butter and soy sauce. There are the usual vegetables -- broccoli, zucchini, onion, mushroom and carrots -- as well as the main course: two generous, but slightly dry, salmon fillets, served with two sauces, one salty and the other creamy.

So, next time you're staring at the chain-laden stretch of U.S. 127 and wondering whether there is anything at all interesting to eat, think Ginza III.

A dinner that could feed four, including drinks and tax but not tip, was about $72.

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Ginza III Hibachi Steak House and Sushi Bar

Where: 111 W. Ridge Rd., Frankfort.

Phone: (502) 875-7578.

Hours: Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Dinner: 4:30-10 p.m. Mon.-Thu.; 3:30-11 p.m. Fri., Sat.; noon-9:30 p.m. Sun.

Other: Credit cards accepted. Alcoholic beverages served. Vegetarian offerings. Family friendly. Parking lot.