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LIKE IT WAS MADE IN JAPAN
Ginza stands out near the Sunrise Mall like Bill Murray in "Lost in Translation." It's very different . . . and very good. Dramatic outside and inside, the newcomer offers a bold design matched by the selection of seafood, some from Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market. The raw fish is excellent. And a lot of the cooked fare is sharp, too.
It's all done with flair to spare, lighting up a sleepy area for dining out.
Try the sushi and sashimi, which may include great o-toro and chu-toro tuna, sweet shrimp, delicate scallops, Kumamoto oysters and pink salmon. Order spicy tuna gyoza, Kobe beef meatballs and an array of colorful "chef special rolls." Grilled wild Pacific salmon with blood-orange miso is recommended, too. There also are plenty of more familiar dishes, from tempuras to teriyakis.
Prices range from moderate to expensive.
Ginza, 45 Carmans Rd., Massapequa; 516-882-9688. -- PETER M. GIANOTTI
RECENT CLOSINGS
* Green Olive Bistro, which opened last summer in the former Lynbrook home of Pizzeria Uno, turned out to be a flash in the pan, lasting only a few months.
* Saffron, the New American restaurant that opened a year ago in the former space of Bistro M, across from the train station in Glen Head, has closed. Chef-owner John Forte, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Miami, had worked in Bistro M's kitchen and, before that, at North Hills Country Club.
HUDSON HOUSE: WORTH A DETOUR
It is challenge enough to open a new restaurant, especially one on a minor thoroughfare deep in industrial territory. The new Hudson House Kitchen & Bar in East Farmingdale, though, is facing an extra roadblock.
The restaurant is on New Highway, between Sherwood Avenue and Gazza Boulevard, and there's major road work being done in front, impeding access from the north from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. The construction work is expected to last another two weeks before moving north.
Meanwhile, anyone who wants to go to the restaurant can access it by taking Route 110 to Sherwood Avenue, which intersects New Highway just south of the parking lot. You'll be rewarded for making the effort. Nick Hannides, former owner of the departed Graffiti in Woodbury, puts out a vibrant chopped salad, and a Cobb salad comes with big shreds of roast chicken. Homemade dressings are fresh. Onion soup is gentle on the cheese topping, and fries are hot and hand-cut. As long as the road work continues, Hudson House is offering a 15 percent discount during lunch and dinner, Monday to Wednesday. There's limited free delivery.
Hudson House Kitchen & Bar is at 1660 New Hwy., East Farmingdale, 631-465-9180. -- JOAN REMINICK
