Giza of Tokyo

The Capitol Dining Crew (CDC) strikes again. This month our fearless leader made the reservation at Ginza of Tokyo on Madison's east side. This is one of the few parts of Madison with an access road. Highway 151 is called East Washington Avenue on most of its east side track, yet by Interstate 90/94/39 the access road is East Washington Avenue.

Once again I arrived extremely early. And sat around studying Federal Income Tax law and waited. Five minutes before our reservation time I noticed a fellow member of CDC exiting her vehicle. She parked at LaBamba, but I doubt they cared. We went in, found one other CDC member, and went to the bar to wait for the others. The bar keep offered to retrieve drinks, and didn't bat an eye when only one person purchased something.

Ginza refuses to seat people until their entire group is there. This is only fair considering the style of the restaurant. It is as much entertainment as food. Dinner is cooked on a flat top grill at your table. The Chefs cut and season your meal with flair. This cannot be done one meal at a time, and only by seating an entire table at once can the restaurant accomplish this theme.

Once all the attending CDC members arrived the hostess escorted us to our table. The night seemed oddly quiet. The group talked about it for a minute (yes we talked about not talking as much) and realized the reason. The regular vociferous members were absent. This peaceful dinner was short lived, the normally quiet members quickly took up the task and a lively conversation about, who knows what, entailed. I think we talked about one members assignment at work. Something none of the others had experienced but were more than happy to dissect.

Finally we ordered. Most ordered the dinner for two with Steak, Chicken, and shrimp. With my significant other missing in action, I chose the Shrimp and Scallops meal. A waitress took the order and then brought soup and salad for everyone. The soup is mostly (95% or more) broth. Very good broth, but still broth. The salad had kind of a weird dressing. Lumpy would be the best description.

As the last of the salad disappeared, the chef appeared. He pushed out an aluminum cart with all the ingredients he needed for our meals. First up, fried rice for one CDCer and shrimp for everyone. Lots of movement, steam and even some fire ensued. leading to fried rice on one plate and 4 shrimp on every plate. The shrimp was excellent. It had spice but not too much. The flavor was excellent.

Then the chef began on the individual entrees. Starting with the sea food and moving onto the terrestrial meats. I ordered the shrimp with Kagane sauce. I saw an egg in the ingredients, but I also saw the word sauce. To me, the word sauce me fluid. This was not the case. The shrimp came in a yellow foam that most resembled an omelet. The "sauce" was fairly tasteless and the shrimp was good, but not great. The scallops? Well the scallops did not dissapoint. Not too chewy and yet with a slightly browned exterior. Well seasoned (I am not an expert but I like it) and not overpowering. The meal included mushrooms, which, to be frank, were mushrooms. I was not impressed, but not disappointed either.

My fellow CDCers seemed to like their terrestrial food, and it look good to me. Cooked to order and full of the juices that make steak and chicken worth eating.

Finally, well after all others finished eating, the last member of CDC arrived. He had sushi waiting. I am not sure if it was good, because he barely stopped talking about his recent tour. Very, Very entertaining and interestig stories. No info on the food. Finally, after all other costumers left, the lights over all but out table were extinquished, the group departed.

Conclusion: Ginza of Tokyo provides great entertainment and good food. The price is moderate ($30 total with my coke). This is a good spot to go for a group dinner, but not for culinary reasons. The food was good, but nothing to get excited about. Ginza, in my opinion, is a family resturant of the Denny's quality, only with Japanese cuisine.

I am glad we went, I enjoy the entertaining meal as much as the next guy. Now a month of frozen food until the next time an evite excites my pallat.