Ginza Japanese Steak House

Talented chefs, friendly waitstaff, bad location, sticky facility.
Heather and I knew what we were getting ourselves into when we decided to try a hibachi steak house in the middle of 38^th street, but this chop-​chop show was simply calling to our souls.
Upon arrival, we noticed that many of the Japanese inspired paper windows were missing some squares – maybe someone got too fancy with their shrimp-​flinging. Our party of 2 was asked to wait in a small, toy-​and-​storage-​filled waiting room while a table was prepared. The wall boasted polaroids of previous birthday celebrants and Colts players.
15 minutes later we are seated above a bed of rice and chicken. It was probably hard to sweep the carpet against the wall, so we just walked atop someone’s stray entrees to our seats. Once our feet were safely off the ground we had a marvelous time. The waitstaff were observant and quick on refills. The grillmaster threw an egg in the air and cracked it using the side of a spatula, which I’d never actually seen done successfully.
The steak was a bit overcooked and under teriyaki’d but Ginza compensated with some rockin’ ginger sauce. Less face-​punch flavor, more appropriate for the whole family intensity. Heather’s teriyaki chicken (we have similar tastes, don’t hate) was good. Still under flavored but great with ginger. The best part of the meal was the shrimp «appetizer» our hibachi artist offered us. If I go back, I’ll be ordering a whole meal of those delicious bottom feeders.
All in all, I had solid experience. With a bit of elbow grease (and a vacuum), Ginza easily could be a fan favorite.

The best Japanese restaurant in Indy hands down. Food is delicious and staff is usually friendly. Love going to Ginza.

One of my top 2 restaurants of all time, great food and great staff! Love the food and even tough it’s on the pricy side it’s delicious.

Food wise, Ginza’s is better than Benihana’s. It is in an area that’s not that great but it is still my favorite Japanese steakhouse to frequent.
The portion sizes are great, the food is great and the service is always great.

If I could give this no stars I would. Food was crap. Service was crap… crap crap crap crap.
The sushi rolls were not fresh. The tuna was not fresh… gosh regrets.

I’m not particularly a Tarantino fan but this place would DEFINITELY be in one of his movies. The atmosphere might not be for everyone but I LOVE it. Something about this place is a mixture of Asian authenticity and a 1980s Western pastiche thereof. The real star of Ginza is Dolan at the sushi bar. Great guy who goes out of his way to make customers laugh and feel welcome. His brother and parents are great too – come to think of it, they should have their own tv show… just go and you’ll see what I mean.
The sushi is good and WOW, very big portions for the price. I mean, they have GREAT prices on all their rolls and Japanese beer. Every time I have had hibachi I am surprised by how delicious it is, especially in comparison to the nastiness of places like Benihana.
There is also a server (Amy? I’m not sure I remember her name) who also deserves honorable mention, great service. If you consider yourself a true tourist of all the international restaurants this magical area has to offer, you NEED to go to Ginza and go often. They’re open until 10:30 and are never rude when I show up right before close.
BAHAMA ROLL

Tasty little hibachi restaurant. Onion soup, salad with creamy dressing, hibachi shrimp and teriyaki chicken with fried rice — lots of food, EXCELLENT price for hibachi. Be sure to take full advantage of the ginger sauce — your tastebuds will thank you.

I. Love. Ginza.
True, this place doesn’t necessarily look like what you might expect from a 5 star facility. It looks…“well loved.” And it’s true that some of the showmanship in the hibachi presentation has dropped off over the years. You won’t find any crystal water glasses here.
This is the kind of place you give 5 stars to because it’s hole-​in-​the-​wall, best-​kept-​secret, Oh-​My-​Gawd DELICIOUS. This is the kind of place that remembers their regulars and greets them by name. And as other reviews have said, their salad dressing and ginger hibachi sauce are out. of. this. world. This is a place you rate with 5 stars because it has, hands down, the best doggone food you’ve ever eaten. And when you’re talking about a restaurant, is there really anything else that matters as much? Not in my book.

Eh, not one of my favorite type of restaurants. The steak and shrimp were overlooked but the rice was good.
The food was filling and cooks were friendly to everyone and entertaining. The soda machine was down so drink options were limited.
I wouldn’t rush back here.

So I’m sitting here eating while I’m posting his review. And it honestly pained me to give them such a low rating. But this place has gone to crap. It started out as 3 and now it’s a 1. What has happens to this once favorite restaurant of mine that my whole family use to go to once a week? Good god someone fix it.

The best thing that I can say is their ginger sauce is interesting. When you walk in your first impression is that the place looks dirty. The staff was inattentive and the chef was unremarkable. He did not perform in any manner that you would expect from a traditional Japanese steakhouse chef. Basically he acted like he was in the kitchen. There are too many other Japanese steakhouses in our city and I will never return to Ginza.

On a mini vacation with my boyfriend we came here for dinner one night with friends, as it is one of their favorite restaurants. My only con of this review is that the place was empty and the server sat us at the only table where the light was burned out so we couldn’t see a thing. Aside from that the food was pretty tasty, although nothing crazy that other hibachi places don’t offer. The ginger dressing was some of the best I’ve ever had. I’d definitely make another trip when I’m back in the area, I’d just be sure the lights were working first.

