Lexington, KY - Curiously docked in a small shopping center on Todds Road just off of Richmond Road, SCHOOL Restaurant's dim, cosmopolitan atmosphere is a bit of a surprise considering the exterior environs.
First time visitors will immediately notice the thin, sleek metal conveyor belt circling before the entire breadth of the sushi bar. SCHOOL is Lexington's first restaurant to offer kaiten-zushi, where sushi chefs prepare individual items and then place the food on the conveyor belt - if an eater sees something they like, they grab it. The sushi is served on different colored plates, with each plate having a corresponding price ($2 - $6 per plate).
While there are many other tables away from the bar as well, it's great to be able to sit down and immediately start chowing on some sushi. However, the plates are unidentified, so you really don't know what you're getting aside from what you see. The restaurant also has an extremely large selection of sushi rolls, which run the gamut of serving sizes and price ranges.
For drinks, SCHOOL offers nearly two dozen wines, and other beverages as well, but for a trendy treat, customers can try a mixed drink from their Culinary Cocktail Lounge. This drink menu is peppered with phrases like "fresh squeezed," "ultra modern" and "found in big cities" - and the price: $12 per drink. Expensive, yes, but no surprises when the bill comes. I had a ginger mojito (ginger infused vodka with rum, mint and lime) and my guest had a "pink pineapple milk" (pineapple infused rum, Caribbean rum, coconut whip cream and grenadine). The ginger mojito was something very special; my guest's drink was good, but it was basically an over-priced piÒa colada.
Interestingly, SCHOOL's regular menu, as well as their numerous daily specials, is a mÈlange of Japanese and French appetizers and meals (priced between $23 and $35 for the French, and $8 to $20 for the Japanese). For appetizers we had ika somen ($12), thinly sliced raw squid with bonito dipping sauce, and for dinner I ordered fried lamp chops ($30) and my guest had wafu steak ($20).
The ika somen was light and springy, and didn't have an overpowering raw seafood flavor. Both of our entrees were top-notch: the thinly sliced wafu steak was succulent and the battered lamp chops were unique and flavorful.
Many items on the menu don't include a very descriptive summary, perhaps assuming that you know a little bit about French and Japanese cuisine and terms. If you are unsure about an item, be sure to ask your server, or you might end up with a fattened duck liver (foie gras), which is widely considered a delicacy.
If you're up for a culinary adventure, SCHOOL does not disappoint. After an appetizer, two specialty drinks, two beers, two entrees and a stack of differently colored sushi plates, our meal came to $115.28 prior to tipping. That might seem expensive, but drinks alone ran near $40, and with all the food items available, it would be very easy to concoct an affordable dinner or quick lunch.