Hubbs & I went to Ichiban, a Japanese restaurant that the Wackies highly recommend as their favourite. We went with a last-minute reservation that we didn't need, because the place wasn't full. Located in a strip mall on the west end of town, the restaurant was small and humble and clean and comfortable. Very typical of many of the Japanese restaurants in town, actually.
Anyway, our drink orders (green tea) were taken right away. We got down to business and studied their menu, which was less extensive than Mikado's but still a decent size. We decided to order the sashimi boat because you could get 43 pieces for $30.95 (a great deal in our books!). We also got an order of rainbow maki (touted to be their signature dish) and some edamame.
Food came in good time, but I wasn't super-thrilled with its quality. The edamame was overcooked, so some of the beans were uber-soggy. Also, I didn't see that lovely layer of salt that usually covers my edamame. The rainbow roll was fantastic, although very heavy (filled with crunchy tempura bits and covered in avocado) and something that ought to be shared (which we did). The boat was impressive in size but not in quality nor variety. We had a lot of tuna and salmon, as well as some scallop, red snapper, octopus, and yellow tail. No shrimp at all. No roe. No eel. No fancy fish to name. And our octopus tasted like it was still thawing out (wet all along the bottom). It was relatively fresh, and a good deal, but we were sad not to get more variety in our 43 pieces (12 of which were salmon), and even sadder that our octopus was so un-tasty.The bill came in good stead, and the server was super helpful and nice. If only the food was of better quality, this place would have been perfect! As it is, I recommend you go if you want some inexpensive, decent sashimi in a quiet place with good service. I would not recommend you go if you want the best cuts of raw fish in town. Overall, we'd definitely give Ichiban another chance, but our favourite remains Wasabi.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
1 comment:
Actually, we still think Wasabi's the best, and the sushi place in Red Deer was really good... and Mikado (though overpriced) is pretty good as well, but I honestly wasn't *that* impressed with Ichiban.
Maybe we'll go back again and see if the octopus is less WET. We'll also try the maki maki next time; we wanted to try it this time but we didn't have enough room to eat all of that food!
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