Pretty typical Japanese steak house. Good sushi roll; steak and shrimp prepared nicely.

This place has 5 or six hibachi tables in a row and as people come in they fill them up and crank out the food. Relatively cheap, and you can add on a ½ california roll for a couple dollars more. There isn’t really any show at this place. The guy kinda grinds the food out and whenever something is done cookiung you get it. So you will wind up with different parts of your meal at different times.

If you can give this restaurant any stars at all, it’s possible you don’t know what good qualities to look for in a Japanese restaurant besides the food. I call this place the one hit wonder now due to the ill mannered sushi chef with glasses and poor service overall. One hit wonder as in first time dining people at this restaurant because that will be it after that, at least until the the next wave not knowing people come thru to eat there.
I wish the new owners had pride in their restaurant like the previous owners. I did find an awesome hibachi/​sushi place for my son and I and the people are nice, food very good. If you’re ever on the south side of Indianapolis, do try it. it’s right off I465 and Emerson exit.(and others all over the city) I really like the one out in Plainfield and Broad Ripple. :)

I Love Ginza! I wish they would open up a restaurant on the northside in Westfield. I think I’ve tried everything on the menu, Yaki Soba, Scallops, Steak, Chicken Sushi. I’m seriously addicted to the ginger sauce that comes with the hibachi. I’ll even dip my suchi in it. It has that perfect salty sweet combination. Service can be spotty sometimes, and it is a bit of a dive, but I’ll take it any day over the chains.

**“NOT GLUTEN FREE FRIENDLY***
Even after telling the sushi chef what I could and couldn’t have (because soy sauce is in most dishes, and most soy sauce is made with wheat), they were still confused and not at all accommodating. The one American working was a waitress named Ellie. She was extremely rude, unhelpful, rude to her fellow staff, and was cussing up a storm when she thought no one was paying attention.
The food wasn’t great, and the fish not fresh. This place was fracking **awful**.

This is my favorite hibachi. Ever. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because of the sushi. Don’t bother with it. After you have the hibachi, it won’t matter anyway. From start to finish, I love everything about a meal here!
A little over a decade ago, I was introduced to this place. Love at first lunch combo. I’ve tried them all since and have settled into the chicken & shrimp hibachi combo as my favorite. On the dinner menu, this is called the Formula One. It’s about $ 8 cheaper on the lunch menu and the only difference is the shrimp appetizer that comes with dinner. Lunch is usually my preference because I’m an early-​to-​bed/​early-​to-​rise kinda girl and it’s quite a hike for me to get here. The distance doesn’t deter, though.
The combos start with an onion soup and salad. The onion soup is pretty standard, but no less delicious for it. The salad is my favorite which is why I’ll often ask for a second salad in place of the soup. The dressing isn’t the standard ginger dressing you find at most sushi places. It’s smooth and has an almost french dressing-​esque quality to it. Whatever it is, it’s yummy.
The rice/​vegetables comes next and just a ton of buttery goodness. As opposed to some of the other hibachis I’ve tried, this one adds butter to the rice rather than oil. So. Delicious. I like to add a bit of the ginger sauce into the rice.
The ginger sauce. There aren’t even words to describe how incredible this sauce is. Don’t miss it. It might be easy to get lost in the heaven that is every bite of the rice, vegetables, and/​or whatever protein you’ve ordered. Just know the sauce really does add to the amazing flavor circus.
I’m sure there is a dessert menu of sorts, but I’ve never had an opportunity to enjoy a look at it. At the end of lunch, I’ll be walking out with a fairly full container of leftovers, looking forward to a food coma and a dinner of ginza goodness.

About 7 – 8 years ago, Ginza was our favorite sushi in Indy … but until our takeout order on Christmas Eve, we hadn’t visited in several years. Could be that our tastes have changed or their sushi has slipped in quality, I don’t know, but Ginza sushi is just average at this point.
Everything was a half step up from good grocery store sushi — I don’t *necessarily* mean that in a negative way as it’s definitely workable in a pinch. Caterpillar, Inside Out Philly, and Rainbow rolls were all between 3 and 3.5 stars. The smoked salmon nigiri was not top quality fish and a bit chewy, 2.5 stars. The shrimp shumai (off appetizer menu) were a little dried out but were a slightly above average version, 3.5 stars.
Simply put, there are better options. On the west side, I’d much rather hit Ocean World on W 86^th, Hirosaki in Avon, or Tegry Bistro in Brownsburg. Sorry Ginza, I think it’s time for us to disappear for another few years …

I grew up on the Westside and anything here has a special place in my heart. I really want to love Ginza, but it has just really gone downhill. The food quality, the service, the hibachi «show» has all degraded. Sushi is alright but the hibachi grill entrees are all dry and the chefs are very dull which is awful when you take guests there for a special night out.
Food: ²⁄₅
Location: ²⁄₅
Service: ²⁄₅